A raspy hiss echoed through the clearing as thick smoke cleared, revealing a massive serpent towering dozens of meters high. Its scales, patterned in icy cyan diamonds, shimmered under the sun, casting a cold, ominous gleam. The giant snake opened its jaws, thin flicking tongue lashing, thick corrosive saliva dripping and sizzling as it hit the ground, releasing faint roars of steam.
A Jonin from the Sand Village raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare. His expression hardened when the full form of the creature came into view.
"It seems you also entered a summoning contract with the Snake Clan. As expected, disciple of Orochimaru," he called out.
Standing upon the serpent's head was Uchiha Hayashi, looking down at the Sand Ninja as though he were an insect. His eyes sparked with lethal intent.
"Are you ready to accept death?" Hayashi's voice cut through the air.
Even as the words echoed, reality seemed to twist. The Sand Ninja's senses blurred. For a fleeting second, a massive scythe of shimmering steel slashed toward his neck. Blood spurting, his head rolled across the earth like a fallen rag doll—
But then everything snapped back into focus. Hayashi's words had been an illusion, a genjutsu. The Ninja disrupted chakra flow, dispelling the illusion just in time.
He turned—and screamed as a colossal tail, scales flashing like polished metal, descended upon him. Rocks exploded beneath the force. He leapt instantly, dodging the strike, though a chunk of gravel slashed across his arm.
The snake struck again. With lightning-fast reflexes, the Sand Ninja formed hand seals in midair. He unleashed a powerful gust: Wind Style: Great Vacuum Sphere. The swirling wind rushed toward the tail, clashing violently. The attack shattered on impact.
He gasped, analyzing quickly. Stronger defense than Manda, yet slower. A true tank—not reckless, but ruthless.
With a swift Body Flicker, he retreated beyond the serpent's range and stood upon slightly raised ground. His chest heaved in heavy breaths.
Hayashi tilted his head, arms crossed. A cold smile crept onto his face. "Is that all? So the great Sand Village Jonin only knows how to dodge like a rat."
He paused, voice calm yet mocking. "I know your mission was to kill me. Hiding won't do. Come out. I promise I'll be gentle."
The Sand Ninja forced a harsh laugh, tugging at his coat. "Don't try to provoke me. Yes, I underestimated you. Maybe the mission fails—but what about you? Do you really want me dead that badly?"
Hayashi's expression darkened. A quiet tension filled the air.
The Ninja's lips twisted into a cold smile. "One of your subordinates died by my hand. Trash you thought disposable. You speak of bonds, friendship… so tell me, Leaf shinobi, how does it feel when your comrade dies like garbage?"
Harsh words, heavy as kunai. Painful and cold.
The Sand Ninja's plan was to throw Hayashi off balance, to provoke rage. Rage leads to mistakes. Mistakes mean death.
Yet as the serpent coiled behind Hayashi, the Snake's hood flared wide. Hayashi touched its head, calmly murmuring the hand-seals.
"Fire Style: Serpent's Venom Melting Boil Technique!"
A torrent of corrosive flame and venom erupted from the snake's mouth, steam and acid spraying outward. The attack roared like a volcanic blast, engulfing the ground near them in sizzling, hissing fog.
All around, gravel and pebbles began to smolder. The desert sand hissed under the assault of acid heat and fire.
The Sand Ninja staggered back, shock widening his eyes. Beneath him, the earth cracked, stones crumbling from corrosive heat. The ground that had supported his Earth-style defense began to crumble.
Then, he stumbled—panic replacing fury.
Hayashi seized the moment. He stepped forward, crouched low, coiled like a bow. With a single fluid motion he charged, launching toward the Sand Ninja like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Simultaneously, ten kunai shot out at once from his hand—fanned out in a deadly spread aimed to strike from multiple angles. The Sand Ninja braced, but could not dodge them all.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The kunai struck. With each impact, mesh-like cracks appeared on the sand ninja's Earth-Armor skin—the final bastion of his defense. Flames crackled, the high-temperature poisoning molten blade burning through flesh and chakra alike. Spots of flesh sizzled, blood mixed with corrosive heat rising in steam.
Hayashi sped behind him. He closed in with chilling calm, lightning chakra crackling along his kunai as he prepared to strike, but the opponent launched his own counterattack. A kunai plunged toward Hayashi's midsection, chakra blades sliding along the steel.
Lightning Style clashed against chakra-enhanced kunai. A thunderous crack rang through the air as both weapons collided.
But for Hayashi… the cost was high. His chakra reserves had taken a heavy blow from the earlier jutsu and the summoning. He was already running low.
Despite the strain, he forced out a coldly delivered threat: "Distraction in combat is fatal."
With a flick, the Sand Ninja initiated a flash genjutsu—a quick illusion using sound as medium. It required no hand-seals, but might mask his next movements.
Hayashi didn't hesitate. He lunged, sliding beneath the deception, and thrust forward the kunai with crackling lightning chakra.
The kunai plunged deep into the ninja's torso. The Lightning-chained blade burned through flesh and chakra alike, ripping open a narrow fissure. Sparks crackled, smoke rose from the wound.
The Sand Ninja staggered, blood pouring freely. But fury burned in his eyes—not fear. As adrenaline surged, he drove his arms upward wildly.
Hayashi reacted in reflex, but even he could not stop the blow completely. A stinging pain shot through his arm as the ninja twisted and battered him.
A cold voice echoed in the wounded man's throat.
"If not for the Lightning Style in your first attack… you'd be dead by now."
He collapsed, choking on blood. The skin of his body cracked further, as if glass shattering. The magical earth armor that once protected him melted away under acid heat and chakra burn.
The last thing he saw was Hayashi's cold glare before his sight faded to black.
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