As soon as he spoke, Kakuzu did not let down his guard in the slightest.
Watching the three shuriken fly straight at his weak points, he had no idea what was going on and merely assumed Uchiha Ci had gotten lucky.
A cold glint flashed through his eyes. His long leg stomped against the cliff face, shaking loose several stones, before he unleashed a high whip kick.
The stones tore through the night wind as they smashed downward.
With two clangs, they knocked away two shuriken. Kakuzu twisted aside and evaded the third.
By then, Uchiha Ci had already closed in.
His foot twisted slightly as the kunai spun in his hand, its blade tracing a flower-like arc. He thrust it fiercely toward Kakuzu's heart.
Kakuzu immediately adjusted his position, turning sideways before violently driving a spinning elbow toward Uchiha Ci's face.
The movement was so fast that Uchiha Ci could not even see it. He only felt the hairs on his neck rise as alarm bells blared in his mind.
[Talent: Combat Intuition (Beginner, S) activated.]
His body instinctively ducked, narrowly avoiding the explosive elbow strike.
Even Kakuzu was slightly taken aback by that.
Though he was not particularly skilled in taijutsu, his more than seventy years of combat experience and the physical enhancements granted by Earth Grudge Fear meant that a Single Tomoe Sharingan should never have been able to track his movements.
Seizing the instant Kakuzu exposed an opening, Uchiha Ci immediately swept his kunai toward Kakuzu's left ankle.
At the same time, he used a side kick from Kumogakure's swastika-style taijutsu, attacking from both sides.
He viciously kicked the cripple's good leg.
Kakuzu's gaze sharpened.
The stitches on his left foot split open, spewing seven or eight Earth Grudge Fear Silk Threads that wrapped around Uchiha Ci's kunai. Then, with a Scorpion Tail Sweep, his right leg snapped upward and fiercely kicked toward Uchiha Ci's face.
Uchiha Ci jolted again and instinctively drew back his arms to cross them in defense.
At the same time, he gripped the kunai tightly, trying to cut through the several extremely thin Earth Grudge Fear Silk Threads wrapped around it.
Instead, he was kicked into the air.
Swish!
The silk threads were cut apart at the same time.
"It's over!"
Kakuzu declared coldly. With a violent one-handed palm thrust, he suddenly grabbed Uchiha Ci by the face and slammed him viciously into the cliff face.
Bang!
The force was so great that rock fragments flew and blood sprayed everywhere.
Uchiha Ci's head swam. His face was ruined, yet with the last sliver of his awareness, he tightly gripped the kunai and shoved it into his Ninja Tool Bag.
Kakuzu lifted Uchiha Ci from where he lay sprawled against the cliff again. His gaze was icy as he sneered.
"Looks like you're nothing special after all."
"Who gave you the courage to challenge me alone?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kakuzu's eyes turned cold. Holding Uchiha Ci up, he drove a straight punch into his abdomen!
Then he grabbed his head with both hands and blasted his face with a knee strike, flipped through the air and spun-kicked his shoulder into the ground, struck his chest with a Scorpion Tail Sweep and sent him flying, smashed his face with a spinning elbow, swept his face with a frontal kick, followed with a back kick that crushed the back of his head, and finally planted a front kick into his face.
Every move was vicious and merciless. He struck Uchiha Ci with lethal force!
The final kick was like kicking a ball.
With one kick, he blasted Uchiha Ci away, sending him smashing into the corner of the barrier. His head was covered in blood, and his face no longer even looked human.
"Huff." Kakuzu let out a long breath.
After that combination, even an iron ball would have been beaten flat, much less a human head.
But—
Kakuzu glanced toward the corner and frowned slightly at Uchiha Ci, who lay there without making a sound.
"The barrier still hasn't opened. Is he not dead yet?"
Outside the barrier,
Separated by a layer of the barrier, Mei Terumi and Hidan could only watch as Uchiha Ci charged in like he did not care whether he lived or died.
Then, very quickly,
In less than a minute, Kakuzu's merciless combo kicked him right back.
It was too miserable.
You could no longer tell that, a minute ago, he had been a handsome young man. If they had to describe him now, he looked more like a pile of smashed tofu pudding.
Mei Terumi:
Hidan:
The two fell silent at the same time.
So after all that fierce posturing, you charged in, failed to even leave a scratch on him, and got beaten right back.
What exactly were you trying to accomplish?
However, at that moment,
Uchiha Ci, who had been beaten into a puddle of mush, suddenly twitched his fingers and slowly braced himself against the barrier and cliff wall as he climbed back up.
The swelling and bloody gashes on his horribly battered head rapidly subsided and healed.
Soon, not even a trace of injury remained.
The reason for this was that Uchiha Ci had used a technique he had just obtained from Shennong beforehand—
Forbidden Jutsu: Body Rebirth,
It could rapidly restore injuries by consuming life force and stamina.
In the future, Orochimaru would even use it as a foundation to develop the miraculous Regeneration Jutsu.
Uchiha Ci stood upright again, restored to full condition.
Though the blood all over him made him look terrifying and ferocious, his vigor had not diminished at all.
Not only did he feel no shame at being defeated, he instead gasped for breath and began to laugh.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"I knew it!"
As he spoke, Uchiha Ci pulled out a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch, removed the Earth Grudge Fear Silk Threads wrapped around it, and wound them around his fingers before tugging on them.
"This is about as tough as Ninja Silk, and once it leaves the Earth Grudge Fear body, Kakuzu can't control it anymore."
"It can be used as a ninja tool!"
Mei Terumi and Hidan, standing nearby, were instantly dumbfounded. Seeing Uchiha Ci's delighted expression left them speechless.
"Are you insane? You rushed in and took a vicious beating just to figure out something so inexplicable?"
Mei Terumi glared at Uchiha Ci, who was only a step away from her, with the fury of someone disappointed by iron that would not become steel.
She slammed her palm against the barrier and shouted angrily, "Open the barrier already! Let me in!"
"At this rate, you'll die!"
"Hm?" Hearing her voice, Uchiha Ci abruptly turned around. When he saw Mei Terumi and Hidan still standing there, he was rendered speechless.
"Why haven't you guys left yet?"
"Didn't I tell you to run?"
Upon hearing that, not only Mei Terumi, but even Hidan had anger appear on his face.
"Stop acting like some self-righteous hero!"
"If we leave, we leave together!"
"..." Uchiha Ci fell unusually silent for a moment, unsure how to respond.
In the end, he could only pretend he had not heard them and changed the subject, speaking solemnly to them.
"This isn't some inexplicable matter. This intelligence is extremely important to me!"
Then Uchiha Ci looked at Mei Terumi and asked seriously.
"Good. You're still here."
"Could you tell me the hand seals for Water Fang Blade?"
Mei Terumi frowned slightly.
Water Fang Blade was considered a secret technique of the Mei Family. In the future, the Sixth Mizukage, Chojuro, had used it against Ōtsutsuki Urashiki.
It could directly contend with Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's Six Paths Tool fishing rod, while also possessing shape-changing properties and low Chakra consumption. It was an exceptionally valuable ninjutsu.
Hesitation appeared on her face, but after thinking it over, she answered.
"Rabbit—Goat—Snake. What are you planning to do?"
Uchiha Ci nodded. While the One Tomoe Sharingan could see the flow of Chakra through the human body, it could only make out a rough outline. It was still far from being able to copy ninjutsu.
But after learning the hand seals and combining them with the Chakra flow he had recorded, there was a high chance he could replicate the ninjutsu.
Uchiha Ci had tested his innate Chakra natures. They were water and fire, which happened to satisfy the prerequisites for casting this technique.
"Huff. You'll find out soon enough."
Uchiha Ci did not explain further. He immediately turned around, held the kunai, and formed hand seals with both hands.
Rabbit—Goat—Snake.
After only two attempts, he successfully condensed a rapidly spinning Water Fang Blade roughly two and a half feet long around the kunai.
Just moments ago, Uchiha Ci had keenly observed Mei Terumi use this technique to cut off Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Tentacles.
And their brief Fierce Battle had already proven one thing—
In terms of Basic Body Techniques, even with his Sharingan activated and the talent Combat Intuition, Uchiha Ci was no match for Kakuzu, who possessed over seventy years of combat experience.
If he simply charged in with basic attacks, he would definitely lose!
But—
In the world of ninjas,
Ninjutsu was what created miracles!
Uchiha Ci possessed a whole array of ninjutsu and forbidden jutsu, as well as Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu that had reached a masterful level.
He believed that miracles would eventually be born from his own hands!
So,
The first step was to borrow a few ninja tools from Kakuzu!
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