Spurt!

A large mouthful of blood sprayed out from the Mist Jōnin's mouth.

His entire body was sent flying backward, slamming heavily against a tree.

With his back taking the brunt of the impact, the Mist Jōnin spat out another mouthful of blood.

When he finally landed, he was unable to get back up.

Clearly, without prior preparation, even a true Jōnin couldn't withstand a single hit from a "Rasengan."

"Kitano!"

"Captain Kitano!"

Seeing Kitano Ichirō seriously injured, two voices called out in succession—one from another Mist Jōnin and the other from the Special Jōnin being pursued by Seimei.

Their voices carried a tinge of panic.

If even they were rattled, it was no surprise that the other Mist shinobi were even more shaken.

The expressions on the faces of the nearby Mist shinobi betrayed their near-uncontainable fear at the scene.

However, in stark contrast to their alarm, the Konoha shinobi fighting them—be it the two Jōnin or the other Chūnin and Genin—showed varying degrees of delight.

Along with their growing confidence, their morale surged significantly.

Initially, they had been the ones besieged by the Mist shinobi. Even with Seimei's reinforcement, they remained outnumbered and at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

But now, with Seimei having already taken down two Jōnin, their earlier disadvantage seemed negligible.

Seimei quickly scanned the battlefield, taking in the expressions of everyone present.

Without paying further attention to the gravely injured Kitano Ichirō, he immediately charged at the Special Jōnin he had been pursuing.

He intended to capitalize on this momentum to completely shatter the Mist shinobi's psychological defenses.

Only by doing so could the battle be concluded as quickly as possible.

Though they seemed to have turned the tables and could potentially wipe out the Mist shinobi present, the reality was far from optimistic.

From the current state of the battlefield, Seimei was almost certain that if they delayed any longer, reinforcements from the Mist would inevitably arrive.

When that happened, a large-scale battle would be unavoidable.

Though Seimei had no concerns about his own safety, given the choice, he preferred not to get entangled in such a conflict.

Compared to a bloody battle with the Mist shinobi, he much preferred the quiet pursuit of his training.

Not long ago, he had perfected his "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere" along with three other ninjutsu. The next one to master was the "Rasengan."

At his current pace, he estimated he would achieve mastery as early as today, or by tomorrow at the latest.

Once that happened, he would gain another perfected A-rank offensive ninjutsu, which would significantly enhance his strength and greatly benefit his training in the "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken."

With such goals in mind, he had no interest in wasting time fighting the Mist shinobi.

If not for being caught up in this turmoil and temporarily unable to escape, he wouldn't even have wanted to step onto this battlefield.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Seimei had already reached his target.

Swish!

His blade swung, its light gleaming.

Almost simultaneously, Seimei executed both "Illusory Blade Technique" and "Shadow Blade Technique." Six blade shadows—three illusory and three real—struck at the target from different angles.

However, unlike Tamura Shinji, this Mist Special Jōnin had sharper senses and immediately discerned the three illusory blade shadows created by the "Illusory Blade Technique."

Even so, he still couldn't block Seimei's attack.

Though his senses were sharper than Tamura Shinji's, his close-combat skills were inferior.

Thus, even after identifying the three illusory blade shadows and ruling out three incorrect options, he still lacked the ability to defend against the remaining three real blade shadows.

In the end, he had no choice but to retreat.

At the moment Seimei severely injured Kitano Ichiro, the distance between them gave him just enough time to react.

Otherwise, given the opponent's close-combat skills, his outcome wouldn't have been much better than Tamura Shinji's.

As his initial strike missed, Seimei didn't hesitate. He stepped forward, keeping up with his opponent's retreat, and swung his blade again.

This time, the opportunity to use techniques like "Phantom Sword Art" or "Shadow Sword Art" didn't arise due to the short time.

Even so, the Mist's Special Jonin before him could only defend.

Clang, clang, clang!

The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed continuously.

Just as before, once Seimei engaged his opponent in close quarters, it only took a few moves before another wound appeared on the enemy's body.

Sensing the dire situation, several competent Mist Chunin surrounded them, trying to assist.

The first to act launched over a dozen shuriken aimed at various parts of Seimei's body.

Seimei's Sharingan scanned the area, taking all the shuriken into view. With a swift motion of his long blade, he easily deflected them.

He was about to continue his pursuit of the Mist Special Jonin when a sudden wave of chakra surged from behind a tree to the side.

Turning his head, Seimei spotted a Mist Chunin who had just completed a hand seal, emerging from behind the tree, preparing to unleash a jutsu.

Unfazed, Seimei raised his left hand and rapidly formed hand seals. In an instant, he executed a jutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

Whoosh!

Flames spewed from his mouth, transforming into a spinning fireball that hurtled toward the Mist Chunin.

At the same moment, the Mist Chunin released a water stream from his mouth.

As the two attacks collided, a sharp hissing sound erupted. Steam filled the air, resembling a dense white mist that blanketed a large area.

"Wait..."

Suddenly, Seimei swept his gaze around and immediately realized that this white mist was not just steam but also artificially created fog.

"Someone is using the Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!" Seimei thought to himself.

Without hesitation, he flashed out of his original position.

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

Several kunai shot toward where he had been, embedding themselves into the ground.

The next moment, a burst of light erupted—the kunai had been rigged with explosive tags, which detonated instantly.

Fireballs appeared, dispersing the surrounding white mist. Simultaneously, waves of shock radiated outward from the explosions.

"Is he dead?"

Someone whispered within the mist.

Before anyone could respond, a sudden gust of wind swept through. In the blink of an eye, the remaining mist was blown away.

Not only that, but the surrounding trees swayed violently, their leaves falling in a rain-like shower.

"Watch out!"

A sharp warning rang out.

The next instant, the sound of a blade slicing through flesh echoed.

Seimei's figure appeared beside a Mist Chunin, his long blade slashing through the man's throat, severing his carotid artery.

Blood sprayed out in a torrent, threatening to drench Seimei.

Suddenly, a faint blue light enveloped Seimei's body.

In the next moment, he vanished from his spot.

When he reappeared, he was already beside another Mist Chunin.

Clang!

This Chunin managed to react quickly, blocking Seimei's strike.

But it was futile.

In the split second they clashed, Seimei thrust out his left hand. The near-lv9 Rasengan swirled to life, slamming into the Chunin's chest.

Crack, crack, crack!

The sound of bones shattering reverberated.

The Mist Chunin spat out a mouthful of blood before being sent flying.