Bang!!
The area housing Uzushio Village's barrier core was already strewn with corpses and blood.
Oyakishiro Go stepped on a head as if crushing a tomato, shaking the bloody muck from his foot in disgust before turning to Nakayoshi behind him.
"Hey, fatty, are you done yet?"
His tone was extremely rude, but Nakayoshi did not react. He merely lowered his head and continued deciphering the barrier, muttering, "Please do not rush or interrupt me. The Uzumaki Clan's barrier is more intricate than I imagined."
"Tch, then hurry up." Oyakishiro Go leaned against the wall in boredom, calculating the time the two of them had left.
As one of the few remaining members of the Chinoike Clan, he bore the so-called responsibility of the clan on his shoulders. Only he himself could truly understand what that felt like.
After all, they were merely homeless dogs who had fled from the Land of Lightning to the Water Country, without the ability or courage to refuse the Third Mizukage's demands.
"Tch! If it weren't for my son..."
At the thought, Oyakishiro Go laughed at himself, his laughter echoing through the empty plaza.
But then, another laugh seemed to overlap with his own, and the moon-reflecting puddles rippled in widening circles.
"Who's there?"
Oyakishiro Go instantly straightened from his lax posture, abruptly scanning the dark night around him with vigilance.
In less than a second, he entered a battle-ready stance, leaning forward with his knees slightly bent, ready to pounce or retreat at any moment.
"...What's wrong?" Nakayoshi paused in his work on the barrier, but still did not raise his head as he asked.
Oyakishiro Go shook his head, signaling for him to stop talking.
His gaze cut through the darkness like a blade, yet he found no anomaly or figure.
Logically, it had only been a laugh. He should not have reacted as though facing a great enemy.
Yet Oyakishiro Go could hear the immense malice in that laughter, stirring an intense discomfort deep in his heart.
The laughter was cold and wanton, almost pitying the poor and despising the lowly, concealed within the shadows.
Was I discovered that quickly?
The thought surfaced in Oyakishiro Go's mind.
But at that moment, faint footsteps suddenly sounded from the darkness.
He turned toward the source. From a shadowed corner untouched by moonlight, a tall figure emerged and stepped into the moon's glow.
"A member of the Chinoike Clan?"
There was an indescribable meaning in his tone, making Oyakishiro Go frown instinctively, gripped by the strange feeling that he had become prey.
It was like a hunter heading out to catch rabbits, only to come across unexpectedly excellent game.
"Looks like my luck is rather good today." He chuckled and lightly gripped the hilt of the sword at his side.
Within those lowered, deep-blue eyes, the hilt stirred wisps of crimson mist that coiled around the inch of blade being drawn.
The cold gleam of its edge was sharp enough to tear apart the still night, splitting open the darkness and revealing the killing intent hidden within.
In the next instant, two cracking sounds rang out simultaneously.
Bang!!
Both men pushed their speed to its limit, their feet stamping the stone slabs beneath them into bulging arches. One wielded a longsword, the other a short blade, and neither showed the slightest mercy as they slashed at the other's vital points.
Oyakishiro Go swung his longsword aside, knocking away the short blade thrust toward his throat, then cut diagonally to cleave his enemy from the neck down.
But the instant his blade fell, a faster sword stabbed in and blocked it.
The blades collided, erupting in scorching sparks that splashed across both their cheeks.
They stared at each other, their expressions the only difference.
One smiled, while the other was grave.
"...Tch."
Oyakishiro Go clicked his tongue, his expression remaining solemn.
Another troublesome bastard.
The thought had barely formed when the longsword in his hand slashed out again.
They grappled for less than two seconds before separating once more, their blades stirring sharp howls like a meat grinder, clashing together like the teeth of savage beasts.
Buzz! Buzzbuzz!
Within the span of a single breath, from the corner of Nakayoshi's eye—
Their figures seemed to blur into a black mist beneath the moonlight, while sparks from their colliding blades rained down like a shower.
The air was filled with dense explosions that merged into one teeth-grinding roar, the friction of blade edges exceptionally shrill and piercing.
Splat!!
Suddenly, a spray of blood splashed across Nakayoshi's face.
The two figures abruptly halted, appearing some distance away from Nakayoshi.
Three wounds had opened across Oyakishiro Go's eye corner, neck, and chest.
In the span of seconds, amid dozens of exchanges, three vital areas had been slashed. Each time, he had come within a hair's breadth of dying beneath that short blade.
Now, that short blade rested against Oyakishiro Go's right ear. It had already cut through his skin, but he desperately held its edge back with his longsword, preventing it from dropping and slicing off his entire ear.
Yet blood still slowly gathered along the side of his cheek, trickling from his chin onto the top of his foot, warm and wet.
"...Who are you?"
Oyakishiro Go's cheek twitched slightly as he said in a low voice, "The Uzumaki Clan doesn't have hair that color."
His swordsmanship was among the best in all of Kirigakure, and he had a longsword against a short blade, yet he had actually been at a disadvantage in their first clash.
From the man before him, he felt an unprecedented pressure. That killing intent was like countless bone-piercing blades.
"Nice to meet you."
Yun Chuan looked down at him from above, pressing down hard with the short blade in his hand. A strange glint gradually rose in his eyes as he softly said, "Unfortunately, I am not in the habit of introducing myself to the dying."
The Chinoike Clan, and the Ketsuryūgan...
Feeling the stabbing pain at his ear, Oyakishiro Go's face twisted with ferocity. He glanced at Nakayoshi, who was still deciphering the barrier, and stubbornly replied, "Why do I feel like I won't be the one dying today?"
The next moment, he suddenly erupted with force and retreated sharply, opening the distance.
"Idiot! Now I'll get serious!"
Oyakishiro Go sheathed his longsword at his waist and rapidly formed hand seals. The blood beneath his feet seemed to receive a summons, churning violently like boiling water before surging toward him.
Boom!!
Amid the roaring sound of water, a towering curtain of blood shot into the sky from both sides of him. A blood-red radiance poured down from above, engulfing everything!
Several "blood serpents" gushed forth, twisting through the air like watery tornadoes as they began writhing and spinning wildly in the sky.
Their heads condensed into savage dragon heads, as though they possessed life and intelligence.
Standing atop one raised dragon head, Oyakishiro Go's pupils remained black while the whites of his eyes turned blood-red.
Blood flowed from his eye sockets down his cheeks. Oyakishiro Go's expression became twisted as he roared, "Blood Dragon Art!"
Roar!!
The crimson dragon opened its mouth full of sharp teeth, seemingly letting out a shriek as it swung its body forged from blood and charged forward. Scarlet blood descended from the sky as it lunged down to bite Yun Chuan below!
The terrifying impact contained within that high-pressure bloody torrent sent cracks spreading dozens of meters across the road. Torrents of liquid flooded outward, swallowing everything before them like a tide!
"I can hardly wait. What surprise can you give me?!"
Yun Chuan smiled sincerely as he watched the Blood Dragon surge toward him.
He had an extraordinarily strong premonition.
This Chinoike Clan member before him, possessing the Ketsuryūgan, would certainly grant him a crucial ability.
Boom!!
The next moment, a cloud of blood mist burst from around him, instantly swallowing the entire barrier plaza.
Even from afar, even in places where the Blood Dragon could not be seen, everyone could see that terrifying blood mist.
It was like a bloody flower blooming in the center of a lake, every spreading petal tinged with scarlet.
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