Chapter 44: Full Firepower

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The shuriken sliced through the air, making a subtle sound. Just as they were about to hit Shiraishi Kurama, he suddenly regained consciousness.

It had to be said that as a Tokubetsu Jonin specializing in close combat, Shiraishi Kurama's combat instincts were truly exceptional.

The moment he woke up, he made the most correct choice, dodging and blocking, intercepting most of the shuriken.

Only his left arm suffered some scratches.

However, Shiraishi Kurama didn't pay much attention to this minor injury.

He was now staring intently at Seimei, his eyes filled with unconcealed shock.

Looking at those blood-red pupils, Shiraishi Kurama felt both excitement and fear.

The excitement stemmed from the high bounties placed on the Sharingan, both in the black market and within the village.

As long as he killed Seimei and handed over his body, he would immediately receive a large sum of money.

Ninja weren't desireless saints, and few could resist such a large sum of money.

Moreover, killing such a genius also filled Shiraishi Kurama with an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.

As for the fear...

That naturally came from the reputation the Uchiha clan had built.

"One-on-one, flee; two-on-one, attack from behind." This saying wasn't just for show.

Unfortunately, he was currently facing a one-on-one situation.

Therefore, Shiraishi Kurama instinctively felt fear.

However, when he saw Seimei's young and tender face, the fear in his heart subsided a bit.

Moreover...

Shiraishi Kurama's gaze shifted downwards, and the狰狞 scar on Seimei's chest was clearly visible.

Although the wound had been cauterized by the lightning and high temperature, and was no longer bleeding, the damage Seimei had suffered was real.

This boosted Shiraishi Kurama's confidence even more.

While Shiraishi Kurama was observing Seimei, Seimei was also observing him.

He had to admit, he had made a mistake this time. He hadn't expected the opponent to have developed a second chakra nature.

During his previous battles with the Iwa-nin Genin, he had also taken the time to observe the fights between the Jonin. Although he hadn't paid much attention to Shiraishi Kurama, he remembered seeing him use Earth Style.

Therefore, he instinctively assumed that the opponent's chakra nature was Earth, completely neglecting the possibility that he could use other types of ninjutsu.

Although he knew that ninja at the Jonin level would start developing a second nature.

However, subconsciously, he didn't consider Tokubetsu Jonin as true Jonin, only seeing them as enhanced Chunin.

As a result, he overlooked this possibility and ended up suffering a significant loss.

But it was also his bad luck. Shiraishi Kurama likely concealed his Lightning nature chakra to ambush their Jonin.

Unexpectedly, he accidentally killed all the Chunin and Genin, attracting the opponent's attention, and ended up taking the hit for the Jonin.

This also taught Seimei a lesson: never get cocky before reaching a certain level of strength.

Otherwise, any small mistake could cost him his life.

Feeling the numbness in his body mostly fade away, Seimei didn't waste any more time and immediately raised his hands, about to form hand seals.

Seeing this, Shiraishi Kurama immediately looked away.

He was well aware of the Sharingan's danger, so he didn't dare to meet Seimei's eyes while he was forming hand seals, fearing he would fall under genjutsu.

Unfortunately, Seimei's genjutsu level was too low at the moment, and his Sharingan's evolution wasn't advanced enough to allow him to cast genjutsu with just a gesture like Uchiha Itachi could later on.

Otherwise, Shiraishi Kurama's blatant scrutiny of him just now would have been a suicidal act.

...

'Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!'

Just as Shiraishi Kurama looked away, a massive fireball flew towards him.

Shiraishi Kurama didn't dare to take it head-on and hurriedly dodged to the side.

However, before he could regain his footing, a kunai shot towards him from the front.

Shiraishi Kurama initially wanted to deflect it with his sword, but when he saw the explosive tag burning on the kunai, his expression changed drastically, and he leaped backward.

Boom!

The explosive tag detonated but failed to injure Shiraishi Kurama.

Seimei pressed his advantage, instantly using the Body Flicker Technique to reach another tree. Then, he quickly formed hand seals and used the 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'.

The tomoe in Seimei's blood-red pupils spun rapidly, pushing the Sharingan's insight ability to its limit.

Fireballs resembling phoenix flower seeds flew out from his mouth, each one accurately hitting the spot where Shiraishi Kurama was about to land, forcing him into a狼狈 state.

However, Shiraishi Kurama lived up to his title of Tokubetsu Jonin. Even under Seimei's targeted attacks, he managed to avoid any severe injuries.

If it were the Iwa-nin Chunin from before, even if they didn't die, they would have been badly burned.

But Shiraishi Kurama only had some burn marks on his body.

"Cough, cough~"

Shiraishi Kurama coughed lightly, enduring the burning sensation on his body, and glanced at Seimei's location, muttering, "Is it over...?"

"Over? Heh~"

Seimei sneered, appearing on another tree, and once again formed hand seals to use ninjutsu.

'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!'

Dozens, even hundreds, of flames were spat out by Seimei, bombarding Shiraishi Kurama like homing missiles.

At this moment, Seimei was like a reckless youth, completely disregarding chakra consumption, determined to overwhelm the opponent with ninjutsu.

After several consecutive attacks, Shiraishi Kurama couldn't endure it anymore and launched a counterattack.

It wasn't that Shiraishi Kurama lacked the patience to continue with Seimei, but as time went on, his dodging movements were gradually being seen through by Seimei.

This caused the pressure on him to increase.

Shiraishi Kurama was afraid that if this continued, he would lose the opportunity to counterattack.

So, after dodging Seimei's attack once again, before Seimei could make another move, he emerged from behind the tree and used the Body Flicker Technique to rapidly approach Seimei.

Perhaps before activating the Sharingan, this move could have caught him off guard.

But now...

Before the opponent could get close, Seimei had already used the Body Flicker Technique to create distance.

Shiraishi Kurama wanted to continue pursuing, but three kunais suddenly shot towards him, precisely blocking his path, making him extremely uncomfortable.

'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!'

After using the kunais to stop the opponent from approaching, Seimei once again used this technique.

Seeing the familiar fireballs reappear, Shiraishi Kurama hurriedly stopped and focused, preparing to dodge.

But at that moment, several red-hot shuriken suddenly flew out from the flames, striking at his vital points first.

Caught off guard, Shiraishi Kurama's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly swung his sword to block.

However, although he blocked all the shuriken, he didn't have time to dodge the flames created by the 'Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'.

Boom!

A fireball slammed into him, sending him flying backward.

"Cough, cough, cough~"

Shiraishi Kurama clutched his charred chest and coughed violently.

He struggled to stand up but failed after several attempts.