Charging Towards Death, The Justice of the Gate of Opening!

Thanks to Chakra, Ninja can fight on all sorts of extreme terrain.

At this moment, Uchiha Ci stood on a nearly 90-degree vertical cliff face, his Sharingan filled with solemnity.

Ahead was the dim night sky, and Kakuzu, in his Earth Grudge Fear mode, was flying towards him like an arrow!

Behind him lay an abyss that meant instant death if fallen into.

With no retreat, there was only battle!

Wind from the valley below tousled Uchiha Ci's long hair. His gaze was calm as he formed hand seals, a faint red Chakra swirling around his palm!

Immediately, his five fingers touched the ground, slamming down onto the cliff face!

A massive circular jutsu expanded rapidly, a faint red barrier locking onto Kakuzu before it, suddenly flaring to life!

Inheriting and surpassing Kumogakure's Super Deathmatch Barrier, The domain was now deployed!

Mid-air, Kakuzu's eyes suddenly narrowed. He subconsciously sensed something was wrong.

This brat in front of him was clearly as weak as a chick, yet he wasn't running away and actually dared to counterattack?

He was even trying to trap him with a barrier?

This completely confused Kakuzu.

What was this kid trying to do to him, an old comrade over seventy years old?

Was this a trick, a sneak attack?

Kakuzu, whose personality was calm and collected, who was good at thinking, and possessed high combat intelligence, allowing him to survive from the Warring States period to the present day, instantly conjured countless tactical arrangements in his mind, trying to analyze what this kid was up to.

Eight tentacles slammed into the cliff face, halting his charge.

However, it was too late. A faint red barrier had already enveloped Uchiha Ci and him entirely!

When everything settled, Kakuzu stared blankly at the barrier containing only him and Uchiha Ci.

His CPU was smoking, and he still couldn't figure out what this kid was trying to do.

Had this kid's brain short-circuited? He had isolated his teammate outside, and you, a Uchiha with a Single Tomoe Sharingan, what do you plan to fight me with?

Meanwhile, After hearing Uchiha Ci's spirited and battle-hungry question, Terumi Mei's eyes regained their composure.

A tiny spark of fighting spirit even flickered in her pupils.

For Terumi Mei, who had aspired to become the Mizukage of Kirigakure since childhood, possessed immense ambition, and yearned to lead Kirigakure to glory, her previous performance had made her feel ashamed.

Now, regrouping and ready to fight again, she was determined to display the spirit of a Kirigakure genius!

With Uchiha Ci's barrier in place, her other Kekkei Genkai, Boil Style, could also be put to great use!

Even if the opponent was Kakuzu, that S-rank Rogue Ninja of the ninja world, the super enforcer of the Underground Bounty Exchange, she, she also...

Wait, Terumi Mei suddenly looked dumbfounded.

Did Uchiha Ci's barrier go in the wrong direction?

"Hey, hey, hey, Uchiha Ci, I haven't gone in yet!"

Terumi Mei hurriedly slapped the barrier with all her might, shouting in alarm:

"Open the gate, let me in!"

"What are you doing?"

Sweat beaded on Terumi Mei's forehead as she stared dumbfoundedly at Uchiha Ci, who was just a step away yet seemed separated by an insurmountable distance.

She felt as if she could already see the young man before her, with a halo above his head, smiling and waving goodbye as he ascended to heaven.

A faint red barrier suddenly rose between the two.

Terumi Mei's pupils constricted sharply, and she urgently shouted, "Are you crazy? Are you going to fight this monster alone?"

Seeing the barrier had already risen, completely placing herself and Kakuzu in the same space, breathing the same air, Uchiha Ci smiled.

He turned his head to look at Terumi Mei, his eyes like stars flowing across the night sky, filled with an indescribable meaning.

"Sorry, Tsukikomi Mei."

"This is my escape route."

Uchiha Ci paused, looked at the two people behind him, and smiled freely before explaining:

"The opponent is an S-rank rogue ninja with Kage-level strength."

"This is an opponent we can't possibly defeat even if we give our all, so the only method I could think of was this."

"Lure the opponent to a suitable location, then set up a barrier to delay him."

"Tsukikomi Mei, take Hidan and leave immediately!"

"After this, I don't care what you want to do."

"But—"

"Now, this place, is my battlefield!"

With that, Uchiha Ci calmly turned his head.

Immediately, He reached into his ninja tool pouch, drew out a kunai, and held it in a reverse grip against his cheek. The cold, gleaming blade pointed at Kakuzu, a smirk playing on his lips as he sneered defiantly:

"Mr. Kakuzu."

"You want to hurt them?"

"Then you'll have to step over my corpse first!"

"Tsk." Kakuzu frowned slightly, looking at Uchiha Ci with a hint of annoyance.

This scene of parting words, like a farewell before death, had unknowingly struck a soft spot deep within him.

In the past, as an elite ninja of Takigakure, he had encountered a similar situation.

Facing a life-or-death crisis, in a moment of extreme urgency, However, unlike Uchiha Ci now, who was actively sacrificing himself to cover their retreat, he had been betrayed back then.

The squad tasked with assassinating the Ninja God had fallen apart mid-mission, his teammates had betrayed him and fled, and all the responsibility had fallen upon Kakuzu, forcing him to act.

And when Kakuzu, trembling with fear, went alone to assassinate that god-like being, he predictably failed. Upon his dejected return to the village, He received no comfort from the village, no understanding from his comrades, not even a bed to recuperate in.

Instead, he was met with the charge of mission failure and severe punishment—

A ninja who had risked his life for the village was treated so cruelly.

"Ah, this kind of boring ninja game again."

Kakuzu shook his head, looking at Uchiha Ci opposite him. For the first time, he felt inclined to say a few more words, As if seeing his past self, across the vast expanse of time, he spoke to his younger self with clarity and indifference:

"Broke brat,"

"See reality! Not everything in this world will go your way."

"The longer you live, the more you'll realize that reality is only filled with helplessness, pain, and emptiness."

"Teammates who shared life and death will stab you in the back;

Faiths you bet everything on will be shattered into worthlessness by a wooden slap;

Superiors to whom you offered loyalty will only treat you as a tool, ready to discard you at any moment."

Kakuzu paused, a flicker of fanaticism in his eyes.

"But,"

"Only money will never betray you."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Ci took a deep breath and thought, You're absolutely right, old man!

Bonds, friendship—those are all lies to fool children.

Why else would I have done all this if not for those five hundred million! Wasn't it for this very moment?

Uchiha Ci nodded in agreement, then suddenly opened his Sharingan.

He adjusted his state to its peak.

At this moment, He would offer everything he had gained through training and striving until now, And then, this accumulated power would erupt in an instant, transforming into strength!

He looked at Kakuzu and shouted with clear-headed coldness:

"Come on, monster!"

"Right here, right now!"

"Grant me my fated death!"

A scarlet glow flashed in Uchiha Ci's eyes as he lunged forward, body low.

He drew three shuriken with his backhand, flicking one sharply towards Kakuzu's chest. The other two shuriken collided mid-air, changing trajectory and arcing towards the masks hidden within Kakuzu's black robes.

Having gathered intel on Kakuzu, he naturally knew the man possessed Immortality.

Only by shattering the five hearts hidden beneath the five masks could the opponent be truly killed!

However, Facing Uchiha Ci, who ignored all warnings, showed no change in expression, and dared to attack first, charging forward, Kakuzu retracted the tendrils of Earth Grudge Fear. His gaze was indifferent, the coldness in his eyes intensifying.

He slowly unbuttoned his black robe and tossed it aside.

A tall, muscular body covered in stitches was revealed in the night wind.

He raised his fist slightly, shrugged, and sneered with contempt and disdain on his face.

"Broke brat, you think you're so tough?"

"Then let this old man teach you--"

"What is--"

"Reality!"

[Kakuzu greatly disdains your bravery, seemingly wanting to beat you into a pig's head.]

[Courage is the crystallization of human wisdom. Anyone who belittles courage will receive the righteous judgment of the Gate of Opening!]

[S-rank Long-term Mission triggered--]

[Make Kakuzu understand that courage is something greater than money!]

[Settlement nodes will vary based on the target's level of understanding: Understanding, Joining, Surpassing. Current progress 0/3.]

Thanks to book friends 20230323221611619, Whimsical Insomniac, and Long Tianyun for the moon tickets!

Thanks to all my godfathers and lords for the recommendation tickets!

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Bang bang bang!