The Kirigakure ninja with sharp teeth sported a nasty, predatory grin. "Kirigakure fish?"
"Well, my boy, we will see who the fish is when we start cutting you up like a fish on the chopping board. I would love to see you thrash as we separate you limb by limb."
The seaweed-head pulled a large broadsword that looked like Kubikiribocho without the close circle and the semi-circle cuts on his blade.
He set the nearly eight-foot-long sword's point on the ground, making it stand vertically, then leaned on it. "And I would love to hear you scream as we make you bleed."
"Then, you will understand who is the fish and who is the predator."
Seimei carefully examined them, evaluating their strengths. Then, he let out a thoroughly infuriating grin and said, "Three middle-aged men are besieging a boy like me, and you are talking about being a predator?"
"Do you have no shame?"
The Hoshigaki clan member with a serious expression finally opened his mouth. "This is war, boy."
"And in a war, it doesn't matter whether you are a child, adult, old, or a respected person, we will kill you all the shame."
"You have killed a lot of ninjas of our partner clan."
"So, you should be prepared to be killed, too."
After saying that, the Hoshigaki clan member also unsheathed his ninja sword and got ready to attack.
"Can't argue with that."
Seimei said.
"Since the day I slit the throat of the first person I killed, I was always prepared to be killed."
"The question is: are you strong enough to do what you claimed to do? Can you kill me?"
The Kirigakure ninja with sharp teeth, Ishida, grabbed a kunai in his right hand. "Oh, we will."
Ishida wasn't underestimating Seimei. After all, he had seen Seimei slaughter the Shimada clan's ninjas with ease.
But Ishida, Iori, the seaweed-headed ninja, and Reiichi, the Hoshigaki clan member, were not weak ninjas with subpar skills.
They were systematically trained Kiri ninjas with numerous techniques, tactics, and years of battle experience under their belts.
They were full-fledged Jonin with superior combat power. Each of them could overpower an average Jonin from the five major elemental nations with ease.
And Hoshigaki Reiichi?
He was a peak Elite Jonin of Kirigakure, who had killed numerous elite opponents, including an S-rank Shinobi from Iwagakure a year ago.
Although he had to fight tooth and nail and was almost killed, he still managed to prevail.
And now, the three of them had surrounded Seimei.
In their minds, the chances of Seimei making it out alive from their siege were practically zero.
But why were they surrounding a kid like Seimei when there were other adult Konoha ninjas wreaking havoc on the battlefield?
Was it because Seimei killed a few Shimada clan Chunin easily? No!
They were surrounding Seimei because they just wanted to eliminate future trouble.
A Jonin-level ninja cutting through a bunch of Chunin wasn't the issue. But it would become an alarming issue when the one doing that was a kid who hadn't even entered his teens.
Although Seimei hadn't revealed his trump cards, the combat prowess he had shown was already making the Kiri ninjas' danger sense tingle.
Seimei was cutting through the Shimada clan Chunin like cutting vegetables. He had even intercepted a Shimada clan Jonin's ambush on him and killed him within ten seconds.
If he had the chance to grow, he would become another disaster for the other hidden villages like theirs.
That was a Kage-level talent who was already showing Elite Jonin-level combat prowess.
They knew that a ninja world war would soon commence. And Kirigakure was colluding with the other three major hidden villages to attack the Land of Fire to loot its resources and grab its fertile lands.
It was a war that may continue for at least five years.
It could even be extended to ten years.
If this kid, Seimei, became a Kage-level ninja in that duration, things would be disastrous.
Each Kage-level ninja was a force to be reckoned with. On the battlefield, they often played decisive roles.
However, there were only a handful of Kage-level ninjas in each village. The emergence of even one such ninja in the enemy village was enough to ring alarm bells.
So, if they could kill a potential Kage-level ninja before he could even mature, they would be doing a great service to their ninja stronghold.
They would be rewarded and also be saving their own and their fellow ninjas' lives in the future.
Because of that, they must eliminate Seimei. And they needed to do it swiftly.
Hoshigaki Reiichi said in a flat, emotionless tone, "Prepare to die, boy."
Seimei cracked his neck gently, which let out a satisfying popping sound.
His ocean-blue Tenseigan glowed as he stared at his enemies. "We'll see. Now, shall we dance then?"
As soon as Seimei said that, he immediately dashed toward Ishida, reinforced his body with chakra while grabbing his ninjato harder, and slashed at Ishida's neck.
The speed of Seimei's movement was incredibly fast, which almost startled Ishida.
But as an experienced war veteran, Ishida quickly reacted and blocked the incoming attack with the kunai in his right hand.
Clang!
The sound of metal hitting metal rang out as the edge of the blade and the kunai collided.
However, the force behind Seimei's attack made Ishida's arm bones ache.
Damn it. What did this kid eat while growing up? Is he from the Senju clan, known for their monstrous physiques?
Ishida's mind raced as he shifted his center of gravity and placed his body behind the kunai-wielding arm to exert more force.
Then, he attacked with a roundhouse kick with all his might. The force behind the chakra-reinforced kick was powerful enough to crack an average ninja's ribs if they could land cleanly.
Seimei saw this and smiled.
He placed his left arm in the kick's trajectory to block the attack.
And the moment the kick landed on his left arm, Seimei released a little chakra from the tenketsu of his left arm and detonated it outwards.
Improvised Chakra Enhanced Strength—Chakra Point Detonation
Boom!
The outward impact of the pinpoint chakra detonation had not only cushioned all the force behind Ishida's roundhouse kick, but it also flung his leg outward while causing internal damage to the muscle tissue and the bones of his left leg.
"Argh…"
"What the fuck was that?"
Seeing Ishida momentarily distracted in pain, Seimei tried to bring his blade down to land a serious blow.
But at that moment, Seimei used the Tenseigan's 360-degree vision and saw Hoshigaki Reiichi finish weaving his hand seals and prepare a Ninjutsu to attack him.
On the other side, Reiichi gathered a large amount of water chakra in his throat and unleashed his attack.
Water Release: Cold Sky Water Attack
Reiichi shot multiple extremely large jets of water from his mouth, which targeted Seimei. Each jet of water was powerful enough to smash through a rock, making them quite deadly.
Seeing this, Seimei clicked his tongue in annoyance, gave up attacking Ishida further, and jumped back to retreat.
The moment he landed on the ground, Iori, the seaweed-headed ninja, attacked him with his large broadsword.
Water gathered around the blade of his broadsword in a form of rapidly swirling stream.
Seimei knew what kind of attack it was.
This Iori was using the Water Release: Water Forge Technique to increase the power of his technique.
Even if someone blocked the attack using their blade, the swirling mass of water would surge forward and hit the person who blocked the attack with a devastating force.
Just look at this sly bastard!
Seimei mused.
Next, a volleyball-sized, gem-like, blue, swirling sphere of chakra appeared in Seimei's left hand.
Rasengan!!
Then, without any hesitation, he slammed the Rasengan against the incoming broadsword with swirling water.
Crack! Crack!
The Rasengan immediately broke through the layer of swirling water, disrupting the Ninjutsu. And when the Rasengan met the edge of the broadsword, it smashed the blade, causing it to crack and break apart like a broken glass.
Seeing this, Iori leaped back immediately to avoid the dangerous Jutsu held by Seimei.
But before he left, Seimei swung his sword at him while channeling wind chakra through the blade.
Although Seimei's ninjato missed its actual target, he still managed to cut open a deep, bloody gash right below Iori's left ribs.
"Ahhhh…"
After backing away, Iori gritted his teeth and held the wound with his right hand.
Seimei looked at him and said, "I must applaud your battle instinct. It saved your life just now. Congrats, you are alive."
Then, he looked around, strengthened the grip on his blade's hilt, and declared, "But not for long."
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