"What?"
Seeing Seimei diving down again, Ao's pupils contracted, full of confusion.
According to his calculations, after that round of counterattacks with poisonous kunai, Seimei shouldn't be able to launch another attack so soon.
But the reality was that, after only a brief pause, Seimei launched another attack.
This left Ao completely puzzled.
But since he couldn't figure it out, he quickly put his emotions in check and calmly ordered, "Everyone, prepare to defend!"
The distance between the two sides was shrinking, and it seemed like Seimei was about to enter their attack range.
Suddenly, the chakra wings on Seimei's back flapped, turning his body 90 degrees as he flew further away again.
Yes, Seimei was preparing to attack, but that didn't mean he would be reckless and charge head-on.
Doing that wouldn't be brave—it would be foolish.
Seimei never lost sight of his goal, which was to delay as much time as possible.
Since that was the case, he could continue his previous strategy of "the wolf is coming," exhausting the enemy's energy.
This time, he might be more aggressive and face greater danger, but strategy was still key.
Seeing Seimei fly away, the Mist Ninjas instinctively let out a sigh of relief. But just at that moment, Seimei approached again.
In an instant, all the Mist Ninjas were back on full alert.
This time, Seimei flew directly into their attack range, drawing them into attacking, only to retreat once more.
Because there was still some distance, Seimei easily dodged without taking any damage.
The Mist Ninjas had wasted another opportunity.
After this, Seimei hovered in the distant sky, watching them. He neither retreated nor advanced, leaving the Mist Ninjas feeling unsettled.
Eventually, Ao gave the order for the team to continue moving.
However, they hadn't gone far before Seimei approached again.
Helplessly, the Mist Ninjas had to stop once more.
But this time, despite Seimei's provocation, they didn't attack hastily, even when he entered their range.
"Heh~"
Seeing this, Seimei chuckled softly and said, "They're quite patient, aren't they?"
With that, he flew in an arc, closing in on them a second time.
This time, he didn't just retreat after a brief approach. Instead, he advanced to within less than twenty meters of them.
At this distance, they could easily launch multiple attacks.
Finally, the Mist Ninjas couldn't hold back. Under Ao's command, they launched an assault.
First came a barrage of kunai, followed by ninjutsu attacks, and finally, a few Mist Ninjas approached, attempting to trap him with steel wires and unusual ninja tools.
Unfortunately for them, none of this escaped Seimei's Sharingan.
He didn't engage with them directly. After drawing their attacks, he immediately used various techniques to dodge and block.
In the end, he narrowly avoided all the attacks and returned to the skies above.
Through his Sharingan, Seimei could clearly see that after just two rounds of this, some of the Mist Ninjas were already showing signs of frustration.
As the saying goes, "Strike while the iron is hot, hesitate and lose momentum."
If he kept this up a few more times, the upper-level Mist Ninjas might still be eager for battle, but the mid and lower-level ones would start to falter.
They might not say it out loud, but when the time came to act, they would undoubtedly hesitate.
And in a fierce battle, even a moment's hesitation could cost them their lives.
Likewise, that split-second hesitation might be the key to Seimei's escape.
One or two people hesitating might not be a big deal, but if most of the team did, Seimei's chances of survival would greatly increase.
With this thought, Seimei paused briefly before launching a third attack.
With a flap of his wings, his speed soared to the limit, reaching 40 meters per second as he closed in on the Mist Ninja squad.
Seeing this, Ao's expression changed slightly, and he immediately shouted, "Everyone, attack!"
In the next moment, a dense rain of kunai flew toward him, some of them laced with explosive tags and poison.
Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly, instantly tracking all the kunai and predicting their flight paths.
He drew the long sword at his waist, slicing and deflecting the kunai as they came toward him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of violent explosions echoed through the sky.
Red fireballs appeared in the air.
Shrouded in a blue glow, Seimei passed through the explosion zone, using the blast waves from the explosive tags to accelerate toward the Mist Ninjas.
"Attack! Keep attacking!"
Seeing this, the three Mist Ninja leaders quickly issued orders.
At the same time, they formed hand seals and each unleashed a ninjutsu.
One of them used the Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu, summoning a massive water dragon that attacked Seimei from the front.
Another launched three water arrows, each the length of an arm, in a triangular formation, aiming to limit Seimei's movements and force him into a collision with the water dragon.
It was clear the two were coordinating.
As for the third, he didn't use Water Style but instead unleashed a rare Fire Style jutsu from the Hidden Mist Village.
In an instant, flames spewed from his mouth, rapidly expanding like a massive flower blooming, aiming to engulf Seimei entirely.
Seeing this, Seimei's eyes brightened, but it was too late to copy the technique. He could only give up for now.
Facing the incoming barrage of attacks, Seimei remained calm. He raised his left hand and quickly formed hand seals, then took a deep breath.
At the same time, he gathered a large amount of chakra, converting it into Wind Style, and unleashed it in a powerful exhale.
The next moment, a fierce wind arose, conjuring a storm that blew forward.
This wasn't just any jutsu—it was the C-rank jutsu, Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
As the saying goes, sometimes the simplest techniques are the most effective.
In the face of such an overwhelming attack, Seimei's solution was simple: use Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, relying on his chakra advantage to overpower the enemy.
Though Wind Style: Great Breakthrough isn't a particularly difficult jutsu to learn, its power depends entirely on the amount of chakra used.
With his current near-lv6 chakra control and his mastery of the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough at its peak, Seimei had no problem summoning 3,000 points of chakra for this attack.
This amount of chakra was roughly a third of his capacity, and the resulting Wind Style: Great Breakthrough was, naturally, incredibly powerful.
In front of him, all the attacks coming his way—whether ninjutsu or ninja tools—were blown away. They couldn't even get close to him, let alone harm him.
With this, the crisis he faced was easily resolved.
However, just as Seimei was beginning to relax and lowering his left hand, a sudden sense of danger overwhelmed him, sending chills down his spine.
Acting on instinct, he flapped his wings and dodged to the side.
Swoosh!
The next moment, a slender steel needle grazed his left arm, leaving a deep cut.
Seimei was sure that the senbon was originally aimed at his heart, but thanks to his quick reflexes, it only injured his arm.
This close call left Seimei in a cold sweat.
(End of Chapter)