Chapter Twenty: Contrasting the Gap

“Lie in ambush. Take out the enemy jonin first, then sweep up the rest.” After some thought, Suzaku Nara issued his orders, preparing to devour this group of Cloud ninja.

Once the battle plan was set, the team that had been gathered together instantly dispersed. Each member melted into the surrounding forest, moving along predetermined routes to form a semicircular encirclement. This formation was designed to ensure that not a single Cloud ninja could escape their net.

At this moment, Li Uchiha crouched in a thicket of low trees, his Sharingan active, the three tomoe slowly rotating within his crimson pupils. In a battle of this scale, there was no need to reveal his full strength; the three-tomoe Sharingan would suffice.

Soon, in Li’s vision, numerous chakra-laden figures appeared, rushing toward his position. It was a pity that the encounter had come so abruptly; there had been no time to set traps.

Taking a deep breath, Li had already sized up the situation. The enemy, as their intelligence had indicated, numbered thirty, divided into three squads. Each squad was led by a jonin, with the rest comprised of chunin and genin. Their numbers surpassed Li’s team, but their overall strength was inferior.

Still, the fact remained: the enemy was acting as the ambusher and could not be underestimated. Ninja prowess wasn’t determined solely by rank—even genin could not be disregarded. Especially Konoha’s genin—they were a force to be reckoned with.

Li quietly drew a kunai, unwilling to act rashly. The enemy had not yet fallen fully into their trap; a premature move would only alert them. Either do nothing, or strike with a single, fatal blow.

With this thought, Li remained motionless, watching as a squad of ten Cloud ninja passed just beside him.

“Attack!”

From behind a pile of rocks, Suzaku Nara’s voice rang out as he launched the first strike.

“Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!”

Seeing the assault begin, Li wasted no time. He formed hand seals and unleashed a fireball at the squad that had just passed, the technique’s central focus aimed at the leading jonin.

Without pause, Li propelled himself forward like a rocket, seizing the opportunity while the enemy was dodging the flames. He swung his kunai in a diagonal slash while simultaneously shifting his position. His movements were fluid as water, and one sluggish Cloud genin was immediately killed.

“Tighten formation! Take him down together!”

The Cloud jonin, Jin, responded instantly. After evading the fireball, he issued his command. In truth, the rest of his squad needed no prompting—they had already drawn their weapons and rushed Li.

But Li’s allies were equally seasoned; without waiting for orders, they joined the fray.

Seeing that he was momentarily unopposed, Li activated the Body Flicker Technique, attacking Jin directly. Li’s speed was astonishing, but Jin, ever vigilant, matched him—a jonin himself, he was no slouch.

Clang!

Two kunai collided, sending up sparks and a crisp metallic ring.

Such speed!

Li’s heart gave a slight jolt—this Cloud jonin’s swiftness and strength surpassed the average. Clearly, while Jin was not yet an elite jonin, he was only a hair’s breadth away.

But no matter how fast Jin was, Li was faster.

Clang, clang, clang…

In an instant, the two figures clashed furiously amid the trees. As the fight dragged on, Jin grew more and more alarmed. “Impossible! How does he see through my attacks and counter before I even strike?!”

He had faced Uchiha on the battlefield before, even those with the three-tomoe Sharingan like Li. In the past, the Uchiha gained an advantage with their eyes, but nothing as outrageous as this.

Now, every one of his attacks was read in advance, as if Li saw right through him. Whenever Jin tried to strike, Li had already predicted and interrupted him. The frustration and helplessness were suffocating; he had no solution.

Conversely, every attack from Li forced Jin to exert himself utterly just to parry, and even so, within mere moments, Jin was already bleeding from several fresh wounds.

He knew—if this continued, he would die.

Shaken to his core, Jin’s focus slipped for a heartbeat. Suddenly, his heart pounded wildly and his hairs stood on end.

Afraid to hesitate, Jin formed hand seals, attempting to escape with the Body Flicker Technique.

He succeeded, vanishing to a nearby tree.

Yet before he could rejoice, Jin’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked down at his chest. He hadn’t flickered onto a tree at all, but instead directly into the path of Li’s kunai, which pierced his heart.

“Sharingan!”

In that instant, Jin realized what he’d overlooked. The pressure of fighting Li had been so intense that he failed to account for the possibility of genjutsu—a fatal lapse when facing the Sharingan.

And for that, he paid with his life.

“My apologies; it seems I overestimated you.”

Li Uchiha, surprised at how easily he’d dispatched the jonin, felt a moment of detachment. He hadn’t used his full strength, nor had he drawn upon the power of his Mangekyō.

Yet even so, this near-elite jonin had been no match for him. The gap between them was too great; under the dynamic vision of the Sharingan, Jin’s every move appeared in slow motion.

Faced with such an overwhelming advantage, Jin had no chance to resist—it was a one-sided slaughter.

Shaking off the faint sense of pride, Li steadied himself. He knew he had no room for arrogance; his opponent, though a jonin, was an unremarkable one without a bloodline limit.

The enemies he would face in the future would far surpass Jin. When that time came, his advantage would shrink, if not vanish altogether.

Without further thought, Li hurled himself back into the melee against the remaining Cloud ninja. With their jonin leader gone, the remaining chunin and genin were no match for him. He tore through them as if no one remained.

With every strike, Li took down another enemy, his overwhelming presence draining the morale from the Cloud ninja, plunging them into despair.

Meanwhile, the Konoha forces were buoyed by joy, their attacks growing fiercer almost without realizing it.

Suzaku Nara and Sito Akimichi, though exhilarated, felt a weight in their hearts. Li’s performance far exceeded their expectations. All jonin, they were still locked in combat with their opponents, while Li was already supporting others.

The difference between them was growing ever more apparent…