Shiki, who had been blown away, popped into a cloud of smoke while another "him" rose from the ground, decisively swinging his enhanced blade at Dark's back.
Dark Release was far too troublesome and its user was weaker in terms of raw stats so the boy chose to go for him first.
With Dragon Heart pushing him into Elite Jonin level in raw stats, the boy's ambush was brutal but, being highly sensitive to chakra due to his Yin based kekkei genkai, Dark managed to sense Shiki in time, getting away with a shallow cut on his back.
Typhoon was not about to miss the opportunity, molding chakra for another ninjutsu attack . . .
But Shiki was faster.
'Assault Storage: Shadow Hand'
A barrage of chakra enhanced shuriken instantly materialized, forcing Typhoon to dodge, canceling jutsu activation which would not come in time to defend from such a short range.
But even this rapid exchange was enough for Dark to stabilize and launch an attack of his own.
'Dark Release: Judgment'
Using his own chakra and not an absorbed jutsu for a power source, made the light blue blast weaker but at near point blank range, it would still be deadly even with Shiki's enhanced defenses from Dragon Heart's activation.
However . . .
'You can't absorb while blasting can you?' Shiki internally smirked.
'Flash of The Soaring Heavenly Dragon'
A storm of midnight blue chakra surged from the boy's body, forming a dragon shaped shell and instantly accelerating him towards Dark in a kicking motion.
With such a short acceleration distance, the power was significantly reduced compared to when he used it against Kumo's Ay junior but his current enemy did not have Lightning armor to save him.
The chakra dragon tore through the light blue blast and slammed into Dark, instantaneously smashing his ribcage along with its contents.
Such immense shock could only result in immediate death.
Shiki rapidly collected the mangled body. It was far too valuable to leave lying around, even if he should have been pressing his advantage right now.
'Dark Release appears to contain mysteries far too juicy. I can't risk losing the body.' Shiki thought to himself.
'Besides . . . It's too late to take out the other one.' The boy realized.
Zee arrived like a thunderbolt crashing down from the sky but a Phantom Flicker ensured she could not even graze Shiki's clothing.
The reduced power of Flash of The Soaring Heavenly Dragon from the short acceleration distance, also ensured he was not too injured beyond a few fractures and so, his combat ability was mostly maintained, enabling him to easily dodge the Kumo kunoichi's attack.
Toroi, using his creative Static Slide, arrived just after, joining his Kumo companion.
"Looks like the kid managed to take down one of them before we arrived." He commented.
Zee looked at Typhoon who curiously, showed not only rage, but also fear on his face.
The man looked just about ready to make himself scarce.
'Did the brat terrify him that much?' The Kumo kunoichi wondered.
But Typhoon seemed more scared that something might pop out of nowhere, not particularly of the boy whose position was clear.
Shiki noticed as well and his intuition was sounding off all kinds of alarms in his head.
Then, faster than he ever thought possible, the boy's massive sensory range was crossed near instantaneously.
He raised his arms in a cross block at the last second before a massive impact sent him flying, burying his small body into a nearby boulder to the point his figure could not be seen.
And at his previous position, a slim and lithe beauty, her straight, shoulder length, blonde bob wildly swaying in the wind, lowered her left leg from a kicking stance back to the ground.
Her steely silver eyes slowly turned, her gaze assessing the battlefield before pinning Typhoon with a glare.
The man was already pale, shivering with cold sweat.
"Where's my brother, Fuuzan?" She asked.
But there was no response besides Typhoon's, whose name was now revealed to be Fuuzan, trembling.
"I asked where Kei is." The kunoichi reiterated.
"K-Keiko . . . I . . ." Fuuzan started.
But Keiko's question was rhetorical.
Before anyone could react, She was already on top of Fuuzan, her open toed boot resting on his windpipe.
"Go keep Kei company in the Pure Land." She whispered with venom, callously crushing his neck.
The Kumo pair looked at the ruthless kunoichi with caution but made no move. They did not want to needlessly provoke such a powerful and seemingly unstable individual.
On her side, Keiko cared nothing for them, instead moving to confirm the death of Shiki, her brother's killer.
Reaching inside the dark hole in the rock formation, dug by the boy's body when she sent him flying, Keiko fished out his unconscious body.
'The damage is surprisingly low, this brat is tougher than he looks. The shock of the impact still knocked him out though.' She analyzed.
"It's great that you're still alive! I'll make sure you wish that wasn't the case!" Keiko spat at Shiki's unconscious body.
It was at this time that Kumo made a move to intervene.
"We had an agreement with your group. That boy is ours while you get the girl you were hired to retrieve and both our groups cooperate in the battle." Toroi spoke up.
Aware of her abrasive personality and hot temper, Zee wisely let him be the one negotiating.
"I couldn't care less about the deal those fools made with you. I took no job and only followed to make sure my brother was not getting into too much trouble to handle but clearly, I overestimated his and his team's capabilities." Keiko scoffed.
Her relationship with Kei had never been too great.
She always felt the need to take care of him who was not as capable while Kei resented the overly controlling attitude of her sister that marked him as dead weight slowing her down.
Regardless of this however, the two were still siblings and cared for each other in their own messed up way.
Keiko was not willing to give up his killer.
Zee and Toroi looked at each other.
Technically speaking, they just wanted to make sure Konoha's group was eliminated, anything further than that was extra.
"Help us deal with the rest of the enemy and capture the girl your brother's group was after. We'll be square then." Zee spoke up and suggested.
Keiko was now standing face to face with the Kumo pair, weighing things down.
Taking out the companions of her brother's killer was enticing but she was alone and Kumo's reputation regarding female kekkei genkai wielders was quite bad.
'Being caught in between Kumo and Konoha just for a bit of revenge . . .' She pondered.
Keiko was not an insane Uchiha, willingly charging into the Five Kage and their elite guards for some payback.
She was confident in her abilities but not brash enough to just accept.
Zee and Toroi were getting impatient, Dodai would not last long in his delaying efforts so they needed to move fast.
They did not want to weaken their position in front of Keiko however, it would make them seem weaker and thus not worth siding with.
Alas, even then, the Swift Release user was more partial to retreating with her prize. It was better than going for more and possibly ended up empty handed . . . or worse.
But . . .
Would the choice be hers to make?
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -