One Blade: Cicada's Chill!

The Eight-Tails' Chakra was extremely violent.

In his half-Tailed Beast Transformation, every one of Blue B's strikes was like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting apart.

Kagami Uchiha's figure darted through the raging energy like a butterfly flitting among flowers.

"You possess powerful Chakra, yet you don't know how to use it properly."

"You abandoned the ninja's way of fighting and chose this monster's form. All it does is make you look clumsier."

"You lack speed, your reactions are slow. Someone like you..."

"Are you even worthy of living in this world as a ninja?"

Kagami Uchiha's words were like bright blades, stabbing deeply into Blue B's heart.

This caused his consciousness to be eroded even more severely by the Tailed Beast Chakra. He gradually lost his reason, fury filling his mind.

Roar!!!

Terrifying Chakra spread outward with Blue B at its center, churning up raging waves as a hurricane swept across the area!

Kagami Uchiha wielded his blade and unleashed an Invisible Slash, forcibly cutting a gap through the storm.

His voice was like a demon's whisper, clearly entering Blue B's ears.

"You were chosen as a Jinchuriki because you were exceptional enough, sacrificing yourself for the sake of the village."

"After making such a sacrifice, what did you receive?"

"Cold stares, rejection, and alienation."

"You were clearly a hero, yet they treated you as a calamity!"

From the very beginning, Blue B had never looked directly at the Sharingan.

The Uchiha Clan's reputation was widespread. In a one-on-one fight, their eyes must never be met.

This also meant that he could not accurately pinpoint Kagami Uchiha's location.

However, it was not as if Genjutsu had to be cast through the eyes.

Genjutsu was a technique that used Chakra to interfere with an opponent's five senses, causing them to fall into an illusion.

Visual Dojutsu Power-based Genjutsu was the most powerful and the hardest to dispel on one's own.

Besides that, smell, hearing, touch, and the other senses could all trigger Genjutsu.

Kagami Uchiha was casting Genjutsu on Blue B through his words.

Bit by bit, it subtly seeped into the Tailed Beast Chakra, disrupting Blue B's spirit.

This required extremely high skill and the Sharingan's ultimate insight.

If he had been a normal Elite Jonin, he would certainly have noticed it and dispelled the Genjutsu himself.

But Blue B's current condition was far too poor.

Ever since becoming a Jinchuriki, he had endured tremendous psychological pressure and become physically and mentally exhausted.

Whenever he was not on a mission, he needed to take medicine to calm himself.

Someone like that was far too easy to trap in Genjutsu.

"Shut up!"

"Shut up!!"

A deafening roar came from the fearsome maw. Blue B's mind was already on the verge of collapse.

As the saying went, the more an enemy opposed something, the more it proved that one was doing the right thing.

Kagami Uchiha pressed his advantage, his words teasing Blue B as if they were scraping against his scalp.

"Kumogakure is only using you. If they regarded you as a companion, how could they have abandoned you?"

"You know perfectly well that they only see you as a weapon. Wasn't the purpose of your coming here to test the Eight-Tails' abilities?"

More and more Tailed Beast Chakra spilled out, forming ghastly white bones over Blue B's crimson cloak.

This was a sign that the Tailed Beast was about to run wild.

A Tailed Beast would take advantage of its Jinchuriki's weakest moment to break loose. If it completely broke through the seal, it meant the Jinchuriki's death.

Black incantations surfaced on Blue B's chest, with a clear "Iron" character in the middle.

The Iron Armor Seal was the technique Kumogakure used to seal the Eight-Tails.

Several of the sealing characters bore the style of Uzumaki Sealing Jutsu.

There was nothing strange about that. The Land of Whirlpools had originally been destroyed by multiple countries joining forces, all to plunder the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.

Who could blame the First Hokage for giving them Tailed Beasts without giving them the corresponding beast chains?

Uzumaki Mito had assisted Hashirama in sealing the Nine-Tails, setting an example for the other villages.

A commoner's only crime was possessing a treasure; a man carrying jade was bound to attract blame.

Kagami Uchiha had also learned some Sealing Jutsu from Minato. Undoing this seal would not be difficult.

In fact, if Blue B continued maintaining his current state, the Eight-Tails would soon break through the seal on its own.

However...

"Gyuki! You can hear my voice, can't you?"

"What use is breaking free of your current shackles? Kumogakure will simply seal you again!"

"Put yourself in a desperate situation and fight for survival. Die together with Blue B. He can be freed, and you can be reborn!"

Clatter, clatter...

More and more white bones took shape. Terrifying Chakra formed a column of smoke that spread straight into the heavens.

The Eight-Tails' Chakra completely drowned out Blue B's consciousness...

In Kagami Uchiha's view, a perfect Jinchuriki was stronger than an individual Tailed Beast and stronger than a half-Tailed Beast Transformation.

The Eight-Tails and Blue B were currently restraining each other, so the strength they displayed was far below that of an individual Tailed Beast.

If the Eight-Tails completely broke through the seal, things would become troublesome.

Kagami Uchiha had no intention of becoming the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Even if they defeated the Eight-Tails, the Third Hokage and the others would use it as a bargaining chip.

Even if Konohagakure took a tougher stance and forcibly kept the Eight-Tails, the Uchiha Clan would never be allowed to become its Jinchuriki.

From the very beginning, Kagami Uchiha's plan had been to kill the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and make Konohagakure and Kumogakure enemies.

That would cause the war to erupt earlier, forcing Konohagakure to send the Uchiha Clan to fill the gaps on the battlefield.

War was the Uchiha Clan's nourishment. Exchanging some sacrifices for even greater power was worth it.

Smack!

Kagami Uchiha closed in behind Blue B and pressed his hand directly against the scorching Chakra.

"Wasn't the Sage of Six Paths' original intention in giving people Chakra to provide them with a bond that would connect them?"

"Gyuki! I alone!"

"Can free you from your endless shackles!"

The formation of the bones slowed.

"You... who are you? How do you know my name?"

Apart from the first few decades, Gyuki had never mentioned his name to anyone during the nearly thousand years that followed.

The Tailed Beasts had once tried to coexist peacefully with humans. But driven by desire, the human world waged war without end, and people often tried to seize their power.

As time passed, while humans came to hate the Tailed Beasts, the Tailed Beasts also began to hate humans.

"Kagami Uchiha. Our ancestor was Indra, son of the Sage of Six Paths. These Sharingan are proof!"

"Your nine names are clearly recorded on our clan's Stone Tablet. Our ancestor believed that you were beings akin to brothers."

Kagami Uchiha was blatantly lying through his teeth.

"Is that so... I know those eyes..."

The Eight-Tails had never experienced the dark era when Uchiha Madara controlled it, so it did not harbor much ill will toward the Sharingan.

It had indeed heard that one of the old man of the Six Paths' sons had inherited his sage eyes.

"I have never truly died. I don't know how long it will take me to revive or where I will revive."

"And I will never trust humans again, even if you are a descendant of Indra!"

Boom!!

An arm of ghastly white bones sent Kagami Uchiha flying!

As Kagami Uchiha flew backward, the corner of his mouth curled into an inscrutable smile.

At the place where he had just pressed his hand, there was a Sealing Jutsu formula.

He had never expected to persuade the Eight-Tails to die with words. He had used the time spent talking to reinforce the Iron Armor Seal.

He had just pushed the seal to a critical point. The Eight-Tails could not escape for the time being, and Blue B could not regain consciousness either.

Swish!!!

An Invisible Slash severed a gigantic Chakra tail that was gradually taking on the shape of an octopus's tentacle!

"Bastard!!"

Kagami Uchiha ignored the Eight-Tails' furious roar.

The three tomoe in his eye sockets spun wildly, the dense scarlet seeming ready to drip blood.

"Hachi."

A slash adjusted according to the difference in cursed energy and strength, capable of killing with a single blow.

Using the Sharingan's Dojutsu Power, Kagami Uchiha had developed One Blade: Cicada's Chill, a slash that could cut through the soul as well.

Without expanding a domain, even Sukuna could only use Dismantle after making contact with a living being.

The existence of Chakra made up for this flaw.

The Sage of Six Paths had hoped to use Chakra to connect people's hearts. The facts proved that it had merely been wishful thinking.

Chakra had already become a weapon—a weapon for killing others!

Kagami Uchiha extended one hand and spread his palm, as if he had thrown something.

Thud.

A heartbeat.

Screeech------

A piercing shriek exploded through the air.

The air.

Time.

Space.

Everything was cut apart!

"Dismantle."

"Across the Ages."

The ultimate, pure slash.

The world seemed to split in two.

A clear crack appeared between the horns of the half-Tailed Beast Transformation's Gyuki.