Chapter 141: The Discount-Brand Armored Susanoo
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Asuka sat cross-legged on the ground, staring at Ichikishimahime in confusion.
Her killing intent had indeed disappeared, but things had developed somewhat differently from what he had imagined.
Seeing Ichikishimahime's pupils transform into the same Mangekyō Sharingan as his own, Asuka sniffed and waved a hand experimentally in front of her face.
"Ichikishimahime?"
After waiting a moment and receiving no response, Asuka turned toward Uchiha Madara, who was reminiscing about the past.
"Old man, what happened?"
Madara didn't answer him directly. Instead, he began recalling something that had happened long ago.
"One year, I encountered the Nine-Tails in the wild. A thought suddenly occurred to me: What if I put Susanoo on top of it?"
"After I captured it, that beast bared its fangs at me. So I pinned it down and beat it up a few times."
Hearing this, Ryōichi remembered his own experience riding the Nine-Tails back to Konoha.
He turned around curiously.
"It surrendered after you beat it a few times?"
Madara shook his head casually.
"I only defeated it several times. In the end, I still had to use the Mangekyō Sharingan to control it."
"Damn…"
Hearing Madara describe something so outrageous in such a casual tone, Ryōichi couldn't help sucking in a breath.
Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he asked again.
"Cousin, when exactly did you subdue the Nine-Tails? Why have I never heard about this?"
Madara glanced at Ryōichi before leaning back in his chair and calmly gazing at the Hokage Rock.
"The day before Hashirama subdued the Nine-Tails."
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Ryōichi raised a finger and began counting.
"So yesterday, Cousin subdued the Nine-Tails and rode it back to Konoha. The next day, word spread throughout the village that the First Hokage had captured the Nine-Tails. Then, on the third day, news came out that the Nine-Tails had been imprisoned."
After finishing his calculations, he looked around with sympathy.
He had no idea whose stomach the Nine-Tails was currently sealed inside, but that didn't stop him from feeling sorry for it.
Three beatings in three days, followed by several decades in prison.
At that moment, Asuka looked at Ichikishimahime with a complicated expression.
From Madara's explanation, he seemed to understand what had happened.
In simple terms, he could summon her at any point in the future and place Susanoo over this snake, allowing her to fight alongside him while taking the hits together.
Asuka imagined himself riding on the snake's head while blue armor covered her entire body.
He clicked his tongue.
Compared to the armored Nine-Tails, the sheer intimidation factor had dropped considerably.
Is this the castrated version of Armored Susanoo?
After a moment of silence, he clasped his hands and said quietly,
"Release."
The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes slowly faded.
Asuka waved a hand in front of Ichikishimahime's face.
"Stop pretending. I know you can move again."
Hearing this, the light gradually returned to Ichikishimahime's eyes.
She noticed that the seal binding her body had disappeared.
She licked the corner of her mouth and began looking around, scanning Asuka sitting on the ground and the two old men lounging in their chairs.
Asuka has the Mangekyō Sharingan. I can't provoke him.
But she was still extremely angry.
The two old men looked much easier to bully. Both seemed weak and decrepit, and one of them had even taught the other how to forcibly suppress her.
Damn it!
She first looked at the old man eating three-colored dango and narrowed her eyes slightly.
The next moment—
A powerful gaze swept over her entire body.
Ichikishimahime froze.
Her eyes quickly shifted toward the other old man.
That old bastard's Sharingan must have been awakened for many years. Even his three-tomoe ocular power is this terrifying…
Hmm?
Sensing someone staring at him maliciously, Madara opened his eyes and turned his head.
When he saw the little snake with dark-blue hair glaring at him, he gave her a contemptuous glance.
Then his eyes revealed a pair of tomoe.
"Two tomoe?"
Before Ichikishimahime could even generate another hostile thought, terrifying killing intent and even more powerful ocular pressure crashed down upon her.
Her blood seemed to freeze inside her veins.
Ichikishimahime stumbled backward several steps and collapsed onto the ground.
The violent pain in her head and the overwhelming shock left her speechless. More importantly, they completely washed away the killing intent in her heart.
The Uchiha clan…
Are fewer tomoe actually more terrifying?
Seeing the little girl looking as though she was about to cry, Asuka took a piece of candy from his pocket.
He unwrapped it and placed it in her mouth.
"Those two old men were only joking with you."
Ichikishimahime looked up at him.
Seeing the brotherly smile on his face, her nose tingled slightly.
Her gaze fell upon his pale neck.
Then her cheeks transformed into a snake's features, four sharp fangs flashing coldly.
She opened her mouth wide and lunged straight for Asuka's neck.
Whoosh!
The moment Ichikishimahime charged at him, Asuka's black eyes instantly turned blood-red.
A tremendous ocular force descended upon her once again.
The next second, her movements suddenly slowed.
She looked up at the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes.
Her nose began tingling again.
She collapsed onto the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kicked wildly at the grass and began sobbing.
"What are you doing? I only came to Konoha to deliver a message from the Sage."
"The Sage said that you have some kind of connection with Ryūchi Cave. I came here specifically to convey that information."
"What are you doing? How did things turn out like this?"
"Just let me bite you once. I feel like I've suffered a tremendous injustice."
"Why did it turn into—oh."
She sniffled.
Then she saw Asuka suddenly stick a finger into her mouth.
He immediately recoiled in disgust, raising his neck as he went down on all fours and began dry-heaving.
"Ugh…"
Asuka looked at Ichikishimahime, whose entire face seemed to be screaming I've been wronged.
He placed both hands behind his head and sighed.
"Honestly, I didn't expect things to turn out like this either."
"Ugh…"
Ichikishimahime dry-heaved again.
Then she turned toward Asuka.
Her eyes contained three parts disgust, three parts grievance, three parts confusion, and one part despair.
She had merely left home to handle a mission.
And somehow, she had ended up becoming someone else's summoning beast.
The thought of someone standing on top of her head in the future flashed through her mind.
The three parts of confusion in her eyes instantly became complete despair.
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
Seeing the little snake's eyes become completely hollow, Ryōichi raised an eyebrow and looked toward Asuka.
"Sage?"
"Ryūchi Cave?"
After catching a few key words, Uchiha Ryōichi remembered the legendary Ryūchi Cave that existed somewhere between reality and illusion.
A look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
Ryūchi Cave—the legendary dwelling place of the White Snake Sage, said to be a secret realm of brutal training.
Those who entered merely out of curiosity would become targets of the White Snake Sage and would never be able to leave.
Could Asuka really have taken control of someone from Ryūchi Cave?
Thinking about his own blue Susanoo, Uchiha Ryōichi looked at Asuka with admiration.
He's even more capable than Grandpa.
Grandpa raised a whole bunch of cats.
The student really has surpassed the teacher.