The Enraged Child Awakens, Annihilating the Duke Mansion, Uchiha's Mad Laughter

Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, feeling the immense power surging through his body.

This was not merely Soul Power. There was Chakra too!

This power... was enough to crush an ordinary Soul Emperor, perhaps even rival a Soul Saint.

But my body... was too weak.

He could clearly sense that this power did not originate from himself, but from the symbiotic being called "White Zetsu" that possessed his body.

At most, fifteen minutes. Any longer, and his body would collapse first.

Huo Yuhao turned his head, his blood-red Sharingan sweeping over the area outside.

End this quickly.

Not just this steward. Everyone who had bullied his mother, everyone in this Duke Mansion who had treated them like livestock... had to die!

The commotion here had already alerted the nearby patrols.

"What's happening over there?"

Two guards in light armor rushed into the courtyard.

The moment they saw the "blood tree" at the woodshed door, their faces turned deathly pale.

"Th-that's Old Zhou?"

"Who are you?! How dare you commit murder in the White Tiger Duke Mansion!"

One of the guards drew his saber and shouted fiercely, though his courage was clearly lacking.

The other guard was obviously more experienced. He glanced into the woodshed, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes.

"Who cares what it is? It might be an Evil Soul Master who snuck in. Let's take it down together, then throw the woman's corpse from the woodshed outside!"

"Heh, this is the Duchess's order. Old Zhou failed, but if we pull it off, the Duchess definitely won't skimp on the rewards!"

Corpse? Throw her out? Rewards?

Those words were like red-hot brands, searing Huo Yuhao's taut nerves.

They had touched his reverse scale.

"Then... go to hell!"

Boom!

The woodshed floor exploded.

Huo Yuhao vanished.

It was extreme speed born purely from an explosion of physical strength. The air was instantly torn apart, leaving behind a ring of white shockwaves.

"Wha—"

The two guards did not even have time to blink before their vision blurred.

Bang! Bang!

Two dull impacts rang out almost simultaneously.

Their chests instantly caved in, and their bodies flew backward like kites with severed strings.

They smashed through the courtyard wall and corridor pillars in succession before collapsing like two heaps of mush amid the rubble, completely devoid of life.

Like a white ghost, Huo Yuhao moved through the rear courtyard of the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

He needed no soul skills, no tactics.

So long as he saw faces that had once mocked him and his mother.

Kill.

You. Last winter, you deliberately swapped our coal for wet coal.

Pfft! A wooden spike pierced through the man's throat.

And you. You stole Mother's only hairpin to trade for wine.

Crack! His neck was snapped cleanly.

The stench of blood spread through the air, and panic flooded the Duke Mansion.

At last, the true experts were alerted.

"Brazen madman!"

"Prepare to engage immediately! The Duke Mansion must be defended!"

Dozens of figures swept in from every direction.

The radiance of soul rings illuminated the night sky.

Soul Elders, Soul Ancestors, Soul Kings—and even a six-ringed Soul Emperor leading them!

He was the Duke Mansion's captain of guards. Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, his eyes nearly split with rage.

"Intruder, surrender at once!"

The captain roared, and the spear in his hand instantly erupted with blazing flames. The sixth soul ring behind him suddenly lit up.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Blazing Strike!"

The flaming spear carried the momentum to destroy everything as it locked onto Huo Yuhao's brow.

This strike was impossible to evade!

Can't dodge it...

Huo Yuhao stood still, watching the roaring fire dragon rush toward him.

Yet he did not dodge.

Or rather, at that instant, the sickle-like pattern in his right eye spun wildly, and instinct compelled him not to make any defensive move.

Whoosh—

The flaming spear, powerful enough to instantly kill a Soul King, passed through Huo Yuhao's body without the slightest obstruction the moment it touched him.

As though it had passed through an illusion.

The flames slammed into the ground behind Huo Yuhao, blasting out a massive scorched crater.

Yet Huo Yuhao stood there utterly unharmed. Not even the dust on his clothes had been stirred.

"W-what?!"

The captain's eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost.

"It missed? Impossible! What kind of soul skill is this? Physical immunity? Or a spatial ability?"

It was not just him. Every soul master present was stunned.

Huo Yuhao slowly raised his head. The pattern in his scarlet right eye continued to spin.

This was Kamui.

Though he could not yet control it proficiently, in the face of mortal danger, this eye had answered his wish.

You... all die!

Huo Yuhao formed hand seals with both hands, completely igniting the Wood Release power within his body.

"Wood Release: Hell Chaos!"

Rumble—

The earth began to tremble, as though some terrifying beast was about to burst from the ground.

The next second, countless thick, twisted tree trunks erupted from beneath everyone's feet.

They did not resemble plants, but countless giant pythons, covered in sharp barbs as they swept wildly in every direction.

"Ah! My leg!"

"What kind of monster is this?! Help—"

"The Duke will never let you get away with this!"

Screams rose one after another, but they were soon drowned out by the sound of trees growing.

The instant those branches touched a human body, they pierced into it, madly draining the soul masters' Soul Power and blood essence.

Then they grew even more luxuriantly, sprouting sharper and sharper spikes.

In the blink of an eye.

The once magnificent courtyard had become a forest of deathly silence.

Dozens of the Duke Mansion's elite had all become nourishment for this forest.

The leaves rustled. It was the lament of the dead.

Huo Yuhao did not stop.

Because the most nauseating presence, the source of every tragedy, had appeared.

At the gates, a lavish procession had just returned.

The Duchess had barely stepped out of her carriage when the scene before her frightened her out of her wits.

The thick stench of blood, the strange twisted trees covering the ground, and the mangled corpses hanging from their branches.

"Th-this... where is this? Where is my mansion?"

The Duchess staggered back in terror. "Guards! Protect me!"

But no one answered her.

"This is hell, Duchess."

A cold voice sounded beside her ear.

Huo Yuhao emerged from a tree trunk like a specter and stood before the Duchess.

"You did this?!"

The Duchess was an expert after all. Once the initial terror passed, she reacted swiftly.

With a shrill cry, her Hell Spirit Cat martial soul possessed her body. She turned into a black shadow, her claws lunging straight for Huo Yuhao's throat.

"Die!"

Swish!

Her claws passed through Huo Yuhao's body again, as if she had struck nothing but air.

Kamui!

"Too slow."

Huo Yuhao's voice was so cold that it carried not the slightest trace of warmth.

The instant he became tangible, his fist wrapped in white matter shot out heavily.

Bang!

The punch landed squarely on the Duchess's lower abdomen.

"Urgh—"

The Duchess opened her mouth wide, blood spewing out.

She felt as if all her internal organs had shifted, and she fell uncontrollably to her knees.

Watching the white demon approach step by step, she finally felt fear.

"Y-you... when did our Duke Mansion ever offend you?"

Enduring the agonizing pain, the Duchess tried to invoke her backing.

"I am the wife of White Tiger Duke Dai Hao! For Marshal Dai Hao's sake—"

"Dai Hao?"

Huo Yuhao stopped. His right hand slowly rose and pressed against the Spiral Mask on his face.

The mask spun away, revealing a face that was still young but filled with hatred.

"Dai Hao... has to die too!"

The Duchess's pupils contracted violently, as though she had seen the most unbelievable thing in the world.

"It... it's you?"

"Dai Yuhao?! That bitch's bastard?!"

Smack!

Huo Yuhao said nothing. His hand merely swung down like a blade.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Both of the Duchess's arms were severed at the roots.

"Ahhhhhhh!! My hands!!"

The pampered Duchess let out a pig-like shriek as she rolled around on the ground in agony.

"Insult Mother one more time, and I'll make you wish you were dead."

Huo Yuhao's voice was terrifyingly calm.

The Duchess's entire body convulsed from pain, yet her venomous gaze remained fixed on Huo Yuhao.

She knew she would not survive. Despair drove her even further into madness.

"I'm telling you... bastard! If you dare do this... Dai Hao, even the entire Star Luo Empire, will never let you go! You and that bitch mother of yours will both be ground to dust—"

Bang!

Huo Yuhao smashed his fist into her face, cutting off her words.

"Since you like talking so much, go down there and take your time talking."

Huo Yuhao grabbed her by the hair and dragged her like a dead dog all the way to the woodshed entrance.

He dragged her before Huo Yun'er's corpse.

"Kneel."

He kicked the back of the Duchess's knees.

Thud.

This lofty Duchess finally knelt before the maid she had regarded as less than dirt in life.

"Wood Release: Cutting Technique."

Huo Yuhao pressed his hand against the Duchess's back.

This time, he did not detonate it immediately.

Instead, he controlled the branches to pierce into her meridians little by little, turning her into a cripple capable only of feeling pain.

"Urgh... ah... k-kill... kill me..."

By now, the Duchess no longer had the strength even to scream, and could only let out weak groans.

"This was only the beginning."

Huo Yuhao looked at his mother's peaceful face as two streams of bloody tears slid down his cheeks.

"Explode!"

Boom!

Countless sharp wooden spikes burst from within the Duchess's body, tearing her completely apart.

That posture looked exactly like an eternal apology to Huo Yun'er.

After doing all this, Huo Yuhao raised his head.

Immense grief and the thrill of revenge intertwined in his mind, eventually turning into a burst of manic laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha... Ha ha ha ha ha!!"

He covered his face, laughing as tears mixed with blood and dripped down.