"Hm?"
In mere seconds, Aomei noticed Inoue Ryu and his group. His brows furrowed as he murmured, "So, there really are people after me?"
Judging by their direction, it was clear they were pursuing him deliberately.
With a flicker of thought, Aomei focused his attention on them. Instantly, it felt as though these individuals were standing directly in front of him, their movements laid bare.
Previously, when using his Sharingan to observe others, he could only discern vague chakra clusters. By analyzing them, he could make an educated guess about their strength.
But now, with a single glance, he could clearly see the flow of chakra within their bodies and the precise tenketsu points along their chakra pathways.
"As expected, in this regard, the Byakugan is far superior!"
This realization flashed through Aomei's mind as he quickly assessed their strength.
Based on their chakra reserves, they appeared to consist of one Tokubetsu Jonin and two Chunin—along with... a dog.
Aomei's gaze shifted to the dog, noting its chakra levels.
Clearly, it was a ninja hound.
As for its power, it was roughly equivalent to that of a Chunin.
Admittedly, estimating someone's—or a ninja hound's—strength based solely on their chakra reserves wasn't entirely precise.
But without question, the amount of chakra an individual possessed largely determined their upper limit.
Of course, there were exceptions: individuals who could surpass their limits by mastering advanced techniques in ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, and more.
Still, such prodigies were rare.
Thus, using chakra reserves to gauge an opponent's strength was, by and large, accurate.
Even if they were prodigies, Aomei himself was far from ordinary. Many of his abilities had already reached the pinnacle of mastery.
So, as long as their strength didn't exceed a certain threshold, their talent wasn't something he needed to consider.
And without a doubt, the trio and their ninja hound were well within his threshold.
Given this, Aomei had no reason to hold back.
Even though his chakra reserves were currently depleted, dealing with them was still well within his capabilities.
More importantly, he held the advantage.
Under such circumstances, he didn't mind using these pursuers to replenish his nearly drained chakra reserves.
But time was of the essence.
Prolonging the engagement would inevitably draw the attention of other Mist ninja squads, and that would lead to complications.
With this in mind, Aomei deactivated his Byakugan.
Still, he didn't immediately reactivate the "Guardian Seal" on his forehead. After all, he might need it again before the battle concluded.
For now, he'd leave it as it was.
Adjusting his headband slightly to make his Byakugan more comfortable, he swiftly formed hand seals, unleashing the Shadow Clone Technique.
Poof!
With a puff of chakra smoke, a figure identical to Aomei appeared before him.
Aomei removed his outer cloak and handed it to the clone. "Take this and continue forward."
The shadow clone nodded silently, taking the cloak and sprinting ahead.
Meanwhile, Aomei concealed his presence and hid within the tree canopy.
The moment he'd noticed the ninja hound, he understood how they had been tracking him. Now, he could turn the tables on them.
Time ticked by.
Roughly two minutes later, three humans and a dog appeared below the tree.
Suddenly, the leading hound, Happy, came to an abrupt stop.
Noticing this, Inoue Ryu and the others halted as well.
"What is it, Happy?" Inoue Ryu asked, his gaze fixed on the hound.
The dog's face scrunched up as it sniffed the air carefully, responding, "The scent here doesn't feel quite right. The target seems to have paused here for a moment, and now the scent has split into two trails. One heads forward, while the other..."
Mid-sentence, Happy abruptly lifted its head and looked upward.
However, what met its gaze was a flash of bone-white steel.
A visceral sense of impending death washed over the hound, prompting it to instinctively try to dispel the Summoning Technique.
But in the next instant, a pair of blood-red eyes entered its field of vision, plunging it into a brief moment of disorientation.
This is bad!
Happy realized something was amiss as soon as it saw the Sharingan. It struggled desperately to break free from the genjutsu, but to no avail.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bones echoed.
Aomei's blade slashed through the hound's neck.
The blade first tore through its flesh, momentarily catching on bone before slicing cleanly through, severing its head completely.
A dog's head flew into the air, landing a short distance away and rolling a few times before coming to a halt. Its expression of disbelief was frozen in place.
Clearly, even Happy hadn't anticipated its demise here.
Indeed, as a summoning creature, escape was typically as simple as canceling the Summoning Technique.
Thus, summoning beasts rarely faced the threat of death, even if their contracted ninja perished.
However, this didn't mean they were invincible.
As long as the opportunity presented itself and the summoning beast couldn't dispel the technique in time, it could still be killed.
Happy's death was a prime example. The moment Aomei ensnared it in genjutsu, its fate was sealed.
"Happy?"
Staring at the lifeless body of the hound, Inoue Ryu's eyes turned bloodshot in an instant.
Happy had been more than just a summoning beast to him.
Since childhood, Happy had been his companion, teaching him much of what he knew about being a ninja and saving his life on countless occasions.
Their bond was closer than that of family.
And now, Happy was gone.
How could Inoue Ryu not be enraged?
Whizz!
Several kunai shot from his hands, aimed directly at Aomei's vital points.
However, Aomei remained eerily calm.
As the kunai approached, he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and unleashed the left-eye ability—Heavenly Dominion!
Aomei hadn't intended to drag out the fight. After taking out Happy and ensuring no information would be leaked, he resolved to use his strongest technique.
In an instant, Aomei vanished.
This left Inoue Ryu and the two remaining Mist Chunin momentarily stunned.
They immediately scanned their surroundings, hoping to locate Aomei.
But the Heavenly Dominion ability wasn't something mere mortals could detect.
Appearing behind Inoue Ryu, Aomei deactivated his ability and struck.
The moment Aomei reappeared, Inoue Ryu sensed his presence. His expression changed drastically as he attempted to evade.
But he was too slow.
Shlunk!
Aomei's blade pierced through his back, the tip protruding from his abdomen.
"Urgh!"
A spurt of blood erupted from Inoue Ryu's mouth.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.
"You..."
Before he could finish speaking, Aomei silenced him with a well-placed blow, rendering him unconscious.
Without wasting time absorbing chakra, Aomei withdrew his blade and turned his attention to the two remaining Chunin.
Once more, he activated Heavenly Dominion and vanished.
The two Chunin were on edge, their backs pressed together as they scanned their surroundings.
But against Heavenly Dominion, their vigilance was futile.
In a flash, Aomei reappeared between them, landing a punch and a kick that sent them flying apart.
Focusing on one, he deactivated Heavenly Dominion and swiftly incapacitated the first Chunin.
As for the second...
For this opponent, Aomei didn't even bother expending chakra on his ability. In just two exchanges, he found an opening and subdued the Chunin with a single Genjutsu: Sharingan.
And with that, the three Mist ninja and their hound were completely annihilated.
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