An hour later.
Somewhere in the forest.
Seimei's shadow clone was moving forward at high speed.
Suddenly, a few faint whistling sounds were heard.
The shadow clone glanced back from the corner of its eye, then flickered a few times, avoiding the kunai attack.
It stood on a tree branch, warily looking behind.
Swish, swish~
Two figures appeared instantly.
They were clad in black robes and wore masks. They were none other than the Anbu captain and the female ninja codenamed Suzu.
"Iwa Anbu?"
The shadow clone looked at the newcomers and asked in a deep voice.
Hearing this, neither the Anbu captain nor Suzu answered, only carefully sizing up Seimei.
After a while, the Anbu captain finally spoke, "Uchiha Seimei, the newly emerged genius of the Uchiha clan, awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan at eleven years old. Tell me, what is your purpose?"
'They figured out my true identity in such a short time. The intelligence capabilities of the Five Great Shinobi Villages truly cannot be underestimated.'
'Seimei' felt a hint of wariness.
You know, although he had some fame before, in the entire Konoha, it was just average...
This was partly due to his deliberate low profile, but it was undeniable that there were simply too many geniuses in Konoha.
His little bit of fame couldn't even compare to the young and famous Kakashi Hatake, let alone the recently rising star on the front lines, Uchiha Shisui.
But even so, just a few hours after his appearance was exposed, Iwagakure still managed to figure out his true identity.
Not only that, they even got their hands on some basic information. This showed the strength of the Five Great Shinobi Villages' intelligence capabilities, so it was no wonder Seimei felt wary.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind. 'Seimei' suddenly activated his Sharingan, and the two Anbu ninja, who were already prepared, immediately looked away.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, 'Seimei' flipped his palm, and six shuriken appeared, which he instantly threw, shooting towards Suzu from both the left and right sides.
As the saying goes, "It's better to break one finger than to injure ten."
So 'Seimei' targeted the weaker Suzu from the start.
Sensing the danger, Suzu dodged to the side, attempting to evade the shuriken attack.
However, her reaction had already been anticipated by 'Seimei'.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
Two more shuriken flew out.
'Seimei' used even more force this time. These two shuriken, though thrown later, arrived first, accurately hitting two of the six shuriken in the air.
With sparks flying, those two shuriken abruptly changed direction and collided with the other four.
In the end, the eight shuriken, like scattered flower petals, shot towards Suzu from different directions.
At this moment, Suzu had just landed on her feet and couldn't dodge in time. Helplessly, she could only take out kunai to confront them head-on.
It had to be said that the combat skills of Anbu ninja were indeed high. Even in such a hasty situation, all eight shuriken were blocked.
Of course, she also suffered some minor injuries - two shuriken, knocked away by the kunai, grazed her shoulder, leaving two shallow cuts.
Logically, 'Seimei' should have pressed his advantage at this point, but he didn't.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.
Because the moment he made his move, the Anbu captain also took action.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Several kunai shot straight towards him.
'Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly, and with just a glance, he saw the explosive tags attached to them.
So, without any hesitation, the moment he threw the shuriken, he had already left his original spot.
Boom, boom, boom~
Violent explosions rang out.
Several bursts of flames rose, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
The moment 'Seimei' landed, the Anbu captain and Suzu flanked him from front and back.
Clearly, they knew how to deal with the Sharingan.
"Attack!"
With the Anbu captain's command, Suzu 'instantly' completed hand seals, opened her mouth, and emitted a piercing sound that directly struck Seimei's brain, making him unsteady.
Seizing this opportunity, the Anbu captain immediately charged forward, the kunai in his hand aiming straight for 'Seimei's heart.
Fortunately, 'Seimei' possessed the Sharingan. With it fully activated, the opponent's movements appeared as slow as a turtle crawl in his eyes.
'Seimei' endured the discomfort in his brain, dodged the Anbu captain's attack, and then shot a kunai towards Suzu.
Suzu was forced to interrupt her technique. 'Seimei' was about to pursue, but was entangled by the Anbu captain who charged forward again.
For a time, the sound of clanging metal filled the air.
As a true Jonin, this Anbu captain excelled in all aspects. Even with his vision obstructed, he could still hold his ground against 'Seimei's continuous attacks.
And Suzu focused on support, using a variety of sound wave ninjutsu to greatly disrupt 'Seimei's movements.
'Seimei' tried to counterattack several times but had no chance. Either the opponent was too far away for his attacks to reach, or the Anbu captain restricted his movements.
In short, it was very uncomfortable, almost entirely led by the two of them.
Of course, 'Seimei' knew this was because he was currently a shadow clone and couldn't withstand heavy blows, which was why he was restricted in every way.
Otherwise, even if these two were carefully selected by Iwagakure specifically to deal with him, they wouldn't be able to make him so passive.
It could only be said that the inherent 'fragility' of the shadow clone limited his strength.
The battle continued, and as it progressed, he gradually figured out the information about these two.
First was Suzu. She was most likely just a special Jonin with average taijutsu skills. Her only noteworthy ability was a series of sound wave ninjutsu.
Previously, due to lack of experience, the shadow clone was significantly affected.
However, after this encounter, if the main body encountered similar attacks again, with preparation, it shouldn't be severely affected.
Next was the Anbu captain in front of him.
His strength was considerable. In terms of combat skills alone, he was even above the lv5 'Swordsmanship'. 'Seimei' had to rely on the Sharingan's insight to suppress him.
Additionally, he was proficient in a defensive Earth Release ninjutsu that could be cast instantly upon being attacked, reinforcing his skin to a degree where it was difficult for swords and blades to penetrate.
Unless Seimei fully mastered the Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation of Wind Release chakra, enabling him to infuse wind chakra into his short sword to enhance its attack power, it would be hard to break through his defense.
Of course, if there was no interference, he could also try to use the Sharingan to briefly influence the opponent, creating an opening for a one-hit kill.
But regardless of the method, it wouldn't be easy.
It was clear that this Iwa Anbu's strength surpassed that of an ordinary Jonin. As for whether he had reached the elite level, Seimei couldn't tell.
Firstly, he had never fought against a ninja of that level and didn't know how strong they truly were, making comparison difficult.
Secondly, he didn't know if the Iwa Anbu in front of him was holding back.
Logically, at the Jonin level, a ninja should at least be proficient in two chakra natures.
But this Iwa Anbu, apart from Earth Release ninjutsu, hadn't used any other type of ninjutsu.
Therefore, Seimei didn't know the true extent of the opponent's strength.
(End of Chapter)