Chapter 34: The Kill

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Just as Ishii Ichiro dodged the kunai attack, several shuriken flew over, vaguely blocking his escape path. Left with no choice, Ishii Ichiro could only swing the kunai in his hand, deflecting the incoming shuriken. Seizing this opportunity, Seimei once again used the Body Flicker Technique, closing in on Ishii Ichiro at lightning speed. Then, events unfolded as before - the two became entangled once more. Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko, heeding Seimei's instructions, stayed close to him, assisting in disrupting Ishii Ichiro's movements. "Damn it!" Watching Seimei's combat movements become increasingly fluid, Ishii Ichiro felt like he had become the enemy's training partner, his anger having no outlet. Just then, a kunai flew from the side. But the target of the attack wasn't Ishii Ichiro, but Seimei, who was immersed in the fight. "Watch out!" "Be careful!" Two warning shouts came almost simultaneously. Seimei felt a chill in his heart and quickly retreated. Whoosh! A kunai sliced through the air, passing in front of his eyes. Seimei glanced at the direction the kunai came from and saw a middle-aged Iwa-nin rushing towards him, with a Konoha Chunin in pursuit behind him. The first warning shout came from this Konoha Chunin. Seimei recognized him; he was the Chunin who had organized their defense earlier. He had been putting out fires all over the place and now had come to his rescue. However... Seimei looked at the middle-aged Iwa-nin who had just attacked him, his expression darkening. If it weren't for this guy's interference, he would still be gaining combat experience from Ishii Ichiro! 'Sigh, why couldn't you just let me slack off a bit? You had to force my hand.' Indeed, Seimei was ready to take action. The opponent had clearly set his sights on him. In this situation, continuing to play it safe would only lead to him being surrounded and attacked. Since that was the case, he could only strike first. As for exposing his strength... Well, he would expose a little! With a thought, Seimei took out six shuriken and threw them forcefully. Three were used to block the opponent's retreat, three to anticipate his movements, and the remaining two aimed directly at his vital points in the chest and abdomen. The middle-aged Iwa-nin seemed to have not expected Seimei's counterattack to be so decisive, so his response was a bit stiff. This delay allowed the Konoha Chunin from behind to catch up and engage him in close combat. However, every advantage had its disadvantage. Seimei had prevented the opponent from approaching, but it also gave Ishii Ichiro a chance to breathe. Almost at the same moment he threw the shuriken, Ishii Ichiro also threw kunais at him. Seimei didn't have time to block and could only try his best to dodge. This dodge gave Ishii Ichiro more time. He quickly created distance, completed hand seals in the blink of an eye, and then slammed his palm onto the ground, using the Earth Style: Earth Splitting Palm technique. Instantly, several meter-wide fissures appeared, spreading rapidly in a fan shape from his palm towards Seimei's location. Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko tried to interfere, but due to their lack of combat experience, they didn't seize the right opportunity, and the kunais and shuriken they threw missed their target. In the end, Ishii Ichiro successfully executed his technique. Feeling the ground shaking beneath his feet and seeing the fissures rapidly approaching him, Seimei's expression turned serious. He raised his hands and formed hand seals at the fastest speed he could muster, using the Body Flicker Technique. Finally, before the fissures engulfed him, he relied on his speed advantage to escape the range of the jutsu. It had to be said that this kind of ninjutsu, which could cause earthquakes, was very unfavorable for ninja who couldn't fly. If it weren't for Ishii Ichiro's limited chakra and his lack of mastery over this technique, Seimei might have had trouble even standing, let alone running at high speed. Fortunately, it was all over. Seimei looked at Ishii Ichiro, who had a constipated expression in the distance, and without any hesitation, charged towards him. But faster than him were the three kunais he had thrown. Ishii Ichiro was sharp-eyed and saw the explosive tag tied to one of the kunais, so he immediately retreated. Boom! A flash of fire erupted as the explosive tag detonated. A visible shockwave rapidly spread out from the kunai. Such a loud commotion caused a momentary pause in the surrounding battles. However, Seimei didn't pay attention to this. Once he decided to take action, he wouldn't hesitate. Under the cover of the explosive tag's flames, he approached Ishii Ichiro. Then, just as Ishii Ichiro thought he was going to engage in close combat again, he suddenly stopped, his hands moving swiftly, forming the six hand seals of "Rat - Tiger - Dog - Ox - Rabbit - Tiger" in a breath. Taking a deep breath and gathering Fire Style chakra in his throat, Seimei exhaled forcefully. In the next moment, fireballs resembling phoenix flower seeds appeared one after another, flying towards Ishii Ichiro in a swirling dance. Regardless of the technique's effectiveness, the scene alone was undeniably magnificent, perfectly fitting the Uchiha's flair. However, Ishii Ichiro had no time to appreciate this spectacle. When he saw Seimei forming hand seals, he had a bad feeling. Now, this premonition had come true, and he could only choose to evade. Fireballs flew at him one after another. Ishii Ichiro dodged left and right, managing to avoid being completely engulfed by the flames. But injuries were inevitable. When the flames died down, his clothes were scorched in many places, and several blisters had appeared on his face. This was because Seimei's 'Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique' wasn't high level, the flames it produced weren't very powerful, and he hadn't activated his Sharingan for assistance, so he couldn't achieve precise strikes. That's why the opponent only suffered minor injuries. Otherwise, with such a good opportunity, even if he couldn't kill the opponent outright, he could at least severely injure him. Fortunately, he had a backup plan. Before the chakra in his body could recover, Seimei started forming hand seals again. Seeing this, Ishii Ichiro panicked and was about to use ninjutsu to escape. But before he could make a move, an overbearing mental force rushed into his mind, causing him to see the image of Seimei throwing kunais. Ishii Ichiro didn't have time to think and instinctively dodged to the side. But the next moment, a piercing pain came from his chest. Ishii Ichiro looked down and saw a kunai embedded in his heart. In his final moments, Ishii Ichiro struggled to look up at Seimei. Seeing that his arm hadn't dropped yet, he murmured, "Genjutsu?" Indeed, just now, Seimei had used genjutsu on him. However, it wasn't the 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique', but the seemingly useless 'Heart Reflection Technique'. The 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique' required the Sharingan's cooperation. Although Seimei planned to expose some of his strength, it didn't include the Sharingan. So, naturally, he couldn't use that technique. That left only the 'Heart Reflection Technique'. Although this technique was seemingly useless, its main function being to assist in Sharingan evolution, it did have some genjutsu effects. It could disrupt the target's senses to a certain extent, thereby affecting their judgment. Just now, he had made Ishii Ichiro see the illusion of him throwing kunais in advance. After Ishii Ichiro dodged, he then made his real move. Ultimately, achieving a one-hit kill. The reason why Ishii Ichiro fell for it without any resistance was entirely because Seimei's mastery of this technique was too high. At lv3, close to lv4, it had the highest proficiency among all his skills. Although the effect it produced couldn't reach the level of an A-rank genjutsu, it wouldn't be weaker than an average C-rank genjutsu either. It was normal for Ishii Ichiro to fall for it. After all, who would have thought that a mere Genin like him would master so many skills?