Swift Release: Revolving Severance
Swift Release chakra gathered in Echo's metallic claws as his body spun 360 degrees. As he spun, he released the Swift Release chakra in thin threads, which instantly transferred a large amount of kinetic energy to the wind being parted by his metallic claws.
Next, in the blink of an eye, the wind gained momentum and became sharp, vibrating wind blades.
From any other person's point of view, it would look like Echo was surrounded by pale bluish wind blades rotating around his body.
Crash! Splash!
As soon as the vortex of wind blades was formed, Reina's water serpent constructs hit Echo with the momentum of a speeding bullet train.
Unfortunately, the kinetic, pale blue wind blades, powered by Swift Release chakra, tore the water serpents apart the moment they touched them.
A few milliseconds later, the pale blue wind blades surrounding Echo expanded outward at a terrifying speed and crushed all the water serpents, turning them into countless droplets and splashes of water that harmlessly flew to the sky before they started falling like rain.
"Let's get out of this spot," murmured Echo.
He was already drenched in water from the destroyed water serpent constructs. And more water was about to fall on him. Plus, he stood here in one place for too long.
And he had no idea where that blasted white-haired boy with the peculiar chakra signature had disappeared to.
Standing there any longer would only make him a standing target for Seimei and Reina.
He was about to activate the Body Flicker Technique when his body went stiff all of a sudden.
"!!!"
Echo was shocked. He found that his entire body had been paralyzed, as if some kind of unseen shackle locked his body up completely.
At the next moment, he saw several pitch-black, cursed marks appearing on his body like wriggling worms.
Echo's pupil contracted into needle pricks.
"The Self-Cursing Seal? But when?"
His face twisted in disbelief, and his voice was filled with shock.
He understood how his body was paralyzed, but he was still bewildered.
He had no idea when this blasted, cursed seal marked him.
Meanwhile…
Seimei, who was hiding underground, watched this scene using his Tenseigan and chuckled darkly, "Hehehe…all according to keikaku (plan). Planting the dormant Self-Cursing Seal on the ground and using Earth Release to discreetly move the seal right under that bastard's feet really worked."
Beside him was another Seimei, who was actually his shadow clone.
Hearing his original body say that, the shadow clone also chuckled sinisterly and added, "Indeed…jie jie jie. But it only worked because you two kept attacking and injuring him. He had no time to pay attention to minor things. Otherwise, with his sensitivity to chakra, he would have discovered the trap easily."
Seimei smirked, "True. Why else would we spam Jutsu left and right? There's so much chakra residue everywhere. He simply didn't have the time to notice minuscule chakra fluctuations."
The shadow clone added, "Heh…but I think it's about time I make my entrance."
Seimei gave the shadow clone a thumbs up and replied, "Go on."
The shadow clone nodded before using the Earth Release Jutsu to liquify the earth around him and move up to Echo's location quickly.
Seimei watched his shadow clone go up and mused, "Well, let me offer some help, too."
His Tenseigan glowed in a royal ocean-blue light as he silently and discreetly channeled earth-natured chakra to the surface.
At the same time, on the surface, although Echo was stunned and startled by the sudden appearance of the Self-Cursing Seal, he quickly composed himself.
While the Self-Cursing Seal was indeed an effective Jutsu to paralyze or stun the enemies by surprise, powerful ninjas with a massive amount of chakra could easily dispel it by releasing a burst of chakra.
It was the most brutal and direct method for destroying the Self-CursingSeal, other than deploying counter-sealing techniques such as the Evil Releasing Seal or poking the seal's weak points with refined chakra.
BOOM!!!
Wild, blue chakra erupted from Echo's body. The force of the chakra eruption was so powerful that the ground beneath Echo's feet cracked.
The violent chakra tore through the Self-Cursing Seal's restrictions, freeing his body from the state of paralysis.
Just as he did that, Seimei's shadow clone suddenly emerged from the ground and gave Echo a mocking thumbs-up, "A good amount of chakra you have there, uncle. Still, too low."
As soon as he said that, the right palm of the shadow clone crackled with countless violent arcs of lightning bolts.
Watching this, Echo suddenly felt his blood run cold.
He looked at the purple lightning arcs crackling on Seimei's hand and then looked at the millions of water droplets raining down from above.
"Oh no…"
Fear gripped his heart as Echo tried to run from the trap zone.
But would Seimei let me get away so easily?
The moment the thought of running away appeared in Echo's mind, the earth beneath his feet suddenly moved.
It flowed like water, covered both of his feet, and hardened like a piece of extremely hard minerals, trapping Echo.
It wasn't that he couldn't destroy the stones that trapped his legs. He could do it in a moment.
But in the current situation, that mere moment was enough to screw him ten times over.
Seimei's shadow clone laughed and said, "Hehe…you are going nowhere."
And then…there was no then, only violent lightning.
Lightning Release: Chidori Stream
Crackle! Crackle!
In an instant, thousands of purple lightning arcs erupted outward from Seimei's shadow clone in all directions. The discharge of violent lightning soon met the raining water droplets.
Drop after drop of water was connected by the lightning bolts as they glowed purple, further intensifying the power of the discharged lightning.
And then, the empowered lightning arcs moved toward Echo, who cursed out loud, "Fuck!"
Even before his word could spread, it was drowned by the sound of a thousand birds chirping, released by the flood of lightning.
BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…
The lightning charred the ground, destroyed the rocks, and obliterated everything within a radius of 10 meters around Seimei's shadow clone.
Wherever the bolts of lightning passed, they annihilated everything.
It was lightning, refined to its extreme, possessing pure, adulterated power of destruction.
Due to his LV7 attainment in lightning affinity development, Seimei could control the lightning element more precisely.
And in this Jutsu, he reduced the speed, magnetic, and paralyzing effects of the lightning, and amplified the destructive nature of the element, which vaporized things at extreme temperatures.
Crackle… Crackle…
The lightning raged for a full ten seconds before subsiding.
The area that was flooded by lightning was ruined and charred. Smoke rose from the ground, carrying a suffocating ionized smell.
Seimei's shadow clone was nowhere to be seen.
The only one standing there was Echo, who was protected by his Rending Shell Technique's spherical Swift Release chakra field.
But even then, he wasn't unharmed.
The protective chakra field was thinner than usual. And Echo's body carried several charred marks.
Clearly, stray lightning arcs managed to penetrate the almost invincible chakra field and inflicted significant damage.
If it weren't for the existence of the Rending Shell Technique, Echo doubted he would even have a complete body.
His body would have vaporized.
But here he was, still alive.
"Huff…huff…argh…"
Behind the protection of the chakra field, Echo was groaning in pain. His breathing was labored. Dealing with a relentless barrage of attacks left him breathless.
He finally started to regret targeting these two kids without checking their background and power levels. This was a huge blunder, a blunder he made out of greed.
He truly regretted acting rashly. But there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Now, he no longer wanted to deal with them.
He just wanted to get away as soon as possible.
With that thought, he began molding chakra to run away at the fastest speed possible.
As long as he could get away, he could be saved. Once he recovered from the injuries and improved his strength further, he would lead a team to capture these two gremlins.
After all, as long as they worked as ninjas, they were bound to go out beyond the borders of their stronghold or ninja village to take part in missions.
His imagination was quite vivid and beautiful. Unfortunately, reality was harsh.
Just as he was about to activate his movement-type ninjutsu, a sudden, crushing pressure descended upon him.
His knees became weak as he felt as if something very heavy was crushing down on his shoulders. His body, his limbs, his weapons, and even his clothes suddenly became heavier, becoming shackles designed to restrict him.
Echo felt his blood circulation slowing down. His heart was having a hard time pumping blood to his brain, and blood began to flow to his legs, pressuring his legs' blood vessels, making his feet numb.
His breathing became even more labored, and he felt his lungs being squeezed.
His control over the chakra faltered.
The movement-type jutsu he was about to unleash to get away was also disrupted.
If he looked around him, he could see the ground around him crack and shake.
He was left bewildered once more.
"What the hell is going on here?" Echo couldn't help but roar in frustration and in a hint of fear.
Tenseigan: Gravity Domain—Gravity Amplification (6x)
Below Echo's feet, beneath the surface, Seimei's eyes glowed with an ocean-blue light.
It was none other than him who had activated his ocular technique in a wide area to make things difficult for Echo.
Sixfold gravity amplification is all I can do for now. But it's enough to hold this bastard in place. Seimei thought inwardly. And I know Reina won't miss the chance to strike.
And Seimei was right.
As soon as Reina saw Echo being weakened and feeling the crushing pressure of gravity, her figure vanished and reappeared before the man with a quick use of the Body Flicker Technique.
"You have done enough. Life is painful and hard. Let me help your soul depart to the Pure Land and achieve eternal peace, you fucking slippery Swift Release bastard," said Reina with a hint of irritation and coldness.
Fire Release: Solar Ring
A bluish-white orb of concentrated fire-natured chakra, as large as a tennis ball, appeared on Reina's palm. The moment the scorching orb of concentrated flames appeared, all the moisture in the air seemed to evaporate.
In a few milliseconds, a ring-like halo was also formed around the scorching fire orb, which was rotating around the fire sphere.
The very air around Reina twisted in blistering heat.
Even the moisture of the ground dried up, making the surface of the earth crack.
And then, Reina pushed her palm forward at Echo.
Seeing this, Echo's pupils contracted as he desperately tried to empower his Rending Shell Technique.
However…
"Too late," said Reina as the fiery orb and the fire ring surrounding it hit the chakra field of the Rending Shell Technique.
Reina's jutsu literally burned the protective field's chakra and pushed forward, seemingly wanting to devour Echo whole.
Soon, the fire-natured chakra of the jutsu seemed to flow into Echo's chakra field and attack his body.
And then, the fiery orb exploded outward toward Echo.
BOOOOOOM…
With a loud, fiery explosion, Reina's Solar Ring jutsu broke Echo's protective chakra field, and waves of fire-natured chakra and the explosive shockwaves crashed on Echo directly before he could muster any other kind of defense.
Vertical, ring-shaped explosive waves containing potent flames destroyed a large portion of the ground and swept ahead, all while sending Echo's scorched body flying back tens of meters.
Thud!
Echo's scorched body crashed into a boulder like a broken doll. His life or death—unknown.
Reina watched Echo's miserable condition and then shifted her gaze to her own right palm, which she used to activate and deliver the jutsu.
Her right palm was red due to the blistering heat of the jutsu. There were several burnt marks on her palm. The scorch marks and blisters were slowly healing due to her mixed Uzumaki and Senju lineage.
Uchiha Reina put her palm down, clicked her tongue, and criticized herself in a low voice, "Still too weak!"
Soon, Seimei emerged from the ground, stood beside Reina, and exclaimed, "Well, well…that was one hell of a jutsu. Nicely done. What's its name, though?"
Reina glanced at Seimei before describing, "A new jutsu I am developing—Fire Release: Solar Ring. Ideally, this jutsu should touch the target directly. Then, the fire-natured chakra should penetrate the target's body and burn it from the inside before triggering a devastating blast, reducing the enemy to ashes."
Hearing this, Seimei went silent for a moment, and his lips twitched. His back couldn't help but drench in cold sweat.
Finally, he lifted his hand and gave Reina a stiff thumbs-up.
"Hehehe…" chuckled Reina as she saw Seimei's gesture.
Then she shook her head and said, "Alright. Let's go check out our supervising instructor. He may need your treatment."
Seimei blinked and then nodded, "No problem."
But just as they were turning around, they suddenly froze and looked toward Echo, who was supposed to have his body scorched and broken beyond healing.
And they saw Echo standing on his feet, glaring at them hatefully.
He was limping and was in no condition to fight.
He had lost a lot of blood, and a decent amount of his blood also boiled due to Reina's final attack.
He should be on the verge of dying.
Uchiha Reina's Sharingan spun as she spoke, "What the heck is the lunatic up to now?"
Hearing this, Seimei looked at Reina strangely and thought, An Uchiha calling someone else a lunatic…wow!
But at the next moment, his gaze sharpened as he looked at the dying Echo.
Soon, Seimei's eyes widened as he could sense disturbing spatial fluctuations around Echo.
His Tenseigan and senses also scanned his state, and he finally reached a horrifying conclusion.
He told Reina, "You're right. This guy, he really is a lunatic. He's dying, but he still activated some kind of lifespan-sacrificing forbidden jutsu. And there are waves upon waves of spatial fluctuations around him."
Reina was suddenly enlightened. "Ah? So, he wants to die with us now?"
Seimei clicked his tongue, "Can't he just die in peace? That lifespan devouring technique must be painful."
As soon as Seimei said that, he and Reina suddenly heard Echo laughing like a madman.
"Hahahahahahaha…To think you would push me to this state." Echo laughed and glared at Seimei with greed, fear, and hatred.
"Boy…if I can't get your body, I will take your soul with me. I will surely die. But I will make sure you die with me, too."
"Hahahahahaha…"
Reina's expression became strange. "Well, he has gone bonkers!"
Seimei literally shivered, "What kind of perverted statement was tha-…FUCK…!!!"
Seimei cursed out loud mid-sentence as he saw the spatial fluctuations around Echo intensifying further.
At that moment, Echo finally activated his forbidden jutsu.
Swift Release Forbidden Technique: Void Shattering Leap
Suddenly, with the sound of breaking glass, Echo's figure disappeared.
But Seimei and Reina could clearly see and sense that Echo didn't actually disappear. He was just moving at an insane speed, all while shattering the space around him.
His target was none other than Seimei.
An overwhelming sense of danger washed over Seimei.
But he didn't panic. His mind worked fast to analyze Echo's forbidden jutsu and find the best way to counter it.
Fast, too fast.
This bastard has pushed the kinetic force manipulation and oscillation of Swift Release to such an extreme that it is shattering the very spatial fabric around his body and along his path of travel.
The spatial folds are being stretched and destroyed.
Anything in his path will be shattered and ground to dust.
Dodging isn't an option. His speed is too much.
Even if I dodge, he will still reach me.
If I teleport, he may shift his target to Reina or the supervising instructor.
I can't let this happen.
In that case, I will fight his spatial fluctuations with my own.
It's time to go all out…
Seimei's focus sharpened as he released a large amount of his chakra to activate his counter.
Flying Thunder God Technique—Second Step: Guiding Thunder
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