A flurry of thoughts flashed through Seimei's mind before he shook his head to clear them, focusing instead on the Mist Ninjas below. By now, the two teams of Mist Ninjas were less than a hundred meters apart.
After a brief consideration, Seimei decided to ignore the Mist Ninjas directly below him and instead turned around, flying towards the newly arrived Mist Ninja squad at the rear.
As for the Mist Ninjas beneath him, if they followed, he would delay both teams. If they continued with their previous plan, he would leave them for the Leaf Ninja reinforcements arriving from the base. In either case, the numbers would be more balanced, creating a fairer duel environment.
*Whoosh!* Seimei flapped his chakra wings, and his speed surged to its limit. In the blink of an eye, he was hovering above the rear Mist Ninja team.
Wasting no time, he launched a direct "death charge" towards the Mist Ninjas.
Seeing this, the Mist Ninjas didn't hesitate. Under the command of a Mist Jonin, they halted and threw their kunai.
Seimei activated his Sharingan fully, clearly seeing the explosive tags attached to the kunai. At this point, there was no time to perform any jutsu, even though he had mastered many ninjutsu to perfection and could release them quickly. However, the speed of both sides was too fast, leaving him no time to form hand seals or gather chakra.
But Seimei had his reasons for acting this way. In a flash, he drew a long sword from his waist. The next moment, a rapid clanging sound echoed as his sword moved like a whirlwind, deflecting all incoming kunai.
By the time the explosive tags detonated, Seimei had already moved past the barrage.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Deafening explosions erupted behind him, fireballs lighting up the sky, momentarily dimming the sunlight. Due to his speed, it looked as though Seimei had burst through the flames, stunning the Mist Ninjas who witnessed the scene.
Not only that, but the Mist Ninjas who had finished forming hand seals for a second attack hesitated because Seimei didn't dodge as they had expected. By the time they refocused on him, they had already missed the best opportunity.
Calmly, Seimei dodged the incoming jutsu by lightly twisting his body and activating Wind Style: Wings of Wind. In the next moment, he sheathed his sword and formed hand seals, unleashing Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
It was the same jutsu, with the same effect. Even though the Mist Ninjas had been on alert after the last encounter, the result was hardly different. The reason was simple—this time, though there was no fog cover, Seimei had created an opportunity through sheer power, catching the Mist Ninjas off guard once again.
The result was devastating.
Looking down at the disoriented Mist Ninjas, Seimei didn't immediately attack. Instead, he glanced at the other Mist Ninja squad in the distance. Seeing they had no intention of returning, he resumed his assault.
"Wind Style: Wind Blade!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
One jutsu after another was unleashed. Seimei alternated between single-target and area attacks, showing no mercy and wasting no chakra. His relentless assault took a heavy toll. Within moments, seven or eight Mist Ninjas had fallen, and the number of injured soared into the double digits.
Considering there had only been about 120 Mist Ninjas after his first wave of attacks, losing nearly a sixth of their forces was a massive blow.
The worst part was that they couldn't do anything to stop Seimei, which made it even more frustrating.
After several rounds of back-and-forth, the Mist Jonin gave up on trying to fight and instead led their squad towards the Black Stone base.
Watching from above, Seimei confirmed that the Leaf Ninja reinforcements had intercepted the forward Mist Ninja squad. Satisfied, he stopped taking risks and followed the retreating Mist Ninjas, harassing them and picking off stragglers when he could.
By the time the two Mist Ninja squads regrouped, their numbers had fallen below a hundred. Moreover, they were tense and exhausted.
However, with both squads united, it was harder for Seimei to continue his aerial strikes. It wasn't that the Mist Ninjas posed a bigger threat after regrouping, but rather that the Leaf Ninjas had now merged with them, making it difficult for Seimei to attack freely without risking friendly fire.
On top of that, the Mist Ninjas were smart, sticking close to the Leaf Ninjas to avoid becoming easy targets. This further limited Seimei's ability to strike from above.
After killing a few more enemies, Seimei decided to abandon this cautious fighting style. If things continued like this, the Leaf Ninja reinforcements would be wiped out by the ten Mist Jonin before he could finish off all the Mist Ninjas.
That's right—Sano Nobuhisa's reinforcements were not only fewer in number than the Mist Ninjas, but also of lower quality. Among the Leaf reinforcements, there were only six Jonin and Special Jonin combined, unable to match the ten Mist Jonin in the Mist forces.
Realizing this, Seimei made his move. He dove down, arriving above a Leaf Jonin who was being surrounded by three Mist Jonin.
The next moment, *whoosh*, his Wind Style: Wings of Wind dissipated.
Seimei leapt forward, landing in front of the Leaf Jonin.
*Clang!*
His sword was drawn.
Seimei swung his blade, his figure flickering, and within an instant, he had deflected the attacks of the three Mist Jonin.
They all backed away from each other.
Behind him, the Leaf Jonin, now seeing Seimei, called out excitedly, "Seimei Jonin!"
"Hmm," Seimei responded simply, not looking back. "Go help the others. I'll handle these three."
The Leaf Jonin didn't hesitate. "Alright, be careful!"
With that, he disappeared in a flash, clearly trusting in Seimei's strength.
Meanwhile, the three Mist Jonin didn't attempt to stop his departure, instead keeping their eyes firmly on Seimei. They too understood his power, not daring to let their guard down.
(End of Chapter)