As Qingming charged directly towards him, Shima Jin couldn't help but tremble in fear and turned to flee. But when he caught sight of Shinagawa Nobunaga quickly closing in from the distance, he steeled his nerves, gripping his kunai tightly and facing Qingming head-on.
The crisp clangs of metal echoed as Qingming, wielding his short sword, moved with ghost-like speed, relentlessly attacking Shima Jin from all angles.
Without the interference of the others, his vision-obscuring tactics could finally be put to full use.
However, having fought with Qingming multiple times, Shima Jin had accumulated some experience, allowing him to avoid any major mistakes for the moment.
Just as Qingming finally found an opening, Shinagawa Nobunaga closed in again.
Forced to give up this opportunity, Qingming turned his focus to countering both of their coordinated attacks.
Qingming could feel that Shinagawa Nobunaga was fighting with desperation. His attacks were much more ruthless than usual, at times even using Shima Jin as bait.
Unfortunately for them, these small tricks were as obvious as fireflies in the dark to Qingming, making it impossible for him to fall into their traps.
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot.
Though his opponents were eager to end the fight quickly, Qingming deliberately prolonged it, knowing that once Shinagawa's burst of energy waned, the opportunity would be his.
Time passed slowly, and Shinagawa Nobunaga grew increasingly anxious. As an upper-rank ninja, he knew such impatience was detrimental to combat.
Yet, seeing Qingming effortlessly parrying and countering, he couldn't suppress his anxiety.
When one becomes impatient, mistakes often follow. Qingming, who initially intended to wear down his opponents further, suddenly saw a chance.
"A trap?" Qingming's mind raced as he activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, observing the two's expressions, movements, and behavior.
In this moment, time seemed to freeze.
In Qingming's view, a flash of panic crossed Shinagawa Nobunaga's eyes, while Shima Jin's face betrayed an even clearer sense of urgency.
Qingming concluded that this was not a trap but a genuine error in their coordination.
Without further hesitation, Qingming crouched down to dodge Shinagawa's attack, then swung his short sword to the right, blocking the kunai thrust from Shima Jin.
Both their attacks missed, and due to the timing, they couldn't readjust quickly enough, giving Qingming a perfect opening to counterattack.
And, as fate would have it, he was now perfectly positioned to look directly into Shinagawa's eyes.
In most cases, even if Qingming forced Shinagawa into hypnosis, Shima Jin could immediately strike, forcing Qingming to abandon any follow-up attack.
But this time was different.
Their attacks had overlapped!
This meant that if Shinagawa fell under his control, Shima Jin wouldn't be able to stop Qingming's killing blow in time.
This was the fundamental difference between their two-man attack and a four-man assault—the margin for error was drastically lower.
If there were four attackers, this situation could be defused easily. With only two, however, it was a fatal mistake.
Qingming wasn't about to let this chance slip by. Meeting Shinagawa's gaze, he willed his three-tomoe Sharingan to evolve.
The three tomoe elongated, their heads merging with the central black dot, widening into a larger pattern.
Then, the elongated tails split, transforming into six black lines that extended to the edge of the pupil.
Finally, an abstract pattern resembling a black sun appeared in Qingming's pupils—it was none other than his Mangekyō Sharingan.
This was the first time Qingming had activated the Mangekyō Sharingan in front of others.
Seeing Qingming's suddenly altered eyes, Shinagawa Nobunaga didn't know what it meant, but his instincts screamed at him to avoid eye contact.
He immediately tried to close his eyes and retreat.
But it was too late.
All of this happened in an instant, and before he could even shut his eyes, Qingming raised his left hand. Without any other movement, Shinagawa found himself frozen in place.
In that instant, his consciousness was unceremoniously dragged into a world of illusions.
"You—"
Beside him, Shima Jin was horrified and tried to speak.
But before he could get more than one word out, Qingming silenced him with a gesture.
Just like Shinagawa, Qingming only needed a single motion to pull Shima Jin's consciousness into the illusion world with the "Genjutsu: Sharingan."
Both men now stood immobilized, trapped in place.
Qingming's "black sun" Mangekyō Sharingan faded, reverting to its three-tomoe state as he looked at the two with a sense of satisfaction.
Although he had always known the Mangekyō Sharingan would make his genjutsu extraordinarily potent, he hadn't anticipated it would be this effortless to subdue a top-level ninja.
Qingming was certain that, unless he released his hold, neither Shinagawa Nobunaga nor Shima Jin would be able to break free of his control anytime soon.
"Indeed, the Mangekyō Sharingan is unparalleled," Qingming thought, then raised his short sword, swiftly cutting through both Shinagawa and Shima Jin's throats.
Due to the intense pain and asphyxiation, Shinagawa managed to snap out of the genjutsu before he died. However, Shima Jin remained oblivious, lost in the illusion until his final breath.
The terrifying power of his genjutsu, amplified by the Mangekyō, was unmistakable.
Ignoring the wide-eyed Shinagawa Nobunaga as he took his last breath, Qingming retrieved several kunai and threw them towards the severely injured Kawachi Oniba and the other unconscious Rock Ninja.
The kunai struck precisely, hitting their mark. Kawachi Oniba tried to resist, but his severely wounded body was no match for Qingming's accuracy.
Ultimately, he could only fall in reluctant defeat.
At this point, Shinagawa Nobunaga had also succumbed to his wounds.
Looking at the four corpses on the ground, Qingming considered for a moment before weaving a few signs and casting "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique," sending four blazing fireballs onto the corpses.
Flames roared, consuming all four bodies in an instant.
This wasn't out of a perverse desire to desecrate, but because in the ninja world, there were countless secret techniques. Who knew if someone might extract information from their bodies?
If someone akin to Yamanaka Inoichi could retrieve memories from their corpses, Qingming's Mangekyō Sharingan might be exposed.
Thus, eliminating any evidence was the safer choice.
Of course, one remaining concern was that their souls still existed.
If someone were to perform "Impure World Reincarnation" or another secret technique to summon their souls from the Pure Land, his Mangekyō might still be uncovered.
But such a possibility was remote, and he doubted anyone would go out of their way to summon the souls of these particular ninjas.
Moreover, he currently lacked any means to seal or harm souls. Even if he wished to eliminate this final risk, he simply couldn't.
Given that, he decided it was best to let things take their course.
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