Rumble—rumble—!
A massive pillar of blazing white flame rose into the air, turning the grassland as bright as day. White-hot explosive flames and shockwaves surged upward, churning at the top of the fire pillar and gradually forming a dome of black smoke mingled with blazing white flames, like the cap of a mushroom cloud. The thunderous explosions slowly spread outward.
Screech!
Yet amid the wave after wave of thunderous explosions, a shrill sound like some violently moving substance being torn apart rang out with startling clarity. Even the layers upon layers of shredded grass, swept up by the explosive air currents around the white pillar of light and spreading like waves, seemed to pause for a moment.
Splat!
Then, blood sprayed forth.
This... is impossible... My...
How... could this be...
His Three Tomoe Sharingan slowly widened, reflecting the slightly aged face before him—solemn and serious, its right cheek illuminated by white light—the Chakra cloak flashing with lightning that covered the man's entire body, and the stance in which he had thrust forward.
"Stop struggling, kid. It's over!"
At that moment, a deep, heavy voice with a faint tremor sounded beside his ear.
With those words, searing pain exploded in Hirohiko's chest. His toes slowly lifted from the ground, and his whole body rose bit by bit.
"Cough... cough...!"
As his body rose, Hirohiko began coughing violently. With nearly every cough, he spat out a mouthful of blood. It splattered across the Chakra cloak of the burly Kumogakure ninja before him, where the lightning currents vaporized it into wisps of blood mist that rose into the air.
But Hirohiko did not even spare it a glance. In his remaining Three Tomoe right eye were reflected two gradually dying pillars of blazing white flame—one curving upward and the other downward—extending along the