Meanwhile...
Danzo paid no attention to what Seimei might have been thinking. He tore off the bandage covering his right eye and abruptly opened it, revealing a Sharingan with three tomoe.
At that moment, everything around him became incredibly clear, as if the world had slowed down. He thoroughly enjoyed this heightened perception.
However, when his gaze landed on Seimei, his brow suddenly furrowed.
Why? Because Seimei's expression showed no reaction whatsoever upon seeing his eye.
"What's going on?"
Danzo was slightly unsettled.
In his view, no matter how mature Seimei appeared, he was still just a 12- or 13-year-old child.
Under such circumstances, seeing such a significant feature like a Sharingan transplanted into someone else should elicit some kind of reaction. Even if Seimei didn't lash out in anger, he should at least ask some questions.
But now, this calm reaction was puzzling.
"Could it be... he already knew I had transplanted a Sharingan?"
Suddenly, the thought crossed Danzo's mind.
But he quickly shook his head to dismiss it.
Impossible. The Sharingan had been a well-kept secret. Few people, even among his subordinates, knew about it, let alone Seimei.
Unless Seimei had some kind of clairvoyance, he couldn't have known beforehand.
Wait—
"Clairvoyance?"
Danzo abruptly raised his head and looked directly into Seimei's eyes.
He had already witnessed one ability of Seimei's Mangekyō Sharingan, which seemed to be a space-manipulation technique.
However, he hadn't seen the second ability. It didn't make sense for someone to rely solely on one technique.
Recalling how Seimei had effortlessly dealt with his Root ninjas earlier and avoided the second stage of his Wind Release: Shuriken attack, Danzo thought back carefully.
At that time, Seimei had sensed the two shurikens before they even got close.
"Could it really be some kind of precognition ability?"
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Danzo's mind.
His brows furrowed even tighter.
On the other side, Seimei had no idea what Danzo was thinking. If he did, he would have given him a thumbs-up.
Why? Because this chain of reasoning was simply brilliant!
Still, it wasn't entirely Danzo's fault for misunderstanding. He was merely making the most logical deduction based on the information he had.
And to some extent, Seimei did have a bit of a "clairvoyant" quality due to his memories of his past life.
In the end, Danzo's guess had accidentally hit upon part of the truth.
However, Seimei wasn't too concerned about what Danzo thought.
Uninterested in waiting for Danzo to fully adapt to the Sharingan, Seimei activated his Blink Sword Technique. His figure turned into a blur as he darted toward Danzo with incredible speed.
Despite Seimei's speed, Danzo wasn't slow either. With the aid of his Sharingan, he quickly locked onto Seimei's movements.
Immediately, Danzo formed hand seals and once again performed his previous technique—Wind Release: Shuriken!
Swish, swish, swish!
One by one, the shurikens infused with Wind Release chakra were thrown. Like boomerangs, they zipped through the air, weaving together to form a lethal attack aimed at Seimei.
It had to be said that with the Sharingan, Danzo's control over the shurikens became even more precise.
Unfortunately, none of this mattered against the 360-degree vision of Seimei's Byakugan.
With incredible speed, Seimei zigzagged across the water in a "Z" shape, effortlessly dodging the shurikens while closing the distance to Danzo.
Swish!
Seimei's blade slashed through the air like lightning.
Danzo's Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto the blade's trajectory. He drew his short sword and parried the strike.
Seimei's expression remained calm. His figure flickered as he repositioned to Danzo's side and swung his blade again.
Clang!
Danzo blocked the attack once more.
The two blades clashed and separated in an instant.
Rather than prolong the engagement, Seimei adjusted his stance and resumed his assault, slashing at Danzo with precision.
Danzo continued to evade and parry the strikes.
For a moment, the sound of clashing metal rang out repeatedly.
---
The battle between the two became even more intense compared to earlier. Seimei seemed to use every sword technique he knew, moving like a phantom as he relentlessly attacked Danzo.
However, to be honest, the effect wasn't particularly impressive.
Indeed, Danzo's skills in this area were inferior to Seimei's, but he managed to hold off the attacks through his vast combat experience and the aid of a Sharingan. This made Seimei's offensive feel somewhat ineffective.
Realizing this, Seimei decided not to waste any more time.
He had already tested the limits of Danzo's Sharingan, worn him down physically, and incidentally improved his proficiency with "Shadow Sword Technique" and "Lightning Style: Thunder Light Blade."
Now, it was time to end the fight.
With this thought, Seimei swiftly withdrew.
Seeing him retreat, Danzo didn't dare to recklessly pursue him.
He couldn't afford to. In their previous exchanges, he was already at a disadvantage. If Seimei were to suddenly counterattack, it could be disastrous.
Standing on the water's surface, Danzo panted slightly, staring at Seimei, whose appearance remained completely composed. His expression was heavy, filled with a mixture of apprehension and caution.
Even though he had already overestimated Seimei, it seemed he had still underestimated him.
Seimei's strength had far surpassed the level of an ordinary Jonin.
At this point, even if Danzo wanted to retreat, Seimei likely wouldn't allow it.
And indeed, that was the case.
As soon as they created some distance, Seimei sheathed his sword, formed seals at lightning speed, and unleashed a jutsu—Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
In an instant, a water sphere materialized, rapidly expanding to engulf Danzo.
Once this was completed, Seimei could then execute Lightning Style: Thunder Prison to kill him instantly.
However, Danzo had been watching him closely and sensed the danger the moment Seimei completed his hand seals.
Without hesitation, he leaped several times, widening the gap between them.
But Seimei's jutsu was designed to overwhelm. As long as Danzo stayed within range, there was no escaping it.
Fortunately for Danzo, Seimei's Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave had only recently evolved into the more advanced Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave. Seimei hadn't yet mastered it fully and couldn't expand the water sphere to its maximum size in the shortest time.
Otherwise, Danzo wouldn't have even had a chance to catch his breath.
And it was this brief window that allowed Danzo to make the most crucial decision.
He bit his thumb, drew blood, and used it as a medium to perform a summoning jutsu—Summoning Technique!
Boom!
Amid a cloud of chakra-infused smoke, a massive and bizarre creature appeared. It had a bull-like head, tiger-like feet, an orange body, a long tail, and an elephant-like trunk. The air around it was suffused with a menacing aura. This was Danzo's summoning beast—Baku!
The moment Baku appeared, it noticed the rapidly expanding water sphere nearby. Without hesitation, it opened its massive mouth and activated its suction ability, drawing in large volumes of water and temporarily halting the sphere's expansion.
But this wasn't a permanent solution.
Seimei observed Baku's arrival but didn't show much concern. He continued channeling vast amounts of chakra into the water sphere, causing it to grow larger and larger.
Baku, sensing the mounting pressure, glanced at Seimei with a trace of fear in its eyes.
In its experience, people who were this headstrong were either overwhelmingly powerful or utterly foolish.
Clearly, Seimei belonged to the former category.
Even without considering the intense aura in Seimei's eyes, the current situation alone proved how formidable he was.
As Danzo's summoning beast, Baku understood Danzo well. Unless faced with an exceptionally dire situation, Danzo would never summon it so easily.
From every angle, Seimei was not someone to be trifled with.
Fortunately for Baku, it wasn't alone.
At that moment, Danzo's voice rang out, timely and commanding.
"Assist me!" he barked.
As he spoke, Danzo formed hand seals and took a deep breath, his chest swelling dramatically.
Then, with Baku's support, he unleashed a jutsu—Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!