Cliff

Qiancao, having overused his eyes, could not see the current situation.

To Senju Arashi, however, Uchiha Keisuke looked like a demon.

Most of his body was covered in burns, and his charred flesh was still steaming.

If not for a layer of black, leather-like substance wrapping around his vital areas, Keisuke's entire body would likely have fallen apart like rotting meat.

If Qiancao could still see Keisuke, he would have recognized his true form instantly: Black Zetsu.

Senju Arashi maintained a defensive stance and shouted, "What on earth are you!?"

"I am a ninja of the Uchiha clan!" Keisuke's tone sounded like a laugh, but there was so little intact flesh left on his face that Senju Arashi could not discern his true expression.

The previous strike had exhausted Senju Arashi's final reserves of chakra. After fighting for half the night, her physical stamina had reached its limit; attempting to release another ninjutsu would be a life-threatening risk.

Keisuke, on the other hand, was not faring well either. Qiancao's Great Fireball Technique had destroyed most of his muscles, forcing him to reveal his true form just to keep the body moving.

These people must die here! It seems I have to use that, Black Zetsu thought silently.

He carried a portion of White Zetsu's cells within him, which allowed him to barely maintain movement even after Keisuke's body had been damaged to this extent.

White Zetsu's body was derived from the God Tree, naturally granting it the ability to use simple Wood Style.

Black Zetsu made no outward movement, but his true form made direct contact with the ground, injecting White Zetsu chakra—derived from the God Tree—deep into the earth.

The plants struggling to grow in the cliff's crevices were nourished by this chakra and began to grow frantically.

Countless giant roots erupted from the ground, surrounding the group. Senju Arashi had never seen such a unique ninjutsu and racked her brain for a way to counter it.

But Black Zetsu did not give her time to think, forming hand seals immediately: "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Given his current physical state, the power of the Great Fireball was mediocre and would not have caused substantial damage to the group.

However, the roots of the abnormally grown plants were ignited by the fireball, sending clouds of thick smoke and burning charcoal flying everywhere. If the four of them weren't burned to death, they would be smoked like sausages.

Senju Arashi could no longer worry about the risks and used her final chakra to form seals: "Earth Style: Rock Lodging Collapse!"

Between the impact of the Great Fireball and the dense forest suddenly erupting from the ground, the cliff could no longer support the weight. Under the influence of Senju Arashi's Earth Style, it crumbled into ruin!

Black Zetsu, standing at the edge of the cliff, was shocked, but his riddled body could not keep up with the speed of the collapse.

He could only watch helplessly as Senju Arashi fell, along with the unconscious Shiri, Wuming, and Qiancao, whose vision was just beginning to recover.

The four of them plummeted into the abyss along with the rubble and burning trees.

After weighing his options, Black Zetsu chose not to jump down. On one hand, Keisuke's body was already falling apart; if he followed them down and was defeated by that brat Qiancao, the loss would outweigh the gain.

On the other hand, although these people had seen his true form, they did not know his background and would likely mistake him for Uchiha Keisuke using some strange ninjutsu.

Black Zetsu felt a twinge of regret, as it was not easy to find a body as exceptionally strong as Uchiha Keisuke's, given how much the Uchiha clan valued the Sharingan.

Now, this body was ruined before he had even found Indra's reincarnation or accomplished anything of note.

Fortunately, he had encountered the daughter of the Senju clan leader, which could be considered planting a seed of hatred between the Senju and Uchiha clans.

With that thought, Black Zetsu crawled out of Keisuke's body, tossed the corpse into the sea of fire, and sank slowly into the ground, moving toward his next target.

The moment Qiancao and the others fell from the cliff, Qiancao finally regained a sliver of his vision.

He grabbed Shiri and Wuming, risked total blindness to force his Sharingan open, and leaped through the air, using trees and falling rocks as stepping stones to slow his descent.

His peripheral vision caught the unconscious Senju Arashi. After a moment of hesitation, he couldn't bear to let her die before his eyes.

Fortunately, Shiri and Wuming were slender. Qiancao shifted his posture to hold them both with one arm, freed his other hand to grab Senju Arashi, and used the trees to decelerate while carrying all three.

It was only thanks to the miraculous Sharingan that such a reckless maneuver was possible.

At the bottom of the cliff was a rushing river with many large reefs on the surface; if he didn't watch his landing, he would surely meet his end.

Qiancao gritted his teeth, pulled the three women against his chest, and used his Sharingan to spot an area deep enough and free of reefs. He used his own back as a cushion for the three women and slammed into the water.

The massive impact made his throat taste of blood. He managed to push the women toward the shore before losing consciousness.

He did not know how much time had passed when Qiancao slowly woke up. The long night had finally ended; looking up through the cracks in the cliff, the sun was already high overhead.

After observing his surroundings, he saw the three women unconscious upstream.

Feeling as though his body were falling apart, Qiancao moved with difficulty to Shiri and Wuming's side, checking their injuries.

Shiri was unconscious from a heavy blow to the neck from Senju Arashi. The bruising was still severe, but her breathing was steady, so she should be fine.

The wound on Wuming's chest had mostly healed. Fortunately, despite falling into the river, the wound had not become infected; he believed she would be safe after some rest.

As for Senju Arashi, who was the furthest away, Qiancao pulled out a kunai and approached her cautiously.

Senju Arashi lay on the ground, pale and in pain. Her clothes were soaked by the river, revealing her impressive figure.

If not for the slight rise and fall of her chest proving she was alive, one would easily mistake her for a corpse.

Qiancao held the kunai to her throat, but when he tried to strike, he found he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Having lived for twenty years without even killing a chicken, the sudden demand to take a life was too difficult for him.

After a fierce internal struggle, Qiancao still couldn't bring himself to kill her. Instead, he pulled the wire used for shuriken manipulation from his pouch, intending to tie her up.

Before he could make a move, Senju Arashi suddenly opened her eyes. Exhausted, she managed to force a faint smile. "What's wrong, little one? Can't bring yourself to kill me?"

Startled by her sudden awakening, Qiancao quickly pressed his kunai back against her throat and demanded, "How long have you been awake?"

Senju Arashi continued to smile as she replied, "I've been awake for a while now, but after helping everyone escape the sea of flames yesterday, my chakra was so severely depleted that I couldn't even move."

Hearing this, Qiancao's attitude softened significantly. After all, she was the one who had saved the lives of him and his two companions. His grip on the kunai loosened, and he pulled the blade away from her skin.

Seeing his resolve waver, Senju Arashi struck while the iron was hot. "Little brother, if you let me go, big sister promises you can do anything you want to me."