Uchiha Chapter 71: Wind-Fire Wheels
Rumble—!
A gigantic rocky hand burst from the ground and reached toward Gōenji, intending to seize him and crush him.
Akatsuchi's Earth Release was astonishingly fast. The attack reached him before Gōenji could finish absorbing the Dust Release.
Whoosh—!
Hmph. An attack like this is useless against me.
Gōenji used the Body Flicker Technique.
Flames instantly ignited beneath his feet, and his figure vanished from his original position.
Boom!
The attack missed, leaving a crater in the ground.
The enormous rocky hand kept pursuing Gōenji, moving like a monster under its master's control.
It was as though some terrifying creature were growing beneath the earth.
With the Body Flicker Technique enhanced by the Sharingan's dynamic vision, an attack like this had little chance of hitting Gōenji.
Unfortunately, the other shinobi weren't nearly as lucky.
Several nearby Konoha shinobi were quickly crushed beneath the attacks.
Gōenji couldn't save them in time.
Bodies and blood soon covered the battlefield.
"Everyone, get out of here! I'll handle them!"
Gōenji roared.
The flames beneath his feet suddenly transformed into a pair of wheels.
His body slowly rose into the sky.
The flames surrounding his body merged with the blazing gemstone on his forehead, making him look like a Fire God descending upon the battlefield.
"Wait... what?"
"Damn, Gōenji can actually fly! That greatly reduces his disadvantage against the Tsuchikage!"
"What kind of Fire Release is that? It's incredible! He can fly!"
"My God... He's really Uchiha Gōenji. He actually developed a ninjutsu like this!"
Everyone familiar with Konoha's Fire Release knew that the village possessed no technique capable of flight.
There was no such ninjutsu in Konoha.
Even the Second Hokage had never developed one.
For the Uchiha Clan, the possibility was even lower.
If the Uchiha possessed a technique like this, they would have already displayed it to devastating effect on the battlefield.
Especially considering the Uchiha's personality.
Ōnoki witnessed the scene, and his brows furrowed even more deeply.
The hand seals he had been forming came to a halt.
He watched helplessly as Gōenji flew directly toward him.
Akatsuchi spoke.
"Old man, it looks like our opponent this time is no ordinary shinobi. He's going to be troublesome."
"I know."
Ōnoki's expression was solemn.
"The Uchiha Clan has always been troublesome."
His thoughts drifted back to his childhood.
The first member of the Uchiha Clan he had ever encountered had been Uchiha Madara.
Back then, he had personally witnessed the terrifying power of the Uchiha.
Even now, that memory still carried a trace of fear.
And now he was looking at another Uchiha who might one day stand alongside Madara.
The calmness on Ōnoki's face disappeared.
In its place was caution.
This man must die here.
Akatsuchi frowned.
"But with the two of us working together, killing him shouldn't be difficult."
We still need to be careful.
Ōnoki analyzed the situation.
This guy can absorb ninjutsu. He may even be capable of replenishing his own Chakra. A battle of attrition would be unfavorable for us.
Akatsuchi continued thinking.
According to the intelligence we've gathered on Uchiha Gōenji, his greatest strength is Fire Release. At the same time, he possesses powerful Taijutsu, Body Flicker skills, and various other ninjutsu. He's an extremely well-rounded shinobi.
Even his trap-setting techniques are unusual.
We'll have to rely on overwhelming force.
Ōnoki's eyes became cold.
"Today, he will die beneath my Dust Release."
He had no intention of allowing such a potential future enemy to escape.
Gōenji's potential was simply too great.
While the two were speaking, Gōenji flew directly in front of Ōnoki.
Looking at the two of them, Gōenji smiled.
"Haha. So I'm not the only one who can fly."
His flaming wheels continued supplying the force necessary to keep him airborne.
"Let me show you what I'm capable of."
"Ōnoki, I've heard of you for a long time."
"Today, we finally get to fight."
Gōenji was incredibly excited.
Preparing for the possibility of fighting Ōnoki had absolutely been worth it.
Just imagining the advantage of controlling the sky was enough to excite him.
Several days ago, after finally completing Fire Release: Chakra Mode, he had at last been able to put into practice the various techniques he had been conceptualizing over the previous five months.
Fire Release: Chakra Mode had been the foundation of all those ideas.
In just a few days, relying on his innate talent for Fire Release, he had developed several techniques he had previously only been able to imagine.
As his control over Fire Release continued to improve, he had finally developed techniques that had once been beyond his capabilities.
He had named this flying technique the Wind-Fire Wheels.
The inspiration had come from Nezha of Chinese mythology.
Gōenji had always believed that in a world as extraordinary as this one, a person simply couldn't afford not to know how to fly.
So, during those five months, he had developed an entire theory of flight based on Fire Release.
The Wind-Fire Wheels were the final product of that research.
After several days of testing, he had confirmed that the technique could be used in actual combat.
He hadn't expected to encounter that old man, Ōnoki, so soon.
Fortunately, he had prepared for the possibility in advance.
Otherwise, fighting Ōnoki would have placed him at an enormous disadvantage.
Just thinking about the power of aerial suppression was enough to make him shiver with excitement.
It was just like in the anime.
The battle between Deidara and Sasuke had practically been an insult to the intelligence of shinobi.
The fact that Deidara had ultimately been killed by Sasuke's counterattack was absurd in itself.
Ōnoki snorted coldly.
"Hmph. Even your ancestor, Uchiha Madara, couldn't kill me back then."
"Do you really think your abilities have already surpassed those of your ancestor?"
A powerful aura suddenly erupted from him.
The pressure alone frightened the surrounding shinobi into retreating.
Everyone immediately fled the battlefield.
Both Ōnoki and Gōenji were famous shinobi.
A battle between the two of them was bound to be extraordinary.
Anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire would be in serious trouble.
Gōenji shook his head.
He raised his long blade and pointed it toward Ōnoki.
His expression was arrogant.
"Uchiha Madara was nothing more than a traitor to Konoha."
"If he dared to appear in front of me, I'd make him understand one thing."
"The waves of the Yangtze River drive the waves before them, and each generation surpasses the last."
In any case, Uchiha Madara couldn't appear before him right now.
And considering the naturally arrogant personality of the Uchiha, using that arrogance to lull Ōnoki into complacency was quite effective.
Besides, Gōenji wasn't entirely wrong.
Uchiha Madara was nothing more than a coward who had chosen to live out his days in hiding.
Compared with Gōenji, Madara wasn't even worth a single nose hair.
That was how confident Gōenji was.
Of course, he also acknowledged Madara's contributions to the Uchiha Clan.
After all, Madara had left behind countless ninjutsu.
When Gōenji had previously examined the Uchiha Clan's archives, he had seen many records of ninjutsu written by Uchiha Madara.
There were all kinds of notes explaining how members of the Uchiha could improve and grow.
They were the accumulated understanding of ninjutsu from an extraordinarily powerful shinobi.
Gōenji respected that greatly.
The world only knew that Senju Tobirama had devoted himself to researching and developing ninjutsu, eventually becoming one of the most powerful shinobi in the world.
Only Gōenji understood that Konoha's two founders, Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara, were not inferior to Tobirama in their understanding of ninjutsu.
Both of them had also developed their own techniques.
Take Hashirama's Wood Release, for example.
Wood Release itself wasn't simply created by his Kekkei Genkai.
The Kekkei Genkai merely provided him with the Chakra necessary to use Wood Release.
Hashirama himself was the one who ultimately developed and perfected Wood Release.
It was just like Gōenji's Fire Release.
He had possessed an innate talent for Fire Release from birth.
But techniques such as the Wind-Fire Wheels and One-Sword Cremation had been developed entirely by him.
The same was true of Uchiha Madara.
But Gōenji wasn't actually trying to defeat Ōnoki through this exchange.
He was using Madara's name to lull Ōnoki into a false sense of security.
Arrogance could impair a person's judgment and ability to act.
It was a simple principle: arrogance clouded judgment and dulled a person's ability to act rationally.