IMPORTANT: For every 30 POWER STONES there will be an extra chapter!
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Without saying another word, Ye Zi pushed off the ground, breaking the tree trunk he stood on as he lunged toward Kato Dan. His blade gleamed in the moonlight, the dull edge glowing with a faint red hue. In just a few breaths, he closed the distance, thrusting the long blade forward.
Kato Dan, already prepared with his hand seals, remained unfazed and activated his signature technique: Spirit Transformation.
His spirit shot out from his shoulders, aiming straight for Ye Zi, who was mid-air. The spirit effortlessly penetrated Ye Zi's body.
Once the spirit successfully invades the target, victory is already assured—this is why the Spirit Transformation Technique is regarded as unbeatable in one-on-one battles.
However, there was no joy on Kato Dan's face. He immediately moved from his position as a sharp blade sliced through the thick tree trunk where he had been standing.
When his spirit entered Ye Zi's body, Kato Dan quickly realized it was just a clone. His sharp combat instincts had saved him, allowing him to evade Ye Zi's sneak attack from behind. The strike that should have ended the fight missed.
Kato Dan pulled back, gaining distance. Glancing at the body his spirit had entered earlier, he saw it had turned into a human-shaped block of wood. He assumed it was the Substitution Technique, but it was actually the Wood Clone Technique, one of the First Hokage's signature wood-style jutsu.
Ye Zi's missed strike was unexpected. Now standing on a tree branch, he looked at Kato Dan, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Ye Zi had learned the Spirit Transformation Technique from Kato Dan himself. Afterward, he had improved it, making it more versatile and significantly increasing its lethality. Before these modifications, he was already aware of the technique's weaknesses—the most glaring being that the user's body cannot move during the jutsu.
This weakness could be fatal at times. That's why Ye Zi had prepared to exploit it. He had quietly created a wood clone while using the tree for cover and then stealthily approached Kato Dan from behind, intending to end the battle with one strike. But Kato Dan had moved at the critical moment…
"You've mastered it to this extent as well, huh?" Ye Zi muttered as he sheathed his blade. Given that Kato Dan had overcome the weakness of the Spirit Transformation Technique, engaging him in close combat would be foolish. To minimize risk, Ye Zi realized he had to use ranged tactics instead.
Hearing Ye Zi's words, Kato Dan froze, his eyes trembling slightly before the realization hit him like a thunderclap.
"You've mastered it to this extent…"
These words echoed in his mind like thunder. The only person who could say something like this was none other than Ye Zi, who was supposed to be dead.
"You… you're Ye Zi?!" Kato Dan stared at him, shocked and overwhelmed by a tidal wave of disbelief.
"Sorry..." Ye Zi replied coldly, "This isn't what I intended, but today… you'll die here."
His pale hands formed hand seals, and an ethereal spirit materialized from his shoulders. The spirit resembled Ye Zi, bearing a striking resemblance, floating in the air, tethered to his body.
Seeing the spirit, everything became clear to Kato Dan.
Even though he found it hard to believe, the appearance of this spirit confirmed it—Ye Zi wasn't dead. But if he was alive, why hadn't he returned to the village?
So many questions filled Kato Dan's mind as he watched the spirit appear before him.
This moment of hesitation was a fatal flaw, yet Ye Zi didn't attack right away.
"You're alive, but why… haven't you come back to the village?" Kato Dan asked, his gaze locked on Ye Zi.
"A dying man doesn't need to know so much."
Even though Ye Zi's face was hidden behind the mask, Kato Dan could sense the cold indifference in his voice. He could feel Ye Zi's determination to kill him.
"You may have overcome the weakness of the Spirit Transformation Technique, but… did you know there's another way to use it?"
Ye Zi's voice, cold and filled with killing intent, cut through the air like a chilling breeze. Even the distant chirping of insects ceased for a moment.
In Kato Dan's stunned gaze, he saw Ye Zi release his hand seal, but the spirit remained. After that, Ye Zi formed another set of hand seals, creating two shadow clones beside him.
Yin-Yang Release—creating something from nothing.
The two shadow clones also summoned spirits, which looked like fragments of their souls. Normally, each person only has one soul, but Ye Zi had split his into three. Three spirits.
The central Ye Zi, looking at the shocked Kato Dan, said calmly, "This technique will leave a trace, but since it's you, I'll show you the true potential of the Spirit Transformation Technique."
The Spirit Transformation Technique was unbeatable in one-on-one duels, but its weakness was glaring when facing multiple opponents. By combining it with shadow clones, Ye Zi had now entirely overcome that flaw.
"I always thought your talent was remarkable," Kato Dan said gravely. "I was proud to have a junior like you in the village. But why… why are you now standing against it?"
A deep sense of unease crept into Kato Dan's heart, as if death itself was drawing near.
Ye Zi didn't answer the question. Instead, all three of his bodies advanced on Kato Dan from different directions.
Seeing no response, Kato Dan's expression grew tense.
"Even if you've mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique to this degree, I won't go down that easily!" Kato Dan charged directly at Ye Zi's central body.
Even if there were two clones with spirit fragments, if he could take down the main body, the clones would disappear.
"Too naive."
Ye Zi coldly created another shadow clone, which moved to face Kato Dan head-on.
From the moment Kato Dan chose to pursue Ye Zi, the outcome had already been decided. With Ye Zi now in control of the Spirit Transformation Technique, this battle was entirely one-sided.
Ye Zi's spirit entered Kato Dan's body, freezing him mid-attack. His body dropped from the air, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
In that brief moment, Ye Zi had to make a decision.
Whether to erase or devour Kato Dan's soul, both would completely wipe his existence from the world.
Perhaps Ye Zi's heart wasn't as cold as it seemed. He didn't choose to erase or devour the soul—he simply killed him.
Kato Dan's body shuddered once before life left him.
Ye Zi retracted his spirit and stood beside the lifeless body, silently gazing down.
He had once saved Kato Dan's life and learned the Spirit Transformation Technique from him. Yet now, fate had brought him to this moment, where he had used that very technique to take Kato Dan's life.
"Sorry."
Ye Zi's eyes shifted from Kato Dan's corpse to the direction of Konoha. He pulled out the scroll containing the Rock Village's defense and supply routes and placed it in Kato Dan's hands.
Without much thought, Ye Zi had left something so important in Kato Dan's grasp. It was an impulsive decision—he didn't care if Konoha viewed it as useless information.
Ye Zi turned and left.
Moonlight bathed Kato Dan's corpse, giving it a soft, ethereal glow. His pale blue hair lay scattered across the ground.
After some time, several figures from Konoha arrived at the scene.
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Currently on Chapter 218 - Movements on a Chessboard