Chapter 33: Playing It Safe

"Black Stone!"

Seeing the Iwa-nin being killed by Seimei in one strike, the Iwa-nin fighting Ryosuke's eyes turned bloodshot. With a loud roar, he forcefully pushed Ryosuke back and charged straight towards Seimei.

Seeing this, Seimei didn't dodge or evade. He kicked off the ground with both feet and rushed towards his opponent head-on.

Clang!

Two kunais collided, emitting a crisp metallic sound.

Both of them exerted force simultaneously, causing the kunais to rub against each other intensely, sparking.

Looking closely at the anger in the opponent's eyes, Seimei's expression remained unchanged.

Perhaps the opponent had a close relationship with the Iwa-nin he killed and was enraged by his death, but those who kill will be killed.

Once on the battlefield, one must be prepared for death.

It was impossible for Seimei to remain indifferent while others were trying to take his life!

Therefore, Seimei felt no psychological burden about killing the opponent.

"Ha!"

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Seimei let out a low shout, forcefully parried the Iwa-nin's kunai, took a half-step back, and then lunged forward again.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The harsh sound of metal clashing echoed continuously.

Seimei wielded his kunai, creating an impenetrable defense. He utilized the various combat techniques from his 'Basic Taijutsu' to their fullest extent.

Although he didn't have any advanced techniques, he still fought the Chunin in front of him to a standstill.

Creating distance once more.

The two stood still. Ishii Ichiro, looking at Seimei a few steps away, regained the rationality he had almost lost due to the stimulation of his friend's death.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, this young Genin in front of him indeed had the qualifications to make him take him seriously.

Not to mention anything else, in terms of close combat, the opponent wasn't much weaker than him.

In fact, if it weren't for his more abundant combat experience and the advantage of an adult's physique, he might have even suffered a slight disadvantage in the earlier fight.

While Ishii Ichiro was observing Seimei, Seimei was also observing him.

Through their brief exchange, he had roughly figured out the opponent's strength. Although neither of them had used other techniques yet, Seimei was confident that the opponent wasn't his match.

However...

Seimei discreetly glanced around.

At this moment, the battlefield was in chaos, with sounds of fighting everywhere.

Although Konoha had a numerical advantage, the large number of people also restricted the Chunin from fully unleashing their power.

The canyon area wasn't spacious to begin with, and the Iwagakure Chunin had come prepared, not engaging in direct combat with the Konoha Chunin.

Whenever they had the chance, they would dive into the crowd, using the numerous Konoha Genin as shields.

This way, both sides were mixed together, and the Konoha Chunin were hesitant to use powerful ninjutsu, even being cautious with explosive tags.

On the contrary, these elite Iwa-nin had no such qualms.

Anyway, the Genin on the field posed little threat to them. They could freely move around, using their rich combat experience to inflict casualties.

With one side restrained and the other unrestrained, the outcome was predictable.

Seimei didn't know about other areas, but in the vicinity, several Genin had already fallen.

Therefore, even though he was confident in defeating the Iwa-nin in front of him, Seimei didn't intend to do so, as it would only bring him more trouble.

As the saying goes, "The tallest tree in the forest will be the first to be blown down by the wind."

Geniuses were often targeted by ninja from various villages.

Killing Black Stone could still be explained as a sneak attack, but if he defeated Ishii Ichiro head-on, it wouldn't be easy to justify.

Seimei didn't want to be a target. He just wanted to safely survive until the end of the war.

So, all he needed to do next was maintain a stalemate.

Although Konoha was caught off guard, they wouldn't be completely wiped out.

After all, this place wasn't far from Konoha's main camp in the Land of Rain. They might discover the anomaly at any time and send reinforcements.

At that time, if Iwagakure didn't retreat in time, the situation would be reversed.

The purpose of Iwagakure's surprise attack was to gain an advantage and weaken Konoha's reserve forces as much as possible, not to fight Konoha to the death.

Therefore, Seimei estimated that these Iwa-nin wouldn't stay here for long.

What he needed to do was hold on during this time.

And to hold on, he couldn't let the Iwa-nin in front of him idle.

With this in mind, Seimei didn't waste any more time.

He quickly formed hand seals and used the Body Flicker Technique, appearing in front of Ishii Ichiro like a gust of wind and engaging him in combat.

The D-rank ninjutsu, Body Flicker Technique, could only create an effect similar to "teleportation" when facing opponents weaker than oneself.

But when facing opponents of the same level or higher, their reaction speed was enough to see through this level of "teleportation."

So, in their eyes, it just appeared as increased speed.

Therefore, even though Seimei used the 'Body Flicker Technique', Ishii Ichiro still reacted and managed to block.

This forced Ishii Ichiro to interrupt his ninjutsu casting process.

That's right, Ishii Ichiro was about to use ninjutsu against Seimei.

Since he had determined that Seimei's close combat skills were no weaker than his, he naturally wanted to play to his strengths and use ninjutsu, which Chunin were more proficient in, to attack.

Unfortunately, Seimei sensed this intention, and he lost his chance.

Not only did he lose it now, but he wouldn't have another chance later either.

Whether he feigned retreat or forcefully created distance, as long as there were signs of him forming hand seals to cast ninjutsu, Seimei would interrupt.

Either through close combat or with ninja tools, he made sure that Ishii Ichiro had no opportunity to use ninjutsu.

The samurai of the Land of Iron were able to secure a place in the ninja world by relying on this method.

Although Seimei didn't possess the strength and speed of the samurai, his lv3 'Basic Taijutsu' combined with lv3 'Shuriken Throwing' was enough to suppress an average Iwagakure Chunin.

Moreover, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko were also providing support from the side.

Although their strength couldn't threaten Ishii Ichiro, occasionally throwing one or two shuriken could still disrupt him.

In this way, Ishii Ichiro could only be forced to engage in close combat with Seimei.

Time passed by second by second.

The battles on the outskirts and the cliffs were still ongoing, and the commotion caused by the Jonin was getting more and more intense.

From time to time, shockwaves from the battles swept over, forcing everyone on the field to dodge.

Even Ishii Ichiro managed to seize an opportunity because of this.

He dodged a falling rock overhead, raised his hands, and quickly formed hand seals, casting the iconic Iwagakure ninjutsu, Earth Style: Earth Shore Return, in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the countless sharp spikes emerging from the ground, Seimei didn't hesitate. He immediately retreated with Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Before Ishii Ichiro could launch a second wave of attacks, Seimei released Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko.

Then, with a touch of his hand, he grasped three kunais and threw them casually, accurately aiming for Ishii Ichiro's throat, heart, and lower abdomen.

Seeing the kunais flying towards him at high speed, Ishii Ichiro's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly dodged to the side.

During their previous fight, the kunais thrown by Seimei had left a deep impression on him, so he naturally didn't dare to be careless now.

If it weren't for the lack of any abnormality in Seimei's eyes, he would have thought the opponent had already awakened the Sharingan.

That's right, Ishii Ichiro had long recognized Seimei's identity as an Uchiha ninja from the Uchiha clan symbol on his clothing.

And in his impression, only Uchiha ninja who had awakened the Sharingan could use kunais so smoothly at such a young age.

Unfortunately, Seimei was cautious and hadn't revealed the existence of his Sharingan from beginning to end.