Feeling the sharp killing intent radiating from Seimei and seeing the blade slicing toward him, Murakami Yu couldn't help but feel a slight wave of unease in his heart.
In the next instant, he planted his toes firmly on the ground and abruptly halted his forward motion. Using his right foot as a pivot, he rotated his body ninety degrees, retreating as he deftly dodged the oncoming blade.
Swish!
Seimei's blade struck nothing but air.
His gaze sharpened as he slightly adjusted his posture. With a twist of his wrist, the downward slash transformed into a horizontal sweep aimed directly at Murakami Yu's waist.
Murakami Yu reacted swiftly, leaping into the air just in time to evade the attack.
Seeing this, Seimei moved to press the assault further.
However, at that very moment, another Mist jōnin sprang into action, swinging a kunai directly at Seimei's throat.
Sensing the imminent danger, Seimei was forced to abandon his pursuit of Murakami Yu and instead raised his sword to block the incoming kunai.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out as the kunai met the blade.
Immediately after, a sharp, grating sound followed as the kunai and sword ground against each other. Sparks flew between them, briefly lighting the space between the combatants.
Both fighters pushed against each other, each striving to gain the upper hand. However, neither succeeded in forcing the other back.
While Seimei was locked in this contest of strength, Murakami Yu, having regained his footing, seized the opportunity to strike. He thrust his kunai toward Seimei's heart with precise timing.
A wave of intense danger swept over Seimei. Without hesitation, he disengaged, retreating to avoid Murakami Yu's attack.
Though his retreat saved him from the immediate threat, it also cost him some of the initiative in the fight.
Sensing an opportunity, the Mist jōnin who had been pressing him earlier wasted no time in launching a follow-up attack.
Seimei was forced to raise his sword to parry the renewed assault.
Clang, clang, clang!
In an instant, the two were embroiled in a fierce exchange of blows. The sound of clashing steel rang out continuously as sparks flew from every collision.
Under normal circumstances, Seimei's swordsmanship—anchored by his mastery of the Shun Sword Technique—would allow him to regain the upper hand within a few dozen exchanges, even after losing the initiative.
But the situation was complicated by Murakami Yu, who consistently disrupted the flow of battle whenever his ally showed any signs of faltering or exposing a weakness.
The two Mist jōnin were clearly not ordinary fighters. Each was a well-rounded, fully-fledged jōnin—not mere specialists in a single skill like tokubetsu jōnin. From the brief exchanges thus far, Seimei could tell that while neither of them quite reached the level of elite jōnin, they were still more formidable than average jōnin.
Together, their teamwork posed a genuine challenge. Without activating his Mangekyō Sharingan, Seimei found it difficult to defeat them quickly.
But he wasn't particularly concerned.
During the fight, Seimei's gaze briefly swept across the surrounding battlefield. The overall situation was clear—while Konoha's forces were on the defensive, they managed to launch effective counterattacks from time to time.
The ability to retaliate even while on defense spoke volumes.
Clearly, Konoha wasn't under significant pressure at the moment.
As long as his side didn't collapse, there was no urgent need for Seimei to push for a swift resolution to his fight.
In fact, the two Mist jōnin made for excellent sparring partners, providing an ideal opportunity for Seimei to refine his swordsmanship and further his mastery of the Shun Sword Technique.
With that thought in mind, Seimei dismissed other concerns and devoted his full attention to the battle at hand.
Interestingly, the Mist forces seemed to share a tacit understanding. Despite the intensity of the fight between Seimei and the two jōnin, no additional reinforcements were sent to assist them.
Perhaps they didn't have extra personnel to spare, or perhaps they were deliberately allowing this skirmish to play out. Either way, it provided the three combatants with a certain degree of freedom to engage without outside interference.
The two Mist jōnin fought with everything they had, employing a variety of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu in an attempt to bring Seimei down.
But no matter what they tried, Seimei countered them with calm precision.
Throughout the battle, Seimei refrained from relying on his Mangekyō Sharingan, choosing instead to focus on his swordsmanship—particularly the Shun Sword Technique. It was clear he saw the two as little more than whetstones to hone his blade.
Despite this, the two jōnin were unable to gain the upper hand.
Seimei's earlier assessment was accurate: while defeating them quickly would be difficult without his Mangekyō, they posed little threat to him as long as he fought defensively.
Time ticked by.
Before long, half an hour had passed since the fight began.
The intense exchange between Seimei and the two Mist jōnin showed no signs of abating.
While half an hour might not seem like much for jōnin-level combatants, the same couldn't be said for the lower- and mid-tier ninjas on the battlefield. For them, such prolonged combat inevitably took a toll on their chakra reserves and physical stamina.
As fatigue set in, mistakes became more likely.
And in the world of ninjas, a single mistake could prove fatal.
Seimei cast another brief glance at the battlefield. He wasn't particularly concerned. As long as Konoha didn't collapse entirely, the overall situation remained manageable.
Life and death on the battlefield were, ultimately, matters of personal fate.
His sole focus now was on improving his Shun Sword Technique.
The past half hour of combat with the two jōnin had already increased the technique's proficiency by nearly 500 points. He was now even closer to reaching the pinnacle of level 7.
Such an opportunity was rare, and Seimei had no intention of wasting it.
Interestingly, his obvious intent to use them as sparring partners did not go unnoticed by the two jōnin.
After prolonged engagement, both Murakami Yu and his ally realized that Seimei wasn't treating the battle as a life-or-death struggle but rather as a chance to refine his skills.
However, they had no effective countermeasures.
Over the course of the half-hour, they had exhausted their arsenal of techniques in attempts to kill him, but none succeeded.
With no viable options left, the two Mist jōnin tacitly settled into a defensive rhythm, focusing on survival rather than risking their lives on futile attacks.
This unspoken agreement allowed the three to continue their battle in a bizarre yet harmonious state.
And so, as the fight dragged on, Seimei's mastery of the Shun Sword Technique steadily improved, inching closer and closer to perfection.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.