Boom!
Ronin's fist slammed heavily into Uvogin's chest.
A terrifying amount of force exploded outward in an instant.
Uvogin's body—pinned against the outer hull of the airship—actually bent backward under the impact. Shock flashed through his eyes the moment the punch landed.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. There was no doubt about it—Ronin's burst of power had injured him.
But in the very next second, madness flared across Uvogin's furious face. The punch he had thrown but failed to land followed the rise of his other arm, both arms snapping inward as if he were trying to pull Ronin straight into a crushing embrace.
Ronin gave him no such chance.
The Sharingan's terrifying dynamic vision let him read every one of Uvogin's movements with ease.
The instant his strike connected, Ronin dropped his body low. His right arm drew back as chakra rapidly gathered—clearly lining up for a brutal follow-up aimed straight at Uvogin's most vulnerable spot.
The moment Ronin crouched, even Uvogin felt a chill shoot straight up his spine.
But as his Nen shifted downward, Uvogin suddenly sucked in a deep breath.
Ronin sensed the change immediately. His heart skipped—he knew exactly what Uvogin was about to do.
The charged punch never came out.
Instead, Ronin's eyes snapped wide as the Sharingan's genjutsu activated, and he leapt backward at the same time.
At point-blank range, Ronin clearly saw a faint ripple pass through the Nen surrounding Uvogin as the illusion took effect.
The disturbance was incredibly subtle—and vanished almost instantly.
But that split second was enough.
Ronin retreated several meters in a flash and raised his hands to cover his ears.
And right then—
Uvogin's roar exploded outward, a deafening shockwave powerful enough to rupture eardrums.
Clearly, after having his attacks dodged twice in a row, Uvogin had noticed something was off and decided to use a wide-area sonic attack.
This kind of area-of-effect move couldn't be blocked, even if Ronin used a substitution technique.
What Uvogin didn't expect was how decisive Ronin would be.
He'd actually been holding that breath since the moment Ronin charged at him. After all, he still vividly remembered how Ronin had turned into white smoke last time.
From the start, he hadn't believed he could easily grab Ronin.
That was why a close-range sonic blast to stun his opponent had been his best option.
But judging by the result—
It hadn't worked very well.
Uvogin's gaze sharpened as he looked at Ronin. That instant burst of power had hurt him—and while part of the reason was that several of his ribs were still broken from his earlier fight with Ronin's father, it was still proof that Ronin's attacks weren't something he could ignore.
On top of that, Ronin could read his movements, evade them, and had a whole set of annoying survival tricks.
This guy was far more troublesome than Uvogin had originally judged.
Ronin, now at a distance, stared back with equal seriousness.
A pure Enhancement-type like Uvogin really did have terrifying defenses.
Chakra-Enhanced Strength was the strongest taijutsu Ronin could unleash at his current level, yet even with a surprise attack, it had only drawn a little blood from Uvogin's mouth.
So next—
Ronin watched the structures on the ground grow larger in his vision. His body dropped into a sprinter's stance.
Uvogin narrowed his eyes slightly.
He's charging again?
Fighting on the outer hull of an airship restricted him too much. On flat ground, even if Ronin could read his moves, Uvogin was confident he could overwhelm him with raw speed and smash him straight into the ship during his retreat.
But here, he could only stand like a target—waiting for Ronin to attack, then looking for a chance to counter.
Damn it… this is annoying.
Uvogin thought as his muscles tensed, preparing for defense.
At the same time, his lips moved ever so slightly.
Ronin didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second. Right after assuming his sprinting posture, his body exploded forward at a speed even faster than before, charging straight at Uvogin.
The distance between them was already short.
With that sudden burst, Ronin crossed it in an instant, appearing right in front of Uvogin.
He spun his body and whipped his right leg toward Uvogin's head.
Taijutsu: Leaf Whirlwind.
This time, Uvogin didn't try to tank the hit.
He dipped his head slightly, letting the kick sail past—while his mouth moved again, and a tooth shot straight out.
Wrapped in Nen, the tooth flew like a bullet, grazing past Ronin's abdomen as Ronin shifted his attack.
Ronin's expression didn't change at all.
The moment his kick missed, his center of gravity dropped. The Sharingan had already shown him Nen quietly gathering in Uvogin's mouth.
So whatever Uvogin spat out didn't surprise him—only the speed did.
Even with his best attempt to dodge, the tooth still tore a shallow gash across his side.
Ignoring the pain, Ronin planted one hand against the hull and launched himself upward like a spring.
His foot snapped up from below, kicking straight toward Uvogin's chin.
The motion was smooth and seamless, like flowing water.
Because Uvogin had just launched an attack, he couldn't dodge in time at this close distance.
Ronin's kick slammed squarely into his chin.
At the same moment, Uvogin's heart sank.
Beneath his feet, the airship's hull let out a sharp creaking sound as his body lifted.
In that instant, Uvogin understood Ronin's plan.
He's trying to kick me off the airship!
Realizing this, Uvogin leaned his body back into a full iron-bridge position, grabbing the outer hull with both hands as he fell.
But just then, a strong sense of danger surged up inside him.
The next second, he realized the entire section of hull beneath him was changing—his vision flipping violently along with it.
That bastard—he ripped the entire panel loose!
Ronin stood on the outer hull, massive amounts of chakra gathering in his arms. He didn't use Chakra-Enhanced Strength this time.
Instead, he activated another C-rank technique:
Earth Style: Earth Spear Boulder.
Originally, this jutsu reinforced strength with earth chakra to rip a massive chunk of rock from the ground and hurl it at the enemy.
Using it to tear apart the airship's metal plating worked just as well.
Especially since Uvogin's position was close to the windows below—the structure there was naturally easier to rip free.
The airship was still dozens of meters above the ground.
Ronin had no real confidence that a fall from that height would kill Uvogin outright.
But even if it didn't kill him, Uvogin definitely wasn't Netero—he wouldn't land lightly and unharmed.
That left Ronin with two choices.
One: turn around immediately, storm the cockpit, force the pilot to pull up, and fly straight to the next city.
Two: land the airship—and finish off the fallen Uvogin.
Those two options existed in Ronin's mind for less than three seconds before he made his decision.
Finish him.
Because he saw it—
Uvogin had hit the ground and spat out a massive amount of blood.
And so—
While he's sick… take his life.
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