Naruto: The Clanless Prince

Sora's Shadow Clone left the battlefield with Kakashi, whose chakra was completely depleted.

The Shadow Clone neither dissipated nor abandoned Kakashi, staying vigilant to guard him. Without chakra, Kakashi was extremely vulnerable.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Sora's real body fought even more fiercely than before without Kakashi by his side.

However, the Mist Shinobi, hardened by the Blood Mist era's brutal policies, refused to retreat. Witnessing the deaths of their comrades only seemed to excite them further as they continued their assault against Sora.

Sora formed hand seals quickly.

"Water Style! Water Severing Wave!"

This advanced Water Style ninjutsu, developed by the Second Hokage Tobirama, allowed the user to rapidly spit out ultra-high-pressure water jets from their mouth. These jets acted like sharp blades, continuously cutting through targets.

The advanced Water Style techniques that Sora had acquired from the exchange shop with Yahiko included several of the Second Hokage's signature jutsu.

The high-pressure water jet that erupted from Sora's mouth penetrated multiple Mist Shinobi at once.

As Sora swiftly turned his head, the high-pressure water jets sliced through numerous enemy ninja.

Seeing this devastating attack, the Mist Shinobi no longer dared to gather in one place. Instead, they spread out and began using long-range ninjutsu to attack Sora from different angles.

"Not happening!" Sora declared.

Sora activated the power of his left eye Mangekyō Sharingan to negate all ninjutsu attacks directed toward him.

The Mist Shinobi were momentarily stunned by this display of power.

Sora quickly formed another set of hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Bullet Combo!"

Sora fired bullet-like water projectiles from his hands at the scattered Mist Shinobi.

From his position away from the battlefield, Kakashi observed Sora fighting, his eyes filled with yearning.

But...

Kakashi touched his left eye, still covered by his forehead protector.

With the Sharingan's chakra drain, he could no longer use ninjutsu in high-intensity combat like Sora could. Every technique he released had to be carefully calculated to conserve energy.

Just as Sora was devastating the Mist Shinobi forces, a new attack emerged.

"Ice Release! Thousand Needle Barrage!"

A large number of ice senbon shot toward Sora from a new direction.

Because these ice needles were physical attacks rather than pure chakra, Sora's visual jutsu couldn't completely negate them.

Sora rotated his ninja sword skillfully, blocking all the incoming ice senbon.

Looking to his left, Sora spotted a man with long black hair, an ornamental headpiece, and nearly-closed, squinted eyes standing at the front of a new group of ninja.

After this man appeared, the surrounding Mist Shinobi greeted him with great respect.

"Mizukage-sama."

Sora stared at the man, surprised that Kirigakure's leader had arrived so quickly.

"Blood-eyed Shura Sora," the Mizukage said, "you are truly brave to break into this place single-handedly."

Sora smoothed back his sweat-dampened hair and flashed a confident smile. "I think it's partly because I'm brave, but mostly because I know I have no real opponents here—including you. I came to help my student take revenge and vent his anger."

The Third Mizukage's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "You are remarkably brazen."

The Third Mizukage formed a one-handed seal.

"Ice Release: Destruction Ice Barrage!"

Similar to the Thousand Needle technique, a large amount of ice senbon condensed in the air and shot toward Sora, but with much greater frequency and intensity.

"Water Style: Water Wall Barrier!"

Sora gathered chakra behind his throat and spat out a waterfall-like volume that formed a rotating wall of water. The barrier circled around him, blocking all the ice senbon.

The Third Mizukage opened one of his narrowed eyes slightly and murmured, "The Water Style ninjutsu of the Second Hokage?"

Senju Tobirama's Water Style techniques were unique in the ninja world and easily identifiable. Take the Water Barrier ninjutsu, for example. Ordinary users could only pour water-natured chakra into the ground through seals, creating a vertical wall of water from the bottom up. Senju Tobirama's Water Barrier, however, rotated around the caster in a perfect circle.

The Third Mizukage's right hand quickly formed another seal.

"Ice Release Secret Technique: Exploding Ice Crystals!"

Sora's Water Barrier began to crystallize into ice, threatening to freeze him inside.

Sora immediately used his lightning technique to escape.

The moment he freed himself, the frozen barrier collapsed into countless sharp fragments.

"Your speed is indeed as fast as rumored," the Mizukage noted, "but there are ways to counter it."

"Water Style Secret Technique! Water Mirror Technique!"

The Third Mizukage created a mirror made entirely of water, and from this mirror emerged a perfect copy of Sora.

Sora's eyes narrowed as he recognized the technique.

This was a move familiar to him—the unique jutsu of the future Fourth Mizukage, Yagura. It created a mirror of water from which emerged a perfect replica of the opponent. Not only could this copy use the same ninjutsu as the original, but it possessed the same power level.

During the Fourth Ninja World War, Yagura, reincarnated through Impure World Reincarnation, had used this technique against Killer Bee and Uzumaki Naruto. He had summoned two clones simultaneously, matching their strength and ninjutsu power perfectly. As a perfect Jinchūriki, Yagura had demonstrated the high ceiling of this Water Style technique.

Sora's mirror image moved first, charging toward him.

Sora deliberately refrained from using his most powerful dōjutsu techniques. Opportunities to fight against himself were rare, and he didn't want to end this too quickly.

"Water Style: Heavenly Cry!"

Sora unexpectedly sprayed a high-speed water needle from his mouth, aiming for the head of his mirror image.

The copy instantly activated Lightning Style Chakra Mode and used a lightning-fast body flicker to avoid the attack.

Immediately after, the mirror image countered with Thunder Breath, First Form: Thunderbolt Flash, attacking Sora directly.

Sora raised his sword to block.

The two ninja swords collided with a sharp clang.

Sora observed his mirror image with renewed seriousness. With matching speed and power, this copy could even mimic his Lightning Style techniques and possessed Sharingan-like perception.

Suddenly, the mirror image used Water Style: Heavenly Cry against Sora, shooting high-speed water needles at his head.

Sora dodged by tilting his head, then kicked the copy away.

"Thunder Breath: Fifth Form - Heat World Thunder!"

Sora released lightning-like slashes charged with intense heat to bombard the mirror image.

However, the copy used the same Heat World Thunder technique in response. The two attacks collided with almost identical power.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"

Sora exhaled four fire dragons that attacked the mirror image simultaneously from above, below, left, and right.

The mirror copy used Water Barrier to block Sora's fire dragons effectively.

After neutralizing the fire attack, the mirror image launched Water Style: Water Severing Wave, spitting out a straight column of ultra-high-pressure water toward Sora.

Sora continuously used his lightning-quick movement technique to dodge.

Kakashi, watching the battle from a distance, was astonished to see Sora locked in such an evenly matched fight with his mirror image.

He had never imagined such a ninjutsu existed in the ninja world—a technique that could create a copy that was truly equal to the original.

Meanwhile, Sora grew more excited as the battle continued.

This mirror image was truly like fighting another version of himself. Whether in attack patterns or defensive techniques, the copy chose exactly the same approaches that Sora himself would have selected.

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