"Got it right, didn't I? Young prodigy?"
In that split second of Ui's hesitation, the enemy had found his answer. While he couldn't be 100% certain this was the "White Yaksha," an 80% probability was more than enough for a killer.
"How exactly did you pinpoint me?" Ui asked. He neither confirmed nor denied it, but his curiosity was piqued. How did a mercenary from a displaced clan recognize him so easily?
The masked Fuma ninja let out a laugh—a rasping, sandpaper sound that balanced somewhere between heroic and cunning. He clearly enjoyed the bewilderment of young, talented shinobi. To him, that confusion looked endearingly stupid.
But once the laughter subsided, he offered no explanation. He had neither the interest nor the obligation to educate his prey.
"My luck is quite good today. The environment, the terrain, the weather—everything favors me. You have only one path left: death. Though... perhaps you could surrender?"
"You seem to be mistaken," Ui replied coolly. "In terms of numbers and combat power, we hold the advantage."
Is he an expert in Water Release? Ui wondered. If so, the torrential rain was indeed a force multiplier for the enemy. None of the four Konoha ninjas could use Water Style. Asuma and Ui were masters of Fire Style, but in this downpour, fire was a liability.
"To me, numbers are irrel—"
Ui didn't wait for the man to finish his sentence. He hadn't issued commands to his team just to stand around and chat about philosophy.
Without warning, his hand snapped upward. He didn't throw a shuriken. Instead, a spear of lightning—the Chidori Sharp Spear—extended from his palm, piercing toward the branch where the enemies stood!
The Fuma ninjas were already coiled like springs. As the lightning surged, the two enemies flipped in opposite directions with predatory grace. Any ninja capable of sensing the density of that chakra knew better than to try and block it.
Ui's goal wasn't a kill shot; it was to split them up.
"Execute the plan! Attack!"
Ui lunged toward his chosen target: the leader. Was it dangerous for Asuma, Kurenai, and Aoba to handle the subordinate alone? Absolutely. But in a multi-ninja skirmish, killing the enemy is often easier than protecting an ally. The masked Fuma was the alpha threat; Ui had to pin him down to prevent him from slaughtering the specialists. Kurenai, specifically, wouldn't stand a chance if the leader turned his attention toward her.
Surprisingly, the masked man didn't counter-attack immediately. He turned and fled into the deeper woods. This was exactly what Ui wanted—the two enemies were now completely separated.
"No-seal Lightning Release, just like the rumors..."
The fact that the enemy was moving exactly according to his expectations gave Ui a momentary sense of unease, but there was no time to overthink. He gave chase.
The Fuma leader was incredibly fast. He didn't move in a straight line; he spun and pivoted through the trees, using every trunk as a shield. Ui was fast too, but his movement was more linear—a battering ram compared to the enemy's rapier.
Even with his back turned, the Fuma ninja moved as if he had eyes in the back of his head. As he sprinted, he unleashed a constant stream of shuriken. Small ones Ui deflected with a kunai, but when the massive, four-bladed Fuma Shuriken came whistling through the rain, he was forced to dodge. This was the legendary Fuma craftsmanship and throwing technique—not "cheating" with magnetism or strings, but raw, practiced lethal precision.
Eventually, they reached a slightly more open clearing. The masked man stopped abruptly.
Ui skidded to a halt twenty meters away. Without the tree canopy, the rain felt heavier, the drops larger and more violent.
Ui suspected a trap. The distant sounds of battle—the muffled booms of Asuma's Fire Style—echoed through the woods. He could see steam rising from the trees where Asuma was fighting; even in this rain, the Sarutobi's flames were formidable, though clearly dampened.
The Fuma leader unstrapped the remaining large shuriken from his back. He didn't throw them. He dropped them into the mud.
Lightening the load.
He began to channel chakra into his legs.
Charging.
He didn't speak anymore. The bloodlust in his eyes was more communicative than any taunt. Looking at those eyes, Ui finally believed the man: he wasn't here for money. He was here because he loved the harvest.
Ui flared his Chidori Nagashi. It was a technique that offered both offense and defense—a "near-absolute" barrier of electricity. The masked man saw it, acknowledged it, and then charged anyway.
He was fast. Differently fast.
His stride was shorter and more rapid. He leaned so low he was almost touching the mud. His arms trailed behind him like broken wings. From above, he looked like a stone skipping across the surface of a lake, touching down only to surge forward again.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat. His right hand swept across the tool pouch on his thigh. With a flick of his middle finger, he caught a kunai mid-draw.
Gripping the blade in a reverse hold, he sliced upward—a lethal arc aimed at Ui's abdomen, chest, and throat.
Ui reacted by instinct. He tapped his right foot back and arched his entire upper body into a deep backbend. The cold steel whistled past his mask, missing him by a fraction of an inch.
But the Fuma wasn't done.
Snap. Ui saw the enemy's left palm slam against his own right wrist, adding double the force and leverage. The kunai that had just missed Ui's throat was suddenly hammered downward toward his chest at twice the speed!
Ui wasn't the only one who could change the tempo of a fight.
"Chidori Nagashi!"
Ui forced the lightning to its limit. He kicked off the ground with explosive force, his body hurtling backward five meters in an instant—a flicker that looked like he had shredded the space between then and now.
It was perhaps the fastest Ui had ever moved in his life. If he had been a millisecond slower, that kunai would be buried in his heart.
Ui took a sharp breath. His heart had skipped a beat.
"I told you," the enemy rasped, standing in the rain. "The environment favors me."
The water was acting as a conductor. It was pulling the electricity away from Ui's body, causing the Chidori Nagashi to scatter uncontrollably. The range was wider, yes, but its density—its ability to paralyze and kill—was being thinned out by the downpour.