Chapter 326 – This Kid's Vibe Is Totally Off!
The ice sphere was steadily sinking into the ocean.
As time ticked by—
It sank to 200 meters, 300 meters, 500 meters, 1000 meters!
Having descended far beyond the surface, looking up only revealed a faint, almost imperceptible glimmer of light. Darkness and silence enveloped everything. The ice sphere, its density altered by ninjutsu, kept plunging ever deeper toward the seabed!
"Strange…"
Kisame Hoshigaki furrowed his brow tightly, staring at Uchiha Ci in puzzlement.
From what he could sense, the faint remaining chakra in Uchiha Ci's body was constantly being absorbed into the surrounding water, slowly dispersing and gathering toward Kisame.
But there just… wasn't much chakra at all.
Based on his rough estimation, that amount of chakra wouldn't even be enough to perform a single Water Release: Super Exploding Water Shockwave.
"A guy with such a fearsome reputation, able to take down so many powerful opponents… why does he only have this pitiful level of chakra?"
"Also—"
His gaze shifted to the thousand-plus sharks circling Uchiha Ci without daring to approach. The beady little eyes of the sharks were filled with confusion.
Why weren't the Thousand Frenzy Sharks he summoned from the deep sea attacking Uchiha Ci?
It felt like… the sharks he summoned were instinctively afraid of this kid—like he was an existence that utterly crushed them on a fundamental level of life itself, so much so that they didn't even dare get close.
"And on top of that, we've gone past a thousand meters deep… and this brat still looks totally unfazed!?"
Watching Uchiha Ci puff out bubbles, suddenly gulp down a mouthful of seawater and nearly choke to death, and then pound his chest while violently coughing—
Looking every bit like someone on a deep-sea vacation—
Kisame couldn't accept what he was seeing.
What the hell is with this kid's vibe!?
At a thousand meters deep, the pressure per square meter was about ten million newtons—roughly equivalent to one million kilograms (a thousand tons) bearing down on a single square meter.
Even Kisame, with his fusion state with Samehada and his unique bloodline adapting him to the deep sea, felt like he had dozens of elephants crushing him. Every movement was incredibly difficult.
"I can't wait any longer. If I keep descending, even I won't be able to endure!"
That thought flashing through his mind, Kisame's eyes gleamed with killing intent.
"Then… now's the time!"
But just as he murmured those words to himself—
Suddenly, he felt something tap him on the shoulder. Frowning, he assumed one of the sharks had bumped into him.
But what followed chilled him to the bone.
"So… what are you planning to do?"
Kisame froze. Then he slowly turned his head with a stiff neck—
And there he was: Uchiha Ci, who'd just been flailing helplessly in the water prison blowing bubbles, was now… somehow mysteriously standing right behind him!
"You—"
The moment he saw that face, Kisame was instantly engulfed in a suffocating wave of dread and terror. He was completely trapped in its grip.
This time, it was different.
The area around Uchiha Ci's heart was growing brighter and brighter—
Until—
A hand grabbed the dorsal fin atop Kisame's head. Overwhelming strength forcefully yanked his head upward,
Leaving him helplessly staring into a pair of crimson Sharingan.
Uchiha Ci locked eyes with Kisame—who now looked like a pitiful 400-pound child—and grinned with a sinister sneer.
"Big fan of diving, huh? You trash."
As the three black tomoe in his eyes began to spin, an intense blinding light instantly swallowed up Kisame's entire field of vision.
In Uchiha Ci's eyes, a sliver of madness flickered—the horizontal slit in his pupil, originally a trait of the Blood Dragon Eye, was now completely devoured by the surge of absurd and terrifying natural energy, leaving only a vertical slit reminiscent of a dragon's eye, with three pitch-black tomoe orbiting around it!
"Then I'll make sure you dive to your heart's content!"
As the words fell—
Uchiha Ci clamped his palm onto Kisame's head.
His five fingers, like iron tongs, squeezed so hard Kisame felt like his skull was about to explode.
"Wait—wait—!"
Kisame looked up in panic, his eyes wide with horror, sweat breaking out across his scalp, his heart pounding uncontrollably under the weight of Uchiha Ci's eerie tone.
"What are you doing!? What are you doing!?"
"Stop! No—don't squeeze anymore! Ghhrrk—AAARGHHH!!"
"I already told you." Uchiha Ci let out a cold, violent laugh.
"You trash…"
"I said I'll make sure you dive to your heart's content!!!"
In the instant his words ended—
Uchiha Ci bent his knees, dropped into a power stance, and slammed his foot down.
The force of the stomp compressed the water beneath him into a low, echoing boom, forming an eight-meter-long vacuum bubble.
Using that explosive force—
Still gripping Kisame's head, he yanked back his arm like winding up to throw a football—
"—BOOM!!!"
That single prep movement alone nearly twisted Kisame's neck off, wrenching out a blood-curdling scream. His shark-like eyes turned bloodshot, filled with sheer panic.
"Stop! Stop!!"
"What are you doing!? No—don't!!"
But Uchiha Ci paid him no mind.
In the next moment—
He flipped mid-air and launched Kisame's body downward with full force.
The resulting force was so intense, the surrounding seawater instantly boiled, unleashing a shrill, violent screech!
A dense stream of bubbles surged up from the ocean floor!
And Kisame—now just a projectile—
Was like a rocket-propelled javelin, instantly plunging four thousand meters straight down into the pitch-black depths!
"—BOOM!!!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the sea floor, like a mini nuke detonating under the ocean bed!
The ocean surged and roiled in reverse!
Straight into the lightless abyss—
A pure white vacuum trail cut through the water!
Blood burst forth, dyeing the sea red and white.
Four thousand meters below sea level, a certain scientist once joked that the pressure was equivalent to a thousand African elephants stomping on your back all at once.
Even if Kisame wasn't dead before…
He sure as hell was now.
And as for why Uchiha Ci was so sure that bastard was definitely dead—
"Uh-oh."
"I guess I didn't control my strength properly… Looks like I left half his head behind."
Frowning, Uchiha Ci glanced at what was still in his hand—a squashed, ruined lump of brain and skull.
"Still… I did get a little bonus out of it."
He shook the bloody mess off his fingers, then reached into the gory remains and pulled out a massive sword, trembling faintly in his grip, trying its best to play dead.
"Huh? Samehada, huh? Not bad craftsmanship."
"It's mine now."
Meanwhile, on the ocean surface—
"What the hell is taking Kisame so long!?"
Bailan stomped his foot nervously atop the water, brows furrowed deep.
"A thousand-meter deep-sea pressure, Ice Release freezing the blood, suffocation from the underwater environment, and chakra being drained on top of that—with all that, he still hasn't taken out that brat?!"
"Damn it!"
"Damn it!!"
"DAMN IT ALL!!!"
"What a pain in the ass!"
"Why am I this unlucky?! Why did I have to run into him here?!"
"Why?! Why?! WHY!?"
"If I delay Madara's schedule, he'll kill me!!"
Bailan clenched his teeth, spiraling into an almost manic frenzy of rage, his face twisted in frustration.
Just then—
A white, swirling head poked out from his shoulder.
"Hehehe~"
"Third, are you talking about that little brat Uchiha Ci?"
"Ehehe, he's not the kind of guy who dies that easily!"
"You're going to need my help eventually. So how about it? Want to tell me what poop tastes like while you still can?"
"NEVER!!"
Bailan whipped around with a snarl, eyes blazing with fury as he glared at Tobi.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
"No one could survive in an environment like that!"
"Not even—"
"Not even Uchiha Madara!!"
But the moment those words left his lips—
Suddenly, a stream of bubbles surged violently up from beneath the sea,
Rippling the water's surface and erupting with thunderous blasts like cannon fire!
Bailan's expression shifted dramatically. He instinctively looked down toward the depths—
And saw it—
In that deep, boundless abyss below—
Suddenly—
A blazing sun lit up the sea floor!