"Since it has come to this, let me show you the terror of Swift Release," said Echo as he looked at Reina and Seimei with murderous intent.
This time, he was prepared to go all out.
He just needed to kill the girl, cripple the boy, and take him to his base to research his chakra signature and DNA.
Feeling the tension in the air, Seimei and Reina became even more vigilant.
They glanced at each other and nodded before watching Echo warily once more. And they had all the reasons to be wary of Echo.
This man possessed Swift Release, a unique and troublesome Kekkei Genkai. What's more, his arsenal of Jutsu was even more troublesome. He was a master at utilizing the Swift Release chakra and manipulating the Kekkei Genkai's unique kinetic energy to create numerous techniques that challenged every ninja's common sense.
Other Swift Release users below the Kage-level were only good at agility attacks, dodging, deflecting, and using their high speed to attack their enemies faster than they could react.
Once you sense their chakra signature and predict their movements, you could defeat them with ease.
Then this man, Echo…he successfully comprehended the true essence of Swift Release and used the kinetic energy itself as a tool for attack, defense, and support.
The Rending Shell Technique that protected him in a defensive shell by rending the opponent's chakra or Ninjutsu apart, or the Shattering Speed Jutsu that blasted his enemies apart with pure use of Swift Release chakra's kinetic energy manipulation—each of them was incredibly innovative, unpredictable, and dangerous.
Who knew what kind of trick this lunatic would throw at them next?
Facing this one man was more troublesome and dangerous than battling three or four S-rank ninjas together.
So, Seimei and Reina kept their eyes on him.
Their eyes were working at full throttle, trying to discern Echo's muscle movements, intent, and chakra, ready to act at a moment's notice.
For a moment, an eerie silence fell on the battlefield.
But in the next second, violent chakra erupted from all three individuals' bodies, spreading invisible rings of shockwaves through the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each of them activated their own unique power for the inevitable battle to the death.
Powerful Swift Release chakra directly enveloped Echo's body.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Reina released wind-natured chakra from all 361 of her tenketsu (chakra points), which had also enveloped her body, giving her a massive boost in agility, dexterity, and maneuverability.
Wind-natured chakra flowed to the blade of her ninja sword, making its already sharp edges even more lethal.
Crackle! Crackle!
Countless bolts of purple lightning burst out of Seimei's body, activating his cells, heightening his reflexes and speed.
Buzz! Buzz!
A dense cluster of lightning-natured chakra danced on his ninjato's blade with such intensity that the whole blade vibrated with a sharp frequency, greatly enhancing its cutting power and armor-piercing capabilities.
Now, each strike from Seimei's blade wouldn't just cause heavy lightning damage and deep lacerations. The vibration of the blade would literally deal constant internal damage to a Shinobi or an organism's internal body structure.
Seimei kept his eyes on Echo and asked Reina, "You ready?"
Reina smiled ferociously and replied, "To beat the shit out of bastards like that? Always."
Seimei chuckled. The lightning arcs coiled around him with even more intensity.
And then, suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the figures of all three ninjas vanished.
Whoosh! Crackle!
The moment their figures appeared, Echo was already besieged by Seimei and Reina from his left and right sides.
Seimei and Reina both slashed their blades at Echo at the same time. Their swords were crackling with purple lightning arcs and sharp wind, respectively.
Clang! Clang!
Blades clashed with the metallic claws of Echo's gloves, sending a burst of sharp wind and chaotic lightning arcs at the moment of contact while letting out a screeching metallic sound.
Unfortunately for Seimei and Reina, Echo's Swift Release chakra's kinetic energy manipulation property nullified a good amount of the physical and elemental force behind their attacks, resulting in a brief standstill.
Seimei's mind raced as he analyzed Echo's move.
Just before our blades and his metallic claws clashed, he unleashed miniature barriers from both of his palms using his Rending Shell Technique, effectively negating most of the physical and chakra nature transformation damage.
But can he do that forever, or in very short intervals if we don't give him any moment to breathe? Time to find out.
As these thoughts appeared in his mind, Seimei immediately mobilized earth-natured chakra to the ground at the fastest speed possible.
Earth Release: Shackles of Gaia
Tens of linked chains made of solid earth, as hard as steel, with sharp, spear blade-like tips, erupted from the ground and tried to coil around Echo to restrain him.
The earthen chains shot with the speed of a bullet from right beneath Echo's feet.
But Echo, whose mind senses and reflexes were already working on overdrive, immediately sensed.
Swift Release: Shadowless Flight
As soon as Echo activated the technique, his figure vanished from the spot once more.
However, no matter how fast he moved, Seimei and Reina could clearly track his movement using their Dojutsu.
As soon as Reina tracked Echo's constantly flickering movement, she immediately formed a couple of single-handed seals and converged a large amount of flames on her right hand.
"Take this, slippery bastard," snapped Reina.
Fire Release: Azure Explosive Shots
A ball of azure fire, twice as big as a basketball, converged and compressed above her palm. It was so hot that the air itself seemed to be scorched around it.
And at the very next moment, she hurled that scorching sphere of fire toward Echo.
The fireball flew toward Echo like a bullet before splitting into ten smaller, azure-blue fireballs with comet-like tails. The ten smaller, comet-like fireballs locked onto Echo and flew at him in deceptive, curvy paths.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Echo dodged the comet-like fireballs skillfully, leading them to hit the ground and explode, leaving behind scorching craters with a diameter of up to three meters.
As Echo dodged the last fireball, he fell into deep thought.
The Uchiha girl is proving to be more troublesome than I imagined. Lightning-fast Ninjutsu release, fine control over chakra, and enough mastery over chakra nature transformation to release wind-natured chakra from her tenketsu, increasing her speed, reflexes, and cutting power to an astonishing degree.
Just as he was analyzing Reina's threat level, Seimei's figure, wrapped in arcs of purple lightning, suddenly appeared beside him…
Crackle!
…and slashed his lightning-natured chakra-infused ninjato at his neck.
Clang! Boom! Crackle!
Sparks flew in the air, and a burst of lightning erupted the moment the edge of Seimei's blade and Echo's metallic claw clashed.
The rebound force generated by the clash immediately forced Seimei's and Echo's arms to fling backward.
Seimei quickly recovered and was about to slash his ninjato once more.
But before he could do it, Echo had already activated the Shadowless Flight technique again and immediately bolted to create a safe distance.
Echo inwardly grumbled, There is no fucking way I am facing you while standing in one place, bastards. The moment I initiate the second clash with this boy, the Uchiha girl will immediately launch a flurry of attacks.
Meanwhile, seeing his opponent run into a safe distance, Seimei's lips twitched in annoyance.
No, brother, what was this? Weren't we supposed to have a blood-pumping clash? Why did you end up bolting after one exchange?
Some random, not-so-serious thoughts couldn't help but flash in Seimei's mind. But he knew he needed to focus on Echo right now.
Seimei looked at Echo, distancing himself from him, and barked at him, "Want to run? In your dreams!"
Lightning Release: Thunder Body Flicker—Burst Mode
Crackle!
Lightning burst out around Seimei's feet, and he shot straight at Echo, leaving a trail of purple lightning.
Seimei arrived in front of Echo in the blink of an eye and slashed his lightning-natured chakra-infused ninjato again.
Clang!
And Echo also met the attack with his metallic claws.
Whoosh!
Their figures became visible only when they crossed blades and claws before vanishing once more.
Clang! Crackle!
In less than a few milliseconds, their figures appeared once more, nearly forty meters away. They clashed their weapons again before vanishing from the spot.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
Their clash continued.
Seimei and Echo utilized the Thunder Body Flicker—Burst Mode and the Shadowless Flight technique, respectively, and launched a flurry of attacks, all while covering a great distance.
In less than twelve seconds, they exchanged nearly fifty moves, leaving shockwaves and bursts of lightning in their wake.
Clang!
In one last clash, Echo deflected Seimei's ninjato with his left hand's metallic claw and brutally slashed his right hand's glove's metallic claws, targeting Seimei's left shoulder.
Any normal ninja would choose to dodge at this moment, considering the powerful kinetic force of Swift Release chakra covered Echo's claws, which could tear apart even the hardest armor.
But Seimei didn't move or dodge. He let Echo's claws fall on his shoulder.
Clang! Rip!
Seimei's inner armor took the hit and was torn apart, along with his clothes on his left shoulder.
Unfortunately, Echo's claws failed to dig into Seimei's skin more than a single millimeter.
Seimei's blood trickled down slowly, but the wound was actually very shallow.
Echo's eyes widened in disbelief, and he blurted out, "Earth Release: Hardening Technique? Just how much chakra did you condense to make it this resilient?"
Seimei didn't answer. Instead, he grinned viciously, gathered chakra in his left hand, and punched Echo in the area between his liver and ribs.
Chakra Enhanced Strength
Seimei's punch landed right where he wanted, and the moment his fist made contact with Echo, he detonated all the chakra gathered on his fist outward.
Boom!
The chakra detonated so violently that a visible shockwave spread out the moment Seimei's punch landed.
But such a violent punch only managed to send Echo sliding back for a few meters, leaving behind two visible grooves on the ground.
Seeing this, Seimei couldn't help but click his tongue.
Again with the sudden deployment of that Rending Shell Technique? He activated it pretty fast. Seimei sighed inwardly.
Meanwhile, Echo was in a foul mood.
The last punch, although it didn't do any real damage, still hurt like hell.
If he hadn't activated his defensive Jutsu in time, his right torso would have turned into a mangled mess, if not into a complete blood mist.
While Echo was thinking of this, Reina's figure appeared beside Seimei.
She twirled her sword and asked, "It's going nowhere, huh?"
Seimei nodded heavily, "Yeah, gotta reveal a trump card or two, I guess."
Reina glanced at him and said, "Then you'd better go all out. Because I will."
Seimei sighed again, "Okay."
If we still can't defeat him after that, I will take Reina and our near-crippled supervising instructor and bolt using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Seimei decided.
With that thought in his mind, Seimei closed and opened his eyes.
His Tenseigan began to glow in an ocean-blue light. Ocular power, oppressive and cold, poured out from his eyes.
Seimei mumbled, "It's about time I tested it in real combat."
Tenseigan: Gravity Domain—Compression
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