The air seemed to freeze.
The Hand Demon's enormous single eye stared fixedly at the raging blade of lightning in Sasuke's hand.
It could feel it.
What that blade held was pure destructive power, enough to erase it completely.
Run!
I have to run!
That was the only thought in the Hand Demon's mind.
It let out a shrill scream, its remaining charred arms frantically pounding the ground as it tried to drag its massive body backward.
At the same time, it desperately drew its arms inward, tightly shielding its only vulnerable spot.
Its neck!
As long as my neck is intact, I won't die!
As long as I can hold out until dawn, I can survive!
Sasuke watched its ugly, futile struggle without the slightest change in his eyes.
Slowly, he lowered the lightning-wreathed Wakizashi to his side.
Then he sank slightly into an impeccably precise opening stance for Thunder Breathing, First Form.
The Hand Demon's movements froze.
It recognized that stance.
It was that old bastard Kuwajima's proudest move.
Every disciple it had devoured had used that move before dying.
But it was useless.
Against its impenetrable defenses, that simple, straight-line thrust did not even qualify as a scratch.
But why?
Why was the pressure this boy gave off when he took that stance more terrifying than ever before?
Of course, Sasuke was not going to use Thunderclap and Flash.
He was merely borrowing Thunder Breathing's explosive technique.
He would use that instantaneous burst, which concentrated his entire body's strength into a single point, as the... propulsion for his next technique.
"Whew..."
A long, drawn-out exhalation.
In Sasuke's right eye, two tomoe spun wildly, locking onto the Hand Demon's neck, which was still moving rapidly beneath the protection of countless arms.
Then his figure vanished.
It was not high-speed movement.
He had truly vanished into thin air from the Hand Demon's sight.
Body Flicker Technique!
The Hand Demon's enormous single eye abruptly widened, filled with incredulous terror.
Where is he?
Where did he go?
The next second.
An overwhelming sense of danger from above made every bit of its flesh tremble.
It jerked its head up.
Then it saw the most hopeless sight of its life.
At some point, the black-haired boy had appeared directly above it.
He held that lightning-wreathed blade of death high, like a reaper descending from the heavens to mete out divine punishment.
Those scarlet eyes, bearing two tomoe, gazed coldly down at it.
"It's over."
His icy voice was like a final verdict.
Sasuke swung his blade down.
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Lightning Release slashed down with a thunderous crash, like punishment descending from heaven!
At that moment, the Wakizashi, infused with the entirety of Chidori, became the sharpest divine weapon in the world.
Shhk-!
The dozens of arms the Hand Demon used to protect its neck, which it had believed indestructible.
Before that streak of lightning, they were as fragile as tofu.
They were effortlessly torn apart and severed.
Without the slightest pause, the lightning blade swept precisely across the Hand Demon's thick neck.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The Hand Demon's enormous head shot into the sky, its expression filled with terror and unwillingness.
In midair, it looked at its massive, headless body, its eye filled with bewilderment.
Why...
But... I tried so hard to defend myself...
That was its last thought.
The next second, its head and massive body crumbled simultaneously beneath the raging power of lightning, turning into ash that filled the sky.
Sasuke slowly landed.
The lightning had faded from the Wakizashi in his hand, leaving it black once more.
[Ding.] [Kill successful. Gained 1,500 Revenge Points.] [Current total points: 3,950]
He glanced at the spot where the Hand Demon had completely vanished. His seething killing intent slowly subsided, returning to an unruffled coldness.
A gust of wind swept past, stirring a few broken pieces of fox masks on the ground.
Sasuke's gaze lingered on those fragments for a moment.
They were the belongings left behind by his senior fellow disciples, men and women he had never met.
He said nothing, merely bowing his head slightly in that direction.
It served as a final offering of rest to those departed souls.
Then he turned and headed down the mountain.
The night was still long.
But there was no longer anything on this mountain that could stir even the slightest interest in him.
Before you continue