Chapter 161: Three vs. Three

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~*

As soon as Seimei steadied himself, three kunai shot towards him from a distance.

The attacker was none other than the Iwa-nin Jonin who had used the Earth Style: Earth Shore Return to counter his Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

After a few moments of recovery, he no longer looked as disheveled as before.

At the same time, he rejoined the siege against Seimei.

But Seimei had finally gained some initiative; how could he let himself be trapped again?

With a thought, he fully activated the Sharingan's insight ability.

In an instant, he understood the flight paths of the three kunai.

"Wait!"

Seimei was about to dodge when he suddenly noticed something amiss. There seemed to be a paper talisman attached to the handle of each of the three kunai.

Seimei focused his gaze and saw that those talismans were explosive tags, faintly glowing with fire, seemingly already activated.

Almost without hesitation, Seimei reached into his ninja tool pouch, and three kunai appeared in his palm, which he then forcefully threw.

The kunai flew extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they reached the Iwa-nin's kunai, colliding with them precisely.

*Clang, clang, clang~*

Three crisp metal clashing sounds rang out, sparks flew, and the six kunai spun and scattered in all directions.

Then, deafening explosions erupted as the explosive tags on the three kunai detonated, transforming into three massive fireballs.

The fireballs compressed the surrounding air, creating powerful shockwaves that forced Seimei to retreat several steps.

As Seimei finally regained his footing, the ground beneath him gave way. He looked down and saw that the ground seemed to have softened, making it difficult to stand steadily.

'Ninjutsu?'

Seimei thought to himself and quickly looked towards the other two Iwa-nin Jonin.

He saw that the scythe-wielding Iwa-nin was squatting on the ground, his hands pressed against the earth, clearly performing some kind of ninjutsu.

Without thinking, Seimei immediately leaped to the side.

At the moment his feet left the ground, the area within three meters of him rapidly transformed into a swamp.

It was easy to imagine that if he had stayed where he was, he would have been trapped in it. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

From this, Seimei realized that these three were not only well-coordinated in close combat but also quite good at ranged attacks.

'I can't let them lead me by the nose.'

Thinking this, Seimei dodged several shuriken thrown by the Iwa-nin who had used the Earth Style: Earth Spear earlier.

Then, he fixed his gaze on the Iwa-nin Jonin who had just tried to trick him with the explosive tags.

If he was not mistaken, this gap was the perfect time for the opponent to launch an attack.

Sure enough, as he looked over, the opponent was forming hand seals.

The moment their eyes met, Seimei activated the Sharingan's hypnotic ability, causing the opponent's hand seals to involuntarily stop.

Although he was quickly awakened by his companion, Seimei had already bought himself some time.

Immediately, he rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, opened his mouth, and unleashed the ninjutsu - Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

Fireballs resembling phoenix flower seeds flew out, and under his control, they split into three groups like fire spirits, smashing towards the three Iwa-nin Jonin.

This magnificent scene attracted the attention of many, including the three Iwa-nin Jonin who were the targets.

But in their eyes, this was not magnificent but dangerous.

To completely suppress these three, Seimei had used over 200 chakra points this time, creating nearly 150 fireballs.

It was only because his Sharingan had evolved to the limit of the Three-Tomoe that he could control so many fireballs.

Seeing dozens of fireballs heading straight for them, the three Iwa-nin Jonin used various methods, either dodging directly, using ninjutsu for defense, or meeting them head-on.

In any case, after a chaotic scramble, they managed to block the attack.

However, Seimei didn't give them a chance to breathe. He crossed his hands and once again used the Shadow Clone Technique.

Instantly, his figure split into three, each rushing towards one of the three Iwa-nin.

"What?"

Seeing Seimei so casually use the Shadow Clone Technique, the three Iwa-nin Jonin were astonished.

They could sense that even if the three of them joined forces, Seimei was not without a fighting chance.

In this situation, using the chakra-consuming Shadow Clone Technique was clearly not a wise choice.

In a sense, their thinking was not wrong.

Using the Shadow Clone Technique in battle was indeed a choice that most people wouldn't make unless absolutely necessary, as it consumed a lot of chakra.

But Seimei was different; he had the Chakra Absorption Technique.

As long as he could ensure that he absorbed enough chakra after the battle, the Shadow Clone Technique could be used as a regular combat tactic.

Moreover, his shadow clones mainly relied on swordsmanship and the Sharingan to fight, rarely using ninjutsu, so their chakra consumption was not as exaggerated as others.

That's why he dared to use the Shadow Clone Technique so casually.

Now, with Seimei and his shadow clones, there were also three on his side. In this three-versus-three situation, the Iwa-nin Jonin couldn't surround him, and he could take this opportunity to execute his tactics.

However, achieving the same effect as before was unlikely.

After all, the three Iwa-nin Jonin on the field knew that two of the three were his shadow clones, so they wouldn't be as restrained as the previous enemies he had encountered.

Therefore, the shadow clones definitely couldn't last too long.

'I must take one of them out before the shadow clones disappear.'

Thinking this, Seimei and his two shadow clones each faced one of the Iwa-nin Jonin, and the battle instantly erupted.

The sounds of clashing metal rang out on the field. The one facing Seimei's real body was the Iwa-nin Jonin named Sugimura Dairo.

He wielded his scythe, constantly blocking Seimei's attacks, occasionally counterattacking, trying to figure out which was the real Seimei.

In response, Seimei's reactions were unremarkable, just like his two shadow clones, not allowing any of the opponent's attacks to land on him.

At the same time, he also avoided direct confrontation.

In this way, neither Sugimura Dairo nor the other two Iwa-nin Jonin could determine which opponent was the real Seimei.

However, this situation couldn't last too long. Shadow clones were still shadow clones, and their ability to withstand damage was fundamentally different from a real person.

With the strength of the three Iwa-nin Jonin present, as long as they were willing to pay a certain price, they could still injure the shadow clones.

Once that happened, the real one would be easily distinguishable.

And Seimei was waiting for this opportunity.

As long as he could mislead these Iwa-nin into mistaking a shadow clone for his real body, he could seize the chance to go all out and catch Sugimura Dairo off guard.

If he timed it right, even an instant kill wouldn't be difficult.

As for why not take advantage of the two shadow clones holding off the other two Iwa-nin Jonin to forcefully kill Sugimura Dairo in front of him?

The reason was simple: the opponent was currently too vigilant and had some understanding of his tactics. Even a forced kill wouldn't be accomplished in just a few minutes.

By then, the other two Iwa-nin Jonin only needed to pay a certain price to break the shadow clones and could once again surround him.

That would be completely more harm than good!

Therefore, Seimei didn't choose to brute force it.

Of course, if the opponent never attacked the shadow clones, he wouldn't be polite and would definitely go for the kill.

Now, it depended on the opponent's choice.

(End of Chapter)