The hemispherical earthen dome shattered. A flash of crimson light streaked past. Then came countless flaming boulders erupting in every direction.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The rocks snapped trees, smashed through substitution logs, and struck several Konoha Anbu who couldn't react in time.
Flames roared through the air while clouds of dust billowed around. Yamato watched the figure slowly emerging from the smoke with a grim expression. He shouted loudly, "Retreat!"
"Want to run? Then you'll have to ask if I agree!" A cold young voice echoed from within the smoke.
[Fire Release – Hokuto Flower's Crimson Claw]!
Dozens of crimson flames shot out from the smoke, then Aozora immediately hurled dozens of rapidly spinning shuriken.
The shuriken flew into the fire, carrying blazing trails like flying birds in every direction.
The Anbu members hurried behind big trees for cover, never expecting the spinning shuriken to suddenly loop back toward them. Unprepared, several were struck and injured.
Aozora didn't use his Orange Fire, so the injured weren't killed instantly.
Aozora created a Kage Bunshin to handle the wounded while his original body drew the Drinking Blood Sword and charged toward Yamato.
In Aozora's eyes, the Anbu present were just cannon fodder — the only one truly worthy of his attention was Yamato.
Seeing his Anbu comrades continuously getting hurt, Yamato's gaze turned cold and serious as he locked eyes on Aozora.
[Wood Release: Frenzy Spear Tree]!
Filled with killing intent, Yamato quickly formed hand seals. Instantly, multiple wooden vine-like tendrils sprouted from his body, rapidly growing wildly like arrows straight at the charging Aozora.
This attack covered wide range at incredible speed, even Jonin would struggle to completely evade.
Facing the incoming vines head-on, Aozora neither dodged nor avoided. Instead, he sprinted forward and swung his blade downward.
[Scarlet Flame Slash]!
Burning chakra surged into the Drinking Blood Sword, turning it red-hot like molten iron, followed by five blazing flame sword beams shooting forth.
Sizzling sounds filled the air — the orange-red sword lights instantly sliced through the vines upon contact.
Within moments, splinters flew everywhere, igniting instantly to form dazzling sparks blooming mid-air.
Aozora dashed swiftly through this shower of sparks, thrusting his sword directly at Yamato who had just barely evaded the flame sword attack and hadn't stabilized his footing yet.
Yamato quickly swept his right hand across his waist, drawing a kunai backward to block desperately.
Clang!
The chakra-wrapped kunai collided with Aozora's red-hot Drinking Blood Sword, producing an ear-piercing metallic screech!
As both exerted force against each other, Aozora's crimson [Three Tomoe Sharingan] instantly locked with Yamato's pitch-black eyes.
[Yan Dao]!
Three black tomoe spun rapidly, instantly pulling Yamato into an illusionary world.
Yamato's chakra flow faltered momentarily, causing his steel kunai to crumble into splinters when struck by Aozora's Drinking Blood Sword.
Pushing harder, Aozora drove his sword forward like a rainbow piercing the sky, instantly impaling the person before him.
At the moment of penetration, Aozora sensed something different about the resistance. Looking closer at the stabbed opponent, it was no longer Yamato but instead a wooden decoy.
"As expected... My illusion talent is indeed impressive!"
Shaking his head, Aozora flicked his wrist, and a crimson blade of light sliced the wooden puppet before him into countless fragments.
The tomoe within his Sharingan slowly rotated as Aozora stepped forward cautiously, scanning all directions with his gaze.
Behind a large tree in the woods, Yamato clutched his charred wound on his chest, cold sweat pouring from him in big drops.
After awaking to the power of Wood Release, he had remained undefeated except against Kakashi.
With the Third's assistance, he had awakened a second time—since then, he always handled enemies effortlessly. Today, however, had been the closest he ever came to death.
Had it been half a breath later, his heart might have already been pierced by Aozora's sword.
No wonder he was a Uchiha genius capable of escaping from Orochimaru. Without even using his specialty Yakton or throwing knives, he had still managed to injure him.
It seemed that the loss of sight in his right eye hadn't broken his spirit—it had only made him more determined.
Thinking about how such a promising ninja had defected from the Village and secretly joined the Akatsuki organization, Yamato's eyes darkened further.
At this moment, he could naturally choose to escape, but doing so might allow Uchiha Aozora to escape scot-free, leaving the village with a great threat.
"For the sake of the village, Uchiha Aozora must not be left alive!"
Determination flashed in Yamato's eyes as he summoned the vast chakra within his body.
[Water Release: Gunshot!]
He clasped both hands together, instantly transforming his chakra into water nature, channeling it down into the ground beneath him.
Aozora was scanning his surroundings when suddenly he heard a rushing sound of surging water.
Following the noise, torrents of water broke through the earth, flooding out like a breached dam, surging wildly toward him.
"The Waterfall Gushing Down Technique?"
Aozora slightly furrowed his brow and lightly leapt onto nearby trees.
Though the torrential waters posed little threat to Aozora, he remained fully alert. Yamato's strength and combat intelligence absolutely couldn't be underestimated—he would never recklessly waste his chakra for no reason.
After the waters receded, leaving the ground muddy, Aozora suddenly felt the trees underfoot shaking and sinking.
Looking at the swamp-like terrain and trembling trees, Aozora finally understood Yamato's intentions.
He intended to trap him here, preparing to finish him off with a powerful jutsu.
Shaking his head, Aozora unleashed a burst of chakra from beneath his feet, propelling himself like an arrow.
Just after he landed on the second tree, all the surrounding trees collapsed entirely, turning the area into a swamp. His Kage Bunshin and Anbu were bound by vines continuously sprouting from the mire.
His shadow clones were crushed instantly, while the severely injured Anbu were caught and shielded by the vines.
In midair, Aozora spotted Yamato standing at the edge of the swamp, hands pressed together, and also saw the approaching Uchiha from afar.
One of them moved like lightning, leaving afterimages flickering across the ground. In just a few more heartbeats, he would reach the battlefield.
Yamato sensed the immense pressure coming from behind him and once again erupted the chakra inside his body.
[Wood Release: Tree Binding Coffin!]
Unable to contain Aozora in time, Yamato directly compressed the special chakra within his body.
Instantly, countless saplings sprouted from the swamp beneath Aozora, rapidly growing into towering trees that twisted toward him.
Glancing down at the branches erupting beneath him, Aozora sensed the deadly trap closing in fast.
This was no ordinary Wood Release technique. It contained an immense vitality that could crush even the Stone Embryo Body if one were caught in it.
After all, the power of life could shatter stone.
"Not bad, Wood Release Tenzo! You've got skill!"
Even in a dangerous situation, Aozora still found time to praise his opponent casually, and even released the divine weapon in his hand.
Just as Yamato wondered why Aozora had let go of the divine weapon, the Drinking Blood Sword shimmered with a faint glow and flew beneath Aozora's feet.
[Flying Sword Art!]
Right away, the Drinking Blood Sword beneath Aozora's feet abruptly enlarged, then carried him upward like a floating platform, dodging the branches surging from the swamp below as it steadily rose higher.
"What?"
Aozora's flight on the sword shocked Yamato so much his mouth opened wide enough to swallow an egg whole.
The Uchiha reinforcements approaching from afar had sharp eyes, and seeing Aozora rapidly rising into the air, they instinctively paused in their tracks.
Yamato, indeed an elite ninja, quickly detected the weakness within Aozora's strange "Ninjutsu" despite his surprise.
It was simply that Aozora's flying speed wasn't fast at all.
He immediately injected a large amount of chakra into the ground.
As Yamato's chakra poured forth, the swamp beneath Aozora churned violently. Numerous saplings sprouted, quickly germinating and growing. Then intertwining and spiraling together, they soon formed a twisted, towering Giant Tree reaching toward the heavens.
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