Chapter 21: Come On, Kill Me! Open the Gate, I, Tsuchidai, Am About to Show Off!
A fist smashed violently into Moloi's face, denting his cheek and slamming his body into the barrier wall behind him.
Bang!
"Guh—!"
Moloi groaned, spitting out three bloody teeths.
Before this, after rushing for days on end, he had already consumed nearly half of his stamina. He had used the Body Flicker Technique, the Fire Sealing Mark, and the Binding Formation twice, and even taken the full brunt of Uchiha Ci's combo jutsu. His body was covered in cuts and bruises.
Finally, he had used a large-scale sealing technique—"Billion Wraths: Flowing Chains of Anguish." By now, nearly eighty percent of his chakra was gone.
Overdrawing his physical energy to generate chakra, he gasped heavily, trying to ease the exhaustion clouding both his body and mind.
But what he didn't expect, was that the Uchiha Ci who had been caught by his Billion Wraths: Flowing Chains of Anguish was still able to stand up... and launch an attack!
Staring at the bloodshot, twisted eyes of Uchiha Ci—who crawled toward him like a demon from the abyss—Moloi's heart trembled. It was as if a devil's hand had clenched around his heart. His entire body shuddered.
Uchiha Ci sneered, the single tomoe of his Sharingan spinning wildly.
He forced himself upright and suddenly stomped forward—his heel crashed into Moloi's face, slamming his head against the barrier wall. Moloi's hands shot up helplessly as he screamed in agony!
Ci twisted his body midair and followed with another brutal side kick, hammering Moloi's left cheek.
That one kick sent the special jōnin of Kumogakure flying, spinning through the air before crashing into the ruins—stones and dust scattering as his body hit the fractured wall.
In that instant, the world in Uchiha Ci's eyes became crystal clear— He could see every detail, even the trail of falling dust.
Though his body had reached its physical limit, a new surge of power was welling up from somewhere deep inside.
Yet that did nothing to ease the anger and dread boiling within him. The rage of having his death interrupted, and the terror of a future he could no longer predict!
Ci clenched his fist, tearing from his chest a single Explosive Tag that hadn't been ruined by the ink of the sealing marks. He drew out the last kunai strapped to his thigh and wrapped the tag around its tip.
His lips trembled as he spoke not a word—
His Sharingan eyes were wide, his expression twisted into a blood-soaked grin as he approached Moloi step by step.
His face—contorted, ghastly, streaked with tears of blood and sealing ink—dripped black-red fluid from his chin onto the ground.
And if one looked closely, they'd see it—
he was shaking.
His teeth chattered, his facial muscles twitched, and his pupils trembled.
This was the face of a demon—a mix of fury and fear pushed beyond all limits.
Moloi, lying amid broken rubble, spat out another mouthful of blood and shook his head violently. Stars danced before his eyes; his right ear was ringing, and his left could hear nothing at all.
Through the sharp ringing, he barely made out voices shouting his name beyond the barrier—
"Moloi!"
"Moloi!"
Moloi blinked, dazed, and turned his gaze outward through the barrier.
Rami's face was tight with panic as he shouted, "Snap out of it, damn it!"
"Moloi, can't you see yet!?"
"He's been using taijutsu this whole time! His chakra's been sealed by your Billion Wraths technique!"
Moloi's mind cleared instantly.
But just then— a kunai came thrusting straight toward him!
Moloi immediately flared his chakra, rolled to his feet, and caught Uchiha Ci's wrist mid-thrust.
Yet the Uchiha only gave a feral grin—and with a sickening crack, dislocated his own arm to break free!
With his other hand, Ci slapped the explosive tag-wrapped kunai right against Moloi's face!
The tag ignited—
BOOM!
Two explosions erupted in rapid succession! The blast wind hurled both men away, slamming them into the ground.
Moloi panted hard, his eyes wide with horror.
"Maniac! Maniac! Maniac!"
"Trading lives for lives—are you insane?!"
Had he not deflected the tag at the last possible moment, both of them would've been blown to pieces!
Uchiha Ci staggered to his feet, his crimson Sharingan burning with fury.
"You call me insane?"
Ci bared his teeth, raising his head, those blood-red eyes glaring down with contempt.
"What the hell are you even worth? Have you ever received nine years of compulsory education?"
"Do you even know what a peaceful world looks like?"
"Have you ever sat in a rented room, drinking cola, hammering away at a keyboard, chasing your dreams with nothing but passion?"
"I once had everything—and because of some bullshit reason, I got thrown into this goddamned world!"
Uchiha Ci roared, voice cracking with fury:
"You don't understand anything!"
"You, the Cloud, Konoha—all of you are uncivilized savages!"
"With your half-baked brains, you're not even worth a zombie's bite, and you dare lecture me?!"
Ci clutched his face and burst into wild laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"I've had enough!"
"I've had enough, enough, enough, enough, enough, enough!!!"
"This boring world—without WiFi, without Xigua short videos, without games, movies, dopamine, without the people I care about, without the things I desire—NOTHING! NOTHING! NOTHING!"
"NOTHING AT ALL!"
Suddenly, Ci fell silent.
The tomoe in his Sharingan spun wildly—his gaze filled with madness, defiance…
And a fire that could burn everything.
"This world is empty! Meaningless!"
As if seeing through it all, Uchiha Ci looked past Moloi—his eyes piercing through the man, gazing at the entire world beyond him.
He smirked and crooked his finger.
"Come on. Kill me."
Moloi's expression turned cold. He drew a deep breath.
He didn't understand half of what Uchiha Ci had just said—what was "WiFi"? "Xigua short videos"? "Games"? "Movies"?
But he could understand one thing—
This pathetic Uchiha wretch, this genin who had only awakened a single tomoe Sharingan, this insignificant pawn of the Third Great Ninja War—
Was mocking him.
Mocking him, a special jōnin of Kumogakure!
"You've chosen the path of death!" Moloi's eyes narrowed to slits.
With a sharp motion, he drew his sword, crouched, and steadied his stance.
Now that he knew Ci couldn't use chakra, everything became clear.
Even though his own reserves were nearly gone, his taijutsu alone was more than enough.
Against this lowly Uchiha genin, one move would be enough to finish it.
Ci didn't waste words—he lunged forward, his hand poised behind his back as if reaching for another weapon from his pouch.
Moloi sneered and twisted his body, slashing out—
The technique was Cloud-Style: Deceptive Slash.
A horizontal cut meant to trick the opponent into dodging the wrong way— If the opponent sidestepped left, it linked into Cloud-Style: Inner Slash, turning the user's spin into a lethal strike at the opponent's back.
If they dodged right, they'd be met head-on by the true killing move—Cloud-Style: Crescent Slash!
But in the next instant, Moloi's sneer froze.
Uchiha Ci didn't dodge.
He took the blade head-on— the sword carved from his left shoulder to his right, opening a deep, bloody gash.
Then Ci seized the blade's edge with his bare hand, blood dripping freely between his fingers.
His eyes gleamed cold and crazed.
"This is a jōnin? This is your swordsmanship?!"
"Not enough! It's not enough!"
"Come on, kill me!"
"Use your full strength and kill me!"
Moloi's face twisted in disbelief. A shiver of fear rose again in his heart as he cursed under his breath—madman!
Just then, from beyond the barrier, a furious voice roared:
"Enough!"
"Moloi, release the barrier!"
"I'll kill him myself!"
Tsuchidai's face was contorted with rage, his hands flying through seals, madness flickering in his eyes.
Relying on Moloi, that useless fool, was meaningless now.
The mounting pressure from Uchiha Ci and Uchiha Setsuna had driven him nearly insane.
Now— he only wanted to unleash large-scale ninjutsu and bury this boy and even Moloi himself—all of them—together!
Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!
Lava Release: River of Molten Chains!
Two A-rank jutsu gathered at once!