Upon hearing Hibari's words, Eizumi was silent for a moment before replying, "I've crossed more bridges than you've walked roads. While a shinobi's worth isn't determined by age, it's also important to listen to your elders."
"Stop with the pleasantries. You're not my elder, and you have no right to lecture me. I'll ask you one thing: are you going to listen to my advice or not?" Hibari asked without holding back.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself. Even though you made a name for yourself in the last war, you're still just a kid. You may have earned my respect in terms of strength, but you're not experienced enough to tell me what to do, Hibari Senju.
"Your Senju clan has already begun to withdraw from the shinobi world. You need to see the bigger picture and not be influenced by Hiruzen... by the Third Hokage. Have you ever wondered why this matter had to wait for you to return and take the lead? Perhaps it's because, other than the Uchiha clan, you're the most likely person to become the Fourth Hokage.
"If the Third Hokage has a plan for you... maybe he's using you to pit us against each other, so we'll both suffer. Then, he'll pin the blame for disrupting the village's harmony on both our clans. If you ever want to become the Fourth Hokage in the future, he'll be able to control you..." Eizumi said in a low voice.
Although this was an attempt to sow discord, it must be said that if it were a real conspiracy theorist, this might have planted a seed of doubt in their mind. But the problem was that Hibari had no intention of becoming Hokage, and Hiruzen knew this very well. So, from the start, this argument was invalid.
What's more, Hibari and Hiruzen had been friends since childhood and had a life-or-death bond. The Sarutobi clan and the Senju clan were also very close. Was Hibari really going to be suspicious because of what Eizumi said? Not a chance.
To take it a step further, as the Anbu commander, Hiruzen had the direct authority to give him orders. This wasn't about being used; even if he were to give him a direct order, Hibari would grit his teeth and do it.
So Hibari was completely unfazed. He just sneered. "That's a nice speech, but do you really think I'm an idiot? I know what's right and what's wrong. Not you, not even the Third Hokage-sama can influence my way of thinking!"
Hearing Hibari's unyielding words, Eizumi's expression darkened slightly. "You're truly stubborn. Don't think the world is a beautiful place..."
"Less talk. Give me a straight answer," Hibari said without hesitation.
Eizumi was on the verge of gaining a lot of power in Konoha, and Hibari suddenly jumped out and told him to stop. It would be a miracle if he could hold back. What's more, the old man seemed very confident and didn't think he would lose to Hibari, even with his reputation.
So, after Hibari finished speaking, Eizumi's eyes began to change. Soon, they turned blood red, and three tomoe appeared in his pupils.
"What if I say 'no'?" Eizumi said in a low voice, his tone full of pressure.
But in the face of this pressure, Hibari remained calm. He slightly twisted his neck. "If you even dare to say 'no,' then don't blame me, Senju Hibari, for breaking the Konohagakure tradition of respecting the elders..."
"Hmph, you're arrogant. Today, I'll teach you what it means to respect your elders! Senju Hibari, I refuse your proposal!" Eizumi said without holding back.
Hibari was silent for a moment, then put his hand on the hilt of the tachi, Ame no Murakumo, at his waist. "Is that so? That's a shame... But I think this Uchiha compound is a bit old. How about we just tear it down and rebuild it?"
"Hmph, I was getting tired of this view anyway. I was planning on changing the style..." Eizumi said, sounding unfazed.
Then, silence fell between them, and the atmosphere grew heavy again. Eizumi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan stared intently at Hibari. If Hibari made any move, he would react immediately.
And Hibari stared back just as intently at Eizumi's eyes, not seeming to care about his powerful dojutsu genjutsu.
After a moment of tense silence, Hibari grew tired of waiting. He reached into his shinobi tool pouch, grabbed a few shuriken, and threw them at Eizumi.
Eizumi had been watching Hibari. The moment Hibari made his move, he also took a shuriken from his waist. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly. In an instant, he had calculated the trajectory of all of Hibari's shuriken. His hands moved incredibly fast, and with a few nimble movements, he deflected all of the shuriken away.
At the same time, Hibari began to make hand signs, and Eizumi, who was still intently watching Hibari, also made hand signs quickly. Upon closer inspection, he was copying Hibari's jutsu.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" Hibari shouted.
In the next second, a water dragon materialized out of thin air next to Hibari and roared toward Eizumi. At the same time, Eizumi, although a bit slower, successfully released a Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu that was identical to Hibari's.
"Hmph, I'm a five-nature shinobi too!" Eizumi said in a low voice.
"The Sharingan, huh?" Hibari whispered. In the next second, the two water dragons collided, creating a huge splash of water but nothing else.
But as the water splashed everywhere, the tachi, Ame no Murakumo, on Hibari's waist was already unsheathed. In the next instant, he stomped his foot and rushed toward Eizumi. At the same time, he reactivated his Lightning Release Armor, passing through the water curtain and mercilessly slicing through the airborne water with a single blade, aiming for Eizumi's head.
"Useless," Eizumi said in a low voice, pulling out the sword at his waist. He perfectly blocked the trajectory of Hibari's strike. In the next second, the Ame no Murakumo and Eizumi's sword collided, creating a spark in the middle of the water vapor...
Although Eizumi's sword was not as powerful as Hibari's divine weapon, he was the Uchiha clan head, so it was normal for him to have a powerful weapon. Therefore, Hibari's strike didn't directly cut his sword in half.
However, Eizumi could feel an immense force coming from the blade in his hand. It was a force he could not possibly match...
'Is it Monster Strength?' Eizumi thought to himself. Unlike Mifune, who had fought Hibari head-on, he loosened his wrist slightly, deflecting the force. At the same time, his sword slid smoothly along Hibari's Ame no Murakumo in a circular motion, creating a flash of light.
At the same time, Eizumi moved incredibly fast. He lowered his body, and Hibari's Ame no Murakumo, which was no longer obstructed, sliced through the air just above his head.
In the next instant, Eizumi's hand precisely caught the sword he had dropped less than a second ago. He transitioned from defense to offense, raising his sword from below as if to cut Hibari open.
He had been watching the fight from the shadows earlier and had seen Hibari's Lightning Release Armor block the kunai of the other clansman without a scratch. But he now dared to attack Hibari with a sword, which made Hibari's eyebrows under the mask furrow slightly in caution.
Sure enough, a closer look would reveal that Eizumi's sword was covered in a large amount of Wind Release chakra.
Wind Release was the natural counter to Lightning Release, as it was difficult to contain the power of lightning. Even the Third Raikage's absolute defense had been pierced by Wind Release when he was reanimated.
It was hard to say how strong Eizumi's Wind Release was; Hibari wasn't sure. But he knew very well that his Lightning Release Armor wasn't invincible. Therefore, he wasn't willing to take the risk. After all, Eizumi wouldn't have dared to strike like that without some confidence.
So Hibari's reaction was also very fast. It was too late to withdraw his sword and defend. He was using a long tachi, not his familiar short sword. The increased attack range came with a downside; the speed of withdrawing the sword would be much slower than with a short sword.
But in many battles, victory was decided in an instant. There was no time for Hibari to withdraw his sword. Eizumi was probably waiting for this very moment. As expected, he was a seasoned veteran!
But even though he couldn't withdraw his sword to defend, Hibari wasn't a rookie. He was a man who had faced death several times and had great adaptability. In that instant, he made a move that surprised Eizumi.
Hibari raised his other free arm and blocked the sword that was about to strike him with the crook of his elbow, as if he didn't care about losing his arm. Was he trying to become a one-armed swordsman like Kinkaku?
As Eizumi was surprised, his sword, which was imbued with a powerful Wind Release chakra, managed to barely cut through the Lightning Release armor on Hibari's arm.
But what surprised Eizumi even more was that his sword didn't make a solid connection. With a crisp 'clink,' his sword struck the Konoha headband that Hibari had tied to his arm.
After breaking through the Lightning Release armor, the Wind Release power on the blade had almost dissipated. Although it was a good sword, it wasn't sharp enough to cut through metal. So even though Eizumi's sword left a deep mark on Hibari's headband, it didn't actually wound him.
'What a quick reaction...' Eizumi thought to himself.
At the same time, Hibari seized the opportunity from the block and unceremoniously let go of the divine tachi, Ame no Murakumo, in his other hand, like he was throwing away trash.
Not only that, he clamped his other arm down, using the headband at his elbow, and trapped Eizumi's sword, indirectly limiting his movements.
In the next second, a powerful chakra began to condense and spin in Hibari's free hand.
"Rasengan!" Hibari roared.
He then mercilessly thrust the Rasengan toward Eizumi's chest.
The Rasengan was powerful, but there were other jutsu that were even stronger. So why did the Rasengan become so prominent in the future?
The reason was simple: the Rasengan was fast and convenient. A ninjutsu without hand signs was always a good way to launch a surprise attack!
Hibari rarely used the Rasengan so not many people knew that he had created this A-rank no-hand-sign jutsu. And even if they did, it certainly wasn't Eizumi. Hibari was confident that Kagami wouldn't leak any of Hibari's personal information to his clan.
As expected, Eizumi had not anticipated that Hibari had such a convenient jutsu. It was too late to dodge. He thought about letting go of his sword like Hibari had, but it seemed he was a bit too slow...
But at that moment, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly again, and his other hand quickly made a single hand sign. His chakra fluctuated slightly.
Hibari's eyebrows under his mask raised. He seemed to have noticed something, but it was too late to stop it. As expected, in the next second, the Rasengan in Hibari's hand hit Eizumi's chest, but there was no solid feeling.
With a soft 'pop,' a piece of wood appeared in front of the Rasengan and was instantly shredded. At the same time, the hilt of the sword Hibari had trapped with his elbow was suddenly empty.
"You're very skilled with the Substitution Jutsu... You can even pull it off in a life-or-death moment like that. Impressive."
Hibari said as he threw the sword to the ground and turned to look at the roof not far away, where Eizumi was now standing.
"That's why you should never underestimate the Sharingan... kid," Eizumi said, frowning slightly.
It had to be said that in terms of seizing an opportunity, the Sharingan truly possessed an unparalleled advantage. Perhaps, in the moment they activated their dojutsu, the flow of time felt much slower to them.
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