A shrill hiss of vaporization exploded into the air!
The flames and the water lances smashed into each other, then neutralized one another. A huge mass of scalding white steam billowed outward, blanketing dozens of meters around them in dense fog!
Taking advantage of the fact that neither side could see the other, Mikami Yuu kicked off hard, his body shooting toward the forest across the river like an arrow loosed from a bow!
He was already moving fast.
But his opponent was no slower. The masked attacker seemed to use another Wind Release technique to tear open the mist, then came straight after him from behind. The killing intent locked onto Yuu's back like a chain made real.
"…Shit."
While sprinting, Yuu twisted around, drew his blade in reverse grip, and slashed back—
The next instant—
Clang!!!
A harsh metallic crash split the air like thunder!
An overwhelming force surged through the blade, shaking Yuu's arms numb. He pushed off instantly, borrowing the impact to throw himself backward. He adjusted his balance midair and landed over ten meters away.
When he looked up, the attacker had already landed steadily three or four zhang ahead.
The man was tall and thin, dressed in ordinary gray combat clothes, with an animal mask covering his face so that only a pair of cold eyes showed through. In his hand was an ordinary standard-issue kunai, and when he spoke, his voice came out hoarse and low:
"As expected of Namikaze Minato's student. Your reactions are as fast as his."
"…Who are you?"
Mikami Yuu tightened his grip on the short blade and frowned.
At first, Yuu had assumed the one attacking him was from Root.
After all, he'd seen those animal masks plenty of times in the anime from his previous life.
But…
This guy's strength felt far too high.
Being able to use both Wind Release and Water Release—and having real mastery over both—already put him at the level of a regular jōnin. And his taijutsu and raw power were frightening too. The pressure he gave off was almost on the same level as Namikaze Minato.
Of course, Minato had never gone all out when sparring with him.
But this guy…
Yuu had the distinct feeling he wasn't using his full strength either.
Could Danzo's Root really hide a monster like this?
Or…
"You want to know who I am? Then let's see if you've got the skill to earn that answer."
The masked man took another step forward.
"…Water Clone!"
Yuu took a deep breath, quickly formed seals, and summoned over a dozen lifelike water clones, placing his real body in the center. Because they were right beside a waterfall and the air was saturated with moisture, the clones didn't cost him much chakra.
Then he pulled a smoke bomb from his pouch and popped it open.
He'd had this left over from an earlier mission. Normally he shouldn't be using something like this inside the village, but under the current circumstances, it was perfectly reasonable for him to treat the attacker as a "suspicious figure, possibly an enemy spy from another village." After all, as far as ordinary logic went, Yuu had no reason to know about Root's existence.
Almost the moment Yuu finished those two actions,
the masked man was already in front of him, moving like a gray bolt of lightning as he plunged straight into the wall of water clones. His kunai turned into a series of afterimages, and with just a few simple thrusts, three water clones were destroyed on the spot, bursting into sprays of water.
Three stacks of A Cornered Army Must Win instantly layered on.
Watching the masked man cut through the clones one after another like they were nothing,
Yuu decided not to keep stacking the buff and moved in the moment he saw an opening. His blade flashed like a streak of silk, driving straight at the gap beneath the masked man's ribs!
"Oh? So this one's the real body after all?"
The masked man sneered, abandoning the rest of the clones and rushing straight at Yuu himself.
Then—
Buzz.
A formless ripple spread out from Yuu as the center! Within a radius of about 2.2 meters, the air itself seemed to slow. Blurred pale-white lines appeared one after another, all of them reflected clearly in Yuu's eyes—
Trait: Heartblade Domain
You have gained a strong insight into the principles of Hatake Swordsmanship. Within a 2.2-meter radius around your body, you can unfold a "Heartblade Domain." Inside that domain, you gain a perception beyond normal vision of the distance, angles, and obstructions between yourself and your target. You can pre-read the vast majority of your opponent's attack trajectories and see the weak points in them.
That was right!
The first-stage trait of Hatake Swordsmanship had finally unlocked!
This was the ability called Heartblade Domain!
The instant the domain opened,
the masked man's attack paths, the signs of muscle movement, the angles of his weapon—everything poured into Yuu's mind with startling clarity, as if he could now see every possible action the man was about to take!
It was only perception, of course. It didn't make Yuu's body faster, and it didn't automatically parry for him.
But he could now follow those pale-white lines—the weak points—and respond along the shortest, most efficient possible route!
This was true predictive combat.
This was the same kind of ability Hatake Swordsmanship had demonstrated when guiding him during his spar with Shisui!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang—!!!
A maddening storm of metal-on-metal impacts exploded into a continuous blur, like torrential rain hammering a tray of jade!
With Heartblade Domain active, Yuu's blade became impossibly fast—and impossibly precise. Every strike and every block took the most elegant possible line. He parried, countered, redirected, and in the span of just a few moments had broken down nearly a hundred exchanges with the masked man in a pure battle of speed against speed!
The afterimages of the short blade and the kunai had already merged into a web of silver light.
And yet…
"Something's wrong!"
"Deeply, deeply wrong!"
How were there so few pale-white lines—so few weak points—inside the Heartblade Domain around this guy?
Compared to him, Kakashi—who was still mainly specializing in swordsmanship—was full of openings. And Kakashi was already at elite chūnin level. If someone could completely crush Kakashi in swordplay while also being more proficient in elemental ninjutsu… then what kind of monster was this?
Elite jōnin? Or…
Suddenly—
Yuu caught an opening.
His blade exploded forward at shocking speed, crossing the masked man's open center line in an instant and slashing at his neck.
There was no time to block or dodge—
yet the masked man's neck twisted back in a grotesque arc, snakelike, just enough for the blade to miss by a hair.
"?!!"
At the same time, the masked man's kunai had also reached Yuu's chest. Yuu swapped places with one of his water clones using Substitution and barely escaped.
"…Orochimaru?!"
Yuu shouted the name.
This time, the masked man finally stopped moving.
And when he spoke again, his voice had returned to that familiar cold, hoarse tone:
"Heh… So you recognized me?"