Chapter 24: The Critical Situation

In the 29th year of the Konoha era, Ye Zi was discovered and brought back to Konoha Village by Orochimaru from a desolate village in the Land of Water. That same year, he entered Konoha Village's ninja academy.

In the 32nd year of Konoha, Ye Zi, who had graduated from the ninja academy, became a student of Orochimaru.

In the 33rd year of Konoha, on this night, Ye Zi, who had completed several B-rank missions with Orochimaru, encountered the strongest enemy ever, with life and death hanging in the balance.

Deep into the night, the call of the night owl grew louder, while a woman's mournful cry pierced the heart.

Under the moonlight, the light in the forest was dim, but it was enough to see the flash of a blade coming from the air, appearing and disappearing in an instant.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing resounded through the forest.

Sparks flew, and a glimmer of light flashed in Ye Zi's dark eyes. Though his hand gripping the kunai trembled slightly, it was as steadfast as a rock. If he retreated even a bit, the sharp blade would mercilessly slice his throat.

"You can see my blade clearly. Very good, but it's still not enough."

Inside Kyocho's eyes was hidden apprehension. However, he seemed obsessed with the thrill of killing a genius, continually taunting Ye Zi after each of his attacks was blocked. This was quite different from his usual indifferent demeanor.

Ye Zi remained silent, or rather, he had no energy to speak. As Kyocho had said, he could see the trajectory of Kyocho's lightning-fast blade, but despite years of hard training making his physical condition far superior to his peers, it was still not enough to match a strong, middle-aged man like Kyocho.

Even though Ye Zi could see Kyocho's attacks, his body could not support a counterattack. He could only struggle to defend against Kyocho's powerful force and thunderous speed.

He thought his chances were not zero, just very low.

However, from the moment the fight began, he realized how naive he had been.

His proud physical condition was being crushed by the opponent, and his well-regarded chakra control was useless. Facing the enemy's relentless assault, he could not even use ninjutsu. He could only block Kyocho's blade repeatedly with his kunai. Ironically, his eyes, which he had not paid much attention to before, became the key to his survival.

Clang clang clang...

Sparks flashed intermittently in the dim forest.

"This brat!"

Seeing his repeatedly ingenious and vicious attacks being blocked by Ye Zi, Kyocho's hidden apprehension surfaced in his eyes. Although he believed Ye Zi was a rare genius, he had slightly underestimated him due to their disparity in strength. Thus, he hadn't used his full power at the beginning. Although he still managed to overwhelm him, he couldn't effectively harm him.

Once again, with blades clashing, Kyocho pressed down with unending force, his eyes fixed on him, his brows furrowed. "I still underestimated you."

Suddenly, under Ye Zi's astonished gaze, lightning appeared all over Kyocho's body.

He sheathed his blade and swung out!

Amidst the flickering lightning, the blade flashed with a chilling murderous intent.

Ye Zi's eyes narrowed sharply. He instantly sensed the significant increase in Kyocho's speed.

"Die, brat!"

The short blade, also flickering with lightning, pierced through the kunai's block, aiming straight for Ye Zi's throat.

In Ye Zi's vision, there was only the leaping lightning, a familiar sensation engraved deeply in his soul, striking his entire body.

When had he encountered such an unbearable sensation?

Time seemed to stop at that moment. The one time he had experienced this kind of sensation was the unbearable feeling of death.

"No!!!"

The kunai could not block the suddenly increased speed of the blade in time, but his body was still a short distance from the blade, enough to react.

Whoosh!

At the critical moment, Ye Zi moved slightly to the right, causing Kyocho's decisive strike to only pierce through his collarbone.

Enduring the pain, Ye Zi threw his kunai towards Kyocho and kicked him in the abdomen.

Unexpectedly, Ye Zi managed to react at a crucial moment, dodging the fatal blow. Kyocho, caught off guard, saw the kunai flying towards his face. He did not choose to withdraw his blade. Knowing the blade was sharp, he intended to turn the blade to cut through the bone and decapitate Ye Zi. So, he turned his head to avoid the kunai while rotating his wrist, preparing to decapitate Ye Zi. However, before he could act, he felt a force hitting his abdomen.

Bang!

Kyocho was kicked away by Ye Zi, and the blade piercing his collarbone flew out.

Ye Zi clutched his bleeding wound, his gaze becoming terrifyingly fierce, like a starving lone wolf finally seeing its prey.

"Lightning, Lightning Release…!"

In Ye Zi's cold eyes was reflected Kyocho, lying on the ground but still enveloped in flickering lightning.

"Is it possible to use it this way…?"

Accompanied by a low murmur, Ye Zi slowly lowered his head. With a thought, he felt as if he could finely sense the activity of every cell in his body.

"So, this is how it can be used…"

Kyocho, quickly getting up from the ground with a face full of frost, thought that although Ye Zi wasn't dead with a single blow, with a pierced collarbone, he would definitely be unable to withstand the next wave of attacks.

Thinking this, a killing intent flashed in Kyocho's eyes as he looked at the head-down Ye Zi. His icy face suddenly froze.

"W-What?!!"

He saw an unbelievable sight.

The brat he had pierced with his blade was actually enveloped in lightning!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle…

A barely audible sound now seemed like thunder, ringing in his ears.

"How is this possible!"

Gasping out this sentence with difficulty, Kyocho's face was filled with disbelief.

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