When Uchiha Kokuya turned his head, he could feel a chilling aura coming at him. He had no doubt that the other party intended to kill him here. After all, given his dangerous nature, the Hidden Leaf Village would surely want to eliminate him, and now was a perfect opportunity.
Uchiha Kokuya's Sharingan could clearly see Asuna's movements. With such intense focus, time seemed to stand still. He could see every one of Asuna's actions, every expression, and even the changes in airflow caused by her movements were clearly visible.
If it were anyone else, they would probably have been killed by Asuna, but Uchiha Kokuya wouldn't. He had the Sharingan, which allowed him to see Asuna's movements clearly, and his physical abilities were sufficient to react in that time, though it might be a bit messy, and he might even get injured.
That would be a bit embarrassing and would make the Konoha ninjas smug. Uchiha Kokuya didn't intend for that to happen. He had a subconscious aversion to Asuna—Feng Mori Masaki's daughter—and the thought of her getting away so easily was infuriating.
Ordinary ninjas might not have any means of counterattacking, but Uchiha Kokuya did. Behind the mask, invisible to normal people, the comma-shaped patterns in his Sharingan were spinning rapidly, then distorted, instantly transforming into another exquisite pattern.
—Mangekyo Sharingan!
The Mangekyo Sharingan, fortunately obtained due to Uchiha Kokuya's special ability, contained a dōjutsu powerful enough to change the current situation.
Uchiha Kokuya's eyes widened slightly, and the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan rapidly permeated outwards. At the same time, Uchiha Kokuya's entire body's chakra began to undergo fire-nature transformation. Disregarding the pain in his meridians, he blew a fireball towards the oncoming Asuna.
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When Asuna saw the orange glow of fire emerge from Tobi's mouth, her heart immediately cried out, "Not good." She quickly twisted her body, controlling her wind-nature chakra to transform into a high-density shield, while simultaneously generating a backward-propelling airflow and blocking her body with her sword.
She watched as the orange fire grew brighter and brighter, then consumed everything in her field of vision. After hearing a huge bang, she felt herself being thrown backward, her mind going blank in an instant.
With a deafening boom, a raging wave of fire surged in all directions. Everyone else watched in shock, no one having expected such an outcome.
The guardian monks beside the Daimyo immediately flashed in front of the pale-faced Daimyo. Their responsibility was to protect the Daimyo's safety.
Their actions drew the attention of Ryoma and the other four Guardian Shinobi, who immediately came to protect the Daimyo, before it was the turn of the Konoha ninjas.
"Protect the Daimyo!" Hyuga Hiashi shouted loudly. If anything happened to the Daimyo, not only would their own safety be at risk, but the village and the country would become completely hostile, and the Hidden Leaf Village would face a huge crisis.
Fujimura Yuuki, who had regained his senses, and one of the other four guardian shinobi charged forward, using Water Release to block the oncoming waves of fire. The scorching steam blew towards them, but was also blocked by the others with all their might. The Daimyo only felt a burst of heat on his face, slightly hot, but suffered no other injuries.
Immediately after, Hyuga Hiashi launched an Eight Trigrams Empty Palm forward. It didn't have enough power, but its range was wide enough to disperse the white steam mist in front of them, revealing a huge crater caused by the explosion, with no one in sight.
For a moment, everyone had various thoughts, speculating about the outcome. Were both individuals blown to smithereens, or were they blown away? Without going forward to confirm, the result would remain unknown.
Mizuki, meanwhile, had already rushed forward through the heat. At the moment of the explosion, her mind had also gone almost blank. Compared to the others, she had long forgotten about the Daimyo, but because of her shock, she hadn't acted immediately. Only after the others arrived by the Daimyo's side, and Fujimura Yuuki and another guardian ninja blocked the fire wave, did she regain her senses and rush to find Asuna.
It was impossible for anyone to survive in the explosion crater; no one could withstand that level of explosion except for a body as powerful as the Third Raikage's. If Asuna was still alive, she must be somewhere else.
Because it was disrespectful to use the Byakugan in front of the Daimyo, Hyuga Hiashi did not use it, and Mizuki naturally could not use her Sharingan. Without the insight of the Sharingan, she had no idea what happened in that instant of the explosion, but she still remembered the direction Asuna had attacked. After a brief moment of discernment, she rushed in that direction.
And soon, Mizuki saw a figure lying not far away, and immediately quickened her pace. Upon getting closer, the person lying there was indeed Asuna. She lay on the ground, covered in blood, her head askew, and blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Not only were there external injuries, but her internal organs had probably also suffered a huge impact.
"Asuna!" Mizuki exclaimed in panic, rushing to Asuna's body and kneeling down, carefully cradling her in her arms. Asuna seemed to have lost consciousness and showed no reaction.
She could almost hear a thumping heartbeat. Looking at Asuna like this, Mizuki suddenly remembered how Asuna had collapsed in a past breakout battle due to excessive use of a certain secret technique. At that time, she was also like this, covered in blood and unconscious. The difference was that most of the blood on Asuna back then belonged to her enemies, but now it was her own.
Mizuki dared not confirm if Asuna was still breathing; she was afraid of getting a bad result. She did not want to confirm it herself.
She held Asuna in her arms, momentarily dazed, doing nothing. She felt as if her mind had gone completely blank, with only the sound of her heartbeat in her ears. All the hot blood in her body seemed to be rushing to her head, making her feel dizzy and lightheaded—
At that moment, Asuna in her arms suddenly coughed, spitting out some blood, but her faint breathing could be heard.
—She's alive!
When Mizuki realized this, the thumping heartbeat faded, and the surging hot blood in her body seemed to gradually cool, allowing her to start thinking again. She quickly took out medicine from her ninja tool pouch. The Medical Department often had medicines available for ninjas to purchase. Among them, explosive tags were a common ninja tool, and there were also specialized medicines for such injuries.
However, this medicine was only for emergencies. If the injury was too severe, one still had to find a professional medical ninja. While injecting the medicine into Asuna's body, Mizuki thought about where in the capital she could find a medical ninja. The Medical Department had opened branches in various parts of the Land of Fire over the years, but it was uncertain whether high-level medical ninjas were stationed there, as these hospitals only provided civilian medical services and could not be compared to the Konoha Hidden Leaf Village's Medical Department.
The others also arrived at this time and, seeing Mizuki performing first aid on Asuna, knew that Asuna was still alive. They breathed a sigh of relief. If news of Asuna's death had spread so soon after arriving in the capital, they wouldn't know how to face the Hokage.
That Tobi, he's a madman, daring to use such a method. Wasn't he afraid of dying himself? No, judging by common sense, Tobi should have been blown to smithereens by now. Asuna probably defended herself at the critical moment, while Tobi, who used the Fire Release, had no means of defense.
Unless that Tobi wasn't the real body, but a shadow clone, but Asuna might not have seen it, while the onlookers saw it clearly. Tobi shouldn't have had the chance to create a shadow clone; his speed wasn't fast enough to fool everyone's eyes.
"Oh my, oh my, after such an explosion, even the 'Flash' would be tarnished by it." Just as everyone was thinking this, a familiar yet shocking voice rang out.
Everyone immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw Tobi standing there, perfectly unharmed, facing Asuna, who was held by Mizuki. His tone seemed regretful, but in reality, it was full of mockery.
"You're still alive!" Fujimura Yuuki blurted out, even the usually silent Uchiha Ken and Aburame Shibi showed surprise, and the eldest, Hyuga Hiashi, also had an incomprehensible expression.
"Why wouldn't I be alive? I'm not some fragile little girl who almost died from an explosion like that." A smug smile appeared behind Tobi's mask.