Weird Skills Were Just That Strong

A sensory ninja from Hidden Sand detected that Uchiha Ran still had a faint trace of chakra in his body, so he decided to finish him off.

Taking him alive was impossible. He could not even be saved.

When he walked up to "Uchiha Ran's" corpse, he looked down disdainfully at the familiar Konoha flak jacket and distinctive black hair.

Just as the kunai in his hand was about to plunge down.

A sudden change occurred!

The kunai and shuriken embedded in the "corpse," along with the clothes beneath them, abruptly transformed into layer upon layer of Explosive Tags, erupting with blinding white light!

It was not the light of ninjutsu, but the light of countless densely packed, overlapping Explosive Tags igniting at once!

"What...? Explosive Tags? Why are there so many? How much would all this cost?!"

The sensory ninja's smile froze instantly, turning into utter terror! He was too close!

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!!!

A heaven-shaking explosion erupted violently at the center. Rampaging flames and shockwaves, like ravenous beasts, instantly devoured the nearest ring of Hidden Sand ninja!

Severed limbs, mixed with the stench of burning flesh and thick smoke, were flung high into the air! Their screams were drowned out by the explosion before they could even escape their throats!

"Ah!"

"No—!"

"Trap!!!"

The Hidden Sand ninja on the outskirts were blown off their feet by the sudden self-destruction. Casualties were severe, and terrified screams and chaos instantly replaced their earlier cheers.

Although Chahachiro had not been standing that close, the scorching blast wave still hurled him away. He slammed heavily into a massive boulder, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and had no idea how many ribs had broken.

"Cough, cough... How... how is this possible...?"

He struggled to rise, his eyes filled with disbelief and absolute terror.

A Substitution Technique? A Shadow Clone Technique? No! That "corpse" had clearly given off a chakra signature, and it had been struck by so many kunai... Was it a more advanced disguise? A substitute made of Explosive Tags?

Was he seriously that rich, you filthy tycoon?!

Just as Chahachiro was blasted away and the Hidden Sand ninja descended into immense chaos and panic!

The seemingly flat, solid ground only three steps from where Chahachiro had crashed into the boulder silently rippled like water!

Soil and gravel parted to either side as though they had come alive!

"Cheat skill—Diving!"

A demon returned from hell burst out of the earth without warning, carrying bone-chilling killing intent and swirling smoke!

It was Uchiha Ran!

His Konoha flak jacket was spotless, and his black hair fluttered slightly in the blast's aftermath. Beneath it, his eyes—

His scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan were coldly locked onto Chahachiro at close range!

Chahachiro's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints! He felt that icy gaze, as tangible as substance.

Never had the shadow of death hung over him so clearly!

He wanted to control his puppets, release poisonous smoke, use the Substitution Technique... but his body would not obey him at all. Even moving a single finger was incomparably difficult!

Then he heard one final sentence.

"Buddy, you dared look the Sharingan straight in the eye? You've got guts!"

A cold flash appeared!

Uchiha Ran gave him no chance to speak, delivering a clean, decisive slash.

"Cheat skill—Wave Break, Harvest!"

"You..." A wheezing sound leaked from Chahachiro's throat, filled with bloody froth.

Slash!

A soft sound.

Chahachiro's head, its face frozen in terror and disbelief, traced an arc through the air amid a spray of scalding blood.

It crashed heavily onto the gravel-strewn ground some distance away, rolled several times, and its hollow eyes continued staring fixedly at the sky.

The headless corpse twitched twice, then went completely still.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Every surviving Hidden Sand ninja saw that nightmare-like scene.

Lord Chahachiro, the man they had relied upon and who had just been accepting flattery moments ago, had been effortlessly beheaded like a chicken or dog by that "dead" Uchiha!

Fear, like icy venomous snakes, instantly coiled around every Hidden Sand ninja's heart!

"Lord... Lord Chahachiro... is dead?!"

"A ghost... He's a ghost! He never died!"

"Run!!!"

"Why run?! He's alone!"

A jonin with a vicious scar across his face roared sharply, his voice like sandpaper scraping together as it instantly overwhelmed the chaotic cries.

"Wind Release unit! Form up! Target the Uchiha—indiscriminate coverage! Everyone else, cover the Wind Release unit! He only has one pair of eyes; he can't watch all of us at once!"

"Kill him! Avenging Lord Chahachiro is secondary. Completing the ambush mission and eliminating this Konoha monster is the priority!"

Another jonin wearing a Hidden Sand forehead protector howled, his sinister eyes fixed ahead as his hands rapidly formed seals.

Their fear of mission failure and the village's punishment instantly overwhelmed their terror of the elusive Uchiha Ran.

They had been carefully selected for this ambush force, and many among them were battle-hardened elites.

So what if one Chahachiro was dead? Just because the butcher was gone did not mean they could not eat pork.

The hundred Hidden Sand ninja sent to lie in ambush stabilized their morale under the direction of more than a dozen jonin. The dead man was merely a key member of the puppet corps, so why should they fall apart?

"Yes!"

"Form up!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kunai, shuriken, and poison-coated senbon shot at Uchiha Ran from all directions like a dense swarm of bees. He stood in place, seemingly entirely defenseless.

These attacks were not meant to hit him. They were meant to interfere with him, force him to move, and restrict the space in which his Sharingan could observe and cast genjutsu!

At the same time, under the lead of the scar-faced jonin, more than thirty Hidden Sand ninja proficient in Wind Release swiftly formed three triangular formations with astonishing coordination.

Their hands flew through identical seals as chakra surged violently and the air began to emit piercing shrieks.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

"Wind Release: Wind Formation Pillar!"

Three formations, three furious shouts, rang out almost simultaneously!

BOOM—!!!

The three raging hurricanes did not spread apart. Under the jonin's exquisite control, they instantly merged and compressed!

With the coordination of the three Wind Release squads, a powerful blast of wind pressure ultimately formed into a rapidly rotating, ghastly white wind pillar over five meters in diameter, visible to the naked eye!

A piercing shriek that seemed capable of tearing space apart sounded from within the wind pillar. Wherever it passed, the ground was forcibly plowed open into a deep trench as it thundered toward the spot where Uchiha Ran had just stood!

Uchiha Ran's immaculate Konoha flak jacket snapped loudly in the gale, while his disheveled black hair whipped wildly around, nearly obscuring his cold Sharingan.

"Die! You evil little Uchiha brat!"

Cruel excitement gleamed in the scar-faced jonin's eyes.

He knew full well that against this kind of wide-range covering ninjutsu, even if the Sharingan could see its trajectory, the body might not be able to evade it completely!

As long as it grazed him even slightly, the center packed with countless chaotic wind blades would be enough to grind even steel into minced flesh.

The cruel smile on the scar-faced jonin's face had only just bloomed when it suddenly froze.