Isn't this guy a Medical Ninja?
The intel should have recorded him as such, right?
Why is there no information at all about that black shadow ability?
Hakushi turned around, the black shadow coiling around his body vanished, facing directly an enigmatic ninja with a black mask, exposing a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
One could see that mysterious Jonin Uchiha's eyes were filled with doubt and wavering.
"Sorry, but cheap tricks like Illusion Technique are useless against me. Also, who are you? I don't recall ever offending anyone in the Uchiha Clan."
Hakushi looked a bit confused at the Uchiha ninja who had just ambushed him.
He really couldn't make sense of why an Uchiha ninja would try to assassinate him.
The killing intent earlier, and the Illusion Technique used on the maid, were clearly deadly moves, not a joke.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The ninja didn't answer Hakushi, instead attacked him with Fire Style.
A massive fireball rushed straight ahead, making the air around scorchingly hot.
Hakushi sighed and scratched his head.
This is just troublesome, what the hell is going on?
While he scratched his head, the shadow slipped out from the darkness and condensed in front of him into a pitch-black shield wall, deflecting the fireball.
Behind Hakushi, the masked Uchiha ninja appeared using Instantaneous Body Jutsu.
The Fireball Technique was just a feint; this was his true purpose.
Though the method was simple, in actual combat, it was an effective tactic.
Whether it was the jutsu casting or the timing, the opponent handled it perfectly.
However—
"Ah!"
A scream of pain.
Blood splattered everywhere.
What awaited him ahead were still swathes of Black Shadow Blades, and the Shadow Shield Wall shifted direction, transforming into Shadow Blade attacks—all completed in an instant.
The kind of terrifying speed, even Sharingan could discern the pattern, but couldn't match an attack that surpassed human limits.
The Uchiha ninja's body was slashed until he was covered in wounds, sent flying backward.
He crashed and rolled on the ground, leaving a trail of bloody spots across the floor.
"Did you—hold back from the start?"
The speed of the Shadow Jutsu's assault was so fast that even with Three Tomoe Sharingan, he couldn't keep up at all.
Even though Sharingan exposed the attack patterns of the shadows, his nerve reactions were nowhere near fast enough.
This made him understand one thing: Hakushi never intended to kill him from the start.
If Hakushi had wanted him dead, he would have been decapitated right after his first ambush.
He'd thought it was his quick reflexes—paying with a cut on his face—that let him escape the Shadow Blade attack alive.
If he had seriously used Sharingan to analyze, he could have broken through the Shadow Blade assault.
Unexpectedly, it was all because Hakushi had shown mercy from the beginning.
"Let's just say so. After all, this is your Uchiha Clan's family business, I have no right to intervene."
Hakushi was troubled, not wanting to get involved in this muddy mess.
Hearing Hakushi say so, the masked Uchiha ninja's body stiffened, knowing exactly to whom Hakushi was speaking, and turned around.
In his field of vision, a girl with jet-black hair and a frosty expression showed her brilliant crimson Three Tomoe Sharingan.
It was Ruri, just back home from her patrol mission.
She hadn't expected her clan's ninja would try to assassinate Hakushi at this time.
If they were dissatisfied with him, they could have just opposed the two being together from the start.
Attempting an assassination now filled Ruri with a sense of unease.
The masked Uchiha ninja merely glanced at Ruri's Sharingan, his legs buckled uncontrollably, dropping to his knees on the corridor floor.
Ruri walked over, slowly squatted down, and removed the mask from his face, revealing a look of resignation.
"I hoped my senses were wrong, but didn't expect it really was you."
Uchiha Rika.
The personal guard of the Uchiha Clan's radical leader, Uchiha Shikora.
"Yeah… I never thought your Sharingan's Illusion Technique would be this terrifying… just a moment and I was caught…"
Both had Three Tomoe Sharingan. Who'd have thought his lost completely the instant they clashed.
He himself specialized in Illusion Techniques and Fire Style, an Elite Jonin of the Uchiha.
Yet faced with Ruri's Sharingan donjutsu, he had no strength to resist, surrendering instantly.
He had a feeling that Ruri's Three Tomoe Sharingan differed from his almost in essence.
The sort of overwhelming power was already on another dimension, looking down on him.
Hakushi didn't look surprised; from the beginning he knew this was Uchiha Rika, the guard by Elder Shikora's side.
He'd remembered this Jonin Uchiha's chakra; even with a mask, careful sensing could use chakra to determine his identity.
"Just as expected… Elder Shikora was right: you are the future of the Uchiha. So long as you use that power well… Kill me then…"
Rika smiled, resigned, only a look of facing death, struggling to say these words.
"I don't deserve such praise. Can you tell me: what's the reason for all this?"
Ruri fell silent.
Rika could never decide on his own to assassinate Hakushi; in the entire Uchiha Clan, only Elder Shikora could command him.