"An Uchiha is nothing special after all. A simple bit of coordination was enough to tear through your defenses. Now—let's take away your ability to fight!"
Seeing Uchiha Ran trapped deep within the Swamp of the Underworld, his body mired in sludge as he struggled desperately but failed to break free, Akita had no intention of holding back.
He stared at Ran for a moment, cold light flickering in his eyes.
The fact that Ran still hadn't activated his Sharingan told Akita everything he needed to know.
This is the end.
Akita's hands flew through seals as he shouted,"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
A massive earthen dragon erupted from the ground, roaring as it surged straight toward Ran.
At the same time, the other two Iwagakure special jōnin acted in perfect sync, each condensing a massive Earth Release spear. Together with the earth dragon, all three attacks converged on Ran from different angles.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu!"
Ran hastily gathered chakra, unleashing a torrent of flames in an attempt to counter the combined assault. Fire and earth collided violently, triggering a powerful shockwave that shook the battlefield.
"Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique!""Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique!""Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique!"
Three sharp shouts rang out in succession.
Akita and the two special jōnin had already reinforced their blades and kunai with the Weighted Rock Technique, drastically increasing their mass.
Before the smoke from the collision between fire and earth could even disperse—
A sword and two kunai suddenly appeared right in front of Ran.
There was no time to dodge.
Forced to block with his blade, Ran was struck head-on. His body was sent flying, tumbling through the air before crashing down on the far edge of the swamp.
"Well?" Akita sneered, looking down at him. "Feel the weight of the Weighted Rock Technique now, brat? If you weren't still valuable to us, you'd already be blown to pieces and left to rot here."
Even restrained by the swamp, Ran showed no intention of surrendering.
As he struggled and began forming hand seals, the Iwa ninja moved in an instant.
With a flash of movement, a sword and two kunai were pressed against Ran's throat.
"It's over, Uchiha. As long as we watch out for your Sharingan, three against one—you never had a chance."
At this moment, Ran appeared completely captured, utterly devoid of any possibility of turning the tables.
Yet, sensing that Ran still refused to give up, Akita abruptly drove his blade straight into Ran's abdomen.
The steel pierced through flesh—blood immediately spilled out.
But for a shinobi like Ran, this level of injury was far from fatal.
Akita knew exactly what he was doing. His goal wasn't to kill Ran—this stab was meant to suppress him, to halt his movements and crush any remaining resistance.
"Got him! This is a victory for Iwagakure!"
—
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Akahoshi and Natsume Hoshi had fully engaged in a clash of Peacock Mystic Method techniques.
Their battle looked almost like a mirror image of itself.
Akahoshi, a prodigy of the Star Village, was exceptionally skilled in the Peacock Mystic Method. His Peacock Mystic Method: Beast was immensely powerful—chakra transforming into the bodies of ferocious creatures that attacked relentlessly.
As expected, Akahoshi activated his technique.
His chakra morphed into a divine beast resembling a qilin.
The chakra qilin was massive, its form solid and muscular. Savage light gleamed in its eyes, radiating raw ferocity and wild instinct. Though composed purely of chakra, it looked disturbingly close to a real beast.
When the qilin formed from Akahoshi's chakra launched its attack—
For a brief moment, it entered a state of stillness. The chakra-crafted eyes sharpened with killing intent, and then it pounced at Natsume Hoshi like a true predator—fast, brutal, and devastating.
Akahoshi's chakra qilin attacked with merciless ferocity, projecting an overwhelming pressure that inspired instinctive fear.
Yet Natsume Hoshi was a once-in-a-century genius of the Star Village. She, too, had mastered the Peacock Mystic Method, refining it to its highest level. Her strength was anything but inferior.
The defensive power of her Peacock Mystic Method was astonishing.
As the qilin charged—
Natsume closed her eyes, focused her breath, and gathered chakra. A soft pink radiance spread around her body, blooming like the feathers of a magnificent peacock unfurling.
The qilin's assault was savage and overwhelming, like a tiger leaping upon its prey—but against Natsume's defense, it failed to inflict any damage at all.
She shifted her footwork fluidly, her form constantly changing like a dancing peacock, dissolving each of the qilin's attacks.
Bathed in prismatic light, Natsume moved as if she were a living melody.
Elegant—Simply breathtakingly elegant.
Though the qilin's attacks continuously evolved, Natsume remained calm and poised, countering every strike with perfect grace, her peacock form holding firm against the onslaught.
As the battle intensified, both sides unleashed increasingly dazzling variations of the Peacock Mystic Method. Akahoshi's qilin and Natsume's peacock interwove in a spectacular clash, their colliding chakra generating howling winds and a scene of overwhelming grandeur.
The fight dragged on, with their techniques constantly shifting, the tempo of offense and defense growing faster and faster.
Their figures soared through the air, every transformation of chakra sparking a fresh confrontation.
Unable to break through, Akahoshi finally used the chakra qilin to blast Natsume away. He decided to join forces with the Iwa ninja, deal with Uchiha Ran first, and then come back to finish Natsume.
But the instant Akahoshi turned toward the Iwa ninja, his pupils shrank.
"Akita! Stop—stop fighting! Do you even realize what you're doing?!"
As Akahoshi shouted—
Akita's vision twisted violently.
The Uchiha he had just stabbed clean through with his blade had somehow turned into one of his own accompanying special jōnin.
The special jōnin clutched his chest, coughing up a mouthful of blood—but no sound came out of his throat.
"A-Le…?! What's going on?! When did I fall under genjutsu?!"
Akita stared at the comrade he had just pierced straight through the heart. Panic surged through him—but he didn't cry out.
Instead, he immediately disrupted his chakra.
If this one is the Uchiha… then the one beside me is—?!
Sensing the change in his companion A-Le's chakra, Akita acted on instinct. Suppressing his grief, he yanked his blade free from A-Le's body and slashed viciously at the "A-Le" beside him.
The strike was lightning-fast—A turn-and-slash driven by pure momentum, so fast even Akita himself couldn't believe the speed.
And yet—
In the distance, Akita caught sight of Akahoshi's face, twisted in sheer terror.
"What…? Why does Akahoshi look like that?!"
There was no time to think.
The blade's arc was already upon its target—Just a hair's breadth away from cutting down Uchiha Ran.
He won't be able to react in time!