Glancing at his left arm, Seimei noticed dense black lines near the wound, accompanied by a faint, foul odor. Clearly, the steel needle had been poisoned.
There wasn't time to treat the wound. Seimei simply channeled his chakra to stimulate the body's natural healing ability to resist the poison, then turned to face the direction the needle had come from.
There, he saw a familiar figure. Who else could it be but Ao?
As they locked eyes from a distance, Seimei could keenly sense that Ao's Byakugan was focused intently on him beneath his black eyepatch.
"No wonder his shot was so accurate—he had the Byakugan aiding him!"
With this thought, Seimei quickly retaliated, throwing several shuriken in Ao's direction. At the same time, the chakra wings on his back flapped, lifting him straight into the sky, attempting to leave the battlefield.
However, while he wanted to retreat, Ao and the three Mist Jōnin weren't about to let him escape.
The two Special Jōnin didn't waste time. They threw their poisoned kunai to block his path.
One of the Jōnin, however, was different. With lightning-fast hand seals, he unleashed a Wind Release jutsu in the blink of an eye.
Seimei watched as the Jōnin opened his mouth, firing a barrage of vacuum bullets like a machine gun directly at him. Seimei skillfully maneuvered his chakra wings in midair, dodging the rapid-fire shots.
Just as the Jōnin ceased his attack, Ao, who had just evaded Seimei's earlier shuriken attack, formed new hand seals, launching another assault.
A water jet shot toward Seimei with great speed, its precision enhanced by Ao's Byakugan, targeting the center of Seimei's position.
At this point, no matter which way Seimei dodged, he risked being hit by the water jet. And to make matters worse, Ao could control the angle of the water jet within a certain range, increasing its chances of hitting the target.
"I can't dodge!"
Seimei swiftly made a decision, sheathing his blade and forming hand seals. He unleashed a Fire Release jutsu—**Dragon Fire Technique**—against the incoming water jet.
*Puff*—a burst of flames shot from his mouth, transforming into a fiery dragon that collided head-on with the water jet. As the two forces clashed, a sizzling sound filled the air, and both the water and the fire dragon disappeared in a cloud of steam.
Seeing this, Ao's expression showed no sign of disappointment.
No surprise, since this brief delay allowed the disoriented Mist Chūnin and Genin, who had been knocked down earlier, to stand back up.
Admittedly, in one-on-one combat, these Chūnin and Genin posed no threat to Seimei. However, as the saying goes, "many ants can kill an elephant." When they attacked together, they could indeed threaten him, especially now that they were armed with poisoned weapons and explosive tags under the guidance of the Mist Jōnin.
In an instant, a dense barrage of kunai and shuriken flew toward Seimei, cutting off his escape route.
This forced Seimei to turn back and confront the attack.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the three Mist Jōnin once again unleashed their respective jutsu, attacking Seimei.
It seemed they intended to wear him down slowly and finish him off here.
But Seimei, dodging both the incoming weapons and jutsu, glanced at Ao.
Perhaps others weren't aware of Seimei's vast chakra reserves, but Ao, with his Byakugan, surely was.
In this situation, even if they tried to exhaust themselves, they couldn't drain Seimei's chakra dry. After all, to restrict his movements, multiple people had to attack simultaneously. Without true "round-robin" tactics, how could they possibly outlast him?
But the Mist ninjas wouldn't be acting without a reason.
"There must be some trick here!"
As he evaded the Mist ninja's attacks, Seimei kept a close eye on their movements below. Thanks to his Sharingan's powerful insight, he did notice something unusual.
Several Mist ninjas were silently approaching him, with the others seemingly covering for them, intentionally or otherwise.
From their position in the ranks, they might not have noticed anything odd, but from his aerial vantage point, Seimei could easily see something was off.
"Are those guys up to something?"
Seimei's mind raced, but he couldn't figure out what they were plotting.
Instead of overthinking it, he seized the moment and unleashed another jutsu—**Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique**—at the group's location.
*Boom*—a fireball descended.
Seeing the attack heading their way, the Mist Jōnin nearby immediately abandoned their own assault, quickly using **Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique** to block Seimei's fireball.
Witnessing this, Seimei thought to himself, "So, I was right!"
Without hesitation, he continued to distance himself from the group while launching sporadic attacks to wear down the Mist Jōnin's energy further.
Time ticked by.
After several exchanges, Ao and the other Mist Jōnin finally realized something was wrong. They figured out that Seimei had caught onto their plan and was deliberately toying with them.
No longer hiding their intentions, they gathered several capable Chūnin and unleashed a barrage of jutsu aimed at forcing Seimei into the range of those being protected earlier.
At the same time, the group of ninjas began closing in on Seimei.
Seeing this, Seimei didn't hesitate. Bracing himself to take a hit from a water arrow, he spent a large amount of chakra to use **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough** once more.
The familiar scene unfolded again.
A strong windstorm swept through, dispersing the incoming attacks and sending the Mist ninjas below tumbling.
Now, the Mist ninjas weren't just unable to attack—they could barely defend themselves.
Yet Seimei remained vigilant, not forgetting that Ao had launched a sneak attack the last time he used this technique. The poison from that needle was still lingering in his system.
However, this time, Ao didn't make a move. Instead, the group of ninjas who had been protected earlier launched their attack.
After shaking off the windstorm's effects, they immediately formed hand seals, combining their efforts to unleash a sealing jutsu.
That's right—**a sealing jutsu**.
Seeing the intricate black sealing formations beneath them, Seimei finally understood Ao's plan and realized why these particular ninjas had been protected.
It turned out that these Mist Chūnin knew a sealing technique.
And the reason Ao and the others had been trying to wear him down was to give them an opportunity to use it.
Unfortunately for them, Seimei had disrupted their plan.
Although they attacked as soon as they broke free from the wind, their timing was still off.
Without much effort, Seimei flew out of their range, rendering their sealing jutsu useless.
Now, the Mist ninjas were truly out of options.
Ao looked up at Seimei, who, despite his injuries, was still lively in the sky. He glanced at his demoralized, though not heavily injured, subordinates and felt a wave of helplessness.
Just as Ao was contemplating their next move, he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching.
Instantly, Ao's focus sharpened.
Without hesitation, he activated his Byakugan beneath his black eyepatch.
Through the obstacles, he saw a group of bedraggled Mist ninjas rushing toward them.
Their appearance reminded Ao of his primary mission.
His mind began to race again.
(End of chapter)