The path of escape was blocked, and his chimera beast was entangled by that terrifying giant turtle. In an instant, Hiruko's fear transformed into a frenzied killing intent!
"You're dead!" Hiruko shrieked, his hands forming hand seals at lightning speed as he madly channeled Chakra throughout his body.
Veins bulged across his pale face, and a dangerous glint flashed deep within his pupils.
A dark cloud rose from beneath Hiruko's feet, instantly enveloping half of his body. At the same time, blinding blue-white lightning flickered within the black mist!
A sharp crackling sound erupted as five concentrated bolts of lightning shot out from the dark cloud, carrying devastating piercing force… each aimed at vital points on Menma's forehead, throat, heart, and other lethal spots!
"Storm Release: Thunder Cloud Inner Wave!"
Hiruko poured all his strength into this offensive-defensive Storm Release Ninjutsu, intending to kill his enemy in a single strike!
Facing this deadly assault, Menma's right eye, hidden beneath his mask, suddenly gleamed with a scarlet light!
Three black tomoes spun rapidly within the blood-red pupil!
Sharingan: Insight!
Under the extreme dynamic vision of the Sharingan, every minute detail, Hiruko's hand movements, the flow of his Chakra, the angle and speed of the five lightning bolts, was reflected in Menma's mind as if playing in slow motion.
Menma moved.
His body shifted with an unnatural precision… tilting, twisting, leaning back, as if every motion had been calculated to perfection.
The five lightning bolts, capable of piercing through steel, grazed past the edges of his robe without even touching the fabric!
Every single lethal attack had missed!
The ferocity on Hiruko's face instantly twisted into shock and disbelief!
His killing move… had been dodged so effortlessly?
As Menma sidestepped the last bolt of lightning, his right arm snapped forward like a drawn bowstring!
His fingers spread, palm aimed directly at Hiruko's chest.
No hand seals, no lengthy preparation.
Pure, ultra-condensed Chakra compressed and spiraled violently in his palm, emitting a piercing shriek!
A basketball-sized black sphere of Chakra materialized instantly, its surface crackling with dark-red arcs of electricity. An aura of destruction and malice radiated from it, distorting the surrounding light as if devouring it.
Spiralling Ring!
Hiruko's pupils reflected the rapidly expanding dark sphere… a deadly sense of crisis drenched him like ice-cold water!
He didn't even have time to process the origin of this terrifying Ninjutsu before his survival instincts kicked in.
With a desperate motion, Hiruko threw himself backward, channeling Chakra into his feet to kick off the ground violently. His body shot backward like an arrow!
Boom!!!
The dark energy sphere grazed past Hiruko's nose as he barely avoided it, crashing into the steep cliff face several meters behind him!
There was no earth-shattering explosion… only a series of deep, heart-stopping reverberations.
Then came the sickening sound of rock being disintegrated into the finest particles, crumbling under extreme force!
The solid cliff face looked as if it had been bitten away by an invisible maw, leaving behind a spherical void over three meters in diameter!
The edges were smooth as glass, the depth unfathomable!
Countless fissures spread outward from the hole like spiderwebs, the rock groaning ominously.
Flying debris scraped past Hiruko's body like bullets, leaving bloody gashes.
He crashed heavily onto the ground, tumbling several meters before barely stopping, covered in dust and grime. His white restraint robe was torn in multiple places, his face a mix of terror and lingering dread.
Had he been even a fraction slower, it wouldn't have been the cliff erased… but himself!
The fear of death ignited Hiruko's savagery to its peak.
He snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot and brimming with madness.
"You damn monster!" Hiruko roared, his hands forming another set of complex, sinister hand seals. This time, his entire body's Chakra surged recklessly, his pale skin faintly glowing with a red Chakra glow.
"Storm Release Secret Technique: Demon Dragon Storm!"
As Hiruko roared, black thunderclouds surged from the ground, crackling with electricity as they engulfed the battlefield!
Even the sky seemed to shift in response!
Thick, ominous clouds blanketed the jagged mountain range, serpentine bolts of lightning flickering ominously within them!
But Menma gave him no chance to finish.
The moment Hiruko began forming the hand seals, Menma vanished once more.
This wasn't the afterimage of a high-speed Body Flicker Technique… this was true disappearance, as if he had merged with space itself!
Flying Thunder God Technique!
In the next instant, Hiruko's vision blurred as Menma reappeared right in front of him… less than an arm's length away!
So fast it defied visual perception. So fast his thoughts froze in place!
Menma's right hand shot forward like lightning, and from his palm erupted a rod of pure darkness… compressed to its absolute limit.
It was not a physical object, but a temporary construct forged from highly concentrated Yin-Yang Release Chakra.
A black rod, no longer than a finger, radiating a sinister glow!
Hiruko's pupils dilated in sheer terror. He wanted to block, to retreat… but his body couldn't keep up with this speed, this movement beyond comprehension!
All he could do was watch as that rod of annihilation, like the fingertip of death itself, stabbed toward him with perfect precision!
Squelch!
Hiruko's movements locked up mid-seal. The black rod pierced clean through his hands from below, pinning him, and his entire body, against the stone cliff behind him.
The fury and madness in his eyes instantly stilled, replaced by pure, incomprehensible horror.
Because to his terror, he found that his Storm Release Ninjutsu had been forcibly interrupted!
His Chakra Flow was severely disrupted. Even the Chimera Technique within him was writhing uncontrollably!
"What… is this?!" Hiruko gasped in panic.
This black rod wasn't just interfering with his Chakra and techniques… it felt like it was devouring his very will to resist.
This was a terror beyond even the absorption capabilities of his Dark Release!
It shattered everything Hiruko thought he knew about Ninjutsu.
'How could there exist a Ninjutsu that even Dark Release couldn't absorb?!'
Menma tilted his head slightly. The voice from behind the white three-eyed fox mask was very soft, but it struck Hiruko's heart like a heavy hammer:
"I told you… I'm interested in your Chimera Technique."
"Now… it's mine."
Hiruko stood frozen, cold sweat soaking through his bandages and restraint suit.
He could clearly feel the terrifying power contained in the black rod, which was eroding his Chimera Technique and even annihilating his very soul.
The cold touch of death pierced through Hiruko's hands, freezing all his desperation, all his last-ditch plans.
Staring into the face of the demon before him, Hiruko could only let out a choked, wordless gasp.
Pinned to the cliff by the black rod… he had lost all means to fight back.