Naruto ignored Yingguimaru's taunts, his focus now absolute.
There was no doubt about Yingguimaru's speed. Even with the stat boosts to his agility, velocity, and reflexes granted by the Junior Evasion title, Naruto did not dare to harbor the slightest bit of carelessness.
Yet, encountering a formidable enemy was something Naruto had anticipated long ago. If he ventured out into the Shinobi World only to run into a bunch of weaklings, what meaning would his so-called training journey outside the village have? He might as well just stay home and sleep in.
Faced with Yingguimaru right now, the opponent's strength had not yet exceeded Naruto's control. Therefore, Naruto had no need to use the life-saving scroll Jiraiya had specially prepared for him. Through this battle with Yingguimaru, he could accumulate as much combat experience as possible and level up his system title!
That was the only shortcut to becoming strong quickly!
Locking his gaze firmly on the sickle in Yingguimaru's hand and the figure rapidly charging forward, Naruto duplicated his feat the instant Yingguimaru swung the sickle once more, displaying the extraordinary reflexes—far surpassing ordinary people—that he had gained through the Junior Evasion title.
Dodge, dodge, and dodge again!
No matter how many times Yingguimaru raised and brought down his sickle, Naruto slipped past every single blow without a scratch.
Watching Naruto's agile figure darting left and right again and again, Yingguimaru finally lost his patience. "Damn brat, I'll tear you to pieces! Lightning Release: Earth-Style Traversal!"
Crack, crack, crack!
Instantly, as Yingguimaru's hand seal completed, three bolts of lightning slithered along the ground like a trio of lightning serpents, restricting Naruto's movement to a narrow zone in the blink of an eye.
Following close behind were Yingguimaru's cold gaze, which seemed ready to devour him alive, and the blade of his sickle, which whipped up a flurry of afterimages: "Sickle Slash Style: Flash!"
This rapid strike, akin to an Iai slash, was completely unavoidable. The edge of the sickle flashed a deadly cold light in the air, as if even the air was split in two that instant. Naruto could not escape either, and was instantly cut clean in half by Yingguimaru's sickle!
Yet the next moment, before Yingguimaru could even celebrate, the Naruto who had been cut in half vanished amidst a puff of white smoke, transforming into two sections of a wooden log that dropped to the ground.
"A Substitution Technique..." With a gaze that was ice-cold and laced with fury, veins bulged faintly on Yingguimaru's forehead. "My Sickle Slash Style was actually evaded by this brat using such a cheap trick."
Off to the side, Naruto's figure materialized in the rear. Naturally, Naruto was not about to let such a prime opportunity slip by—the opening left while Yingguimaru was weaving hand seals for Lightning Release: Earth-Style Traversal. This wave of substitution tactics was both unexpected and entirely reasonable.
Having traveled the Shinobi World for many years, Yingguimaru had never seen any brat possess combat awareness as exceptional as Naruto's. Forget brats; even battle-hardened jounin had never made Yingguimaru feel this troublesome.
"Looks like I've hit the jackpot this time." Lowering his head slightly, his expression shifting uncertainly beneath the shadows, Yingguimaru raised his head and locked his gaze on Naruto. The bloodlust in his eyes had reached its peak. "Not bad, a worthy target for my blade. Brat, after I behead you, I'll make an exception and keep your skull as a collection."
With those words, Yingguimaru channeled his Chakra into the sickle in his hand. Instantly, with a crackling burst of electricity, the surface of the sickle Yingguimaru held was covered in a flickering layer of arc lightning.
It seemed this sickle was also a fine piece of ninja tool, forged from a special material capable of conducting Chakra.
After coating the surface of his sickle with his Lightning Release Chakra, Yingguimaru attacked Naruto once more. This time it was far more than just an ordinary slash; the lightning wrapping around the sickle was like a venomous snake, and a moment of inattention would result in being paralyzed to death.
Watching this scene, Naruto felt a slight chill in his heart. From the beginning of this fight until now, Naruto had maintained an extremely high level of focus. Throughout the battle with Yingguimaru, he had also deliberately honed his evasion skills.
At last, the accumulation of quantitative changes reached a qualitative leap, and the system prompt sounded in Naruto's mind at that very moment.
"Congratulations to the host for reaching a brand-new realm in the comprehension of evasion skills! The 'Junior Evasion' title has successfully upgraded to 'Intermediate Evasion'!"
Right in the middle of a life-or-death battle, Naruto had no time to check the attributes of the upgraded Intermediate Evasion title. Seeing Yingguimaru's lightning-clad sickle descending like an oppressive tyrant, Naruto's figure suddenly blurred in that instant and vanished on the spot.
When he reappeared, Naruto was already right in front of Yingguimaru. This time, abandoning his all-out defensive evasion style, Naruto took the initiative to attack!
This tactical shift caught Yingguimaru entirely off guard. But what shocked Yingguimaru even more was that the speed Naruto just unleashed had suddenly spiked by a massive margin compared to the beginning—so fast that even Yingguimaru failed to react in time!
"How is this possible?!"
A look of utter shock crawled across Yingguimaru's entire face in an instant. With Naruto right before him, he could clearly see Yingguimaru's expression turning shocked and panicked for the first time.
Without any hesitation, Naruto slammed a Wind Release: Rasengan that he had long since condensed squarely against Yingguimaru's body!
"I'm a man who easily reached Super Kage in the arena anyway, how could I possibly lose to you?!"
Finishing it directly with an ultimate move! My youth has no regrets!
Accompanied by Naruto's roar, the Wind Release: Rasengan shot upward like an unstoppable rocket, whistling as it drove Yingguimaru high into the air in a spiraling ascent, before finally detonating mid-air into a massive, powerful gale. The terrifying turbulent currents of Wind Release Chakra mercilessly devoured Yingguimaru.