Chapter 45: Three Seconds
Two hands grabbed Su Xiao's ankles and pulled downward with force.
Dragon-Slaying Flash spun in Su Xiao's hand, shifting from a forward grip to a reverse grip, and he stabbed it into the soil beneath him.
Bang.
White smoke rose as Su Xiao pierced a Shadow Clone hidden in the earth.
At that moment, three Kakashis had already charged to Su Xiao's front.
"Chidori."
A hand wrapped in lightning thrust toward Su Xiao's chest. He could even feel the sting of electricity brushing past his cheek.
"Ring Break."
Clang!
A circular blade aura expanded outward. With three consecutive bangs, the three Kakashis around him all turned into white smoke—all Shadow Clones.
The Ring Break spread further, severing the thick trees nearby. The cuts were smooth as mirrors.
Rumble, rumble.
One tree after another fell, startling the birds in the forest.
Zzzzzt~
A piercing shriek came from above. Su Xiao's pupils contracted sharply.
Kakashi's main body was overhead, and he had already unleashed his ultimate technique, Raikiri—an improved version of the A-rank ninjutsu Chidori, now an S-rank ninjutsu.
Blue-white arcs of lightning surged around Kakashi's hand as his blinding palm thrust toward Su Xiao's crown.
Crack!
Kakashi's hand stopped just over ten centimeters above Su Xiao's head. A pale blue energy shield blocked the strike.
This shield was octagonal, about a meter in diameter, costing Su Xiao 150 mana points.
Zzzzzt~
Raikiri tried to pierce the energy shield, concentrating all its destructive force on a single point. The pale blue patterns on the shield's surface deepened as it dispersed the damage across the entire barrier.
Crack.
Fine cracks appeared on the shield. At this rate, Kakashi could break through in ten seconds.
Su Xiao looked up at Kakashi, a smile forming on his face. The energy shield was surprisingly effective.
Just as Kakashi tensed his fingers, ready to push off the shield and retreat, his hand met empty air—Su Xiao had already dispelled the energy shield.
Kakashi's body lost balance midair as a long blade thrust toward his neck.
Pfft.
Blood splattered. Su Xiao's strike pierced through the area below Kakashi's shoulder, missing his throat.
Failing to land the hit, Su Xiao switched from a one-handed grip to both hands. Dragon-Slaying Flash cut through Kakashi's body, slowly slicing toward his heart. He prepared to use 'Shadow Stab' to pierce Kakashi, but that technique needed time to ready.
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged into Kakashi's body. In that instant, Kakashi nearly blacked out—the pain inside him was unforgettable.
With a gush, Kakashi spat out a large mouthful of blood. Facing imminent doom, but if Kakashi were so easy to kill, he wouldn't have earned the title of Copy Ninja.
"Lightning Shield: Lightning Transmission."
A chain of lightning appeared in Kakashi's hand, winding toward Su Xiao.
A sense of danger flared. Su Xiao immediately stopped cutting into Kakashi's body and kicked him hard in the abdomen.
Bang.
Kakashi was sent flying midair. At the same time, Su Xiao stomped the ground and leaped, the lightning chain grazing beneath his feet.
Pfft.
Even a slight brush left a deep, bone-deep wound on Su Xiao's calf. If that lightning chain had wrapped around him, he would have died without a doubt.
Kakashi rolled far across the ground before stopping, standing up with some difficulty.
"Cough, cough."
After coughing up blood, Kakashi felt dizzy.
"Is this... poison?"
Hearing Kakashi's words, Su Xiao was puzzled. He looked at Dragon-Slashing Flash's blade—there was indeed a faint purple stain on it.
This was Scorpion's poison. Su Xiao hadn't intentionally coated the blade; it might have been accidentally smeared during their earlier joint operation. Kakashi's luck was truly terrible.
Su Xiao flicked the blood off the blade, wiping away the poison. Coating his sword with poison wasn't his fighting style—at least with his current blade technique, he wouldn't do such a thing.
Though Kakashi had been poisoned by Scorpion's toxin, it was only a trace amount. Aside from some dizziness, there were no other symptoms, and the dizziness was gradually fading.
Kakashi stood still, panting. He knew he had made a mistake—too eager to chase Naruto, he had recklessly closed in on the enemy, hoping for a one-hit kill.
Kakashi's mind raced: 'From the start of the fight, he's only used a wire and a sword. That shield earlier had no hand seal traces—it's some kind of bloodline limit. And from Lord Jiraiya's intel, the enemy has long-range attack capabilities but rarely uses mid-range attacks.'
Kakashi began analyzing Su Xiao's information. A ninja's greatest strength wasn't their jutsu but their combat intelligence. In just a few seconds, Kakashi deduced Su Xiao's strengths and weaknesses, even coming up with several ways to counter him.
'Since the enemy excels at close combat, that move should work!'
Kakashi formed hand seals. With a bang, two more Shadow Clones appeared. Kakashi's main body stood still, his chakra suddenly dropping significantly.
"Hm?"
Su Xiao's eyes widened slightly. He sensed Kakashi's chakra had suddenly depleted a lot, and that Sharingan had changed.
Looking closely, Kakashi's Sharingan was no longer three tomoe but a pinwheel-like pattern.
"Mangekyo Sharingan."
Su Xiao grew wary. Kakashi's Mangekyo was hard to deal with—one mistake could mean instant death.
The battle continued.
Kakashi's two Shadow Clones rushed at Su Xiao. Upon reaching him, both clones unleashed Chidori almost simultaneously.
Two lightning-wreathed hands stabbed toward Su Xiao. The muscles in his right arm bulged slightly as he swung a horizontal slash. Both Shadow Clones burst into white smoke.
White smoke filled the air.
"Here it comes."
Su Xiao guessed Kakashi was using the smoke from the destroyed clones as cover to attack him with his dojutsu.
Just as Su Xiao prepared to move, the shriek of lightning came again.
Zzt~
Lightning burst from within the smoke. Su Xiao's pupils contracted. He was certain no one was inside the smoke, and Kakashi's chakra nearby was stable—no signs of casting.
With a crackle, lightning latched onto Su Xiao's body, sending a numbing sensation through him.
Those two Shadow Clones were problematic! Su Xiao immediately realized this.
That was exactly the case. Those two Shadow Clones were special—a technique unique to Kakashi: Lightning Shield: Shadow Clone Technique. Using Lightning Release chakra to create Shadow Clones, they had an additional Lightning nature transformation compared to normal clones. When destroyed, they turned into lightning to attack the enemy, causing paralysis.
The back-and-forth calculations and combat between Su Xiao and Kakashi were dazzling—this was the joy of battle: using wits and strength to kill the enemy.
"Kamui!"
Kakashi roared from a distance, his Mangekyo Sharingan widening.
The space in front of Su Xiao twisted into a spiral, with a black center point aimed directly at his heart.
Still paralyzed by the lightning, Su Xiao was also being pulled by the distorted space, unable to move.
This was Kakashi's first time using Kamui in actual combat, so its activation was slow. It required first forming a node, then connecting to an unknown space, and finally generating the spatial cutting force. The entire process took three seconds.
First second: The numbness in Su Xiao's body began to fade slightly.
Second second: A stabbing pain came from his chest.
Third second: Space began to twist into a spiral, and the fabric over his chest showed signs of tearing.