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Akira's gaze shifted into the distance.
Not far away, Suikazan Fuguki struggled to lift an arm, pointing weakly in his direction.
"Cough…!"
A metallic sweetness rose in Fuguki's throat, and he spat out a mouthful of muddy blood.
Akira frowned. "You're still alive?"
"Hahaha!"
Fuguki threw his head back and laughed. "Just a scratch!"
"You've really disappointed me, Akira! You were this close to winning. So why did you stop attacking?"
He clutched his chest. Several ribs were clearly broken, yet he forced himself to endure the pain.
"You think you've won? Let me tell you something. You'll never win!"
Akira fell silent for a moment before replying calmly.
"Fine. If that's how you see it… then I guess I won't waste any more time."
Fuguki frowned in confusion.
What was he planning?
Akira suddenly took out a Sharingan and set it into his eye socket. Then he closed his eyes.
Fuguki's pupils shrank instantly.
An overwhelming sense of danger washed over him, a chilling premonition that death could strike at any second.
Not good!
Ignoring the pain tearing through his body, he hurriedly moved sideways.
Shhk!
A faint slicing sound rang out.
A pitch-black blade of energy pierced straight through his right shoulder.
Fuguki looked down.
The skin on his arm had been sliced away, exposing raw muscle beneath.
"So close…"
Fear crept into his heart.
He had never imagined this fight would end up like this.
"What is this…?"
Fuguki stared at the black scar carved across his shoulder.
"What kind of Sharingan is that? I've never heard of a Sharingan that can attach an attack like this!"
His eyes locked onto Akira's right eye. He knew about the Sharingan, of course—but nothing like this.
Akira slowly opened his eyes.
White flames burned fiercely within them.
"I did use genjutsu… that part is true," he said calmly."But I fooled you a long time ago."
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Exploding Flame!"
Akira brought his hands together, then thrust them forward.
Dozens of fireballs burst from his palms, roaring toward Fuguki like a blazing storm.
"Damn you! I'll grind your bones to dust!"
Fuguki formed hand seals at lightning speed.
"Earthquake Technique!"
A circular sinkhole spread beneath his feet. The ground collapsed inward, swallowing the incoming flames.
Akira frowned.
He hadn't expected Fuguki's mastery of earth-style seismic jutsu to be this impressive.
Akira stepped forward.
"Lightning Style: Chidori!"
Dense lightning crackled around his hands, forming a spear of electricity that shot straight toward Fuguki's head.
"This guy—!"
Fuguki's face twisted in shock as he quickly twisted aside to dodge.
He was already injured, and now Akira had switched to lightning style. His condition was getting worse by the second.
A strange smile curled at the corner of Akira's mouth.
"You can't hold out much longer, can you?"
"No matter what happens, I won't let you keep acting so arrogant!"
Grinding his teeth, Fuguki roared:
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
A massive projectile of earth shot toward Akira. It rapidly expanded as it flew, swelling to over three meters in diameter before crashing down on him.
"Wind Style: Tornado Technique!"
Boom!
The two forces collided violently.
"Pfft—"
Akira spat out a mouthful of blood.
His face turned pale, but the hand seals never stopped.
"Earth Style: Grand Earth Plow!"
A massive plow-like pillar burst from the ground, clearing away the muddy terrain.
Then more pillars erupted one after another, shooting straight into the sky.
"Damn it!"
Fuguki clenched his teeth. His body was already far beyond its limits.
At that moment—
Akira appeared behind him.
"An earth clone?"
Fuguki reacted instantly, slashing backward with his blade.
But the attack was blocked.
Akira's figure dissipated… only to reappear in front of him.
Akira formed a seal with one hand as an enormous surge of chakra burst from his body.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
Fuguki quickly cast a defensive jutsu, bracing himself against the crushing pressure of the rising earth wall.
His entire body trembled.
But he still held on.
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"Your will really is like iron. Even with your body and mind pushed this far, you're still standing."
He shook his head slightly.
"But my strength surpasses yours."
"So you've already lost."
"Wood Style: Impalement!"
Bang!
Akira's arm transformed into hundreds of thin wooden vines that shot forward, binding Fuguki tightly from head to toe.
"Get off me!"
Fuguki roared in fury.
A sword suddenly appeared in his hand as he slashed wildly at the vines wrapped around him.
Under the storm of blows, many vines snapped apart.
Some even collapsed onto his body, tangling him further and fueling his frustration.
With a powerful kick of his legs, Fuguki twisted his body midair, breaking free from the vines.
Then he lunged forward—
Both legs driving straight toward Akira in a vicious kick.
But Akira didn't panic. He calmly stepped back half a pace and drove a punch straight into Fuguki Suikazan's stomach.
Crack!
Suikazan let out a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, his entire body curling forward in pain.
Akira grabbed his head with his left hand and slammed him down onto the ground.
"AAAH!!!"
Suikazan's shrill scream made everyone's skin crawl.
"You bastard… you animal!" he cursed viciously.
Smack.
Akira slapped him across the face. The sharp sound echoed through the battlefield.
Akira spoke coldly, "I'll admit it. You're tough. But in front of absolute strength, all your schemes and tricks mean nothing."
Suikazan's eyes turned blood-red, as if they might start bleeding at any moment.
"Our Suikazan clan will never forgive you!"
A mocking smile appeared on Akira's face.
"Oh? Your Suikazan clan?" he said lightly. "I don't remember killing any of your people."
"Heh… no matter what happens today, I'll avenge this humiliation someday!"
Akira sneered. "Really? Do you think you'll even get the chance to escape? Your clan might be known as the Four-Tails Jinchūriki lineage, but do you really think I'd leave a future threat alive?"
Suikazan froze.
Only then did he realize the truth. Akira had deliberately lured him out and waited until he was weakened to finish him off. He hadn't seen it coming at all.
"I refuse to accept this!"
Suikazan roared and suddenly severed his own heart meridian. His body went limp, dead on the spot.
Akira placed a hand on his neck.
Then his expression stiffened.
He stared in shock at the corpse in his hand.
It was fake.
"A Water Clone?"
Akira muttered.
His face darkened. Just moments ago he had clearly crushed Suikazan's heart. Yet this turned out to be another clone. Where was the real one hiding?
Boom!
The ground suddenly exploded. Sharp earth spikes shot upward and pinned Akira's ankles to the ground.
At the same moment, Suikazan burst out from beneath the earth. Blades shot out from his body in all directions.
"Raikiri!"
Lightning flashed. A sphere of electricity blocked the incoming attacks.
"Raikiri: Thunder Prison!"
Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, wrapping Suikazan inside a storm of crackling energy.
But the sealing runes on his hands began to glow.
As soon as the lightning touched those symbols, the attacks gradually lost their force, as if they had been neutralized.
Suikazan sneered.
"These sealing runes on my body may still be locked, but they make my body immune to all lightning-style ninjutsu. Your Lightning Release is useless against me!"
Akira's expression turned serious.
Lightning techniques were his specialty. They worked extremely well against ordinary enemies or in small-scale battles. But against someone like this, especially with large-scale attacks, the effect was almost nonexistent.
"You really are… unusual."
Akira spoke slowly.
His hands moved rapidly through hand seals, and a sphere of lightning formed in his palm.
Suikazan looked at him with disdain. Blue steam rose around his body as waves of water surged up, forming a protective barrier.
He mocked him.
"You want to use a Water Prison? Don't forget… this is my territory!"
The Water Prison was an advanced Water-style technique that trapped the enemy in a confined space, preventing them from moving and leaving them helpless.
Suikazan had long prepared one, waiting for Akira to walk right into it.
But to his surprise, Akira really did create a Water Prison.
And not just any Water Prison.
A perfect one.
Yet this prison didn't just restrict Suikazan's movement. It also sealed off the surrounding space.
Suikazan looked around in shock.
Inside the watery sphere, an additional golden barrier had appeared.
His face changed dramatically.
"You set up a barrier too?!"
Akira's eyes were icy.
"This Water Prison will only last fifteen minutes," he said calmly. "But that's more than enough time to kill you."
Outside the prison stood towering walls of ancient ice. Their temperature had dropped to a terrifying level.
Blue vapor rose from Suikazan's body as he tried to freeze the ice around him.
But from within the ice came a violent surge of fire energy. It burned him with unbearable pain and filled him with a sense of deadly danger.
Suikazan's face was filled with shock.
"Fire… Lightning… Ice… You fused three different chakra natures together?!"
He could hardly believe it.
Combining three elemental natures perfectly required talent bordering on the divine.
When he looked at Akira again, his eyes were filled with fear and respect.
Akira spoke calmly.
"You're not bad. A worthy opponent."
"But you're still too weak."
"I didn't plan to kill you… until you tried to kill me."
"In that case, I'll send you on your way."
His right hand shot upward.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
A massive spinning shuriken tore through the air toward Suikazan.
But before it could strike him, another Water Prison intercepted it.
Akira stared at Suikazan through the prison, his eyes cold. A white sphere of chakra appeared in his palm.
Suikazan's pupils shrank.
An inexplicable sense of death flooded his mind.
Without hesitation, he pulled out a scroll and tore it open.
In an instant, he vanished from where he stood, narrowly avoiding Akira's attack.
BOOM!
The white chakra sphere slammed into the ground and exploded, sending smoke and dust billowing into the air.
"Cough… cough…"
Suikazan coughed twice. His vision dimmed as he saw the surrounding trees collapsing one after another.
"What the hell happened?"
Confusion filled his mind.
But just as he prepared to dive underground again, a violent gust of wind suddenly blew toward him, forcing him to step back.
Then a green blur appeared out of nowhere.
A fist smashed brutally into his stomach.
Pfft!
Suikazan spat out blood, his face pale as paper. He clutched his abdomen in agony.
"You bastard… you dared to ambush me?!"
Akira smiled wickedly.
"You started the ambush, remember? You tried to kill me. Honestly, you should be grateful I didn't bother using sealing techniques on you. Otherwise you wouldn't even know how you died."
Suikazan burned with rage.
"Damn you! I'll kill you for this!"
Blue energy gathered in his hand.
"Water Release: Burst Impact!"
The powerful shockwave forced Akira to step back two paces.
Akira frowned slightly.
"As expected of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. You actually mastered a technique this powerful."
The Great Rasengan's power was tremendous, but its side effects were just as severe. This was Suikazan's first time using it.
"You actually dodged my Great Burst?!"
Suikazan shouted in disbelief.
That technique had a brutal drawback. Once unleashed, the fight had to end within five seconds. Otherwise the user would collapse into exhaustion and become nearly incapacitated.
Just moments ago, Suikazan had been on the verge of mental collapse. He thought Akira would never react in time.
But Akira still avoided it.
"No matter what," Suikazan snarled, "you die today!"
Akira sighed and shook his head.
"Looks like I've been too merciful."
His eyes turned icy as he stared at Suikazan. He tossed out a kunai and formed hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The kunai transformed into a roaring wind dragon that swallowed Suikazan whole.
But Suikazan's figure suddenly appeared inside the dragon, standing firm.
"I won't die here," he said coldly.
A sneer hung on his lips. His strength had already returned to its peak.
He no longer feared Akira.
"I'll torture you slowly," he said. "Until you beg for mercy."
Blue light spread across his body as his chakra condensed to the limit.
"Water Release: Waterfall Palm!"
A massive wave slammed into Akira's chest, pushing him back several meters.
Suikazan laughed coldly.
"You're still too green. I've already turned the water into an unbreakable shield!"
The water around him condensed into a dense, solid curtain in front of his body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Akira's attacks struck it repeatedly, leaving only shallow marks.
A dark glint flashed in his eyes.
"A water defense, huh? Then I'll try something else."
He formed another seal with one hand.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing fireball shot forward and exploded in front of Suikazan.
But the remaining flames were completely neutralized by the water barrier.
Suikazan burst into laughter.
"This is all you've got? Pathetic! The most basic rule for a ninja is constantly strengthening your ninjutsu. Everyone knows that!"
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"I know. That's exactly why I don't want to waste time fighting you."
"Time is precious."
Suikazan sneered.
"You ungrateful brat! I'm one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!"
Akira slowly raised a hand.
"I know exactly how dangerous you are. That's why I'll deal with you carefully."
A white chakra aura erupted from his body, forming a protective cloak around him.
Suikazan frowned.
"A white aura? What kind of technique is that?"
He had never seen anything like it before. Akira's abilities looked completely bizarre, almost like some strange circus trick.
"Hmph. I won't give up. I'll find your weakness sooner or later!"
He formed another set of hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
A massive surge of water rushed forward, forming a prison around Akira.
But Akira remained completely calm.
"Your ninjutsu might work against ordinary shinobi," he said quietly.
"But I'm not an ordinary genin."
"I'm the successor to the Hokage of Konoha… and I possess a special Sage Mode."
"..."
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