Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 33 Genius Ninja

The border of the Land of Fire.

A deep, man-made canyon, thirty meters wide and seemingly endless, with a rushing river flowing below.

call out!

A cold light flashed as a kunai shot from the other side of the border canyon, with a steel wire hanging from its end.

The kunai was plunged straight into the rock wall, and the steel wire attached to its end was also pulled straight up, forming a steel wire bridge over the canyon.

call out!

A figure moved swiftly across the steel wire like a dragonfly skimming the water, crossing the steel wire bridge and arriving in the Land of Fire in the blink of an eye.

"Phew...we're safe!"

The person glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief. With the border patrol team present, it would be much safer once they crossed the border.

Those mad dogs from Kumogakure probably wouldn't dare cross the border to hunt him down.

The border patrol teams of the Land of Fire are equipped with large chakra-sensing spheres that can quickly detect the occurrence and location of intense chakra fluctuations over a large area, and then notify the patrol team's ninjas to provide support or investigate.

Every member of the border patrol team is a Jonin.

Only Jonin can hold out until rapid reinforcements arrive when the enemy invades the Land of Fire; other Chunin cannot.

Therefore, Konoha ninjas who are on missions abroad are much safer once they cross the border.

At least you don't have to worry about encountering multiple enemies without support on your side.

So when Uchiha Keisuke returned from his mission, he felt relieved and his vigilance lessened considerably.

"S-rank mission complete!"

Keisuke Uchiha tossed the mission scroll in his hand, a smile playing on his lips. He'd wait until he got back to see if anyone in the village would dare question the Uchiha's ability to complete missions.

He easily completed an S-rank mission, which involved venturing deep into the Hidden Cloud Village in the heart of the Land of Lightning to retrieve "critical classified information." Who else could do that? And who else could safely return from the Hidden Cloud Village's spies?

It was him, and it could only be him, Uchiha Keisuke.

After all, he's a genius of the Uchiha clan!

Uchiha Keisuke remained relaxed throughout, thinking smugly to himself, and before he knew it, he had arrived at a small grove of trees.

Suddenly, Uchiha Keisuke felt a chill in his heart. Before he could react, the ground around him suddenly rose... no, it didn't rise, but the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank.

Moreover, the speed was very fast. In an instant, Uchiha Keisuke was in mid-air with nowhere to grab on, and he was falling freely.

"Enemy attack!"

In an instant, Keisuke Uchiha realized that he had been ambushed by the enemy.

But he remained calm and instantly activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.

shhhhhh!

At that moment, six kunai shot from the top left and right sides, aiming directly at Uchiha Keisuke's head, heart, and other vital parts.

Although Uchiha Keisuke had nowhere to grab leverage in mid-air, his hands were very nimble, and he instantly pulled out four kunai from the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

The Uchiha clan's unique kunai throwing technique, combined with the Sharingan's terrifying observational abilities, and finally, Uchiha Keisuke's genius-level mental calculation ability.

In a split second, Keisuke Uchiha found four different kunai throwing techniques with four different angles, speeds, and forces. He used the rebound to instantly knock down the nine kunai that were being shot at him, and he could dodge the remaining three by twisting his body.

However, just as Uchiha Keisuke was about to throw the kunai, he noticed that each kunai handle was wrapped with an explosive tag, which was specially dyed black to match the color of the kunai, so that it was easily missed if you weren't paying attention.

Only the Sharingan's observational ability is so amazing that it can detect abnormalities in kunai shot at high speed.

If it were any other ninja, after knocking away nine kunai, they would twist their body to dodge the remaining three kunai in an instant, only to be severely injured by the explosive tags on the three kunai that came close at hand.

"It's a pity you've encountered me, a genius of the Uchiha clan."

Keisuke Uchiha's mind raced, his thoughts flashing wildly as he instantly devised a new plan. His body was also able to react instantly, mirroring his brain's actions.

In an instant, Uchiha Keisuke released the kunai in his hand and formed hand seals.

"Water escape, water rush wave!"

A ring of water instantly condensed around Uchiha Keisuke, then surged upwards at an angle like an explosive stream.

The twelve kunai that were shot from the left and right sides were swept away by the water flow and could no longer enter Uchiha Keisuke's body.

The person who fired the kunai seemed to know that the hidden explosive tag attack had been detected.

However, they still detonated the explosive tags on the kunai.

Boom boom boom...!

All twelve explosive tags on the kunai were detonated, and in an instant, the high temperature from the explosion evaporated a large cloud of water vapor.

The 200-square-meter semi-enclosed space trap, created by the falling ground, used a large amount of water vapor to achieve the effect of the Water Escape and Mist Concealment Technique.

Keisuke Uchiha's Sharingan vision was instantly and severely suppressed, and his ability to unleash Sharingan genjutsu, which required eye contact, was also restrained.

Without the influence of Sharingan genjutsu, the Uchiha clan ninjas, while not necessarily having their strength suppressed, at least had a fair fighting environment for other ninjas.

There's no way around it, the Sharingan's genjutsu is just that powerful.

However, without the Sharingan's genjutsu to aid him, Uchiha Keisuke remained completely unfazed.

While the Hidden Mist Technique counters Sharingan genjutsu, the Sharingan, which can see chakra, still holds a certain advantage in perception under the Hidden Mist Technique, not much less than those who are proficient in the Hidden Mist Assassination Technique.

Uchiha Keisuke quickly took out two kunai from his ninja tool bag again.

These two kunai are specially made, with a steel wire attached to the end of each.

Uchiha Keisuke prepared to shoot kunai at the stone walls on the left and right, and straighten the steel wire to give himself a foothold.

He is still in mid-air.

His vision was affected by the water vapor, so he could no longer see the explosive tags wrapped around the handle of the kunai in advance as he had just moments before.

In addition, relying solely on hearing to judge will always delay his reaction time, making it impossible for him to react and respond as quickly as before.

The enemy is very familiar with the abilities of the Uchiha clan.

First, he used the Earth Escape Core to drop him to the ground, leaving him suspended in mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, while also creating a relatively enclosed space.

At the same time, if the sneak attack using explosive tags fails, he will use the water vapor generated by the high temperature of the exploding explosive tags to form a mist concealment technique, which will suppress his Sharingan's visual observation ability and genjutsu, in order to make final preparations for the next attack.

Without even thinking, Keisuke Uchiha knew that after suppressing his Sharingan vision and a certain level of observation, the attack would inevitably come from all around, accompanied by kunai wrapped with explosive tags.

In this semi-enclosed space, still in mid-air, he had no way to stop the many hidden kunai detonators.

As for using water-based defensive attacks in a wide area?

That's a response only an idiot would make.

The enemy would never have expected that he would use Water Release to dodge the explosive tag kunai he was shooting.

It's easy to imagine that if he continues to use water-based techniques, there might be another round of targeted attacks.

He has too little intelligence about this next round of targeted attacks and cannot blindly trust his own perceptions and judgments.

If he hadn't guessed correctly, he would have been injured even if he didn't die.

If he gets injured, he might not be able to hold out until the border patrol arrives.

Therefore, the best way to deal with this is to disrupt the enemy's attack rhythm.

When the enemy thinks he will fall, he will do the opposite, using the steel wire at the end of the kunai to create a point of leverage in the air, just like when crossing the border canyon, and use this to bounce off and break out of the encirclement.

Once he's outside the trap, in open terrain, his Sharingan can exert its maximum suppressive power.

Finally, when the border patrol arrives, those enemies who attacked him will stay if they don't leave.

(End of this chapter)