Chapter 210: A Fight Breaks Out Three Seconds After Meeting! Lightning Plough Hot Knife!
Under a gloomy sky, blue lightning raged wildly, illuminating the world in a stark white brilliance.
The mournful night wind howled alongside a thunderous roar that descended from the heavens.
In the mountain forest marking the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire, a sharp crack sounded.
A sturdy boot crushed a dead branch, strode through a pool of blood, ground against the dust, and came to a firm halt.
A tall man cloaked in a hooded black robe walked forward calmly, casually tossing a young man he had been gripping by the throat to the ground. With a faint sigh, he muttered,
"Tsk. What a pity. Your heart wasn't as delicious as I'd hoped."
Upon seeing this man, Uchiha Ci's pupils contracted sharply. He instantly recognized him as the long-lost, S-rank rogue ninja from Takigakure who had once forced him to the brink of death—Kakuzu!
"Suigetsu!"
"How could this happen?"
Behind him, the elderly Chen stared in horror at the young man Kakuzu had thrown to the ground. Recognizing him as Suigetsu Yuki, who was responsible for the watch rotation, he let out a gasp before raising his head to glare angrily at Kakuzu.
"You bastard! What have you done!?"
However, Kakuzu didn't even glance at Chen. His gaze was fixed on Uchiha Ci as he spoke faintly,
"Just as I thought, with a formation like this, as long as you pinpoint the position of the 'general,' you'll find you—"
He paused for a moment, then his tone turned sinister as he bellowed,
"Uchiha Ci!"
Uchiha Ci exhaled sharply, tightly gripping the Kusanagi Sword in his hand. Without looking back, he addressed the elder behind him,
"Teacher Chen, stand back."
"You brat, what are you saying?" Chen froze for a moment before replying,
"Don't underestimate me! I am Konoha's strongest—"
Uchiha Ci shook his head, cutting him off immediately,
"Teacher Chen, your mission is only to assist the main forces in battle."
Although Chen was reputed to be the strongest taijutsu practitioner in Konoha at the moment, he didn't possess techniques like the Eight Gates Release. Simply relying on his Dragon God Taijutsu to bridge the gap between himself and a true Kage-level ninja was clearly unrealistic.
"And I—"
Uchiha Ci paused, took a deep breath, stepped forward, and gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands as he declared in a low voice,
"—am the ace!"
As his voice fell, Uchiha Ci suddenly opened his eyes, twisted his feet into the ground, and crouched into a circular stance.
With a reverse grip, he retrieved a kunai from the ninja tool pouch at his waist and hurled it forward.
Whoosh!
The kunai tore through the air with a sonic boom, heading straight for Kakuzu's face.
Kakuzu merely tilted his head slightly to dodge the projectile. At that moment, the cursed seal on Uchiha Ci's neck spread out like ink, forming dark patterns that quickly covered his entire body.
Cursed Seal Level One—fully activated!
With a stomp, he shot forward like an arrow!
"So fast!"
Kakuzu had just dodged the kunai when he realized in shock that Uchiha Ci's follow-up charge was even faster than the kunai. In an instant, Uchiha Ci had closed the distance, slashing at the heart hidden beneath Kakuzu's black robe with his long sword.
Kakuzu immediately leapt backward, raising his arm hardened by Earth Release: Earth Spear to block. His fist met the Kusanagi Sword with a resounding clang, sending sparks flying.
Using the recoil, Kakuzu somersaulted backward to steady himself, gripping the Kusanagi Sword in his left hand while aiming a powerful punch at Uchiha Ci's face with his right.
Boom!
The diamond-hard punch stirred a fierce gust, lifting Uchiha Ci's hair.
Reacting swiftly, Uchiha Ci yanked on a taut wire attached to the kunai he had thrown earlier, revealing an invisible string slicing toward Kakuzu's elbow joint like the sharpest blade.
Drawing on his knowledge of the Earth Release: Earth Spear, Uchiha Ci deduced that Kakuzu, prioritizing fluid attacks, had likely only hardened his fist, leaving his joints unprotected.
However, Kakuzu suddenly altered his punch midway, opening his fingers to release the hardened state of his arm. Ducking to avoid the wire, he grabbed Uchiha Ci by the collar, twisted his foot to trip him, and prepared to slam him into the ground with a shoulder throw.
But Uchiha Ci had anticipated this. Unlike before, he was no longer the novice who had been trampled by Kakuzu's taijutsu.
Allowing his collar to be torn, he pivoted to swing his sword in a circular arc toward Kakuzu's neck while forming a "Tatsu" seal with his left hand.
Fierce winds gathered in his palm, forming a vacuum blade that shot toward Kakuzu's heart.
And as if that weren't enough, Uchiha Ci activated Jiraiya's Hair Needle Senbon Technique, causing the tips of his hair to extend and shoot toward Kakuzu like countless needles.
Faced with attacks from three directions, Kakuzu frowned, sensing danger. He abandoned his offense, stepping back to avoid the slash at his neck, then planting his hand on the ground to flip away, putting distance between himself and Uchiha Ci.
Uchiha Ci furrowed his brows slightly. Despite the improvements in his taijutsu through numerous battles, he still couldn't gain the upper hand against Kakuzu. It was clear that defeating Kakuzu would require a decisive victory through ninjutsu.
As he prepared to unlock his seals and activate Fire Release Chakra Mode and Zero-Tails, Kakuzu sneered,
"Your taijutsu has improved a bit."
Glancing at the tear in his robe, Kakuzu shot Uchiha Ci a wary look.
"This brat's growth rate is completely unexpected!"
Yet he quickly smirked coldly.
"But, brat, I'm not your opponent!"
With that, Kakuzu turned and leapt toward the gathering of Konoha ninja nearby, not even glancing back.
Uchiha Ci froze, bewildered.
"We've barely exchanged a few moves—wasn't even warmed up yet—and Kakuzu's already running?"
Just as he took a step forward to give chase, an inexplicable sense of dread gripped him. His neck prickled, and instinctively, he ducked and crouched, abandoning all semblance of grace.
In that moment, a wild, rhythmic voice boomed from behind him,
"Calm and poised, charm unmatched, Killer Bee with the eight-tailed beat!"
"Brains in flight! Might ignites!"
"My moves take flight—yeah!"
Amid the bombastic rap, a brilliant bolt of lightning erupted from the forest.
A muscular, dark-skinned figure smashed through four massive trees in rapid succession, barreling forward at an alarming speed.
From a great distance, the figure tore through air, foliage, dust, and scorching wind, raising an electrified arm to strike directly at the back of Uchiha Ci's head!
"Lightning Plough Hot Knife!!"