In an era where death shadows every step, many people exist under the dominion of endless cruelty and numbness. Only when inflicting harm upon others do they experience a twisted pleasure; only in the moment of taking another's life do they paradoxically feel what it means to be alive.
There are even those who treat torture as entertainment—the strong brutalizing the weak seems to be the natural order of things.
Yet when the blade is turned upon themselves, even these people understand what true agony means.
Watching his village suffer large-scale assault, with leaderless ninjas forced to fight individually while defenseless civilians scattered in panic, Taishi Tsugawa was consumed with murderous rage.
Without grinding these invaders to dust and scattering their ashes, he could never quell the hatred burning in his heart.
Yūshin's calm tone, his emotionless indifference, his attitude of treating the lives of clan members as trivial matters—all of this further fueled Taishi Tsugawa's fury.
Taishi could see that this young man before him neither derived pleasure from slaughter nor was constrained by any moral boundaries. The clansmen he treasured were nothing in his opponent's eyes.
Disregard is the highest form of contempt.
Yūshin truly didn't understand why his opponent was so enraged. Did this clan leader believe that the shinobi world's rules only permitted them to conquer other ninja clans, while other clans could never cross the line to attack his village?
He chose to face this clan leader in direct combat because he had confidence in victory.
Having fought the Tsugawa Clan for so long, Yūshin knew this clan possessed neither Hiden techniques nor Kekkei Genkai. In other words, Taishi Tsugawa was most likely, like himself, an unremarkable ninja.
Unremarkable ninjas use unremarkable ninjutsu. Under such circumstances, what determines victory?
Chakra reserves.
They were both ordinary mages, so whoever had the longer "mana bar" possessed greater strength.
Yūshin's true "mana bar" wasn't long, but he could cheat.
His naturally hanging right index finger hooked the tail ring of a kunai, then with a sudden forward swing of his shoulder joint and quick lift of his elbow, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air... He threw the kunai with minimal movement amplitude at maximum speed.
This was the most effective form of communication—did Yūshin need to reminisce with his opponent?
In this village, moonlight mingled with flames burning on the ground, supporting faint illumination in the dim night.
Taishi Tsugawa saw the cold gleam flash and immediately recognized that something was trailing behind the incoming kunai. He shifted slightly, dodging the weapon aimed at his throat.
As he crossed paths with the projectile, he clearly saw the thin wire attached to an explosive tag, its patterns already beginning to brighten.
Could such a trivial trick possibly harm me? Taishi was dismissive.
However, he forgot exactly where this battlefield was located.
With a crisp sound, the kunai he'd evaded embedded somewhere, followed immediately by an explosion accompanied by screams reaching his ears.
Taishi instinctively turned to look, discovering the explosive tag's flames had engulfed a frail figure.
This was the Tsugawa Clan's village—did Yūshin really need to worry about his explosive tag missing its target?
Taishi Tsugawa's gaze became utterly venomous. He realized that indecision would only bring more casualties; eliminating the enemy before him as quickly as possible, regardless of cost, was what he should be doing.
So he no longer held back, rapidly forming hand seals. In the next moment, massive water impact waves surged directly toward Yūshin.
Yūshin also formed seals, deploying the only defensive ninjutsu he could use:
Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
Before the impact waves could strike, circular hollow water columns swirled around Yūshin. Using water to counter water, under the protection of thick water walls and the guidance of spinning currents, the impact flow was redirected to rush past the right side of the Water Formation Wall.
His opponent's technique looked impressive but actually lacked killing power.
However, judging by this technique's scale, this clan leader's strength level was quite commendable.
This appeared to be a depression in the village. As Yūshin's Water Formation Wall gradually dissipated, he noticed a small pond had formed below, so he concentrated chakra at his feet, allowing him to stand steadily on the water's surface.
"Water Release? Your defensive technique is quite good."
"But just to use a simple Water Release defensive ninjutsu, do you need to frantically form so many seals? Or are you trying to display your Water Release prowess before the Tsugawa Clan?"
Taishi, also standing on the water surface, seemed to have his judgment clouded by anger as he began verbal taunts.
Yūshin was completely puzzled—what was worth mocking about forming more or fewer seals? This sounded as ridiculous as someone declaring "our XX clan is the strongest ninja clan in XX."
"So talkative—you must attend too many meetings."
Yūshin demonstrated proper mockery technique. After hearing this, Taishi's expression indeed darkened further... This was naked humiliation. What kind of joke was a ninja clan that could have enemies infiltrate their highest-level meetings?
Massive amounts of chakra gathered beneath Yūshin's feet, then the water surface under him suddenly exploded. Regardless of consequences, he used the tremendous recoil force to burst forward, launching a violent charge toward the nearby Taishi.
The recently calmed water surface was like a tablecloth suddenly yanked, with one end pulled over and folding into layers of wrinkles on this side. Under Yūshin's reckless chakra explosion, even the water's horizontal plane tilted in the direction of his exertion.
Yūshin's speed and Body Flicker abilities were merely mediocre, but his unrestrained chakra expenditure—this violent acceleration method—had no technique, only raw power.
He left an afterimage on the water surface, his hands continuously forming seals, instantly charging to Taishi's front.
Seeing Taishi attempt to form counter-seals, Yūshin's figure, which had been moving lightly across the water like a skipping stone, suddenly stopped. His right foot, lightly treading the surface, exploded with chakra again.
He suddenly lifted his leg and raised his knee, driving it like a spike toward Taishi's chest.
Taishi's seals seemed difficult to complete; he immediately changed tactics, interlacing his ten fingers with palms facing down, trying to halt Yūshin's offensive.
But he hadn't expected the force transmitted through his arms to exceed expectations. Taishi's body instantly bent backward, losing balance entirely.
Simultaneously, Yūshin's hands produced a soft clapping sound:
Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!
A massive fireball crashed toward the water surface, scorching flames completely enveloping the enemy's figure.
As fire met water, the surface immediately billowed with thick white steam.
This wouldn't be another case of "smoke but no damage," would it? Yūshin remained highly alert. Amid the monotonous rhythm of rising steam, the white smoke obscuring his forward vision suddenly tore apart—a paper-thin, crescent-shaped massive water blade gracefully pierced the smoke screen, slashing toward Yūshin at high speed.
Yūshin didn't retreat but advanced, meeting the water blade head-on before quickly sidestepping to avoid being struck.
His figure then broke through the smoke screen, discovering Taishi crouched on the water surface, rapidly forming hand seals.
In the recent close-range Fire Release attack, Taishi indeed hadn't emerged unscathed. His left sleeve was now damaged, with severe burn marks on his skin, but this didn't seem to diminish his combat effectiveness.
He must have avoided the concentrated killing power of the Fire Release by diving underwater... Yūshin speculated silently.
It was still Taishi's casting turn. He used the same ninjutsu as before: Water Release: Water Fang Blade.
More water blades slashed toward Yūshin, but while maintaining high-speed movement, he agilely dodged left and right. Through constant speed changes, he evaded attack after attack and charged to Taishi's front once more.
He suddenly raised his right leg and, as if powered by five kilograms of sea cucumber, delivered a powerful kick to Taishi's abdomen.
After one strike, Taishi's body curved like a large shrimp, his feet leaving the water surface as he flew diagonally away.
Yūshin intended to press his advantage, but the water surface beneath his feet suddenly changed. From where Taishi had been standing, a tentacle-like water flow burst up from below.
It then swung horizontally at incredible speed, slapping Yūshin and sending him flying.
Taishi's Water Release mastery was indeed praiseworthy. This Water Release ninjutsu set at the original location with delayed activation was called "Binding Water Whip."
Yūshin indeed couldn't dodge this variable-speed technique with slow casting but rapid activation.
Each person took one hit—both sides were temporarily even.
Their strength levels seemed to be fifty-fifty, however...
Was Yūshin really fighting a fair one-on-one?
This was at minimum a righteous twenty-on-one.
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