Chidori Lament

The Spider Sea finally engulfed the youth.

Before the joy could surge into his heart, a black shadow suddenly burst through the encirclement, shooting straight into the sky like an arrow.

Instinct told him that the figure in the sky was indeed the youth, but the contrast between their before-and-after appearances was far too great.

Leathery wings sprouting from his back flapped slowly, demon-like horns curved slightly, the boy's skin took on an ashen pallor, and only his pupils still flickered with an ominous red light.

This was Sosuke's Cursed Seal Level 2 state.

On top of the original foundation, his Chakra and all physical attributes had once again skyrocketed, enough to allow him to spar for a while against an opponent at the Elite Jonin level.

Just sparring, though—defeating one was pure wishful thinking, unless Sosuke's base physical abilities could be further elevated.

If the multiplier for his power boost increased and the duration of Level 2 lasted longer, only then might he have a chance to kill a strong fighter at the Elite Jonin level.

Once someone reached that rank, they wouldn't easily die at another's hands.

Even if a Clan Head-level fighter personally struck, if raw strength couldn't overpower them, they could still escape without much trouble.

Just like Kakashi in Shippuden—many seemed able to suppress him, yet he stubbornly pushed through all the way to the final round.

Fortunately, Fūma Masaki's strength hadn't reached that level; this man was merely one of the more outstanding figures among the Jonin ranks.

With Cursed Seal Level 2 activated, Sosuke's raw power didn't fall short of his at all, let alone the fact that he held the advantage of aerial supremacy.

The Cursed Seal produced by the system had been very considerate in every aspect—for example, he could choose the form his Cursed Seal transformation took.

Compared to appearance, Sosuke valued functionality more; flight was a very good choice.

If he couldn't fly, he would have been swallowed by the Spider Sea just now.

"Nice technique, but it's still a little lacking in power."

Smiling as he finished forming hand seals, Sosuke mobilized most of his remaining Chakra.

The familiar chirping sound rang out, but this time it lacked some of its usual sharpness, instead carrying more of the heavy, sorrowful lament of a life nearing its end.

The blue arcs of lightning had now turned into a black-and-white form, as if birds were mourning the lives that had passed.

At this moment, Fūma Masaki felt unprecedented pressure; he had never imagined that he would be pushed to a dead end by a mere brat.

While controlling the spiders to form obstacles, he retrieved his shuriken and once again displayed his unique technique.

If the brat dared to dive down, he would cut him down today with Water Shuriken.

The Chidori, infused with Nature Energy, had its power skyrocket, and Sosuke was naturally brimming with confidence.

Want to settle it in one blow?

Then he had no reason to refuse.

With a powerful flap of his leathery wings, the youth crazily dove down from high altitude.

Seeing that the other party was truly this arrogant, Fūma Masaki laughed in fury, already eager to witness the scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere.

That was, of course, assuming the other party had the ability to first break through his white Spider Sea.

The blindly confident man never noticed that the youth's true strength had long since become a different beast.

The number of spiders was indeed large, but unfortunately, in terms of speed, they simply couldn't catch up to Sosuke as he dove.

Just like how Takumi's 86, no matter how fast it took a corner, could never catch up to Uncle's Mercedes sprinting through the drainage ditch.

The black-and-white lightning bolt plunged headfirst into the Spider Sea, and only then did the man belatedly react.

By the time he instinctively raised Water Shuriken, the dreadful Lament of Lightning was already upon him.

Chidori Lament!

Boom!

The violent impact swept in all directions, and the small spiders scattered around began to rain down like a downpour.

Before they could even hit the ground, a series of white smoke sent them all back.

With the caster dead, the Summoning Beast naturally couldn't maintain its existence.

[System Notification: Successfully killed Fūma Masaki, gained 3180 points.]

"Hahahaha." From the area shrouded in white smoke came only the youth's somewhat manic laughter.

Both sides tacitly ceased their actions, but smiles were mostly on the faces of the Uchiha side.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the first thing people saw was the figure standing silently with his head lowered.

By now, Sosuke had long since deactivated his Cursed Seal, looking no different from an ordinary youth—except for the corpse lying at his feet, silently telling of the boy's terror.

"Lord Masaki has been defeated!"

"How could this be."

"Damn it, I don't want to die here with him."

"Let's go, don't stay and fight to the death."

Amid the cheers of the Uchiha clansmen, the enemy force that had launched the raid completely scattered, unable even to agree on a direction to flee.

Following the principle of not pressing a routed enemy, the clansmen didn't recklessly leave the camp. Instead, they began cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades.

As he watched body after body being carried out, Sosuke's excitement subsided slightly.

[Points: 4790]

Having slain Fūma Masaki, his points had surged close to the five-thousand mark.

It wouldn't be long before he could save up enough to exchange for the Flying Thunder God technique.

Once he learned Space-time Ninjutsu, he'd be able to go anywhere he pleased, with few things in the world posing a threat to him.

"Just one more Captain-level kill should do it."

He forced a bitter smile, then his body swayed as he began to fall toward the ground.

Fortunately, Uchiha Shū arrived in time, sparing the young hero the miserable fate of stumbling and crashing after the battle.

Supporting him back to solid ground, Shū gazed at the unconscious Corps Commander and murmured softly, "You've worked hard."

"Hmm, that's a familiar ceiling."

He didn't know how long had passed when Sosuke woke from his slumber.

He shifted his body slightly and immediately felt a tearing pain.

"Damn, I'm not crippled again, am I?"

Startled, the Youth quickly opened the system menu. Only after seeing no "Crippled" status did he relax.

That meant he wouldn't have to pay the thousand-point medical fee.

Even so, no one wanted to spend ten days or half a month in bed after every battle.

Each recovery period, after all, was time wasted that could have been spent earning points.

"Sigh, looks like I can't use Cursed Seal Level 2 too often."

Rubbing his throbbing head, he called in the attendant who had been waiting outside and learned he'd been bedridden for two days.

When he'd first been sent to the medical room, everyone thought he was about to kick the bucket, but after all the fuss, the treatment results were surprisingly good.

According to the attendant, with about half a month of rest, his injuries would fully heal.

"Half a month..." Sosuke was deeply frustrated, but he couldn't bring himself to directly exchange for a Body Recovery Potion.

Left with no choice, he'd just have to wait for now.

"By the way, how did the battle go on the Corps Commander's side?"

On that point, the attendant said she couldn't provide any definite information.

It wasn't until evening, when Uchiha Shū returned, that Sosuke finally learned the true situation on the front lines.