"What?"
Not far away, the young rock ninja, despite feeling mentally shaken from recent events, still had considerable abilities. Almost the instant Qingming made his move, he sensed something was off. He exclaimed in surprise, closed his eyes, and retreated backward.
Since there was already a distance between them, the added retreat increased the gap, preventing Qingming from hypnotizing him.
However, that was enough for Qingming.
Seeing the opponent close his eyes, Qingming hesitated not for a moment. He quickly drew several shurikens from his hands and shot them toward his target.
The shurikens were small and fast, producing minimal sound as they sliced through the air.
Thus, without visual cues to track their trajectory, it was difficult for most people to notice them.
As it turned out, the rock ninja only detected the danger when the shurikens were almost upon him.
At that critical moment, he used the "Substitution Technique," enhancing his speed and leaving a stone as a decoy.
Clink, clink, clink— The shurikens struck the stone, creating several crisp sounds as they left white marks and scratches.
Clearly, Qingming's attack had once again failed.
Nevertheless, he didn't feel discouraged.
His Sharingan continued to lock onto the opponent, and almost the moment the rock ninja performed the "Substitution Technique," Qingming began forming hand seals.
Once the opponent had hidden himself after dodging the shurikens, Qingming completed his hand seals.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Technique!"
The next moment, fireballs resembling phoenix flower seeds erupted from his mouth, densely packed and fanning out toward a large tree not far away.
Behind that tree was the hidden rock ninja.
"Already so fast!"
Akikawa Keisuke watched the torrent of fireballs approaching from both sides. He hadn't even caught his breath when he rolled forward to dodge.
Boom, boom, boom— The fireballs struck the trunk, leaving fist-sized charred craters.
Seeing this, Akikawa felt a chill run down his spine and quickly got up, using the "Body Flicker Technique" to sprint away to a safer distance.
Although he had never personally fought Qingming, he had witnessed how Yanjian Yangren and Fukui Ichirou were thoroughly suppressed.
Thus, he dared not engage Qingming in close combat.
From the very beginning, Qingming had not paused his advance, so Akikawa had to continuously create distance to avoid being caught.
As for counterattacking, he thought he could wait until he was safe.
But Qingming had created such a good opportunity; how could he let the opponent escape so easily?
After using the "Body Flicker Technique," Akikawa's speed was indeed impressive, but in Qingming's Sharingan, which had reached its peak evolution, it was still insufficient.
Whoosh! A shuriken flew out, perfectly blocking Akikawa's path.
Seeing this, Akikawa hurriedly dodged.
Yet the next instant, another shuriken shot toward him. Akikawa dodged again, only for Qingming to fire another. He dodged again, and Qingming continued to shoot.
In the blink of an eye, Qingming had unleashed six shurikens, completely sealing off Akikawa's escape route.
With a gloomy expression, Akikawa halted, facing the swiftly approaching Qingming, and prepared to fight back.
He quickly completed his hand seals, then pulled his palms apart, creating a beam of light between them.
Blinding white light shot forth, hitting Qingming's eyes and causing him to involuntarily shut them.
Moreover, his consciousness briefly plunged into chaos.
Clearly, this was another illusion technique. However, unlike "Lightning Release: Thunder," which was triggered through sound, this illusion was triggered by sight.
Normally, Qingming would have a stronger resistance to visual illusions, but this "Lightning Release: Light Beam" had a certain restraining effect on the Sharingan.
Thus, Qingming remained dazed for a bit longer than anticipated.
However, it was just a little longer.
That brief time was enough for Akikawa to throw several shurikens.
So, just as Qingming broke free from the illusion and opened his eyes, he spotted several shurikens flying toward him.
Qingming's pupils rapidly spun, and with just one glance, he locked onto the trajectory of the shurikens.
Then, with a few quick movements, he avoided all the attacks.
Not only that, while dodging, he also formed hand seals.
Finally, at the moment he stopped, he unleashed a signature technique of the Uchiha clan—"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."
A fist-sized fireball shot from his mouth, rapidly spinning and expanding until it reached a diameter of three meters.
At this point, the fireball was already close to Akikawa.
Feeling the intense heat radiating from it, Akikawa didn't hesitate. He swiftly dodged to the side.
Boom! The fireball whizzed past his afterimage and smashed into a nearby tree, causing it to explode.
In an instant, the tree was reduced to splinters, with fiery debris scattering in all directions like flowers blooming.
Due to the proximity of the explosion, Akikawa had to keep dodging.
In that precious moment, Qingming had already closed the distance between them.
Swish~ The sound of a blade being unsheathed echoed.
Qingming drew the short sword at his waist and charged straight at Akikawa.
By now, Akikawa had nowhere to retreat and had to draw his kunai to engage Qingming in close combat.
However, it was clear that Akikawa's close-combat skills were mediocre. After just over a dozen exchanges, Qingming had already left a wound on him.
Under normal circumstances, even if Akikawa wasn't skilled in close combat, as an upper ninja, he shouldn't have shown signs of defeat so quickly.
The primary reason for this was that Qingming's swordsmanship had reached Level 6, far surpassing Akikawa's abilities.
Additionally, the one-on-one combat allowed Qingming to effectively employ his vision manipulation tactics, enabling him to wound Akikawa in such a short time.
Feeling the pain in his forearm, Akikawa's mind became highly alert.
He narrowed his eyes, heightened his senses, and remained vigilant for any rustling in the surroundings.
Whoosh~ Another strike came from his blind spot.
Akikawa reacted swiftly, immediately blocking with his kunai.
Clang! The kunai collided with the short sword, and they separated instantly. Qingming vanished from Akikawa's field of vision once again.
Throughout the entire encounter, Akikawa only caught a glimpse of Qingming's clothing.
At this moment, Akikawa fully understood why Qingming was referred to as the "Demon Sword."
Qingming's performance now was just like a ghost; he could only see the shadow, not the form. With the slightest misstep, one could end up dead.
Wasn't this akin to battling a ghost?
'No wonder the village allows lower-ranked ninjas to flee when encountering him; with this combat style, how could any lower-ranked ninja withstand it?'
Various thoughts flashed through Akikawa's mind but were quickly cast aside. Now was not the time for such considerations.
The most important thing right now was to ensure his survival against Qingming while awaiting his teammates' support.
Everything had happened too quickly and too unexpectedly; no other upper ninjas had noticed this situation yet, or perhaps they had but couldn't break free at the moment.
However, he believed that if he could stall for some time, reinforcements would surely arrive.
Therefore, the most crucial thing now was to preserve his life.
With that in mind, Akikawa focused on defense, aiming to buy time.
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