Chapter 192: Enraged Raikage, The Blood Pool Clan
The chill of deep autumn enveloped the towering mountaintops of Cloud Village.
Inside the Raiden Building, which had just been repaired not long ago, the atmosphere was even more piercingly cold than the wind outside.
The Fourth Raiden stood in the center of the office like a volcano about to erupt.
His bare upper body was knotted with muscles, and his bronze skin bore several ferocious old scars.
Beneath his thick, bushy mustache, his lips were tightly pursed into a cold, straight line, and the veins on his thick arms bulged like coiling dragons.
In front of him, a Cloud Village ninja reported: “Lord Raiden! The guard team at Hell Valley has sent a message! Shura has appeared in Hell Valley! And there are several companions with him!”
The name “Shura” was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the fuse of this silent volcano, Raiden!
“Shura——!!!” A furious roar exploded like thunder!
Raiden’s eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, and violent Lightning Release chakra uncontrollably burst from his body, emitting a piercing crackling sound!
In his rage, he didn’t think at all. The muscles in his right arm swelled, wrapped in blinding blue lightning, and he slashed downward like a battle axe!
Boom——!!!
The heavy desk made of solid wood shattered like fragile paper under Raiden’s angry strike!
Wood chips, documents, and broken desk legs scattered in all directions, and the massive sound made the entire office hum!
In the swirling dust, Raiden’s burly figure was like an angry thunder god, with violent killing intent almost breaking through the roof!
“He dares… dares to set foot on the land of my Land of Lightning again?!!” Raiden’s voice roared like a wounded beast, every word filled with towering rage and bone-deep hatred.
Three years ago, that brutal attack killed and injured hundreds of Cloud Village ninjas, severely damaged buildings, and Killer Bee, whom he regarded as a brother, was seriously injured protecting him, taking a full two years to barely recover, with terrifying scars still on his body!
This blood debt burned his heart day and night.
“Mabui!!” Raiden suddenly turned his head and roared at the female secretary standing nearby, her face equally pale: “Assemble the troops immediately! All able-bodied jonin! Anbu! Now! Right away! I’ll lead the team myself to Hell Valley and tear that group of bastards, especially that Shura, to pieces!!”
Mabui instinctively covered the thin scar on her forehead.
That was the mark left from the disaster three years ago; if she hadn’t run fast enough, she would have been reduced to ashes in that terrifying explosion.
Hearing Raiden’s command, Mabui’s heart trembled sharply.
Shura’s terrifying strength was etched like a nightmare in the deepest memories of her and all the survivors.
Those two eerie and powerful humanoid summons could not only float in the air but also absorb chakra, making them extremely difficult to deal with.
Shura himself had clashed head-on with the AB combination in an unmatched stance, and before being teleported away by the Heavenly Transfer Technique, he left behind a dark purple ninjutsu orb like the end of the world.
That destructive power still made her heart race with lingering fear even now.
“Lord Raiden! Please… please calm down!” Mabui mustered her courage and took a step forward, her voice carrying a faint tremble: “Shura’s strength is immeasurable. Three years ago, he was already… so terrifying! Now he has accomplices. Rash large-scale action would probably…”
“What are you afraid of?!” Raiden roughly interrupted her, his bloodshot eyes glaring at her: “Just because the enemy is strong, should we let our enemies roam freely in my Land of Lightning?! If I can’t even avenge our fallen brothers, what face do I have to stand here as Raiden?! What qualification do I have to lead Cloud Village?!”
His roar echoed in the shattered office, filled with unquestionable determination and violent will.
At that moment, the office door was forcefully pushed open.
“Yo! Dumb big bro! Jerk big bro! Rage to the crown ain’t the way~” A voice with a unique rhythm rang out.
Killer Bee walked in.
He was still wearing his signature Cloud Village vest and sunglasses, but upon closer inspection, a ferocious, twisted scar extended from his exposed left shoulder to his collarbone, and under the loose vest, faint net-like burn marks could be seen on his large back.
This was the permanent mark left after being severely wounded by Shura’s Great Spiraling Ring three years ago.
Though his face bore the exaggerated expression of a rapper, the eyes behind his sunglasses were unusually sharp and grave.
“Enemies show in Hell Valley~ Bee can’t just stand by idly~ But this op needs caution~ Too many’s a burden tie~ Yugito sis power strong~ Anbu elites team tight~ Target lock on Shura’s dome~ One-hit kill feels right~!”
Killer Bee’s rap carried clear advice: This revenge should value quality over quantity.
Raiden’s violent rage paused slightly upon hearing Killer Bee’s voice.
He looked at the shocking scars on his brother’s body, witnesses to Cloud Village’s shame and pain.
Killer Bee’s arrival and suggestion were like a basin of ice water, extinguishing some of his blind fury, but making his will for revenge even firmer.
“Bee…” Raiden’s voice lowered, carrying a suppressed rasp: “You’re right.”
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his boiling killing intent, his gaze sweeping over Mabui and the two ninjas kneeling on the ground, finally making a decision: “Mabui, notify immediately! Darui, Troy, Nurui, Xi! Have them each select two of the most elite Anbu. Assemble at the village entrance in ten minutes! I’ll lead the team myself! Target: Hell Valley! This time, that guy will pay his blood debt with blood!!”
“Yes!” Mabui’s heart tightened, knowing she could no longer dissuade him, and immediately set off to carry out the order.
Killer Bee stood beside Raiden, his eyes behind the sunglasses turning ice-cold and focused.
Soon, this revenge team composed of Cloud Village’s strongest fighters charged toward Hell Valley with thunderous momentum.
At the same time, in the depths of the barren, desolate canyon in the southern Land of Lightning known as “Hell Valley,” the atmosphere was equally tense.
Unlike the fiery vengeance in Cloud Village, here permeated a oppressive, enclosed, decaying stillness.
Towering ochre-red rock walls on both sides of the canyon were like prison walls, and at the valley bottom were scattered simple stone houses, forming a small village of only about thirty people.
The exile land of the Blood Pond Clan.
Menma’s group silently passed through the desolate valley under Miyashiro En’s lead, arriving at the center of the village.
Kakuzu’s low, raspy voice broke the silence as he explained to Kisame Hoshigaki, who was warily scanning the surroundings: “The Blood Pond Clan was quite famous over a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, a woman from the clan became a concubine to the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, and soon after, the Daimyo died suddenly. The principal wife came from a prominent noble family in the Land of Lightning, blamed the concubine as a demonic scourge. In the end, the entire Blood Pond Clan was implicated, exiled and imprisoned here, forbidden to leave forever.”
He paused, a sneer appearing on his face stitched with seams: “The ones who escorted them here back then were reportedly… the Uchiha Clan.”
As they spoke, the group reached a small open area in the village.
Their arrival, especially Miyashiro En bringing back a group of obvious outsiders, immediately drew the attention of everyone in the village.
Several sallow, emaciated clan members with numb eyes shrank back to peer from behind stone houses, while a relatively well-dressed middle-aged man with a goatee and gloomy eyes approached aggressively, surrounded by several sturdy young men.
He was the current clan head of the Blood Pond Clan, Miyoshi Jin.
“En!” Miyoshi Jin’s voice was shrill and filled with anger, his gaze sweeping over Miyashiro En and the people behind him, including Menma.
“You have the face to come back?! Bringing these outsiders? What do you want to do?!” His eyes especially warily scanned Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and the masked Menma with an unfathomable aura.
These people were no ordinary ninjas!
Facing the clan head’s questioning, Miyashiro En instinctively sidestepped, blocking the door of a simple stone house not far behind him even more tightly.
Through the half-open door crack, a faintly visible young woman with pale, haggard face, holding a seven- or eight-year-old white-haired little girl, was nervously peering out.
Miyashiro En took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice calm: “Clan Head, I have no intention of stirring up strife. I just want… to take my wife and daughter Chiyo away. Our family of three will leave Hell Valley, live outside, and never return.”
His words carried a hint of plea.
“Leave? Hahaha!” Miyoshi Jin seemed to hear the biggest joke, letting out a shrill laugh filled with venom and mockery.
“Leave?! Miyashiro En, do you know why our clan has been trapped in this godforsaken Hell Valley for over a century?! It’s all because of your wife’s ancestor! That slut! If she hadn’t shamelessly clung to the Daimyo and caused his death, offending that lofty principal wife, how would our entire clan suffer this undeserved calamity?! Imprisoned here like pigs and dogs, never seeing the light of day! And you have the face to say take them away? They are the disas…”
“Enough!”
An ice-cold, low voice exploded like thunder in everyone’s ears, mercilessly cutting off Miyoshi Jin’s venomous rant.
All eyes instantly focused on the speaker.
The silent black-robed leader wearing the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask.
Menma slowly stepped forward, positioning himself between Miyoshi Jin and Miyashiro En.
His gaze pierced through the cold mask, falling on Miyoshi Jin’s face distorted by anger and malice, filled with disappointment toward this ninja clan once more famous than the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan.
Menma’s voice was filled with undisguised contempt and sarcasm:
“Weakness is weakness, why push the blame onto a woman to make excuses?”
Miyoshi Jin was stunned by this sudden rebuke and the naked disdain in the other’s words, momentarily forgetting to retort.
Menma’s voice continued, like cold iron hammers striking every Blood Pond clan member’s heart: “You possess power that would make ordinary people tremble, yet as ninjas, you let a group of powerless so-called nobles bully, imprison, and enslave you generation after generation, without even the thought of resistance, only infighting and shirking responsibility internally… Heh, Blood Pond Clan? Just a bunch of declawed dogs that only bark at the weaker ones… cowards, that’s all.”
His words were filled with disappointment at the Blood Pond Clan’s self-degradation.
“Shut up! What do you know?! You…” Miyoshi Jin trembled with rage, his face turning from red to green, his pointing finger at Menma shaking violently.
The sturdy young men behind him also showed anger, itching to move, but the intangible aura from Menma instinctively filled them with fear, not daring to approach.
“The so-called nobles are just ordinary people!” Menma’s voice suddenly rose, carrying a soul-piercing coldness and pressure: “If slandered, just kill their whole family!”
“If this place won’t keep me, another will! The Ninja World is vast; can’t you find a place to stay? You have power far beyond ordinary ninjas, yet you willingly let shackles bind you, herded like livestock for a century, your courage to resist long worn away! No wonder you can only grovel like rats in the sewers, lingering in this Hell Valley, generation after generation, never to rise!”
The moment his words fell, Menma moved!
No hand seals, no earth-shattering chakra storm.
He merely slightly raised his head.
Above the scarlet background of his left eye, three tomoe spun, and a black Uzumaki pattern that seemed to devour everything suddenly appeared, slowly rotating, emanating a soul-chilling aura.
His right eye was like the purest ruby, suddenly glowing, containing power to perceive and disrupt everything in its gorgeous light!
Both dojutsu activated!
An indescribably ultimate heavy terrifying aura, like an invisible tsunami, erupted centered on Menma!
This aura was not chakra release, but pressure from the soul level!
Dojutsu: Intimidation!
This was the ability Menma comprehended after obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan and a purer Red Eye, based on the intimidation once used by Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Merely releasing the intimidation could shock people around into unconsciousness, even causing substantial damage to objects.
Thud!
Thud!
Miyoshi Jin, closest, was hit first. His brain “buzzed” as if smashed by an invisible heavy hammer!
His legs gave out, and he slumped to the ground, blood draining from his face, lips trembling, unable to utter a word!
The sturdy young men behind him fared worse, flung back like kites with cut strings, bodies trembling like chaff on the ground, unable even to lift their heads!
The entire Blood Pond village instantly fell into dead silence.
All the peeking, venom, and numbness were utterly crushed under the gaze of these two eyes containing utterly different yet equally terrifying eye power!
Only boundless fear remained, like cold tides, drowning everyone.
Even Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Miyashiro En behind Menma had to exercise utmost caution to steady their steps.
At the stone house door, the woman holding the girl turned ghastly pale with fright.
Miyashiro En stood behind Menma, feeling the terrifying pressure sweeping the area like a tangible force, waves of shock surging in his heart.
He looked at the clan head and clan members collapsed like mud, then at the deep, steadfast black-robed back ahead, a complex emotion hard to describe welling up.
Menma’s words, like cold blades, laid bare the Blood Pond Clan’s most unsightly, cowardly scars over the past century.
And the intimidation from these eyes utterly shattered the last pitiful “dignity” in these prisoners’ hearts, built on oppressing their own kin.
The prison of Hell Valley had its invisible shackles thoroughly shattered by an even greater power.
