Naruto: Forbidden Arts and an Immortal Agenda

One, two, three—four, five, six.

Boulders fell like rain, unceasing and endless.

Throwing boulders was nothing like throwing a kunai.

Shuriken, kunai, or other ninja tools—all were lightweight. Even the slightest collision or minimal block could send them flying or deflect them sideways.

But boulders were different. Hundreds, even thousands of pounds in weight, accelerated to speeds over a hundred meters per second—such force and momentum, who could possibly withstand it?

Before a kunai, Aozora could choose to dodge or to block.

But before a boulder, he had no choice but to dodge.

The issue was, evading constantly wasn't a viable strategy.

More and more stones flew his way. He could evade one or two, perhaps even seven or eight, but what if the entire sky was filled with falling rocks?

That possibility was very real.

The ground beneath Akai's feet had visibly sunk by three inches, yet how much earth and stone existed throughout Dasha Valley?

As long as his chakra hadn't run dry, he could scoop up another massive boulder anytime.

Waiting until his chakra ran out? That would be too naïve.

Although this technique packed considerable power, it was still classified as a C-rank jutsu with moderate chakra consumption. Meanwhile, the Uchiha trapped below within the Earth Release: Great Stone Wall of Captivity remained in danger.

If they truly waited until Akai's chakra was exhausted, the Uchiha might not survive at all.

Closing the distance was essential.

Aozora stopped weaving left and right and charged straight toward Akai.

Before him lay a dense barrage of flying stones.

Within his crimson eyes, the two tomoe spun rapidly, turning the gaps between the flying rocks into wide open spaces.

The wind screamed past his ears like a thousand howling wolves.

In an instant, Aozora felt as if he had returned to the Dense Forest where he trained the Body Flicker Technique.

Back then, the trees didn't move.

Now, these flying stones moved faster than arrows.

But through the Sharingan's vision, weren't flying arrows just as motionless as still images?

The stones were fast—yet Aozora was faster. In an instant, man and rock neared collision.

He stamped down hard, unleashing a surge of chakra from his soles.

The boulders passed through where he had stood, continuing forward, while Aozora narrowly avoided the first boulder and surged onward.

His speed was incredible—so fast that only his afterimages took hits from the stones. Even the stone fragments flying in the wake of each boulder left noticeable cuts on his skin when they grazed him.

Originally over three hundred meters separated Akai and Aozora.

In a flash, Aozora broke through the storm of flying rocks, closing within one hundred meters of his foe.

One hundred meters now marked the range of Aozora's kunai.

"Shsh! Shsh!"

Two kunai shot forth from either side, weaving past the flying boulders as if targeting nowhere in particular.

Though the kunai hadn't directly targeted him, Akai remained fully alert, allowing no slack.

After all, it was common knowledge—Uchiha kunai could change direction mid-flight.

Sure enough, the weapons carved elegant arcs midair, redirecting themselves toward him.

[Earth Release - Earth Pillar Return!]

Two walls of earthen stone suddenly erupted beside him, blocking the kunai.

Akai quickly formed hand seals. The land beneath his feet sank another inch.

One after another, fist-sized mud pellets soared into the air, speeding forward like bullets, whistling through the sky toward the rapidly approaching Aozora.

So dense were the mud pellets—no place to hide.

With no path downward, Aozora could only leap upward, escaping skyward.

Akai was about to seize Aozora's moment of lost momentum, but it was already Aozora's turn to act.

[Fire Release - Hokuto Flower's Crimson Claw!]

Aozora spat out a dozen blazing fire streams from his mouth while simultaneously swinging his right hand. Several high-speed shuriken flew into the flames, riding them as they rapidly shot toward Akai.

The intense flames and sharp ninja tools forced Akai to dodge.

By dodging, he missed the timing completely. Aozora landed and the two resumed their fierce duel once again.

Aozora wanted to close in on Akai to decide the battle with his Zhanxian Throwing Knives.

Akai remained calm because he held the advantage at this moment.

On the mountaintop, among the other three battlefields, Iwagakure had the upper hand on two fronts, with only Akai at a disadvantage against Shuichi.

However, since Iwagakure specialized in defense, Shuichi's advantage couldn't easily translate into victory within a short time.

Moreover, there were still two Jonin waiting in the canyon below.

Once they used Earth Release: Great Stone Wall of Captivity to completely neutralize the Konoha ninjas' combat abilities, they would be able to lend support here.

What Akai knew, Aozora also understood. He didn't have much time left to stall.

He couldn't rely on his teammates anymore.

He had just glanced at the other three battlefields.

His only hope for support would require Shin'ya's death and Shin'ya immediately evolving his two-tomoe Sharingan into a Mangekyou, which was extremely unlikely.

Besides, the probability of evolving from two tomoe to Mangekyou was too low, and Aozora didn't want such a tragedy to occur either.

After making up his mind, Aozora no longer hesitated or felt anxious about gains and losses.

[Fire Release - Great Fireball Technique!]

A fiery, dragon-shaped torrent surged forward, engulfing everything in its path toward Akai. The scorching heat instantly ignited the dry weeds on the mountaintop, causing space itself to shimmer faintly from the intense temperature.

Just as Akai prepared to form hand seals to defend himself, suddenly he sensed a life-threatening danger.

His chakra instantly erupted from his feet.

In the next instant, a streak of cyan light pierced through the fire dragon and also penetrated the afterimage he left behind.

The fire dragon became chaotic from the cyan light interference before dispersing shortly afterward.

Not far away, Akai reappeared with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Due to forcibly interrupting the jutsu, he suffered backlash. At this moment, his chakra ran wildly throughout his body and his internal organs sustained severe damage.

Besides these internal injuries, he also suffered burns across his skin from the residual effects of the Great Fireball Technique.

Yet he still smiled.

Because Aozora had already exhausted his most threatening move.

Those piercing throwing knives that pierced through the afterimage were buried deep in a nearby boulder.

Without those deadly throwing knives, the person standing before him remained an excellent ninja, yet no longer posed any threat to him.

He forcefully coughed out some stagnant blood and wiped the bloodstains off the corner of his mouth.

He declared fiercely, "This ends now!"

Saying so, he abandoned his previous cowardice of merely retreating and courageously rushed toward Aozora.

Instantly, Aozora threw four kunai.

Because Aozora was too rushed to channel chakra into them, the kunai still had enough force to pierce armor.

While running forward, Akai casually swung his arms, blocking with his bare forearms.

"Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!"

Instead of slicing through flesh, the kunai made sharp metallic clangs.

At this moment, both of his arms had transformed into a blackish-yellow hue, resembling hard rock.

As Aozora attempted another Fire Release technique, Akai had already closed the distance between them. Aozora had no choice but to tightly grip his kunai and charge forth to meet him head-on.

He may have hated close combat, but that didn't mean he wasn't good at it.

With sharp motion perception and lightning-fast reflexes, there was no way his close combat skills were lacking.

And could Akai's Taijutsu—which dared to take the offensive—really be inferior?

Fists flew back and forth, kunai whirling through the air.

The two fought in tight quarters, each move deciding victory or death.

To Aozora, Akai's movements seemed slow, every intent behind his attacks laid bare.

Yet Aozora hadn't gained the upper hand—in fact, he found the fight maddeningly stifling.

Akai's defense was just too overwhelming.

Now, his dark, near-stone-like skin looked as solid as rock. When Aozora's kunai scraped across his body, sparks flew, yet not a single wound was left behind.

On top of his impenetrable defense, Akai's blows carried the weight of mountains bearing down on a man's skull.

The howling wind from his fists warned Aozora that a direct hit would mean broken bones and torn tendons.

Close-range combat was the deadliest—both stood on the edge, neither willing to give ground.

They both knew that neither Akai's unyielding defense nor Aozora's pinpoint strikes could last forever.

Both waited for an opening.

A chance that would decide life or death.

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