Grind is My Ninja Way

'Instantaneous Sword Technique~'

With a thought, Wind Release Chakra condensed, and a green light enveloped his entire body.

In the next moment, Seimei's speed surged, and his entire being transformed into an afterimage, rushing straight towards Terumi Mei.

"That move again..."

On the outskirts of the battlefield, Ao's heart skipped a beat, fearing that Terumi Mei wouldn't be able to react in time and would be seized by Seimei.

Fortunately, Terumi Mei reacted quickly and immediately took a defensive stance.

Whoosh~

A flash of sword light.

Terumi Mei felt Seimei's sword-swinging movement in front of her suddenly become sluggish.

An instant later, it was as if he had split into two timeframes, each swinging the sword once.

Terumi Mei's scalp tingled.

Normally, at a single point in time, Seimei could only attack once.

But now, there were two Seimei attacking simultaneously. There was only one possibility: her senses were being affected.

As for whether it was a shadow clone...

Terumi Mei still had that level of judgment.

Without any hesitation, this time Terumi Mei didn't try to block head-on. Instead, she dodged to the side.

Missing the strike, Seimei frowned slightly and immediately gathered Chakra at the soles of his feet.

With a "bang," the sea surface exploded, and a large amount of seawater scattered around. Seimei's speed increased once again.

"Damn brat!"

Seeing Seimei relentlessly rushing towards her again, Terumi Mei cursed inwardly and hurriedly raised the kunai in her hand to block.

Clang~

A crisp metallic sound rang out, the long katana and the kunai clashed and then separated. Seimei twisted his wrist, changing the katana's slash from vertical to horizontal.

Terumi Mei reacted quickly, leaning back and narrowly avoiding Seimei's attack.

Seeing this, Seimei's eyes lit up. He immediately raised his left hand, instantly completed the hand seals, and performed the ninjutsu - Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

A fist-sized fireball was spat out from his mouth, then rapidly expanded and smashed towards Terumi Mei.

Boom~

The fireball hit Terumi Mei and exploded.

"Ah~"

A scream rang out.

However, Seimei didn't pay any attention to it and immediately turned his head to look at the sea in front of him.

Boom~

The sea surface exploded, and a water dragon burst out of the waves, soaring into the air.

Then, it lowered its head, as if it had found its target, and lunged straight towards him.

If he were hit, with the water dragon's size and impact, even if he didn't die, he would be severely injured.

Without any hesitation, Seimei used a 'Body Flicker Technique' and retreated backward.

Boom~

The water dragon crashed onto the sea surface, creating a large crater like a meteorite falling from the sky.

Then, several-meter-high waves appeared, carrying immense impact, and rapidly spread in all directions.

Seimei didn't want to be affected and could only retreat again.

A few moments later, everything calmed down.

Seimei looked ahead and saw Terumi Mei emerge from the seawater, standing on the sea surface once more.

Obviously, his 'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique' just now hadn't injured her.

Her scream earlier was just to mislead him.

Wait a minute~

Suddenly, Seimei's eyes lit up, noticing that Terumi Mei's clothes were torn, and there were some scorch marks on her skin.

Clearly, his attack just now hadn't completely missed her.

It was just that she dodged too quickly, so she wasn't seriously injured.

In fact, that was indeed the case!

Just now, at the moment the fireball was about to hit her, Terumi Mei performed the 'Water Release: Water Replacement Technique'.

Although she dodged the subsequent attack, she still suffered some minor injuries.

However, she was decisive, actually using the Substitution Technique in that situation, taking the opportunity to dive into the water and gaining a chance to counterattack.

Although her 'Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique' just now didn't injure him, it successfully forced him back.

And now, with the distance between them, Terumi Mei could leverage her strengths.

That's right, her taijutsu wasn't bad, but compared to ninjutsu, it was relatively average.

Possessing two Kekkei Genkai, ninjutsu was her forte.

Just like now, before Seimei could get close, she formed hand seals and performed the ninjutsu - Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!

The so-called Boil Release was the fusion of Water Release and Earth Release Chakra, allowing the ninja to master the technique of boiling Chakra.

However, even with the same Boil Release, its manifestation differed depending on the user.

For example, Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki from Iwagakure, mainly used the steam generated from boiling Chakra to enhance his own strength and speed.

But the Terumi Mei in front of him was even more terrifying.

She could freely adjust the acidity of the high-temperature steam, thereby evaporating and corroding other things.

For example, the bones of a Susanoo.

Therefore, seeing the approaching mass of hot white mist, Seimei didn't hesitate and immediately retreated.

Not only that, but he also formed hand seals and performed the ninjutsu - Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Instantly, a strong wind arose, and a large amount of seawater was swept up by the Wind Release Seimei unleashed, rushing towards the acidic mist ahead.

As soon as they made contact, the two merged. The seawater began to reduce the acidity in the white mist, while the strong wind ensured that it wouldn't drift towards him.

However, this caused the fish in the sea to suffer greatly.

They had already hidden in the depths of the sea, but because of Seimei's actions, almost all of them died in the acidic mist.

A few moments later, the attack stopped, and Seimei was still standing unharmed in the distance.

Seeing that the attack was ineffective, Terumi Mei wasn't discouraged.

She locked onto Seimei's position, and before he could make any move, she formed seals again and performed the ninjutsu - Water Release: Water Pillar Technique!

She opened her mouth, and a large amount of Water Release Chakra condensed, forming a water ball that smashed towards Seimei in front of her.

Sensing the massive amount of Chakra within it, Seimei wisely chose to avoid its edge for the time being.

Boom~

The water ball hit the sea surface, instantly transforming into a massive amount of seawater, rapidly spreading in all directions.

This technique, even on land, had the power to extinguish Uchiha Madara's 'Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation'. Let alone in its home field, the ocean!

Almost instantly, a huge wave over ten meters high formed, crashing directly towards Seimei.

Seeing this, Seimei retreated repeatedly, but the wave's advance was too fast, reaching him in the blink of an eye.

Just as he was about to be engulfed, at the critical moment, Seimei leaped up, making several jumps to reach above the wave.

Reaching a height of over ten meters, Seimei looked down.

The next moment, his pupils shrank as he saw Terumi Mei open her mouth towards him and spit out a large amount of viscous liquid.

"This is... Lava Release?"

In an instant, Seimei recognized this technique.

The so-called Lava Release was Terumi Mei's second Kekkei Genkai, formed by the fusion of Earth Release and Water Release Chakra.

It was not only extremely viscous and difficult to remove once it stuck to something, but it also had strong corrosive properties.

It could be said to be exceptionally troublesome.

And Terumi Mei's timing for using this technique was also perfect, just before he revealed his head.

At this moment, Seimei felt extreme danger.

(End of Chapter)