Chapter 362: Ha! Ultra Bomb!
At this moment—
Below the Tenshukaku, in front of the shattered city wall, upon hearing the horrified cry, Uchiha Ci furrowed his brow slightly. Then, as if sensing something, he tilted his head up just a little.
In his eyes, the three jet-black tomoe spun lightly—
"They're here!"
At the distant edge of the sky, a figure suddenly leapt down from the top of the six-hundred-meter-high Tenshukaku several kilometers away!
And then—
The figure, cloaked in dazzling lightning, made a mighty leap, surging forward over a thousand meters.
In midair, it accelerated—again and again!
Their body transformed into a streak of wild thunder, crashing down like a meteor!
"No way—how could anyone jump thousands of meters!? Even from six hundred meters up—"
"That falling arc… that guy isn't falling—he's flying!"
Watching the oncoming bolt of thunder, Terumi Mei instinctively widened her eyes. A chill ran down her spine as a heavy, inexplicable pressure bore down on her.
And in that instant, she recognized the powerful opponent within the thunder—
It was none other than the final boss of the Hidden Cloud Village: the Third Raikage, A!
Beside her, Hōzuki Mangetsu, his Byakugan wide open, looked like he'd just seen a ghost. He whipped his head around and urgently warned Uchiha Ci:
"Uchiha Ci, that guy has—"
But before he could finish—
A piercing crackle of electric current suddenly erupted in everyone's ears, so intense it drowned out all other sound.
This was the sound of electricity violently disturbing the air when it reaches a certain intensity—a relentless zzzzzzzzz.
Then—in that instant, as the crackling current filled their ears and muffled all else—
The thunderous light struck the ground!
With a force powerful enough to flip the entire earth, it slammed down, blasting the terrain and upheaving massive slabs of stone!
From the point where the lightning struck near Uchiha Ci, a violent gust exploded outward!
In an instant—a dust storm nearly a hundred meters high burst into the air, rapidly forming a ring of dust that expanded in all directions!
As the dust ring surged toward him, Uchiha Ci's Sharingan scanned side to side, searching through the sandstorm for any sign of the Third Raikage A.
And yet—
In the next instant, his brow furrowed slightly, eyes locking onto the swirling dust approaching him.
Because—
It wasn't just dust—it was laced with some kind of powder!
Through the vision of his Sharingan, this powder appeared dull yellow, like fine, floating fibers—almost like the shimmering scales shed from a butterfly's wings. And within each of these scales, there was a distinct chakra signature.
This chakra distorted vision so effectively that even the three-tomoe Sharingan was disrupted.
Worse yet—it seemed to be toxic!
"What the hell is this stuff?"
Having inhaled just a bit, Uchiha Ci felt a faint numbness spread across his chest and instantly scowled.
Without hesitation, he summoned Susanoo around himself.
No matter what this was, shielding himself and dispersing it with Susanoo's power could only be the right choice.
However—
Right then—
A long-lost sense of mortal danger exploded in his mind!
In the next instant—
—Crack!
Something invisible smashed through the outer defenses of his Susanoo—
And then—
A brilliant but silent flash of lightning burst before his eyes!
"!!" Uchiha Ci's pupils shrank, the three tomoe spinning wildly—
And in that millisecond of frozen time, he recognized what had appeared before him:
a finger.
A single finger wreathed in thunder—Hell Stab: One-Fingered Assault!
Unlike his past encounters with the Third Raikage's roaring lightning jutsu, this time, the Hell Stab was eerily silent—like the Flying Thunder God Technique, it appeared from nowhere!
But even though he could see it, even though he recognized it—his body couldn't react in time!
For some reason, the speed of A's Hell Stab had increased even further—surpassing the threshold of what Uchiha Ci's body could respond to at that moment!
Only by entering Sage Mode could he hope to keep up with this level of speed!
But—
Uchiha Ci did not activate Sage Mode.
If the Third Raikage's goal from the start was to force him to reveal his final trump card, then this moment was the last time he could afford to give in!
From his opponent's perspective—
If this strike didn't force out a trump card, then it would at least shatter Uchiha Ci's critical weak point, forcing him to lose one of his aces in the rest of the battle.
So what was Uchiha Ci's most obvious weakness?
Without question—
His heart!
To date, every opponent who knew anything about him had always aimed first to destroy that troublesome heart in his chest—the source of his terrifying Fire Release!
His mind raced. In the span of milliseconds, battle instinct completed its full tactical response.
Uchiha Ci bared his teeth in a crazed grin and snapped his head up, a wild gleam flashing in his eyes.
In the next instant—
The thunder closed in!
First Layer: Third-Stage Susanoo—Shattered!
Second Layer: Lightning Release Chakra Mode—Shattered!
Third Layer: Partial Tailed Beast Cloak from Eight-Tails Chakra—Shattered!
Fourth Layer: Earth Release: Earth Spear Skin—Shattered!
Fifth Layer: Sage Mode Level 2 Curse Mark Impact Membrane—Shattered!
One after another, his five layers of defense were obliterated by the Hell Stab: One-Fingered Assault—amplified by thousands of meters of momentum, freefall velocity, and raw physical force—until that single finger tore through all of Uchiha Ci's protections.
It split the flesh on his chest, cracked open his ribs—and stabbed straight into his heart!
Next instant—
DONG!
A metallic clang, like steel striking steel, rang out!
That deadly blow, guaranteed to pierce, was stopped—by Uchiha Ci's still-beating, living heart!
It couldn't penetrate even a fraction deeper!
"So hard!?"
"What the hell is this!?"
With his hand buried in Uchiha Ci's chest, the Third Raikage stared at him in stunned disbelief, eyes bulging in shock, completely unable to comprehend what had just happened.
But—
Uchiha Ci twisted his head sharply, flashing a savage grin at him.
From the wound on his chest, black tendrils burst forth, coiling tightly around the arm that A had stabbed into him!
Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear!
Immediately—
A blinding light flared from within his chest!
Brighter, and brighter, and brighter!
"Damn it, what the hell is this now!?"
Seeing this, a terrible sense of foreboding exploded in the Third Raikage's heart—the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up.
His instincts screamed that Uchiha Ci was about to unleash an extremely dangerous technique.
Right then—
The five chakra natures gathered within Uchiha Ci's heart—and from this unique heart, a wave of light surged forth, powerful enough to change the color of the earth itself!
Earth Grudge Fear: Five-Release Final Barrage!
Behind Uchiha Ci, the shattered remnants of his Susanoo burst up from the ground once more—
A massive hand stirred the winds, tore open the ground, and seized the Third Raikage—lightning-cloaked and all!
In its other hand, it summoned a colossal, wild thunderblade out of thin air—
Like wielding a massive chisel, it drove it down with crushing force toward the Raikage's skull!
In that moment—
Uchiha Ci bet everything on his heart—won the gamble, and followed up with two deadly finishing moves in quick succession!
To prevent any chance of escape—
He lunged forward, wrapped his arms tightly around the Third Raikage's thick waist with a classic Uchiha suplex grip, and locked him in place!
"Damn it! I'm blowing us both to hell!"
"Ha! Ultra Bomb!"
And in the next instant—
The compressed force of all five chakra natures erupted in a blinding white flash!
A massive beam of light shot straight up from the battlefield, shattering the clouds and tearing across the sky!