Wait…
Let's check how long my Fuinjutsu Battle Formation will stay on.
Seimei thought inwardly before extending his senses to the ground. He could use his chakra to resonate with the chakra of the battle formation and determine how long it would remain active.
Since he was the creator and caster of the formation, sensing its state was even easier for him than any other random Fuinjutsu Grandmaster inside the field.
It was essential to understand the remaining lifespan of the battle formation.
Otherwise, if the formation suddenly ran out of juice, allowing some enemies to escape their grasp, wouldn't it be rather embarrassing for him, the caster and innovator of this specific Fuinjutsu Battle Formation?
After all, didn't he just boast about the effectiveness of his technique?
Nope!
He couldn't let that happen.
So, he carefully sensed the current state of his Fuinjutsu Battle Formation—Earthbound Barrier.
After a couple of seconds, he sighed in relief and nodded.
Good. It will stay active for a while—long enough for us to wrap up our mission. Seimei mused silently.
However, right at that moment, Seimei's Tenseigan perceived a few kunai, coated with explosive tags, fly toward him at a breakneck speed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Wind whistled as the kunai quickly arrived in front of Seimei, targeting his head, throat, heart, and limbs.
And all Seimei did was look at them with an annoyed expression.
He didn't move from his spot.
At least that was what the attackers thought until the explosive tags pierced Seimei.
The moment before the kunai pierced Seimei, his figure blurred, leaving behind an afterimage so late and deceptive that it looked like Seimei didn't move at all.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosive tags on the kunai detonated the moment the kunai stabbed Seimei's afterimage, creating a massive shockwave and eruption of crimson flames that kicked up dust in the air and scorched the surrounding area.
As a result, the three enemy ninjas from the Shimada clan, all of whom were Chunin-level ninjas, never realized that their attack missed the target and detonated on nothing but an afterimage of their opponent.
"Yeah, got him."
"Hah! What did I tell you? That boy might be powerful, but he was still green, after all. Too inexperienced. He had let his guard down right after his victory."
"Haha! The poor boy never understood the cruelty of war. Maybe, he will reflect on this in his afterlife."
"We may die today, but at least we took out an immensely talented ninja of Konoha. This must sting them, huh?"
"That boy looked like he was from the Senju clan. Haha."
"The explosion was terrifying. I bet his body isn't even intact."
"He perished without even knowing how he died."
The three Shimada clan ninja whispered excitedly. And why wouldn't they? They thought they had killed a big fish.
They had witnessed the battle between Seimei and Kaguya Katsuro.
And what they saw still gave them goosebumps.
The battle between Seimei and Kaguya Katsuro was short. But it was so intense that these three Shimada clan ninja could only watch from afar.
They knew that as soon as they approached the battle, Seimei would kill them.
Forget about Seimei killing them for a moment.
The aftereffects of their clash of Ninjutsu were violent enough to leave them fatally injured or turn them into fresh corpses.
The moment they stepped closer, they would become nothing but collateral damage.
So, they bided their time.
While Katsuro's defeat was unexpected, the moment the battle ended and they found Seimei to be distracted, they went all in and launched an ambush.
In the end, their tactic paid off.
….Or so they thought.
They were about to move away from their spot and find another isolated Konoha ninja to launch an ambush once again.
But at that moment, they suddenly heard a whistling sound, as if something sharp was cutting through the air.
And before they could react, two out of the three Shimada clan ninjas were beheaded. Their heads had been separated from their bodies by sharp wind blades.
The cuts were so smooth that the bones, muscles, and skin around the cut were completely plain and flat, without any signs of tearing. The two ninjas who had died didn't even feel any pain. They died too swiftly to feel or understand anything.
As for the other ninja?
He was stunned by the scene. His brain froze for a moment.
And as soon as he processed everything and saw his comrades' decapitated heads fall off their still-standing bodies, his pupils contracted in fear.
Did a Konoha ninja target them while they finished off that kid?
"Indeed, it's a Konoha ninja who targeted you guys."
Suddenly, a smooth, boyish voice drifted to his ears, causing him to jolt and look at his back. His head snapped back so fast that they would have gotten a severe neck injury by now if he weren't a Chunin-level ninja.
There, he saw a boy with snow-white hair and a pair of ocean-blue, almost glowing eyes staring at him with a hint of amusement.
He didn't understand what was happening.
He couldn't understand what the boy was doing here.
Didn't they see the boy being stabbed by kunai and reduced to nothing after the explosion?
How is he still alive?
Countless thoughts were racing through the Shimada clan ninja's brain when he saw the boy moving his mouth again.
"Ah! Are you wondering how I am still alive? After all, I have been caught in the explosion."
The moment the Shimada clan ninja heard Seimei say that, he stepped back unconsciously.
W-what? What? How is reading my mind? The Shimada clan ninja thought as he gulped in fear.
Seeing this, Seimei smiled even more. "No, no, no. I am not reading your mind. But your thoughts were written all over your face. So, it wasn't hard to guess."
Then, his smile widened even more.
"Hey, are you so afraid that you can't even manage your facial expression?" Seimei continued. "If that's the case, then you are a complete failure of a ninja, you know."
As soon as Seimei said that, he had activated Earth Release: Shackles of Gaia.
Tens of dark-brown linked chains made of earth, each with a sharp speartip at its end, erupted from the ground around the Shimada clan ninja and wrapped around him.
In the blink of an eye, the earthen chains bound his legs, hands, torso, and even his neck. The chain on his neck tightened, making it difficult to breathe or let out any words.
Then, the chain that was wrapped around his neck gave him a violent tug, forcing him to kneel with both of his knees down.
He couldn't scream. He could hardly breathe. As the chains tightened around his neck further, he instinctively let his tongue out. Saliva was flowing from the corners of his mouth.
But Seimei showed no mercy.
Instead, he continued to speak.
"You forgot to maintain your facial expression, which is akin to giving your enemies open clues. You thought your ambush was successful without even checking whether I truly died."
"You are a failure of a ninja."
"Yet, you dared to launch a sneak attack on me, huh?"
"Whatever. Now, die."
"At least, you know how you died, unlike your friends, who went to the Pure Land without even knowing how they perished."
"Goodbye."
With that, Seimei stretched his right hand forward and made a finger gun, pointing his index finger toward the forehead of the bound Shimada clan ninja.
Water Release: Water Gun Technique
Numerous water droplets condensed around his hand before creating a highly compressed drop of water, which was only as big as a toy marble.
Originally, this Jutsu required assistance from the Hozuki clan's Hydrification Technique.
But for Seimei or his father, Tobirama, who could use their water chakra to condense and control the water particles in the atmosphere, they didn't need the Hydrification Technique at all.
At the next moment, Seimei shot the water drop with tremendous force.
Bang!
The water drop shot forward like a bullet. And in the blink of an eye, it pierced the Shimada clan ninja's forehead and came out of the back of his head, leaving behind a deep, bloody hole that spattered blood and brain matter.
And just like that, another ninja met his end.
Seimei looked at the dead body and turned away. There were still around forty enemy ninjas left. He and his fellow Konoha ninjas should be able to deal with them within the next 10-15 minutes.
And then…
What awaited was a massacre of the entire Shimada clan, including the civilians and innocent children.
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