"Who?"
"Who is it?"
Itachi, already as nervous as a startled bird, was horrified. He looked up, his crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan gazing with extreme wariness towards the front.
There, a figure clad in a black trench coat had appeared at some unknown time.
"Don't worry, I am not an enemy."
A clear, cold, yet pleasant male voice suddenly rang out. It was a handsome young man with fragmented black hair falling over his forehead, covering his left eye.
His slender body was wrapped in a black trench coat, he wore classic Ninja sandals on his feet, his left arm was missing, and in his right hand, he held a gleaming Ninja sword bursting with cold light.
"You..."
"Who exactly are you!??"
Itachi's expression was quite dazed. He sensed a familiar aura from the newcomer, yet he had no memory of ever seeing this person before.
"I..."
The one-armed young man in the black trench coat turned around. He did not continue speaking, just silently turned his body, his gaze extremely complex as he looked towards Itachi behind him.
The next moment, Itachi's horrified expression turned stupefied.
Because...
In that person's eye, he saw a crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
'Is it...'
'An Uchiha Clan's member?!!!'
Itachi looked at that strangely familiar face, his heart thumping wildly. He had a strange feeling, that he...
seemed to really like this man who had suddenly arrived.
…
"Sora-sama!"
"Sora!"
"Who is he..."
At the same time, Kurumi, Mei, and Yuzuki all flickered to Sora's side with uncertain expressions, their faces becoming quite complex as they looked at the suddenly appearing one-armed Uchiha.
This was understandable. Everything that had just happened was simply too bizarre, leaving Mei and the other two still reeling.
First, their group was ambushed in the dense forest by Uchiha and Konoha's Ninjas, and both sides quickly became locked in combat.
Then, just as the fierce battle began, the Uchiha Clan's genius, Shisui, suddenly launched an attack on Sora, and was, as expected, the one who had his arm severed.
Just as Shisui was sent flying by the slash, the Uchiha Clan's head, Fugaku, also arrived with several Jonin as reinforcements.
But before Fugaku could even steady himself, the recently slashed-away Shisui stood up, spouted a bunch of inexplicable words, then laughed maniacally, activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, used a technique called [Kotoamatsukami - Radiance] on Fugaku, and within the blood moon illusion, completely shattered the spirit of this unfortunate clan head.
Then, Shisui, the caster of the technique, also inexplicably fell victim.
When he emerged from the blood moon illusion, his skin suddenly cracked apart, and countless amounts of blood spurted out.
"Has he gone mad?"
Mei's gaze towards Shisui's corpse also became very strange. This kind of behavior on the battlefield, casually killing one's own clan head, would be considered quite explosive even in the Village of the Bloody Mist.
"Beast!"
That was Yuzuki's assessment.
Beside them, Kurumi did not speak. She just cast a suspicious gaze, scanning Shisui's corpse back and forth. As a fanatical believer in Sora, she strongly felt that the recent bizarre events were mostly Sora's doing.
'Then...'
'Who is this one-armed Uchiha?'
Stopping her scan of Shisui's corpse, Kurumi once again turned her attention to the mysterious Uchiha who had just ambushed Sora.
Mysterious?
Of course he was mysterious.
Don't forget.
Kurumi came from the Anbu. She was very familiar with intelligence about Uchiha Clan… the name, appearance, and abilities of every Jonin in the clan were memorized.
But now, this suddenly appearing one-armed Uchiha was a blank spot in her intelligence memory.
'In any case...'
'Let's go test the waters first!'
Kurumi suddenly looked up, her eyes meeting Yuzuki's beside her. They instantly understood each other's thoughts.
Since the newcomer meant no good, then for Sora's safety, even if it cost their lives, they had to probe the other party's capabilities!!!
"Kurumi!"
"Understood!"
Before the words faded…
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Both drew their swords and flickered towards the one-armed Uchiha.
The next moment, all three vanished from their spots.
Clang clang!
Clang clang clang!
Three afterimages constantly flickered across the field, engaging in high-speed combat.
Power erupted, and the ground subsequently showed numerous depressions from heavy stomping.
However, the high-speed exchange only lasted for a less than one second.
Thud!
Thud!
Dull thuds.
The sound of sword backs hitting bodies.
Then, Kurumi and Yuzuki, tumbling and flipping through the air, fell back to a spot in front of Sora.
Ssssh!
Swoosh~ Swoosh~
Both landed harshly on the ground, their bodies sliding over a dozen meters through the grass, each leaving a clear, dark trail on the ground in their disheveled state.
They went fast, and they flew back fast.
A Jonin, Yuzuki plus Special Jonin, Kurumi, joining forces, actually couldn't last one second against that one-armed Uchiha.
"Sora-sama..."
"Sorry!"
Ringo Kurumi and Matsunaga Yuzuki both stood up. Apart from being covered in mud and tangled grass, they had no injuries.
Clearly, the other party had held back.
"Kirigakure's Ninjas."
The one-armed Uchiha's voice was cold. "I have no intention of being your enemy. As long as you withdraw, I will not harm anyone."
As he spoke, the man also slowly took a step forward, positioning himself in front of the unconscious Fugaku and the utterly confused Itachi.
His stance seemed quite clear.
"Sora..."
"What should we do next?"
Mei also couldn't help but frown, because she saw, incredibly, a trace of unprecedented seriousness on Sora's face, a grave expression that hadn't even appeared when facing the three Konoha's aces before.
'This Uchiha...'
'Who exactly is he!??'
"Mei, you, Kurumi, and Yuzuki withdraw first. Leave the next fight to me."
Sora gently stroked the hilt of Hyorinmaru with his right hand, his tone light.
"But..."
Mei looked at Sora with immense worry, clenched her pale hands, then finally nodded firmly. "I understand! Then... you must be careful too!"
As soon as the words fell, three figures withdrew towards different directions.
By now, Mei and the other two also realized that this one-armed Uchiha was probably no pushover. Them staying here would only become a burden to Sora.
A moment later, the only people still conscious in the area were Sora, the dazed Itachi, and that still expressionless one-armed Uchiha.
Sora looked up but didn't speak.
He just used his hand to slowly take off the white haori draped over his shoulders and casually threw it on the ground.
"Then..."
"Let the game begin in earnest."
Before the words fully faded.
Sora's figure vanished from its spot.
It was a speed ten times faster than before. In just an instant, the sword light traversed the void, appearing before the one-armed Uchiha as if teleporting.