Chapter 320: The Heart — The Strongest Muscle!
At this moment—
Uchiha Ci, who was currently researching (wildly experimenting) on his own body, naturally had no idea that not far away, the Third Mizukage had already fully armed himself and was preparing to launch an attack against him.
Right now, Ci was at a crucial turning point.
After using the Five-Finger Fire to strike his heart and activate the Uchiha Flame Formation—
He suddenly realized—
He had screwed up.
After entering the Fire Release Chakra Mode and activating the Two-Tails' chakra,
Combining it with natural energy and the Eight-Tails' chakra to create Sage Chakra, a Uchiha Flame Formation had formed around his heart — one that even a tailed beast-level attack couldn't break through.
This barrier etched into his own body was absurdly sturdy.
How sturdy?
Even an attack like Hell Stab: One-Finger Thrust wouldn't be able to penetrate it — its defensive power was practically on par with Might Guy's ultimate Lightning Release Armor running at full output!
From now on, Uchiha Ci never had to worry about someone trying to rip out his heart again.
Because right now, his heart was as hard as diamond! (In the most literal, physical sense.)
But the problem also surfaced at this point.
Ci had only focused on enhancing his defense, wanting to suppress the rampaging natural energy that might spiral out of control when gathered in large amounts.
However, he had overlooked one thing — the Uchiha Flame Formation cast with Sage Arts was fundamentally composed of natural energy and chakra. Trying to restrict natural energy with natural energy of the same density was a bit of a fantasy.
As a result, while the Uchiha Flame Formation had established a self-circulating system based on the Fire Release Chakra Mode — equivalent to putting a suit of armor around his heart that could even expand outward to cover the entire body — it didn't achieve the intended effect of sealing off large amounts of natural energy.
"The problem lies in energy compatibility!"
Scratching his head, Ci's expression grew serious as he activated his Sharingan, staring at his chest.
Through the vision of the Sharingan, he could closely observe the flow of chakra within the Uchiha Flame Formation.
Right now—
Natural energy absorbed by his eyes was freely moving in and out of his heart, completely unimpeded.
"Looks like I've hit a dead end…"
"I was blinded by the defensive power of the seal strengthened with Sage Arts. I shouldn't be using Sage Arts to restrict natural energy — I should be using Tailed Beast-type chakra to construct the seal directly!"
"But… there's still a way!"
Without hesitation, Ci once again formed hand seals.
Since Sage Arts couldn't restrict natural energy, he would construct another layer — or even multiple layers — of sealing techniques driven by Tailed Beast-type chakra within the Uchiha Flame Formation.
And conveniently, he just so happened to know a rather difficult and high-level sealing technique—
Super Death Match Barrier (S-rank, Mastered).
This sealing jutsu originated from the Uzumaki Clan's Regenerative Barrier, possessing the effect of continuous regeneration. While its defensive power wasn't particularly strong, its properties, coupled with Ci's master-level proficiency granted by his universal combat talent, made it extremely suitable for this situation.
By combining the two, this 'Sage Heart' — possessing both extraordinary defensive power and sealing abilities — would be completed!
However, just at that moment—
Immersed in his research and oblivious to his surroundings, Ci's vision suddenly went dark.
Under the moonlight, a massive shadow loomed overhead!
A colossal ship — so large its tail end was out of sight — suddenly rode atop a wave over eight meters high.
Then—
From that giant ship, one figure after another — agile and skilled — leaped down!
Leading the charge was a burly figure with spiky orange hair like a hedgehog, wielding an exaggeratedly large sword the size of a door. With a swing of his muscular arm, the sword spun and slashed diagonally toward Ci's shoulder!
This man was none other than Fuguki Suikazan.
Right now, his expression was tense as he locked his gaze onto Ci's shoulder and waistline.
In his heart, he was calculating madly—
"If I want to survive against this damn near unkillable brat, the key is absolutely not letting him cast that terrifying Fire Release!"
"So I must land a decisive blow and smash his heart to pieces!"
"According to the latest intel, this brat also has some Earth Release technique that can harden his body."
"This strike definitely won't work — but that's fine. I've already instructed Kisame to ambush him from behind and stab through his heart. As long as my Samehada cuts him and absorbs his body-hardening jutsu—"
"Then if the second strike succeeds, I might actually survive this encounter!"
Indeed, what Fuguki Suikazan was hoping for… was merely survival.
Even with two Jinchūriki working together, they had been defeated by Uchiha Ci. He never once thought he could win against this monster of a child — not even with Samehada, his bizarre chakra-absorbing blade.
What's more, at this point in time, he had already betrayed the Third Mizukage and pledged loyalty to the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura. Naturally, he wasn't about to throw his life away for the Third Mizukage now.
So the question he had to carefully consider was — how to survive the suicide-style opening attack he just launched, fake a serious injury, and leave this terrifying little monster for the Third Mizukage to handle.
However, contrary to Fuguki Suikazan's calculations—
At this moment—
Seeing a massive blade the size of a door panel hurtling straight toward his forehead,
Uchiha Ci's heart instinctively tightened with panic.
All of his chakra was already tied up in constructing the sealing array; the Eight-Tails chakra core that generated chakra was also busy forming a regeneration barrier and couldn't supply chakra to his body for the moment.
The natural energy he had absorbed was locked within his heart by the sealing array and couldn't reinforce his body either.
Without chakra or natural energy to boost him, and with this body of his — which had only just begun physical training — there was no way he could dodge this strike in time!
He could only take it head-on!
However, while his body couldn't react, thanks to his increasingly outrageous Sharingan insight, Fuguki Suikazan's movements appeared to him as if they were crawling forward frame by frame.
That meant — the way he chose to take the hit mattered a lot.
Relying on the intuition granted by combat instinct, making small adjustments within a narrow range to avoid fatal damage had always been Uchiha Ci's basic practice.
In past battles, he had always fought with the core principle of protecting his heart — the most vital part of his system.
But today, Uchiha Ci was shocked to discover—
Faced with this blade swinging straight for his heart, his body's crisis response gave no reaction at all!
It was as if—
Just standing still like this was the best response?
All these thoughts flashed through his mind in the blink of an eye.
At this moment—
Fuguki Suikazan wore a grave expression, gripping Samehada's hilt tightly as the enormous blade howled down with a sonic boom-inducing force!
Shu!
The blade slashed diagonally toward Uchiha Ci's left shoulder!
Pshhk!
Blood and flesh burst out in an instant — even his bones were crushed under the sheer brutal force!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Without any pause at all, the blade sliced through his shoulder, crushed bone after bone, and slashed heavily toward Uchiha Ci's heart!
Seeing this scene, Fuguki Suikazan's breath caught.
Hell—
Why wasn't this kid dodging at all?
Am I really going to land this hit? Am I really going to land this hit!?
Damn it — could this be a genjutsu!?
Landing a hit on an overwhelmingly powerful enemy should have been thrilling — yet Fuguki Suikazan felt none of that. Instead, he was dazed, torn between hope and fear.
Just like that?
Just like that, I can slice through his heart and cripple his Fire Release?
But then, in the very next moment—
CLANG!!!
As if he had struck solid diamond, the terrifying rebound force slammed back into Fuguki Suikazan, making the layers of fat on his face twitch uncontrollably!
He stood frozen on the spot like Tom from Tom & Jerry after banging into a bell — his whole body rattled from head to toe!
The recoil from striking Uchiha Ci's heart and the terrifying heat that instantly spread upon contact left Fuguki Suikazan horrified. Instinctively, he kicked away from Uchiha Ci, letting go of Samehada — which by now had been scorched entirely red-hot — sending it clattering to the ground.
He stared at Uchiha Ci in utter shock.
"Wh-what the hell!?"
"Why… why can't I cut through him!?"
Uchiha Ci blinked slowly, pondering the fat bastard's question seriously.
Then, with a grave expression, he replied—
"Idiot."
"Isn't this just common sense?"
"The heart — is the strongest muscle, after all."
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