Just as Hibari felt a rush of excitement, Eizumi attacked first. The tomoe in his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly spun. In the next second, Hibari felt that his Wood Release jutsu beneath him had changed. Before he could even look down, the wood suddenly collapsed and withered away for no reason.
Fortunately, Hibari reacted quickly. Before the withering could reach him, he lightly stomped his foot and jumped to the top of another tree.
"What's that ability?" Hibari asked, frowning as he looked at Eizumi on the earthen wall.
Eizumi wasn't an idiot, so why would he reveal his information just because Hibari asked?
"An ability to kill..." Eizumi said in a low voice, then threw a few shuriken at Hibari. The shuriken were imbued with Wind Release chakra, seemingly designed to break through Hibari's Lightning Release Armor.
However, unlike a sword imbued with wind, a shuriken, once thrown, could be easily dodged or guided. Hibari threw a few shuriken of his own, which accurately deflected the shuriken that didn't have Wind Release chakra on them.
In the next second, Hibari quickly began to make hand signs. The jutsu was still Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu.
But this time, Eizumi didn't use any copying methods to counter Hibari's jutsu. The tomoe in his Mangekyō spun again, and something that surprised Hibari happened once more.
The water dragon, which was heading straight for Eizumi, suddenly changed its direction for some unknown reason. It crashed into the earthen wall beneath him, and as everyone knew, Earth Release was the natural counter to Water Release. The water dragon became a 'dud' and didn't have any effect.
"Impossible... I would never make such a rookie mistake... That means... it's those eyes again, isn't it? The Mangekyō... The prerequisite for this power is indeed cruel, but this power is also truly formidable. It's so unpredictable..." Hibari whispered.
And at that moment, the shuriken imbued with Wind Release that he had deflected flew in a circle and attacked Hibari from behind.
This surprised Hibari again, but compared to the unknown ability he had just seen, this new Mangekyō power felt a bit familiar to him. It seemed to be the Mangekyō ability that Shin Uchiha would use in the future, the one that Orochimaru would create? Manipulating shinobi tools?
This ability was quite peculiar and wasn't limited to just shinobi tools; other things could also be manipulated, as long as they were touched by hand...
But compared to other Mangekyō abilities, this one was like a younger brother. It looked incredibly cool, but it wasn't very practical.
Seeing this, Hibari couldn't be bothered to deflect the shuriken. He stomped his foot, breaking the branch of the tree he was on, and his body turned into a flash of lightning, rushing toward Eizumi at an incredible speed.
No matter how flashy his Mangekyō Sharingan was, if he just went up there and beat him into submission, everything would be solved, right?
Eizumi's reaction speed was also very fast. Hibari turned into a flash of lightning, a blue phantom rushing toward him. An ordinary person would never be able to see him, but he was a man who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. He managed to see Hibari's trajectory and, just as Hibari was about to reach him, he forcefully jumped backward, narrowly avoiding Hibari's attack.
"Lateral Bolt of Pain: Chop!" Hibari roared.
He brought his hand down like a blade, but just as before, it sliced through empty air. It hit the earthen wall, which crumbled.
Lightning Release was the natural counter to Earth Release, and with the immense power of Hibari's 'Lateral Bolt of Pain: Chop,' which he would instinctively infuse with his Monster Strength, this single strike caused a huge crack in the earthen wall, which then completely shattered.
Rocks and dirt fell from the sky. Hibari and Eizumi nimbly moved between the falling debris, constantly changing their positions—one chasing, one fleeing.
Eizumi's speed wasn't very fast. Hibari, with his Lightning Release Armor activated, completely outclassed him in that regard. But the problem was that his reaction speed was very fast.
With the powerful dojutsu of his Mangekyō Sharingan, he could see every one of Hibari's movements. He didn't need to be fast enough to avoid the attacks with sheer speed; he just needed enough skill to avoid Hibari's attacks at the last second.
So, at the very last moment, Hibari would miss.
In an instant, the two of them moved back and forth through the falling rocks many times. The rocks hadn't even hit the ground yet, which showed how fast they were moving.
At that moment, the blue phantom moving through the falling rocks became even more noticeable.
In the next second, Hibari's angry roar could be heard.
"Raging Thunder!" Hibari roared, and the electric current on his body became even more intense.
This jutsu, Raging Thunder, was a support jutsu that forcefully infused the body with Lightning Release power to greatly increase physical abilities for a short period of time. However, if used for too long, it would have side effects, so Hibari rarely used it. And for a long time, no one had been worthy of him using this jutsu.
As expected, in the next second, his speed became even faster, almost to the point of breaking space. This sudden burst of speed caught Eizumi a bit off guard. Before he could even clearly see Hibari and adapt to this extreme speed, Hibari's figure finally got behind him before he could react and evade.
Eizumi, whose eyes were now marked with the Mangekyō pattern, felt a hint of surprise. He could only slightly turn his head. Before he could even see Hibari's figure, he felt two large hands imbued with Lightning Release press against the sides of his waist...
"Damn it..." Eizumi could only curse in a low voice. His body was paralyzed by an electric current, and for a moment, he couldn't make any movements.
Hibari, who seemed to be getting into the moment, didn't hold back at all. He used both hands and picked Eizumi up, lifting him off the ground.
At the same time, the rocks beneath their feet hit the ground. Before the impact could even take effect, Hibari was already slamming Eizumi down at high speed.
"Liger Bomb!!!" Hibari roared.
In the next instant, the ground was completely shattered by the powerful Lightning Release, Monster Strength, and Eizumi's body. The immense force was too much for the earth to bear. It instantly cracked and spread out.
The Lightning Release chakra also ran wild all over the ground, causing the dense forest within a hundred meters to collapse. The Uchiha clan's huge front compound, which had already been badly damaged by the Wood Release jutsu, was completely smashed by Hibari, along with its foundation...
The power of Hibari's attack was immense. If it had been anyone else, they would have been killed instantly. But this time, it didn't kill the old man, Eizumi.
In the very center of the explosion and the fall, Eizumi's body was surrounded by the unique ability of the Mangekyō Sharingan, the Absolute Defense of Susanoo.
However, Eizumi's Susanoo had not yet reached its complete form. Only a small part of it appeared, just enough to envelop him. But that was enough. A big Susanoo had its advantages, and a small one had its convenience.
For example, this time, he was able to save his life with the absolute defense of his Susanoo.
However, even though the Susanoo was called the Absolute Defense, it wasn't truly unbreakable.
As expected, in the next second, the chakra that formed the Susanoo weakened a bit, and the skeletal frame protecting Eizumi's body shattered.
At the same time, although Eizumi had no external injuries, the powerful impact had made him dizzy, and his chest felt heavy. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
He had never expected that even with his Susanoo protecting him, he would be sent flying like this. If he had been just a little slower, wouldn't he have been killed on the spot? Was Hibari trying to kill him?
But before he could think any more, he heard Hibari's voice.
"Hmph, as expected, how could an old man like you, who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, not have a Susanoo to protect yourself? It's not a surprise at all..." Hibari scoffed.
The reason he dared to go for the kill was that he figured the old man, Eizumi, was still hiding something, and that he probably knew how to use Susanoo.
So Hibari took a gamble and went for the kill. He wasn't gambling his own life, was he?
If he won the gamble, Hibari's attack would force out Eizumi's Susanoo, and he could see how effective it was. If he lost, Eizumi would surely die on the spot, and the Third Hokage and the others would have to clean up Hibari's mess.
But there was a benefit to this: he might be able to get a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan...
But it seemed Hibari had won the gamble. The old man, Eizumi, did indeed have a Susanoo.
Without giving Eizumi a chance to speak or recover from his terrible state, Hibari raised his hand, forming a blade. Then, in Eizumi's hateful gaze, he once again let out a low growl: "Lateral Bolt of Pain: Chop!"
He mercilessly struck Eizumi's Susanoo. The powerful force, along with the Susanoo, hammered the already shattered ground, making it even more compact.
The Susanoo did indeed shatter a bit again, looking as if Hibari could break through it at any moment. But Eizumi wasn't that easy to deal with. His Mangekyō Sharingan spun again. In just one second, the shattered Susanoo was restored, completely unharmed.
The only downside was that this time, a tear of blood flowed from Eizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan...
"Have you reached your limit? Good. I'll smash your shell right here!" Hibari said, a grin on his face.
Eizumi also wanted to dodge, but Hibari was faster. He clasped his hands together in front of his chest, and the power of Wood Release was once again activated. The ground was instantly broken again, and two huge vines, one on the left and one on the right, tightly wrapped around Eizumi's Susanoo, making it impossible for him to move...
"Damn it..." Eizumi cursed again. At the same time, his Mangekyō Sharingan spun again. In that instant, the Wood Release vines that were binding him seemed to wither a bit, and at the same time, a sword flew from behind Hibari. The sword was imbued with Wind Release power and was aimed directly at Hibari's back. Upon closer inspection, it was the same sword that Eizumi had been carrying!
Hibari certainly didn't want this bastard to stab him through the heart. So, the moment the sword flew toward him, he made a move to evade and narrowly dodged the attack.
Eizumi seized the opportunity, broke free from the half-withered vines, and instantly dispelled his Susanoo. After giving himself enough space, he escaped from the vines.
At the same time, the sword returned to his hand.
He held the sword in one hand and wiped the bloody tear from the corner of his eye with the other. He was breathing heavily, as if he was in a very bad state.
Before he could even speak, Hibari had already formed the hand signs for a Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu at some point. A water dragon once again crashed toward Eizumi.
Eizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan had just spun once when he frowned. He stomped his foot and jumped, moving to another location and dodging the water dragon's attack.
At the same time, a grin appeared on Hibari's face. "I see... So that's your Mangekyō ability?" he whispered.
When shinobi fought, they were trying to figure each other out. Eizumi wasn't going to tell him what his Mangekyō Sharingan ability was, so Hibari had to constantly test him. And he had already figured out what Eizumi's strange Mangekyō Sharingan ability was...
Eizumi looked at Hibari, panting. "I see... No wonder you kept using Wood Release and the same Water Release jutsu... You were testing my 'Magatsumikoto' ability, weren't you?"
"Oh? So it's called 'Magatsumikoto'? That ability..." Hibari said with a smile, not denying anything.
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TN: Magatsumikoto means God of Disaster/Misfortune/Calamity.
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