Summit War 21
"Uchiha..." He squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, instantly pushing the Life Return to its limit.
His jet-black hair exploded on top of his head, transforming into six thick, spider-like black limbs. The six long swords at the ends of these limbs, along with the sword in his right hand, were swung out simultaneously. The seven swords collided fiercely with the two burning Tachi in mid-air.
Sparks flew as the blades clashed, and the piercing metallic shriek caused the surrounding soldiers to cover their ears and retreat.
The three men's Blood Wheel Eyes clashed fiercely with Onigumo's single eye amidst the flashing blades, simultaneously reading the same message from each other's eyes: Today, it's either you or me who dies.
The Yakumi gave Onigumo no chance to catch his breath.
The Fire Release hand seals flipped faster than the blink of an eye, Chakra condensed into a scorching stream in his throat, and with a single breath, a boundless sea of fire erupted—
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" The raging flames rolled across the ice surface, and the ice shards along the way sublimated into scalding white mist in the high temperature. Several marines who did not have time to retreat screamed and fell to the side as they were burned by the mist.
Onigumo's single eye widened, and his three arms swung their swords simultaneously, cleaving through the sea of fire. The flames split in two before him and swept past his side.
But before he could retract his sword, there was a whooshing sound overhead— Uchiha Yaoyu's figure appeared out of thin air above the sea of fire, his Tachi, still wreathed in flames, slashing straight down at the top of his head.
Onigumo gritted his teeth, and his other three hair arms hastily rose, the three swords and the Yaoyu Tachi clashing in mid-air with a piercing metallic shriek.
At that very moment, his Observation Haki suddenly spiked wildly—there was another person in the sea of fire.
Uchiha Yakumi had already crouched down and cut into the blind spot directly in front of him without him noticing. He sheathed his Tachi, his right hand lightly pressing on the hilt, maintaining the still posture he had before drawing the sword. Only the Chakra overflowing from the friction between the scabbard and the hilt cast a thin, crimson shadow on the ice.
"Uchiha Style: Flame Glaze Draw Slash!" The Setsuna the sword was drawn, a crimson blade of light slashed across like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Onigumo's throat.
Onigumo's pupils constricted sharply; his life-or-death instinct compelled him to pull back his hair and arms to shield himself, but the Yakumi scent of the blade was faster than his reflexes—
The blade, imbued with fire-attribute Chakra, sliced through one of the parrying longswords as easily as cutting tofu, its momentum undiminished, slicing diagonally across the Root of the two hairs and arms.
The jet-black hair was cleanly severed at the root, the cut end charred and curled, and the two long swords that were wrapped around it, along with the still twitching strands of hair, flew into the air.
The residual force of the slash grazed his collarbone, tearing a charred gash in his Justice Coat.
Before Onigumo could retreat, Yaoyu in mid-air had already formed hand Hand Seals with one hand, while his other hand reached into his ninja tool pouch at his waist, simultaneously holding several Kunai between his fingers.
He took a deep breath, his chest expanding, and exhaled a flame infused with Chakra— "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!"
The flames split into more than a dozen small fireballs in the air, each containing a rapidly spinning Kunai, like a swarm of burning bees descending on Onigumo from all directions.
"Damn it!" For the first time, a look of surprise flashed in Onigumo's single eye.
Before he could reassemble his severed hair and arms, he stomped his foot hard, his whole body leaving a blur as he dodged to the side.
With his remaining four arms and right-hand sword, he simultaneously unleashed his trump card – "Eight-Sword Style -Slaying Slash!"
Amidst the clash of swords and the interplay of water and fire, Kunai and severed hair flew in all directions, the three figures collided violently once more on the ice.
"The Yakumi!" Yaoyu in a low voice, his hand already forming a hand seal in front of his chest. Purple lightning exploded from his palm, spreading down his forearm to his shoulder, turning half of his body into a dazzling bright purple.
A few steps away, the Yakumi wafted through the air. Almost at the same instant he opened his mouth, he flipped his wrist and formed the exact same hand seal.
Neither brother asked a single question—the Uchiha Style of Shuriken throwing was something they had practiced together since childhood, and a single glance was enough.
Two Lightning Cutter exploded simultaneously, their sharp bird cries tearing through the battlefield. Stimulated by the Lightning Release Chakra, their muscle fibers burst forth with speeds far exceeding their physical limits. The two transformed into two parallel Inazuma of lightning, skimming along the ice surface as they hurtled towards Onigumo.
The Onigumo's single eye shrank to the size of a pinhead.
He knew all too well the weight of this move. Armament Haki spread out simultaneously on the remaining five hair-covered arms and the sword in his right hand, turning the blades iron-black, and the six swords intersected in front of him to form a Sawtooth defensive line.
"Eight-Sword Style: Storm Slash!" Six swords were unleashed simultaneously, slashing through the air. Before the sword light even arrived, Six Paths deep grooves were already carved into the ice surface.
This is Onigumo's trump card, not for blocking, but for counter-attacking.
Lightning and blade energy collided violently on the ice.
No one retreated.
The Yaoyu's Lightning Cutter pierced through the Root of a hairy arm above Onigumo's right shoulder, blasting the knife and half of the hair into charcoal;
The Yakumi Lightning Cutter tore through the net of the Storm Cutter from the front, piercing the Armament Haki Hardening on Onigumo's right ribs and carving a deep, charred wound that revealed the bone on his side.
At the same time, Onigumo's other four swords left varying degrees of cuts on the brothers' left arms, right legs, and ribs.
The three brushed past each other, sliding more than ten meters behind before regaining their balance.
Three shocking streaks of blood were spilled on the ice, their origins unclear.
"Brother, are you alright?!" Yakumi's gaze swept over the still-bleeding knife wound on Yaoyu's thigh, and his brows furrowed. Yaoyu shook his head, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said in a hoarse but firm voice, "I'm fine. Strike while the iron is hot!"
"Alright! I'll take the lead!" Yakumi didn't hesitate for a moment. He gripped the Tachi horizontally, channeling Lightning Release Chakra into the blade once more. The entire sword was enveloped in blinding blue-white lightning, arcs of electricity hissing and leaping along the edge—"Lightning Release: Chidori Blade!"
The instant the lightning exploded, he shot out like an arrow, his Lightning Release Chakra simultaneously stimulating the muscle cells in his legs, making him significantly faster than before.
Yaoyu simultaneously Hand Seals behind him, and the Lightning Release Chakra in his arms condensed again, compressing the azure lightning into an extremely thin yet dazzling spear in his palm.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!" The spear flew from his hand, trailing a piercing crackling sound of electricity as it shot straight at Onigumo's face.
Blood was still gushing from the wound on Onigumo's side. When he saw the lightning spear hurtling through the air, a hint of shock and anger finally flashed in his single eye.
He stomped hard, his whole body flying sideways. The Chidori Sharp Spear grazed his earlobe, and the scorching arc of electricity singed half of his temple.
Before he could even regain his footing, the figure reeking of Yakumi appeared before him—not following behind the sharp spear, but having anticipated his dodge and been waiting there in advance.