Chapter 22: In the Cruel Choice, Uchiha Chose Love!
Outside the barrier, Tsuchidai's hands flashed through a blur of seals, each movement sharp and desperate with the rhythm of a man who had already made his decision.
Uchiha Setsuna's eyes narrowed. The moment the sequence of seals reached his sight, realization struck like a thunderclap.
"That technique—!"
He knew it instantly.
Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!
A large-scale jutsu capable of forcibly upheaving the terrain itself — raising a massive structure of earth and rock to expose anything hidden beneath. Under normal conditions, the jutsu unearthed enemy hideouts or buried tunnels.
But here, in the Land of Hot Water, it would become something far deadlier.
The country was built upon a network of volatile hot springs, geysers, and subterranean veins of boiling groundwater. If Tsuchidai truly unleashed that jutsu here… it wouldn't drag out enemies. It would awaken the earth's fury.
From deep beneath the crust, it would surge — endless, seething underground water, scalding enough to cause third-degree burns in an instant. Water above one hundred degrees Celsius, vaporizing air into lethal steam.
Setsuna's expression darkened. He understood immediately — this wasn't merely a ninjutsu; it was a death sentence for everyone inside that radius.
That very terrain-based advantage was the key to Kumogakure's confidence.
It was the reason they had chosen to strike here, in the volatile hot lands, rather than intercept Setsuna and his allies at the Fire Country border.
And now, Tsuchidai — his composure shattered, his patience broken — had finally resolved to use it.
All because of that boy inside the barrier.
That damned, reckless Uchiha brat.
If not for him…
If not for his sudden reversal of the battle — if he hadn't awakened the Sharingan and turned the tables against Moloi over and over again,
Tsuchidai would never have been cornered to this point of no return.
The thought twisted painfully in Tsuchidai's mind. His hands trembled for a moment.
He looked toward Moloi — his brother-in-arms.
Guilt stabbed through his chest.
Because he knew what his decision meant.
To unleash that jutsu here would engulf everything. It would mean sacrificing Moloi — the man who had fought beside him through countless missions.
And yet…
Kumogakure was a village that preached brotherhood above all. That was the creed carved into its people's bones. To forsake a comrade was to forsake the spirit of the Cloud itself.
Guilt. Regret. Shame. They hammered into Tsuchidai's heart with merciless rhythm.
He bit his lip until it bled, his face twisting in torment.
But then, through that haze of emotion, an image surged in his mind —
the image of Uchiha Setsuna's fury, of that blood-soaked blade cutting through his men like death itself and a hundred million bounty if ever he survived. The terrifying crimson glare of the Sharingan. The bloodline of the clan that had burned battlefields into legend.
That image devoured every trace of hesitation.
A voice whispered in his mind, then multiplied —
Kill him.
Kill him.
Kill him!
It became a chant, a curse, echoing until it drowned out all reason.
And so—
Tsuchidai's gaze hardened.
His next words were a roar.
"Enough!"
"Moloi! Drop the barrier! I'll kill him myself!"
---
Inside the Barrier
"What did you just say, Tsuchidai-senpai?"
Moloi's voice trembled. He froze mid-breath, stunned by the command echoing through the barrier.
That single heartbeat of hesitation was all Uchiha Ci needed.
Still gripping the blood-slick blade, Ci twisted his wrist sharply, his other foot slamming down on Moloi's abdomen with explosive force.
Bang!
Moloi's body shot backward like a broken doll, his sword flung from his grasp. Ci caught it midair, crimson eyes flaring like twin embers.
Moloi crashed through scattered debris, rolling across the scorched earth before coming to a stop on his palms and knees. His breath hitched, vision swimming.
But when he lifted his head, he wasn't looking at Ci.
His gaze went to the outside of the barrier, where Tsuchidai stood, still performing hand seals with relentless focus.
Tsuchidai's voice was steady, cold, and without remorse.
"I said—open the barrier."
Moloi's eyes widened in disbelief.
"What… what are you talking about?" His voice cracked. "Now you want me to open it?"
His face turned red, then drained pale. As one of the operation's key planners, he knew better than anyone how catastrophic Opening Earth Rising Excavation could be in this terrain.
If Tsuchidai intended to cast it now, while Moloi and Uchiha Ci were still inside without his barrier protection—
His stomach turned to ice.
"You're forming the seals for that jutsu—while I'm still inside the barrier?! Are you planning to kill me too, Tsuchidai?!"
His voice broke into a roar of disbelief and betrayal.
Tsuchidai's expression twitched. For a moment, guilt surfaced again — fleeting and bitter.
But he didn't respond.
Instead, he turned toward the third shinobi — Rami — who had been watching silently from the side, his own hands trembling.
"Rami! Cover me! Don't let that old bastard Uchiha Setsuna get close!"
Rami froze.
"Wait, Tsuchidai, you—"
Tsuchidai shook his head sharply, cutting him off.
"Do I need to repeat myself?! You know what'll happen if that old Uchiha escapes, don't you?"
Rami's jaw clenched. "Then why… why sacrifice Moloi?"
Tsuchidai's hands didn't stop. The seals continued, faster and faster, until the earth itself began to hum with chakra.
He exhaled deeply.
"Because if I don't take that lunatic down with him, Setsuna will break through the barrier once it falls!"
"Moloi's already done his job. He sealed that brat's explosive tags. The threat is contained. Now, he'll serve as the bait, the leverage to bury that damned Uchiha alive!"
Rami looked at him — at the man once praised as the Third Raikage's most brilliant subordinate — and felt a chill deep within his bones.
In that moment, he understood why Tsuchidai had climbed so far so quickly. He was ruthless enough to sacrifice even family for victory.
Rami's lips parted in a whisper.
"You're right. Sometimes… bonds are stronger chains than barriers."
Tsuchidai didn't answer.
He simply turned toward the battlefield ahead — toward Uchiha Setsuna, who was already charging, his sword blazing like a comet's tail. The crimson blade shimmered, trailing pure chakra that burned the air.
Setsuna's eyes met his, the fury of a storm reflected in those blood-red pupils.
Tsuchidai sneered.
He slammed his palm into the ground.
The earth screamed.
A deep rumble tore through the valley as fissures snaked across the battlefield.
Chunks of stone heaved upward, trembling under the surge of chakra.
And then, from the heart of the quake, the ground rose — an immense mound of earth and rock erupting skyward, swallowing Moloi's barrier whole. The world trembled as a volcano emerged from the soil, hissing with boiling vapor.
Steam burst out in jets. The temperature spiked instantly.
Setsuna's eyes widened in rage.
"What are you doing, Kumogakure?!"
Tsuchidai's sneer widened.
"Uchiha Setsuna — let's make a wager."
He slammed both hands down again, shifting his chakra nature — now weaving through a new sequence of seals.
This time, his tone was lower. More dangerous.
"Lava Release — Rubber River!"
A thick, molten ooze began to rise, spreading across the crater's rim. It glistened black and red, molten and viscous — sealing the mouth of the volcano like a lid.
The boiling water drawn up from below churned violently beneath the sealed crust.
Pressure built rapidly, the ground trembling with the fury of a trapped beast.
Soon, the volcano would erupt —
turning into a boiling cauldron of death that would devour everything inside.
Tsuchidai's voice cut through the roaring steam.
"You have two choices, Uchiha!"
He pointed toward the volcano, where the barrier had vanished beneath the rising steam.
"Stay out here and fight me to the bitter end and let that brat die horribly! You can even escape!"
"Or…" his grin turned feral.
"Jump in. Maybe, just maybe, your strength will be enough to save him."
The molten air shimmered between them. The silence that followed was suffocating.
Setsuna's hands trembled on the hilt of his sword. He could feel Ci's chakra within the volcano — faint, flickering, fading.
Tsuchidai's final seal was almost complete.
"My jutsu's about to seal, Uchiha! Choose! Will you abandon the boy — or burn with him?!"
For a split second, time seemed to stop.
Then — without hesitation — Setsuna's jaw clenched.
He turned, chakra flaring around him like a crimson storm, and leapt straight into the volcano.
Tsuchidai's grin split wider.
"Then it's over."
He pressed his palms down and completed the final seal.
A torrent of molten rubber gushed outward, sealing the volcano's mouth completely.
The rumbling ceased.
The ground stilled.
The air grew quiet.
Only the faint hiss of steam lingered.
The world fell silent.
Everything was over.