Naruto: I, Uchiha, Just Want to Die

Chapter 157: The Desperate Mad Lion!

The incandescent longsword blazed with intensely condensed flames, drawing stunning arcs through the air as it repeatedly sliced apart the Wind Release: Wind Blade aimed at the joints to immobilize Uchiha Ci.

The scattered wind blasts left wounds on his body, but he paid them no mind.

His gaze was fixed firmly on Chiyo's brother Ebizō, calculating the distance between them.

Fifty meters!

If he could break through this fifty meters, using the power of the incandescent longsword and his enhanced physical prowess under the Curse Seal of Heaven, Uchiha Ci was confident he could hold Ebizō down right here.

Perhaps, he could even...

Defeat him!

With this thought, Uchiha Ci accelerated again, his feet grinding against the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand as he shot forward like an arrow toward Ebizō.

At that moment, Ebizō, now driven to the brink, unleashed everything he had!

"Three-Puppet Maneuver: Dance of Chaotic Blades!"

Under his command, three emotionless puppets wielded their long blades, launching an aggressive assault from midair!

When Uchiha Ci saw the words "Buddha," "Dharma," and "Monk" carved into the three puppets, his gaze sharpened involuntarily.

Two of the puppets raised their arms, twisting them in ways that defied human anatomy. The twin blades attached to their arms spun like massive windmills, slashing down relentlessly!

Faced with such unreasonable blade techniques, Uchiha Ci could only retreat, attempting to use the Cloud Flow Sword Technique to circle around and destroy the puppets' arms.

But just as he prepared to act, the third puppet, stationed at the rear, suddenly raised its hands.

Clack, clack, clack, clack!

The mechanical palms expanded, unleashing a barrage of kunai that blanketed his entire vision!

Uchiha Ci's eyes narrowed sharply. He twisted his foot and leaped back, narrowly avoiding the incoming blades aimed at his face. With successive backflips, he dodged the kunai while evading the slashing long blades of the puppets.

This hidden kunai attack, concealed within the whirlwind of blades, was none other than the Puppet Technique: Blade Assault.

The kunai were attached to threads controlled by the puppeteer, granting them tremendous force. A skilled puppeteer could even manipulate the threads to bind their opponent, gaining control over them.

It was a truly disgusting tactic.

But it wasn't over yet.

After missing their first strike, the three puppets immediately dispersed, seemingly opening a path.

However, what followed was a relentless barrage of ninjutsu attacks!

"Wind Release: Vacuum Cannon!"

"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"

"Wind Release: Great Cutting Whirlwind!"

The desert was engulfed by a storm of wind and sand, as Ebizō, like a relentless pile driver, shook the ground with his every step and launched one ninjutsu after another.

Facing such a calculating enemy, where every move was a trap, Uchiha Ci felt as though he had swallowed a fly. Gritting his teeth, he endured injury after injury, forcing himself through the ocean of ninjutsu to close the gap.

At the same time, Ebizō retreated to the barrier's edge, controlling the three puppets to place their palms on the ground at intervals, creating intricate sealing formations.

When Uchiha Ci, wielding his incandescent longsword, cut through a barrage of wind blades and was on the verge of reaching Ebizō, the sealing formations on the ground suddenly lit up.

In an instant, just twenty meters before Ebizō, a swarm of strange lion-headed puppets emerged from the formations.

Panting heavily, Ebizō sneered as he formed seals with his hands.

"Brat, in front of a puppeteer proficient in sealing techniques, this distance is a chasm you'll never cross in your lifetime!"

"Sealing Technique: Lion's Roar Barrier!"

The lion-headed puppets rose to form an impenetrable shield wall of sealing techniques, covering the area in front of Ebizō.

Anyone approaching would have their chakra completely sealed by the embedded sealing formations.

This was Ebizō's plan: erect an unbreakable defense to prevent Uchiha Ci, who had an advantage in physical combat, from getting close. Then, using the puppets, he would gradually eliminate Uchiha Ci.

Now, with the field set, Ebizō sneered maliciously at Uchiha Ci.

"This way, there's no way you can approach me!"

"So, tell me, how will you counter this?"

"Hahaha!"

Facing Ebizō's rampant taunts, Uchiha Ci shook his head, reached into his tool pouch, and casually tossed a kunai onto the ground. Looking up indifferently, he said,

"Ebizō, don't you understand yet?"

"When you entered this barrier, the two of us—"

"Only one of us was ever going to leave alive!"

Ebizō's pupils contracted sharply when he noticed the kunai embedded in the ground, with the words Sword of Ninja Love etched onto its hilt.

"Is this...?"

Uchiha Ci laughed loudly.

"Old man, are you so disoriented from the fight?"

"My mission was only to hold you here!"

"And yet, instead of killing me quickly, you've built your own grave marker?"

Uchiha Ci stepped back a few paces, his expression shifting into a mocking grin.

"Hahahahaha!"

Ebizō's face twisted in horror as he recognized the kunai belonging to Minato Namikaze, the disciple of one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya.

As the commander of the Sand Village's frontline and head of intelligence, he was well aware of Minato's capabilities.

Seeing the kunai, and recalling the earlier orange signal flares launched into the sky, Ebizō immediately realized Konoha's true target—

Himself!

He should have seen it earlier! He should have known!

But this insane brat before him had applied so much pressure that he had momentarily lost the ability to assess the overall situation.

Ebizō closed his eyes in regret, gritting his teeth as his weathered face filled with dread. Opening his eyes again, now sharp as blades, he glared at Uchiha Ci.

Through clenched teeth, trembling with anger, he growled:

"Why?!"

"You brat, why go to such lengths?!"

"Don't you realize I'll kill you?!"

"What are you thinking?!"

"You're a Uchiha! Why sacrifice yourself for Konoha?!"

"You're insane!"

"You're nothing but a madman!"

Hearing Ebizō's desperate roar, Uchiha Ci raised his head with a ferocious grin and bellowed:

"I've understood it long ago! I've understood it all!"

"Only by offering oneself to the flames of war, only by dedicating oneself to the inferno—"

"Can one tread this despairing path!"

"So I've said it already!"

"Kill me!"

"Or prepare to die by my hand!"

The natural energy within the Curse Seal of Heaven surged uncontrollably, spreading violently through his body. Dark patterns crawled across his skin, covering him entirely.

As the first stage of the Curse Seal fully activated, Uchiha Ci tilted his head back, looking down on Ebizō with disdain.

"Come on!"

"Make your choice!"

"Kill me here, gamble for a chance to escape with your life!"

"Or cower in your turtle shell, waiting for death to claim you!"

In the deathly silence of the desert, where even a pin drop could be heard, Uchiha Ci pressed his hand against his forehead, his face twisting into a mocking grin. Peering through his fingers at Ebizō's pale face, he let out the maniacal laughter of a true Uchiha.

"Heh heh heh... Hahahahahaha!"

"It's fine."

"It's fine!"

"You have plenty of time to think!"

"No matter your choice—"

"I'll see it through to the end!"