Uvogin emerged from the smoke and dust. By now, the clothing on his upper body had been completely shredded, yet there wasn't much visible damage on his exposed skin.
He rolled his neck and loosened his muscles, as if the fight just now had been nothing more than a warm-up.
"I have to admit, your growth rate really exceeded my expectations," Uvogin said, his aura still just as overwhelming as before. "But choosing close-quarters combat against me—that was your biggest mistake."
At that moment, Ronin's eyes finally stopped hiding and fully transformed into a pair of double-tomoe Sharingan.
At the same time, Ronin's aura surged rapidly along with the change in his state. Even the strain his body had suffered from activating the First Gate of the Front Lotus seemed to ease in that instant.
This happened for one simple reason—he had opened the Second Gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Rest.
This was the current limit of what Ronin could open.
The Gate of Rest represented recovery. It forcibly broke through the limits of physical recovery using one's own powerful energy, allowing Ronin's stamina to rapidly restore after executing the First Stage Front Lotus.
The Gate of Rest was also the transitional stage between the Front Lotus and the Reverse Lotus.
Once Ronin could open the Third Gate—the Gate of Life, it would mean he could use the Reverse Lotus, marking a qualitative leap in his taijutsu.
Unfortunately, Ronin's current physical strength simply couldn't support opening the Gate of Life.
However, there was one key area where he surpassed Rock Lee—he could use not only ninjutsu, but also Nen.
So the Sharingan state was only momentary. When his eyes returned to pitch black, the black Nen beast that had been clinging to Ronin's shoulder finally moved.
The leasing demon silently shattered.
In an instant, a massive amount of Nen burst out from its body and surged straight into Ronin!
Not far away, Uvogin saw everything clearly.
Especially when that enormous wave of Nen poured into Ronin's body, the aura Ronin erupted with immediately made even Uvogin feel a sense of danger.
Ronin felt the vast, surging aura within himself. The tomoe in his eyes spun briefly, and the Nen surrounding his body vanished in an instant—replaced by an immense amount of chakra gathering inside him.
When even the Front Lotus had failed to deal serious damage to Uvogin, Ronin realized that his previous judgment had been wrong.
When he attacked Uvogin aboard the airship while Uvogin's movements were restricted, Uvogin's bleeding lip might not have been caused purely by that hit.
It was possible that when Uvogin chased him back then, he had already been injured.
The Sharingan had allowed Ronin to see the flow of Nen inside Uvogin's body, but he hadn't been able to detect any signs of injury. That was likely due to his lack of experience at the time.
The damage caused later by Lightning Abuse: Horizontal Chidori Dance was probably underestimated as well.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on the past.
Knowing that Uvogin was even stronger than he had previously assessed, trying to hide the Sharingan while fighting him now seemed downright naive.
The brief pause in the battle caused the audience—who had been holding their breath—to erupt once more into thunderous cheers and shouts.
Even though most of them couldn't clearly see what was happening on the stage, the massive crater left behind after the smoke cleared was more than enough to leave them in awe.
That noise, however, no longer reached the ears of the two fighters on the stage.
Ronin knew his time was limited.
So after fully entering his ninja combat mode, he suddenly leapt backward. A barrage of shuriken burst from his hands, multiplying rapidly in midair.
At the same time, Ronin formed seals with one hand in front of his chest.
Fire Release · Phoenix Sage Fire Technique
A C-rank ninjutsu in chakra consumption but B-rank in control difficulty—an advanced version of Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Technique. It attached flames to the released shuriken, dealing both physical damage and searing fire damage at the same time.
Uvogin wasn't surprised at all.
In fact, he was more surprised that Ronin had waited until now to use such a strange ability.
He slammed his raised foot hard into the ground. The already shattered stone tiles of the arena exploded upward, scattering chunks of rock everywhere.
Using the planted leg as a pivot, Uvogin gathered Nen into his other leg and kicked out with the same explosive force as Ultra Destruction Fist.
The flying stones, propelled by that kick, became projectiles comparable to bullets.
Stone fragments and shuriken collided midair. Sparks flew, and some of them broke through and continued to shoot toward both fighters.
Ronin's hand seals shifted. Snake—Hare—Dog. The moment the seals were completed, he landed and slapped one hand onto the ground.
A wall of earth rose instantly in front of him.
Earth Release · Earth Flow Wall
He didn't pour much chakra into it—just enough to form a simple earthen wall on the arena.
Every incoming stone slammed into the thick wall. In the very next second, the wall collapsed—and Uvogin's figure appeared directly behind it.
There were scorch marks on his arm, likely from blocking the fire release attack.
But his fist was already raised high again, violent Nen condensing around it—once more, Ultra Destruction Fist.
Yet Ronin showed no sign of panic. He suddenly clenched his fists and pulled back. One by one, steel wires snapped taut across the arena, stretched between him and Uvogin.
Only then did it become clear that the shuriken he had thrown earlier weren't just for attacking—they were also part of setting up his next offensive.
A cold smile curled at Uvogin's lips.
Trying to use inertia to slice him apart with steel wire?
Don't underestimate me, bastard!
But just as that thought crossed his mind, he saw Ronin swipe a hand across his waist. A kunai was already in his hand and threaded through the steel wires.
As the kunai flew and embedded itself in the ground, the wires snapped fully taut. Ronin completed his hand seals in one smooth motion.
The entire sequence flowed seamlessly, as if it had been practiced countless times.
His mouth, filled with condensed chakra, opened slightly. A thin line of flame shot out, racing rapidly along the stretched steel wires.
Fire Release · Dragon Flame Technique
Boom!
Uvogin's fist never came down. Instead, blazing flames that nearly covered half the arena swallowed him whole.
And it wasn't over yet.
With a grave expression, Ronin rapidly began forming seals again. This time, he wasn't using simplified hand signs, but a full sequence—forty-four seals, layered one after another.
He was preparing to unleash his next ninjutsu at full power.
He could feel it—Uvogin wouldn't lose that easily, even after being engulfed by the Dragon Flame Technique.
Pressing the advantage was exactly what he needed to do now.
A beast-like roar echoed from within the gradually fading flames on the arena floor.
Uvogin stepped out, his entire body scorched.
His once Saiyan-like long hair had been burned down into short, singed locks.
Large patches of burn marks covered his body.
The Dragon Flame Technique was powerful enough to instantly snap thick trees in half, yet after taking it head-on, Uvogin had only suffered superficial injuries—ugly, but light.
"A monster who's fully developed the Enhancer path… terrifying," Ronin thought.
If a C-rank ninjutsu only caused light wounds, then what about the full-power explosion of a B-rank offensive ninjutsu?
By the time Uvogin emerged from the flames, the forty-four hand seals were already more than halfway complete.
As Uvogin took another step forward, a sudden sense of unease surged in his heart.