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"Clang—!"
The Ninja sword and Kunai clashed, emitting a crisp metallic clang.
Megumi and Hikari, both of them, almost pressed their entire body weight onto the sharp blades in front of them. Though they had only met once, the moment they encountered each other, an intense hatred, even stronger than that between generational enemies, erupted. The rampant Yin Release Chakra seemed to overflow from their crimson eyes, scattering into the surroundings, causing the atmosphere to momentarily solidify.
Just by seeing their fight from afar, Orochimaru knew that he would most likely not be able to join this battle.
The immense force transmitted from the blade in her hand made Uchiha Megumi feel as if she was using her Ninja sword to support a mountain. After only a brief standoff, she could no longer sustain it, and the blade in her hand tilted to the side. The clashing Kunai, following the inertia of the standoff, swung downwards to the side.
At the same time, Megumi's blade tilted upwards, its tip pointing directly at Uchiha Hikari's face.
The tip of the blade created a piercing sound in the air, yet all these movements seemed incredibly slow when reflected in that pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.
Uchiha Hikari's body shifted to the left, and the Kunai, falling with the inertia, also slid forward, striking the surface of the Ninja sword with a heavy 'clang' sound. Then, she suddenly exerted force with her feet, her tensed calf muscles propelling her slender body, and she charged towards Uchiha Megumi. Simultaneously, she had already plucked several Shuriken from the Ninja tool pouch at her waist with her other hand.
Megumi's Taijutsu proficiency, enhanced by years of diligent training and the boost from her Sharingan, had long surpassed that of an ordinary Jonin. Almost the instant the woman opposite charged, Megumi perceived her intentions and various subtle movements.
As the Ninja sword missed, she suddenly exerted force with her feet and leaped into the air, almost simultaneously taking out several Shuriken from her Ninja tool pouch.
In the same instant, several dark shadows shot out through the air with extreme speed. Both sides even aimed their Shuriken in the exact same direction, all targeting the opponent's heart, throat, and eyes, three vital points.
"Ding, ding, ding—"
As a result, almost all of the synchronously fired Shuriken collided in mid-air, sparking a series of flashes while also exploding with a fine, somewhat piercing tearing sound.
By the time the Shuriken fell to the ground, several of them were even tightly intertwined, as if embedded in each other.
Uchiha Megumi, leaping into the air, moved with astonishing speed, without even a moment's pause. Her feet stepped onto the ceiling of the underground secret room, and she shot backward towards Hikari's direction. Unbeknownst to her, her Ninja sword was already covered in a layer of crimson flames.
"Hinokami Kagura: Fire Wheel!"
As her body distorted, the slender figure of the girl, pulled by her core strength, swept out a directly descending wheel of fire. The force in her hand, driven by inertia and the magnification from her twisting motion, was several times greater than usual.
What's more, there were the fierce flames attached to the blade.
With just one glance, Uchiha Hikari knew she couldn't meet this attack head-on.
However, the inexplicably roaring Yin Release Chakra continuously stimulated her emotions, as if she absolutely had to win against this Uchiha woman who always seemed to be by that guy's side.
There was almost no time to think. As she threw one Kunai, another was already drawn from the side of her thigh. Holding both hands in a reverse grip, she slashed down towards the blade.
The Kunai flying through the air had no resistance whatsoever. In front of the blazing blade, it was easily split into two, like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Even though the Kunai in Uchiha Hikari's hand was already reinforced with abundant Wind Release Chakra for cutting, the moment that blazing blade descended, it still broke through the Chakra obstruction, cutting in by more than half.
However, even so, a triumphant smile unconsciously spread across Uchiha Hikari's delicate face.
"Sure enough, you're only at this level."
Megumi had also never expected her full-power strike to be blocked by the opponent in such a manner. When the opponent spoke, she even unconsciously paused for a moment.
In just that fleeting moment of distraction, Uchiha Hikari had already exerted force from the ground, stomping her foot heavily into the space between Megumi's feet. Engaging her waist, she spun around, delivering a powerful side kick.
It landed squarely on the abdomen.
"Bang—!"
A dull, heavy sound emanated from beneath the girl's foot. Uchiha Megumi, under the violent force, flew like a black shadow, breaking through the wall and crashing directly into the interior of the secret underground room behind her.
Upon entering this secret room, she discovered that its floor area was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Various instruments, whose purpose was unknown, continued to operate under the support of backup power, illuminating the interior of the building. Lights on the ceiling illuminated the broken opening in the wall.
In the center of the secret room, a seed was sealed within a small barrier.
However, Uchiha Hikari didn't know what was wrong with her. Even after seeing her target, she wasn't in a hurry to seize it. Instead, she slowly walked towards Uchiha Megumi, who had fallen to the side, knocking down many instruments. There was a subtle sense of triumphant swagger, as she looked down at the girl opposite her, her tone cold:
"Whether it's the Uchiha, or you, you always like to get in the way."
"It's a pity, with eyes of your caliber—"
"You can't do anything."
Uchiha Hikari stood at the entrance, blocking all of Megumi's escape routes, and quietly looked at her with her pinwheel-shaped eyes. In the Sharingan's vision, she could even clearly see the dark mist subtly emanating from the Uchiha when her emotions reached a certain extreme—that was the true manifestation of extreme Yin Release Chakra in the Sharingan's field of vision.
However, Megumi suddenly sat up.
Her hands were already forming a seal at her waist.
Uchiha Hikari's expression couldn't help but freeze.
The next moment, the ground suddenly surged like flowing water.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Core!"
The soil that suddenly rose from underground, like a pillar supporting the heavens, delayed the enemy with violent vibrations and a sense of fragmentation, while encompassing the entire ground, including the area beneath Uchiha Hikari's feet. It lifted straight up from underground, actually pushing against the dense ceiling of the secret room, lifting Uchiha Hikari along with it to the surface.
"Rumble—"
The Anbu outside, who were gathering their comrades, immediately realized something was wrong the moment they sensed the ground shaking beneath their feet, and scattered in all directions.
Then, they saw a bulge suddenly erupt from the flat construction site ground, which then immediately shattered, supporting a figure enveloped within Susanoo.
Uchiha Hikari's expression was a mixture of shock and doubt, but before she could react, she saw Uchiha Megumi also emerge from underground with the Earth Release.
The girl brushed the dust from her body and looked silently and sternly at Uchiha Hikari opposite her, her expression solemn.
Only then did Uchiha Hikari realize the problem.
The power she unleashed with her current total Chakra reserves was such that any ordinary person hit by one of her attacks would be unable to even stand, just like Uchiha Madara when he swept through the Ninja World Allied Forces.
However, Uchiha Megumi, in front of her, seemed perfectly fine, still looking at her quietly.
Upon closer inspection of the surrounding Chakra with her Sharingan, she noticed that there was a layer of dense spatial Chakra, so thin it almost clung to Megumi's body, attached to her surface, as if it could shatter like a bubble with a single poke.
This was the simplified 'Limitless' that Sawara Kiri had specifically constructed for her using Sealing Technique.
Because she lacked the precise Chakra control of the Six Eyes as assistance, Uchiha Megumi rarely used this technique in combat—for her, even activating it for a short while would consume an astonishing amount of Chakra.
Normally, as an Uchiha Jonin, she wouldn't encounter any enemies worthy enough for her to activate such a trump card.
But the current situation was different now.
Rather than saying these two Uchiha girls were on a mission, it was more accurate to say they were fighting for a certain belief within their hearts.
Such battles, naturally, were extremely brutal and showed no mercy.
Uchiha Hikari narrowed her eyes upon seeing this technique, but she still chuckled softly:
"Is it Kiri's technique again?"
But her voice sounded cold, no matter how she heard it.
However, Megumi seemed to pay no attention to her words, even slightly raising her pale chin, and said arrogantly:
"It should be said that Kiri's technique has always been protecting me."
Uchiha Hikari's expression remained unchanged, but the soil beneath her Ninja sandals unconsciously sank by half an inch.
"Then, how long can his technique protect 'such a useless you'?"
The girl's voice intentionally added a few emphasized syllables.
Before Megumi could even retort, the figure clad in a dark coat had already burst towards Megumi with a speed so fast that even the Sharingan found it somewhat difficult to track, kicking up large amounts of dust from shattered earth and stone.
Uchiha Megumi instinctively narrowed her eyes, raising her Ninja sword in front of her.
"Zheng—!"
The Kunai, already halfway severed, was forcefully chopped onto the Ninja sword's surface, which was also struggling under the searing flames. The Ninja sword, almost completely charred, broke with just a side impact.
Without prior agreement, both of them simultaneously abandoned their weapons, switching to hand-to-hand Taijutsu.
The seemingly slender fist struck Megumi's elbow, emitting a dull 'thud' sound, and even the surface of the 'Limitless' attached to it rippled in layers.
Using the brief opening from their clash, Uchiha Hikari lowered her body, supporting herself with one hand on the ground, her legs sweeping like a giant windmill axe from below, cutting through the air with a piercing sound.
Megumi, relying on the defense provided by Limitless, kicked horizontally with one foot without hesitation, while her other long leg used the momentary leverage from their collision to flip and suddenly raise to its peak, forming a straight split, then abruptly chopped down like a guillotine.
"Bang!"
The sudden chopping blow created a huge indentation on the previously flat ground.
However, Hikari, who was a step faster than Megumi, had already anticipated her movements and rolled away the moment she lifted her leg.
At the same time, she formed hand signs.
As if she had predicted her opponent's movements, Megumi, the moment that blow landed, didn't even glance at the dust in the center of the debris, and simultaneously formed hand signs.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
"Blaze Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Even the Ninjutsu were perfectly synchronized.
However, the Ninjutsu Megumi used also incorporated the special Chakra that Sawara Kiri had researched.
In an instant, a roaring explosion echoed within the narrow dozen-meter radius between the two girls, as crimson and blazing white flames, fueled by Chakra, roared and surged towards each other.
Although Fire Release Ninjutsu are meant for concentration and lethality, under their control, they possessed a powerful Shock force like a flood.
Suddenly, two torrents of fierce fire crashed into each other, then spread out due to their mutual momentum, diffusing in all directions and impacting an area hundreds of meters around.
Not only the soil within the construction site, but even trees further away were ignited by the exchange of fire between them.
Further away, injured Anbu Ninja couldn't help but widen their eyes, looking at the battle between the two — the terrifying high temperature and the diffusion range comparable to Water Release were simply beyond their imagination.
However, the two facing each other felt immense pressure.
This was not a simple battle, but a battle for self-respect.
In the very first moment, relying on the terrifying corrosiveness of the crimson flames, the scarlet blaze continuously devoured the opposing fire, barely gaining a slight advantage.
However, the difference in total Chakra volume could not be fully compensated by the characteristics of Ninjutsu.
After only the initial advantage, Megumi's pressure grew increasingly, and the flames in front of her rapidly advanced towards her direction under the opponent's continuous reinforcement.
Until finally, it exploded into a ball.
"Whoosh—"
Speckled streams of Blaze Release and Fire Release intermingled, continuously spreading outwards.
Uchiha Megumi, caught within the range of the flames, barely managed to escape by relying on the Limitless covering her body.
However, although there were no visible wounds on her body, the consumption of her stamina and total Chakra was undeniable.
In just a short dozen seconds, she felt as if her body was being drained dry.
Her crimson Sharingan, adorned with three tomoe, gazed at the other side of the flames, and the intense emotion in the girl's heart was countless times more fervent than the flames burning before her eyes.
In a corner she hadn't noticed, the rotation speed of those three tomoe had already become so fast that they almost merged into one, and her dynamic vision also increased to a level that was completely unattainable in ordinary times.
'Is the gap really that big?'
This thought involuntarily arose in Uchiha Megumi's heart.
Almost in this extremely brief instant, a suddenly bright flash of a blade extended for tens of meters, cutting through the flames before it with an unstoppable force, and then, as if unstoppable, it slashed down towards Megumi.
"Boom—!"
With just one strike, the continuously active Limitless burned through half of the Chakra she had barely managed to refine, and at the same time, it swept her body, sending her flying explosively towards the deeper parts of the forest.
Standing in the center of the flames was a tall figure, like a demon god.
Uchiha Hikari stood on the scorched earth, her Susanoo, directly activated to its third stage, was already covered in flesh and armor, a long blade held upright in its hand, its tens of meters tall stature inspiring awe.
"No matter how much a weakling struggles, they are still just a defeated dog."
"Those without power cannot control their own destiny, let alone the destiny of others."
Uchiha Hikari maintained her Susanoo and walked step by step towards the other girl who shared her surname.
Having gone through a decade of life as a puppet, she understood this feeling all too well.
Unable to protect anything, unable to decide anything, unable to resist anything...
Being treated as a weapon by her clansmen, being deceived by a strange monster, being given orders she absolutely didn't want to carry out by her dying, detestable clansmen...
It was precisely because of such a blank life that her pure will, like a blank sheet of paper, was forged when she was first released.
However, after the day the seal was broken, this blank sheet of paper was dyed with someone's color.
Yet, now she had to be an enemy to him.
Ah.
What a detestable feeling.
Uchiha Hikari's eyes peered through the dark red layer of Susanoo, gazing distantly at the woman who had fallen in the forest and was struggling to get up, the woman who always seemed inseparable from Sawara Kiri.
The same age, the same Uchiha, the same outstanding talent...
She was clearly superior in every aspect, so why did fate favor this person instead?
And not her?
Normally, when her mind was occupied with work, such thoughts wouldn't arise.
But, merely seeing the various shadows of Sawara Kiri imprinted on this woman, that intense and inexplicable emotion would, along with the surge of Yin Release Chakra, involuntarily erupt from the depths of her heart.
The blank paper was gradually stained with the color of jealousy.
Uchiha Hikari also yearned for such a peaceful life, accompanied by the one she desired.
Wasn't it this 'small' wish that constantly drove her to defy fate, to find an opening to complete Engraved Tsukuyomi under the monster's surveillance and Uchiha Madara's orders?
Yet, the dream she yearned for was something these people were born with.
Why was that?
Under the impetus of this extreme emotion, every wisp of Yin Release Chakra seemed to transform into faint whispers, forming a gradually unified low hum in the girl's ears.
Kill her, kill her, kill her...
Then, take everything she possesses.
Uchiha Hikari's lips slowly curved upwards, the expression on her delicate face gradually turning pathological and distorted, yet her smile became even clearer and more genuine.
The next moment, accompanied by a violent roar like a heavy object being pushed, the enormous Susanoo, propelled by her, shot towards Uchiha Megumi, its blade tracing a dark red trajectory across the night sky, slashing down directly towards the girl from above.
However, in Hikari's vision, Megumi seemed completely oblivious to the blade descending from the sky, rushing directly towards the Susanoo, like a moth drawn to a flame.
That desperate act made Hikari's Susanoo even more tangible by half, and the speed of its blade descent became even faster.
Until—
"Boom—!"
Almost at the moment the blade was about to strike, and Uchiha Megumi's figure was about to touch the Susanoo's armor.
The Limitless that had been enveloping her body suddenly expanded like a bubble being inflated by a sudden gust of air, then, carrying a large amount of spatial Chakra, it exploded at an almost immediate range.
The swirling spatial storm tore open a foot-wide void between the two girls.
However, that was already enough.
Megumi's figure suddenly plunged into the armor's void.
Though startled by this attack, Hikari's reaction was still incredibly fast, and another Kunai hidden in her sleeve suddenly stabbed forward with the speed of thunder.
But.
In Uchiha Hikari's vision, a pair of crimson eyes with three tomoe intertwined, resembling a bifurcated scythe with six branches, suddenly distorted into shape.
Hikari's movements involuntarily paused.
However, the Kunai in her hand still deeply pierced Megumi's shoulder.
Uchiha Megumi, however, seemed to feel no pain from her bleeding shoulder, her left hand tightly gripping Hikari's slender arm, her right hand clutching her collar tightly.
The terrifying force even slightly lifted Hikari's body, making her stand on her tiptoes.
As their eyes met, Uchiha Hikari heard the other party's cold, deep, and ice-like murmur:
"Kiri is mine."
"No one will take him from me!"
Accompanying that hoarse, cold, and distorted murmur, the violent ocular power, like a flood bursting through a dam, surged into Hikari's mind, revealing a more ferocious and distorted shadow than her, who had been sealed for a century, deeply imprinted in her heart.
Hidden deep within the heart of the girl before her was an even deeper and more pathological extreme distorted emotion than her own.
In an instant, Uchiha Hikari realized that she had suddenly lost control over her own body.
Mangekyo Dojutsu—
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