Bullying the Weak and Fearing the Strong

With that, he whipped Nuibari around like a raging storm. The blade kept lengthening and shortening, like a real venomous snake, trying to trap Uchiha Arashi to death inside its net of blades.

Uchiha Arashi kept dodging in midair while also observing Kushimaru Kuriarare's attack pattern.

Nuibari's attacks were strange and ever-changing, but they seemed to follow a rule. Each time an attack reached its limit, there would be a brief stiffness.

Now!

Uchiha Arashi's eyes narrowed. Seizing the instant when Kushimaru Kuriarare's old strength had just run out and his new strength had yet to rise, his body dove down like an arrow loosed from the bow!

"Now!"

He instantly appeared behind Kushimaru Kuriarare, and a knee strike packed with explosive power smashed viciously into the man's back!

Crack!

The tooth-aching sound of bone splitting rang out!

"Gah!" Kushimaru Kuriarare let out a pained scream, his body pitching violently forward.

Uchiha Arashi gave him no chance to catch his breath. Several high-pressure fireballs instantly gathered in his right palm. "Fire Release: Saiyan Ki Blast Barrage!"

Several blazing-red ki blasts shot out like a volley of cannon fire, hammering Kushimaru Kuriarare's back one after another!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent explosions rang out in succession. Kushimaru Kuriarare's body was repeatedly blasted up by the shockwaves, fell, and was struck again!

Dust and smoke spread everywhere, blocking everyone's sight.

Uchiha Arashi hovered in the air, gasping for breath in great gulps.

The side effects of the Gate of Pain were growing more and more obvious. The pain in his body almost made him lose all feeling, and his chakra had been consumed at an extreme rate as well.

He had to end this quickly!

The dust and smoke slowly dispersed, revealing Kushimaru Kuriarare's figure.

His back had already been blown into a bloody mess, even exposing shards of bone. He had clearly suffered extremely severe injuries.

But he still had not fallen. Instead, he turned around with difficulty and looked at Uchiha Arashi with disbelief and rage.

"How is this possible... so fast!"

Uchiha Arashi's gaze was icy, without the slightest pity.

Mercy toward an enemy was cruelty toward himself.

He saw the instant Kushimaru Kuriarare's movements slowed from the intense pain, then dove down again, condensing most of the remaining Saiyan Chakra in his body into his right fist.

"This is the final blow! Die!"

His fist tore through the air with a whistling shriek and viciously pierced through Kushimaru Kuriarare's chest!

"Pfft—"

Kushimaru Kuriarare abruptly spat out a large mouthful of blood, and the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed.

He looked down in disbelief at the fist in his chest. His lips moved a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, his head drooped powerlessly.

The "Longsword: Nuibari" slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a clang.

Uchiha Arashi pulled out his fist. Kushimaru Kuriarare's body collapsed limply, losing all signs of life.

Seeing that Kushimaru Kuriarare was dead, he felt not the slightest joy. Enduring the agony of a body on the verge of collapse, he abruptly turned his head to look at Munashi Jinpachi.

"Munashi Jinpachi! Your opponent... is me!" Though his voice was somewhat hoarse from exhaustion, it carried unquestionable dominance.

However, the scene before him made Arashi's pupils suddenly contract, and an indescribable fury and helplessness surged into his heart.

Sato Yu and Akiyama Rei... had already fallen.

A crazed smile of slaughter-drunk delight still hung on Munashi Jinpachi's face.

Sato Yu's body had been blown in half at the waist, scattered organs littering the ground. His lower body hung from a tree, while his upper body was buried in a pile of rubble.

Akiyama Rei lay not far away. There was a huge bloody hole in her chest, her eyes wide open, both hands still tightly clutching Shibuki where it had been stabbed into her chest. Even before death, she had still used her last breath to hold the enemy back.

Bang! The explosive tag on Shibuki detonated. Akiyama Rei's hands flew into the air and dropped straight down beside Arashi's feet.

Uchiha Arashi froze in place, his body trembling uncontrollably.

It was not from fear, nor from the side effects of the Gate of Pain, but from a heartache. His entire heart felt as if an invisible hand had clenched it tight, hurting so much he could barely breathe.

He had always felt that the "Will of Fire" of these "Hidden Leaf Village ninjas" was nothing but a self-deceiving joke. But at this moment, looking at the broken corpses on the ground, they had used the most tragic method to buy him the chance to kill a powerful enemy.

That so-called "will" suddenly became scalding hot, so hot that his eyes stung.

Was the word "ninja" truly built from flesh, blood, and lives?

So-called "comrades" had never been the cold names written in mission reports, but people who would pave the road behind their companions with their lives.

The Double Tomoe Sharingan spun violently. Reflected in those scarlet pupils were the tragic states of his teammates, and those images were like red-hot branding irons, searing deep into his mind.

However, while Uchiha Arashi was caught in a tremendous mental shock, Munashi Jinpachi had also long since frozen in place. His smile had vanished, and his face was instead filled with terror.

"How is that possible? How is that possible? You... you actually killed Kushimaru Kuriarare, and so quickly! Are you a jinchuriki? Impossible, how is this possible!"

Looking at Arashi's small frame and yet such powerful combat strength, Munashi Jinpachi completely sank into doubt about life.

Uchiha Arashi raised his head and looked coldly at Munashi Jinpachi.

"You're the only one left, you animal!"

His voice was filled with incomparable fury and cruelty.

"Now it's your turn to die too!"

He knew that in his current state, there was no way he could be Munashi Jinpachi's match.

The side effects of the Gate of Pain made it hard for him even to stand, and he had very little chakra left.

If he fought head-on, there was only death.

Or... should he use a Senzu Bean?

But...

There were only three Senzu Beans. Use one, and there would be one less.

This was a chance to save his life, extremely precious.

But if he simply let the other side go like this, Arashi's heart was full of unwillingness.

After thinking for a moment, his whole body suddenly relaxed.

He straightened up, his eyes filled with firm mockery, and the corner of his mouth even curved into an icy smile.

"Hmph. That trash Kushimaru Kuriarare couldn't even make me warm up, and he called himself one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He was worse than a maggot eating shit."

"I hope you perform a little better than him, so I can enjoy myself properly."

Though his entire body was in terrible pain, he still did his best to squeeze out the last traces of Saiyan Chakra in his body, making an indistinct pressure radiate from him and creating the illusion that he still had strength to spare.

In the end, Munashi Jinpachi hesitated.

He stopped, his eyes somewhat flustered as he sized up Uchiha Arashi.

As for Arashi's intelligence, he had only seen high-speed movement, flight, and Fire Release techniques that could be fired instantly in succession.

Judging by the other party's Sharingan, he likely still had many trump cards he had yet to use.

And merely his high-speed movement and ability to fly were already extremely troublesome.

Even Kushimaru Kuriarare had died so quickly at his hands, and Munashi Jinpachi was only about the same level as him.

Once he thought it over in his heart, Munashi Jinpachi wanted to retreat.

The more a person committed cruel deeds, the more, once those cruel deeds might fall on his own head, the fear in his heart would magnify.

Seeing fear on his face, Uchiha Arashi sighed inwardly, but showed no weakness on the surface. Instead, he continued to apply pressure.

"What? Don't dare come at me?"

"Where did that arrogance from when you were killing people just now go?"

"Don't tell me... you're afraid?"

Munashi Jinpachi's face alternated between green and white, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

This brat... was too strange.

"Damn it..." Munashi Jinpachi glared fiercely at Uchiha Arashi, but in the end, he still took several steps back and chose to retreat.

"Brat, consider yourself lucky! The next time we meet, I'll make you deeply understand what the terror of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist means!"

Saying the harshest words while doing the most cowardly thing, he turned and ran. His huge figure soon disappeared into the thick fog.