Sora faced a Jōnin alone—a special Jōnin, no less.

  For Sora, this was his first time fighting a ninja of this calibre.

  The shinobi he had decapitated earlier in a sneak attack had been formidable, yet Oyuluo's performance made it clear he was on a different level. From the way Oyuluo evaded the sed strike of Sora's Rice Soul Teique earlier, it was obvious that while Oyuluo wasn't as fast, his bat experience far surpassed Sora's.

  Using that experience, Oyuluo mao avoid three secutive sword strikes. However, the fourth proved far more challenging. Uo evade pletely, he stepped back as much as possible, the bde grazing his chest but narrowly avoiding a deeper wound.

  Oyuluo goward his panion, Atsui. With years of teamwork behind them, Atsui immediately uood the signal.

  "Yunliu Fsh Ssh!" Atsui shouted.

  After quickly f hand seals, lightning chakra surged around Oyuluo, crag with power.

  Sora had been using Lightning Release chakra to enhance his body throughout the fight. The lightning Oyuluo had jured was drawn toward the chakra already active in Sora's body, aiming to strike him directly.

  At the same time, Oyuluo gripped his ninja sword tightly with both hands and charged forward, sshing at Sora.

  Sora expertly guided the ining lightning away, redireg it harmlessly. Simultaneously, he raised his bde across his chest, parrying Oyuluo's attack.

  Oyuluo unleashed three powerful sshes in rapid succession, eae f Sora to retreat step by step. The sheer strength of the strikes made it difficult for Sora to maintain his footing.

  As Sora was driven back, Atsui used the Body Flicker Teique to appear behind him, ung a sneak attack with his bde.

  When Atsui's strike nded, Sora's body crumbled into a pile of mud, revealing the truth—ah-Style Substitution Jutsu!

  Atsui's pupils tracted sharply in shock.

  'When did he have time to form the seals?!'

  Before he could recover, Oyuluo's voice rang out sharply: "Atsui, get out of the way!"

  "Latent Shadow Seique!"

  Sora emerged from the shadows on Atsui's right, snakes surging from his sleeves in an ued attack. The serpents coiled tightly around Atsui's body, their fangs bared as they prepared to strike.

  At the same time, Sora swung his tachi, aiming directly for Atsui's neck.

  "Damn it! Shadow Lightning Spear!"

  Lightnied from Oyuluo's body, surging through him as he propelled himself forward to save his rade.

  Just as Sora's bde was about to reach Atsui's neck, Oyuluo struck. He severed the snakes binding Atsui and tackled him to the ground, the two of them rolling away.

  Even so, Atsui's shoulder was grazed by the tip of Sora's bde, leaving a shallow but painful wound.

  Sora's eyes narrowed as he observed the two.

  'As expected, Jōnin from Kumogakure is adept at using Lightning Release chakra to stimute their bodies, enhang their speed and strength. However, Oyuluo's speed hasn't increased signifitly—his teique must focus more on amplifying strength.'

  Oyuluo helped Atsui to his feet, his gaze never leaving Sora. "Atsui, don't uimate this kid! He's far strohahought."

  His tone was heavy, and his eyes betrayed a newfound wariness.

  Oyuluo had reized Sora's earlier move—it was a secret teique of Orochimaru, one of Konoha's Sannin.

  Sora swiftly formed hand seals and took a deep breath.

  "Fire Style: Fme Destru!"

  Gathering chakra in his throat, he exhaled a massive wave of fire that spread out like an o, engulfing the area in its bzi.

  "Dodge!" Oyuluo barked, his voice low and anding.

  He immediately evaded the ining fmes, skillfully weaving around the fire's destructive path as he closed in on Sora.

  "Lightning Style: Three-Point Thunder Ssh!"

  Oyuluo eled his Lightning Release chakra into his ninja sword, sparks of electricity crag violently along the bde. As the lightning deo its peak, Oyuluo unleashed it in a powerful surge toward Sora.

  "Oh?" Sora remarked with a smirk. "Our teiques are simir. Let's see whose lightning is stronger!"

  Pointing the tip of his tachi directly at Oyuluo, Sora called out:

  "Thunder Breath: Fifth Form—Scorg World Thunder!"

  A high-temperature, lightning-infused ssh erupted from Sora's sword, surging toward Oyuluo with blistering iy.

  The two teiques collided, and the resulting burst of lightning illumihe entire dark forest. Sparks and light danced wildly in the air as both attacks cshed in a heated stalemate.

  Oyuluo's eyes widened in shock.

  'How does this kid have so much chakra? His mastery htning Release—both in nature transformation and form manipution—is far superior to mine.'

  A thought crossed Oyuluo's mind as he gritted his teeth. 'A genius…'

  As someone who fought in the Sed Shinobi World War, Oyuluo had seen his fair share ies. He knew what such tale. Many children youhan Sora had rivalled or even surpassed experienced Jōnin.

  By parison, Oyuluo felt painfully average. At 27 years old, he had only retly been promoted to Jōnin.

  But his sense of inferiority quickly transformed into a murderous resolve.

  'I 't let this kid with the Sharingan live. If he grows stronger, he'll be a great threat to Kumogakure. He must die here.'

  Determined, Oyuluo disengaged from the stalemate, rolling to the side to avoid Sora's Scorg World Thunder. Using the Body Flicker Teique, he appeared right in front of Sora.

  "Yunliu: Flying Bde!"

  Oyuluo's ninja sword, crag with lightning, sshed toward Sora in a fierce arc.

  Rather than defend, Sora chose to meet the attack head-on. His own lightning-coated tachi cshed against Oyuluo's bde, the sharp sound of metal colliding eg through the forest.

  Though Oyuluo had enhanced his strength with Lightning Release chakra, he was still overpowered and forced back by Sora's blow.

  'As I thought,' Sora noted, 'Oyuluo's teique focuses primarily on strength rather than speed.'

  However, Sora's instincts screamed a warning—there was more to Oyuluo's move.

  As Oyuluo was knocked back, a lightning bde formed along his ninja sword, shooting toward Sora. The lightning struck Sora's bde and spread across his body, shog him.

  "Now, Atui!" Oyuluo shouted.

  In Oyuluo's mind, Sora had been paralyzed by the lightning, leaving an opening for Atsui to deliver the finishing blow. But as seds passed, Atui didn't appear.

  fused, Oyuluo turned his head and froze in horror.

  Atui y on the ground, half of his body charred from fmes, his muscles twitg untrolbly.

  "What happened?!" Oyuluo's voice cracked in disbelief.

  He couldn't uand. Atsui's speed should have been enough to avoid the Fire Style: Fme Destru teique Sora had used earlier. So why was he in this state?

  "Heh," Sora sneered, his Sharingan glowing ominously in the dark. "It seems like your friend is having… a little issue."

  Using the Body Flicker Teique, Sora appeared beside Atsui, grabbing him by the hair and lifting him off the ground.

  Sora's cold Sharingan locked onto Oyuluo as he taunted, "Why would you think yhtning could paralyze me? Did you think the lightning chakra running through my body was just for show?"

  Only then did Oyuluo notice the bed veins visible on Atsui's skin. His expression darkened as realization struck.

  "The snake… from earlier?"

  Sora's smirk widened. "That's right. My snake, Lion Majesty, ied venom into him when it restrained him. The poison slowed him down, making it impossible to escape my fmes pletely."

  Because of the venom, Atsui had failed to dodge Sora's earlier attad was now incapacitated.

  Sora raised his tachi, pointing its tip at Atsui's neck. "Don't worry," he said, his voice icy. "You're ."

  With ation, Sora plunged his sword through Atsui's neck.

  Atsui twitched and vulsed in his grasp, but within moments, his body went limp.

  Sora dropped the corpse unceremoniously, his gaze shifting back to Oyuluo.

  Oyuluo's eyes burned with fury, his expression twisted with rage.

  "Why the gre?" Sora mocked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "When you kidnapped Kushina, weren't we already in a fight to the death?"

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