Kuugetsu and Yamashiro stood locked in a tense standoff — for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.
Kuugetsu stared in disbelief at the withered old man before her, unable to comprehend how someone so frail and aged could still possess such terrifying power.
On the other hand, Yamashiro was also silently shocked.
Kuugetsu's strength had far exceeded his expectations — it was clear she was no ordinary girl who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan by chance.
Their first exchange had ended without a victor.
But Kuugetsu didn't seem anxious. In fact, this was exactly what she wanted.
Yamashiro's Mangekyō was clearly transplanted, and the power and speed he displayed now were obviously the result of stimulant secret medicine.
If she could simply stall for time until the effects wore off, Yamashiro would inevitably fall.
Of course, Yamashiro understood this as well.
Seeing the look in Kuugetsu's eyes, he frowned — he knew he couldn't afford to drag this out any longer.
His left Mangekyō Sharingan began to spin slowly.
The next moment, Kuugetsu realized in shock that Yamashiro had vanished from sight.
An illusion?
She immediately tried to disrupt her chakra flow to break free — but it didn't work.
This wasn't a normal genjutsu.
It had to be a unique Mangekyō ability.
As she struggled to think of a countermeasure, a sudden burst of blood splattered from her shoulder.
She followed the trajectory instinctively — and there was Yamashiro, standing in the distance, blade raised and pointing directly at her.
Kuugetsu narrowed her eyes and stamped her foot hard, launching herself forward.
She wasn't the type to take a hit quietly.
To be wounded and not strike back — that wasn't her style.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
She raised her Sword of Kusanagi: Chokutō, ready to strike him down —
—but in the next instant, her expression froze.
She was somehow back where she started.
It was as if everything had reset to the beginning, her movements meaningless, her Body Flicker Technique nullified.
Just as Kuugetsu reeled from confusion, another flash of light streaked across her vision.
Though she twisted to evade, a deep gash opened on her thigh.
Yamashiro appeared behind her, calm and unhurried.
Grinding her teeth, Kuugetsu used Body Flicker Technique again to close the distance —
but the result was the same.
No matter how far she leapt, the space between them never changed.
Then Yamashiro spoke, his tone cool and detached:
"It's useless. Before these eyes, all struggle is meaningless.
I'll tell you the truth — this is the power of my Mangekyō.
Right now, I am light itself.
These eyes make me invincible."
"With their ability, I can attack at the speed of light.
Against that, all offense and defense are meaningless.
Even another Mangekyō can't touch the speed of light."
As he spoke, another blinding flash cut across Kuugetsu's vision. Though she blocked with all her might, the strike still carved a deep, bone-deep wound into her shoulder.
Damn it! How can there be a Mangekyō with such a terrifying ability? Directly boosting the user's speed to the speed of light?
Facing such speed, even Minato wouldn't be able to handle it, right?
No, that's not right. Calm down. I am a Mangekyō wielder myself; how could I not know its drawbacks?
The more powerful the Mangekyō's ability, the greater the burden on the user. An ability that grants the user the speed of light is even more formidable than my own 'Other Shore'.
Such a terrifying ability cannot be used repeatedly. It won't be long before he becomes unable to use this technique due to excessive ocular power consumption.
Thinking this, Kuugetsu's gaze sharpened. She directly activated the power of Kagutsuchi. Fierce flames suddenly erupted along the length of her Sword of Kusanagi: Chokutō.
As Kuugetsu swung the blade, the flames did not dissipate but were forcibly retained in the air through Kagutsuchi's terrifying control, forming a fiery serpent that coiled around her, encircling her protectively.
This way, Yamashiro's attacks should be rendered ineffective, right?
Just as Kuugetsu thought this, a massive water dragon suddenly surged from the distance. The moment the water dragon collided with the fire serpent, a huge cloud of steam instantly billowed forth.
At that same moment, another flash of white light slashed across her vision —
this time, the wound was severe.
Blood burst from her waist in a crimson spray; if that strike had gone any deeper, it might have pierced her organs.
Kuugetsu cried out in pain and fell heavily to the ground.
From within the smoke came Yamashiro's cold, disdainful voice:
"I told you, all defense is useless. You cannot withstand an attack launched at the speed of light."
Hearing this, Kuugetsu, lying on the ground, remained motionless for a long time. After a moment, she suddenly began to laugh.
"Speed of light? Don't make me laugh."
Using her Sword of Kusanagi: Chokutō as a support, she slowly pushed herself to her feet.
One hand pressed against her bleeding side, while the other gripped her sword tightly.
"I've seen through your trick. One move. The next move will finish you."
"Arrogant!"
A cold snort came from the smoke. In the next second, a flash of light appeared before Kuugetsu's eyes. But instead of trying to dodge, Kuugetsu directly shouted:
"Crimson Lotus Solar Wheel Dance!"
As she spoke, Kuugetsu's figure instantly vanished. The next moment, she reappeared about two meters in front of her original position and struck out ferociously. The Sword of Kusanagi: Chokutō, wreathed in flames, flared up abruptly like a comet tearing through the night sky.
A huge ring of fire exploded outward, illuminating the darkness.
At the exact moment of the eruption, a low grunt of pain echoed from within the smoke ahead.
When the smoke cleared, Kuugetsu saw Yamashiro lying on the ground.
Half of his body had been torn apart by her Crimson Lotus Solar Wheel Dance— nearly cleaved in two.
Even worse, the flames from her strike did not fade when she lowered her blade.
The fire clung to his flesh like maggots to bone, burning relentlessly and releasing the sickening stench of charred skin.
Enduring the agony, Yamashiro croaked out in disbelief:
"How… did you see through me?"
Kuugetsu looked down coldly at the half-dead elder and said:
"The true abilities of your Mangekyō are manipulating light and an auditory-based genjutsu, aren't they?"
"Stripping me of my sight and hearing in an instant, preventing Kushina from assisting me, and then using controlled light to create a phantom image of yourself to fake those so-called light-speed attacks."
Seeing the shock in Yamashiro's eyes, Kuugetsu smiled faintly.
"Blame your ignorance of the eyes you stole.
Your little story about moving at light speed did scare me at first —
but when I thought about it, it just didn't add up."
"Where did you go wrong, you ask?"
Looking down at him with calm disdain, Kuugetsu spoke two simple words:
"The smoke."
"Inside the smoke, your 'light' was still clearly visible — that was suspicious enough.
And if you truly were moving at the speed of light, tearing through the smoke that fast should have caused massive turbulence.
But it didn't. That's how I knew."
...
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