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Boom!
Jin descended in a column of flame.
Scorching heat spread outward from him like rippling waves, withering flowers and grass in an instant as the surrounding vegetation shriveled and collapsed.
This was not merely coating his body in fire.
This was a technique Jin had developed by fusing chakra with the power of the Flame Fruit.
Fire Release Chakra Mode.
With the Flame Fruit amplifying his affinity, Jin's compatibility with Fire Release had reached its absolute limit.
He no longer needed hand seals.
Flames answered his will directly.
From this foundation, he had created many new techniques.
Fire Release Chakra Mode was one of them.
While its enhancement to raw physical ability was not as overwhelming as A's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, it combined offense and defense seamlessly and possessed countless tactical uses.
"Uchiha shinobi, I admit I underestimated you."
A stood opposite Jin, lightning surging across his body. Aside from scorched clothing, he showed no serious injuries.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode granted terrifying defense, enough to ignore most attacks.
"But I will not give you another chance."
For A, being blasted away in a direct clash of power was worse than being wounded.
It struck at the very pride he held above all else.
"Enough talk! Wild Fang, Flash Step!"
Jin had no interest in conversation.
His figure blurred and vanished, reappearing directly in front of A as a hook punch tore toward his jaw.
"So fast."
A's pupils shrank in shock.
If he were not already accustomed to extreme speed, he would not even have been able to track Jin's movement.
But instead of fear, rage surged within him.
"Do not look down on me, Liger Bomb."
With a furious shout, A twisted his body with astonishing agility and drove his elbow toward Jin's incoming fist.
The Uchiha were famous for their eyes, their ninjutsu, and their genjutsu.
Yet Jin was challenging him with taijutsu.
Using weakness to attack strength.
To A, it felt like an insult.
If Jin knew what A was thinking, he would have laughed.
Compared to taijutsu, Jin truly specialized in ninjutsu, especially large-scale destructive techniques.
But against A's abnormal defenses, only highly condensed, focused attacks could break through.
Just like this strike.
Boom!
Jin's fist was wrapped in dense orange flames, nearly solid in form.
At the moment it met A's elbow, the flames erupted outward, engulfing half of A's body in a blazing surge.
The impact detonated along A's side.
His Liger Bomb never formed.
He was hurled backward by the explosion.
A cry tore from his throat.
He flipped midair, barely stabilizing himself before landing heavily on the ground.
This flame was not as violent as Fire Fist.
But its heat had been compressed, sharply raising its temperature.
A's right arm and neck were covered in severe burns.
Skin shriveled and blistered, bubbles swelling across scorched flesh.
Even someone as tough as A could not suppress the pain.
"Damn it!"
Gritting his teeth, A glared at Jin and raised a hand, wiping across the burned area.
One blister after another was torn open by A's bare fingers.
Blood and fluid splattered as he ripped the swollen skin away.
The pain twisted his features into something feral.
Even Jin felt his teeth ache at the sight.
This man truly lived up to his reputation as the most reckless brute in the shinobi world.
"Righteous Lightning, Guillotine Drop."
A roared, turning agony into fury.
Lightning exploded around his body as he leapt high and came crashing down, his heel splitting toward Jin's head.
The pressure alone distorted the air.
Jin did not dare meet it head-on.
He kicked off the ground, leaving two scorched footprints behind as his figure vanished in a burst of flame.
A narrowed his eyes.
Understanding flashed through his mind.
Without stopping the attack, he slightly adjusted his trajectory.
Boom!
His foot smashed into the ground.
The impact shattered the earth in a radius of several meters.
Using the rebound, A accelerated even faster.
In a blink, he overtook Jin and appeared directly in front of him.
A hand chop slashed toward Jin's neck.
"Lightning Abuse! Horizontal Chop!"
High-density lightning chakra condensed into a blade of electricity and struck cleanly across Jin's throat.
Bang!
Jin's body exploded into a mass of flame that rushed toward A.
The distance was too short.
A had no time to evade.
But the temperature was not high.
He burst straight through the fire without suffering any damage and landed lightly on the ground.
"A fire clone."
A steadied himself and scanned the battlefield.
Now that he had seen through Jin's methods, the next exchange would decide everything.
Jin's speed only appeared equal to his.
In truth, it was not true speed at all.
Before every movement, Jin gathered flames beneath his feet, using explosive propulsion to launch himself forward.
A variant of Fire Body Flicker.
Much faster than ordinary shunshin.
But it carried a fatal flaw.
Lack of flexibility.
The explosive force allowed only straight-line bursts and reduced Jin's ability to react mid-movement.
A had already confirmed this during the previous exchange.
Even his own sudden acceleration had been inspired by Jin's technique.
More importantly, A had realized something else.
Jin's physical body was far weaker than his own enhanced by Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Although their exchanges looked like direct clashes, their bodies had never truly collided.
Each time, Jin's flames detonated just before contact.
That was why A had been blasted away twice.
If his Lightning Mode enhanced the body from within, transforming flesh and bone into a weapon, then Jin's Fire Mode acted externally.
More like ninjutsu than true taijutsu.
Every time A tried to strike, Jin's attack arrived first.
If this continued, A would always be at a disadvantage.
But now, A already had an answer.
This battle was his to win.
Quietly gathering chakra, A suddenly turned his gaze toward a spot off to the left.
His eyes gleamed.
"Found you."
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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