Chapter 294: The Bond Battle That Ended in One Second, Dojutsu: Blood Dragon Nine Seals!
Chapter 294: The Bond Battle That Ended in One Second, Dojutsu: Blood Dragon Nine Seals!
At this moment—
Cold determination and stunned confusion met in their gazes!
Their eyes crossed paths over the exalted sword.
The scene before Namikaze Minato's eyes immediately began to distort. His blood surged uncontrollably, violently shaking within his veins, even causing slight disruptions in his chakra flow.
This was the foundational ability of Uchiha Ci's dojutsu, Elimination!
Composite Bloodline—Human Husk Blood Manipulation!
It had yet to truly reach the level of Bloodline Selection, but it combined two Bloodline Limits—genjutsu manipulation and blood vibration. This ability affected both the body and consciousness simultaneously, significantly dulling the opponent's senses.
Moreover, Uchiha Ci was certain that Namikaze Minato had never seen him fight in this way before, making it easy to overlook this detail.
After all, just a few months ago, when they fought side by side in the Land of Rain, Uchiha Ci had yet to master this ability.
But Namikaze Minato was still Namikaze Minato.
Even when caught off guard, his reaction speed was almost beyond belief.
Before the dojutsu could fully affect him, his mind remained perfectly clear. And physically—within less than half a second—he made the best possible decision.
With one hand, he formed the seals for the Summoning Jutsu, calling upon the creatures of Mount Myōboku!
Minato could perform one-handed seals.
This choice significantly reduced the risk of his movements being disrupted by the dojutsu's blood-vibrating effect, which could have made hand-seal formation difficult.
At the same time, Minato also attempted to teleport away using his Flying Thunder God Technique, aiming to escape the illusion's influence with the help of a summoned ally before returning to the battlefield—
To continue fighting!
However—
Since Uchiha Ci had chosen to strike first, he had already anticipated this.
Both he and Minato were warriors with incredibly sharp combat intuition.
Whatever Minato could think of, Uchiha Ci—who had knowledge of his opponent's abilities—could predict just as well.
He even knew exactly how Minato would fight back once freed from this predicament.
Even now, despite not yet fully mastering all of his newfound powers, Uchiha Ci knew that even if he fought with everything he had, he was likely still no match for Namikaze Minato.
Even if he unleashed his full-body Susanoo,
Even if he pushed his eyes to the brink of blindness,
Even if he recklessly forced Susanoo into its third stage—
It would still be extremely difficult to defeat Namikaze Minato.
At this moment, in Cloudsong City, Minato—having advanced his basic Rasengan and possessing the Flying Thunder God Technique—was the strongest existence!
But—besides the foundational ability of his dojutsu Elimination,
Uchiha Ci had one more ace up his sleeve—
A completely new dojutsu, an unknown variable that Minato was unaware of!
Back when Kakashi was present, and Namikaze Minato appeared, Uchiha Ci had deliberately refrained from using his new dojutsu. Instead, he concealed its power.
Not because he knew he would one day face Minato—
But because his combat instincts never distinguished between friend and foe on a conscious level.
His instincts told him that everyone was a potential threat—
Including Minato, including Orochimaru, even including Uchiha Setsuna.
The moment Minato appeared, as suddenly as a ghost, Uchiha Ci's ingrained battle instincts compelled him to keep a trump card in reserve.
And now—
That hidden trump card, a power belonging to the realm of Bloodline Selection, was about to be unleashed in an instant!
Uchiha Ci jerked his right hand back, twisting the sword's hilt, reflecting the blade's light towards Minato.
At the same time, he shut his right eye—
While his left hand gripped his violently wide-open left eye!
Blood vessels rapidly spread across the sclera,
A chaotic web of pulsating crimson!
And then—
Bloodline Selection—Dojutsu: Blood Dragon Nine Seals!
Activated in a split second!
Blood tears streaked down the corner of his eye.
At the sight of this, Minato's heart clenched with alarm.
Though he still couldn't understand why Uchiha Ci was attacking him, the overwhelming sense of danger now completely engulfed him.
"Is he about to use that Senjutsu-infused dojutsu illusion he once used to restrain the Nine-Tails?"
"No… no, this is different! This is the Sharingan's White Pulse Eye—without Senjutsu fusion!"
Fixing his gaze on Uchiha Ci's actions while deliberately avoiding direct eye contact, Minato's mind raced, calculating the angles of the sword's light refraction—
To ensure he wouldn't be drawn into another strange genjutsu through sword reflection.
Moreover, Uchiha Ci, in Sage Mode, possessed a 360-degree field of vision.
Even though Minato had yet to see Uchiha Ci's Sage Mode stance, he made sure to memorize this crucial detail.
If Uchiha Ci showed any signs of entering Sage Mode,
Minato would immediately close his eyes to avoid the illusion.
Because Minato knew—
If he fell victim to Uchiha Ci's dojutsu, he would lose consciousness momentarily due to the White Pulse Eye's effect, rendering him unable to use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
And in a battle between speedsters, even 0.1 seconds—
Was enough to determine life and death!
The reason Uchiha Ci wasn't using Senjutsu was simple—
Ever since losing Zero-Tails and the Heaven Curse Mark, he could only enter Sage Mode by relying on the natural energy accumulated within his mutated eyes to fuse Senjutsu chakra.
(The Heaven Curse Mark vanished when Orochimaru and the White Snake Sage left Uchiha Ci's body—similar to how Sasuke's Heaven Curse Mark disappeared after Orochimaru was sealed by Itachi's Totsuka Blade in the original series.)
Once Sage Mode was activated, the veins around his eyes would bulge like those of a Hyuga's Byakugan,
Making it too obvious!
If Minato saw that—he would immediately teleport away and shift to hit-and-run tactics.
And if "Run Home Minato Mode" was triggered,
Uchiha Ci could do nothing but watch.
After all, that move was meta-defining.
Moreover, Uchiha Ci had no way of knowing whether Minato had already left a Flying Thunder God mark on him when he patted his shoulder earlier.
So he couldn't afford to gamble.
If he wanted to save Minato—
It had to be right now!
In this battle of speed demons,
Within this long yet fleeting second of calculated exchanges,
He had to knock Minato down—
And ensure he stayed down!
Damn it, Minato! Just take my righteous friendship-infused Face-Breaking Punch already!!!
At this moment—
Just before Minato could stabilize his erratic chakra and teleport away using the Flying Thunder God Technique—
In the fraction of a second that remained—
Before his very eyes—
From Uchiha Ci's left eye, from within those strange Sharingan patterns—
A sinister, blood-red arc abruptly streaked forth,
Linking him directly to Uchiha Ci!
Then—the bloodline snapped apart!
Transforming into a rain of scattered crimson droplets!
And in that instant—
From within the blood rain, a terrifying blood-colored dragon's head materialized!
Rising fiercely, its maw opened in a thunderous roar, lunging at Namikaze Minato!
Seeing this Blood Dragon, Minato's expression changed drastically.
"How… how did I fall into a genjutsu again?!"
He had deliberately avoided eye contact.
He had confirmed that he hadn't looked at Uchiha Ci's reflected sword light.
But this technique—how had it still ensnared him?!
At that moment—
Under extreme pressure, facing an unprecedented crisis—
A shockwave of electric energy surged through Minato's spine,
From the top of his head straight down to his heels!
His whole body tingled—
As if…
He had just unlocked something.
And then—his awareness sharpened.
His reaction speed soared!
Somehow—
Namikaze Minato had managed to "level up" his legendary reflexes… within 0.1 seconds!
And seeing this all-too-familiar phenomenon—
Uchiha Ci's eye twitched violently.
"God damn it… this guy really is the main character's dad!!!"
But—
It didn't matter!
Because this time—
Uchiha Ci wasn't relying on reflexes to defeat Minato—
He was outsmarting him!
(Special thanks to "Irakli Jishkariani" for their support)