Chapter 167: Meteor Volcano! Fugaku: “you Have To Understand My Difficulties!”
The expressionless Orochimaru walked out of the monitoring room. Although he had absolute confidence in his own strength, Uchiha Ikeizumi’s “reputation” in the ninja world was still not insignificant.
Orochimaru still made some combat preparations in advance, giving the necessary respect to one of the most suitable containers in his eyes.
Buzz—!
Suddenly, just a few steps after Orochimaru stepped out of the monitoring room, the metal floor under his feet suddenly emitted a tooth-grinding wail!
Immediately after.
Rumble!!!
As if a volcano that had accumulated for a thousand years suddenly erupted!
A half-meter-thick alloy sealed wall in front was torn apart completely by the violent force of the heavenly disaster, as if it were made of paper!
Huge metal fragments shot out like cannonballs, and the piercing alarm in the passage instantly screamed to its limit!
However, more shocking than the splashing debris…
Was the roaring and surging crimson lava that followed closely behind!
They surged and rolled like the floods of purgatory, instantly swallowing and melting the metal fragments flying everywhere, filling the air with pungent scorched smell and extremely scorching sulfur odor.
The experimental equipment and pipes remaining in the passage began to twist and drip like wax sculptures.
Blinding red light filled every corner.
The lava flood instantly swallowed the space, reflecting Orochimaru’s entire pale face in a terrifying crimson!
Scalding airwaves came like solid heavy fists, blowing his temple hair strands wildly, forcing his golden slit pupils to narrow.
His vision was left only with the destructive river of molten rock!
“Tch…” Facing the destructive flood rushing towards him, Orochimaru’s mouth curved into an extremely twisted arc, his smile filled with admiration and greedy desire.
“As expected of the body I have my eye on… You found me so quickly… Heh heh… That group of trash indeed doesn’t even qualify as cannon fodder to buy time!”
As soon as his words fell, a glint flashed in his eyes!
Orochimaru’s palms were already poised, now his ten fingers suddenly clenched tightly, slamming heavily onto the scalding floor beneath his feet like knocking on the gate of purgatory!
Even though the flesh in his palms sizzled from being burned by the scalding floor.
But there was no abnormality on Orochimaru’s face.
“Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon!”
Bang!!!
Bang!!!
Bang!!!
Accompanied by earth-shattering roars and exploding reinforced concrete everywhere, three giant gates covered in ferocious fangs rose from the ground!
They thrust upward with unstoppable force, even the thick layered protective ceilings of the base above were crushed into powder the moment they touched the ferocious ghost face reliefs on Rashomon!
Sunlight and smoke from above immediately poured down from the breach.
The first Rashomon had a ghost head on the door holding a huge door ring with fangs bared, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of the underworld.
But in just one breath, the surging lava flood slammed into it!
The black gate body, which could withstand tailed beast cannon blasts, actually made a hair-raising “sizzle” sound like ice thrown into a steel furnace.
The ferocious ghost face twisted and melted in the high temperature.
Instantly swallowed and disintegrated by the crimson flood!
The second Rashomon was slightly more resilient, its surface metal sheen and curse mark patterns flickering uncertainly, but it only lasted one more breath.
A large amount of lava was blocked and splashed towards the side walls, melting deep marks into the metal. Rashomon itself, like iron ingot forged in a furnace, quickly turned red and softened…
Ultimately unable to withstand the terrifying impact of the lava, it collapsed inward with a boom, then was completely covered and dissolved by the subsequent surge of lava!
The third Rashomon!
This was the limit defense that Orochimaru’s own chakra and summoning contract could support.
The crimson flood poured onto it without reservation, the giant gate emitting unbearable piercing metal twisting sounds, the gate body bent backward into a heart-stopping arc, as if it would break at any moment.
In the center of the gate, the area directly impacted by the lava core’s high temperature quickly turned dark red and glowed, beginning to erode and soften like a candle.
Blazing crimson-gold molten iron flowed down the gate body!
However, the rolling lava flood was finally forcibly diverted by this last barrier, like a slightly tamed ferocious beast, surging past along both sides of the huge gate, roaring as it poured into the monitoring room, corridors, research rooms behind Orochimaru… turning everywhere it passed into purgatory!
The high-temperature steaming air distorted violently.
The remaining lights flickered on and off.
The scorching high temperature instantly penetrated the air, immediately bringing a layer of sticky sweat beads to Orochimaru’s pale, somewhat sickly skin.
But the next second, the sweat was instantly evaporated.
His golden snake pupils reflected the firelight of the surrounding lava, clearly watching the third Rashomon deform in agony in the flames, finally slowly sinking into the ground and disappearing.
When the last Rashomon descended to the Pure Land, Orochimaru’s vision suddenly opened up.
His gaze pierced through several pierced and melted metal remnant walls, edges flowing with scorching molten steel.
At the end of the passage where molten rock flowed, a figure stood steadily on the scarlet lava, white thick smoke rising around him, scorching the air.
The most heart-palpitating were those eyes—Mangekyo Sharingan red as blood, even in the surging hot flow and thick smoke, the unique weird pattern was clearly visible.
This instinctively made Orochimaru shift his gaze slightly.
Avoiding eye contact with that soul-seizing pair of eyes.
“Heh heh…”
Orochimaru, with his mouth curled up, was unhurried, not even caring about the lava on the ground about to flow to his feet.
He slightly raised his voice and said to Uchiha Ikeizumi in front: “After so many years without seeing each other, you give me such a big gift. Ikeizumi, what price do you need to pay to appease my anger?”
“Don’t act like you’re close to me.” The icy voice seemed to carry the dry heat of sulfur, piercing through the explosive sound of the rolling lava, clearly entering Orochimaru’s ears.
Ikeizumi stepped on the flowing lava, slowly advancing, each step causing the molten rock under his feet to slightly collapse and boil.
The standard ninja sword in his hand had already been chipped and damaged in the previous path of slaughter.
It was casually discarded into the molten rock behind him and quickly melted and disappeared.
At this moment, Uchiha Ikeizumi was bare-handed.
The thick smoke coiling around him was like the breath of purgatory, distorting the air, making his figure faintly visible in the heatwave.
And Uchiha Ikeizumi’s cold voice echoed like the judge Yama crawling out from the underworld of purgatory: “A few years ago, under the pursuit led by the Third Hokage’s Anbu, you luckily escaped Konoha. But after escaping Konoha, you did not regret or reflect on the sins you committed in Konoha; instead, you intensified them.”
“You brought your sins from inside Konoha to outside, even spreading them throughout the entire ninja world in just a few years. The number of innocent people who fell victim to you is already countless. The endless list of victims sometimes makes me dizzy just looking at it.”
Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he said: “I learned some information from certain trash subordinates—your Mangekyo Sharingan can see through the evils a person has done.”
“Heh…”
“If in my eyes, my actions are not evil, then by what standard do you judge my behavior? In the end, so-called absolute justice is just your personal justice.”
“This kind of stubborn and self-righteous justice cannot save the ninja world, nor can it gain recognition from many people. Ikeizumi, like most people, you haven’t comprehended the true essence of the ninja world.”
“Will of Fire, absolute justice, Bloody Mist Policy, or whatever it is to control the whole world with absolute pain… Each of these ideas has a pattern and capacity so low it’s outrageous.”
He spread his arms as if to embrace the entire world, his words filled with bewitching and arrogant tone: “Ikeizumi, in this way, you’re just like those mediocre fools, like a frog at the bottom of a well, seeing only the narrowest well mouth of the ninja world.”
Orochimaru’s voice suddenly turned cold, carrying biting sarcasm: “Brief lifespans limit everyone’s capacity! Making them struggle their whole lives for a vain, flawed ideal.
“Only eternity, only mastering the river of life that transcends time, can be free from shackles. To explore the ninja world most…”
Orochimaru’s long bewitching speech had not yet finished.
What responded to him was Uchiha Ikeizumi’s sudden raise of his right arm without warning, and the instantly condensed, compressed, and explosively surging lava fury flow from his palm!
This time, it was a shockwave like a molten rock giant fist blasting straight at high speed after compression.
The terrifying impact force comparable to a volcanic eruption was fully displayed at this moment!
The smile on Orochimaru’s face instantly froze, but his body’s reaction was as fast as a ghost.
“Tch! Really… such a rude brat who loves interrupting people!”
“Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!”
Orochimaru’s hands were so fast they left afterimages; this seemingly simple C-rank Wind Release underwent a qualitative change under his chakra drive.
Massive chakra instantly gathered and roared out!
In the narrow passage, a hurricane-level spiral air explosion suddenly arose!
The raging wind like a solid wall forcibly rolled in, cut, and shattered the oncoming scorching lava!
Scalding molten rock fragments were carried by the gale, like dense flaming meteors, crackling against the passage walls, leaving densely packed scorched pits and continuously flowing metal droplets!
Taking advantage of the smoke and energy chaos produced by the intense collision of gale and lava.
Orochimaru’s jaw suddenly opened forward in an extremely weird, dislocated manner to an exaggerated extent!
Retch—!
After the dry heaving sound, a chilling long sword covered in slippery mucus slid out lightning-fast from deep in his throat!
Orochimaru bit down hard on the hilt of the Kusanagi Sword carrying his own saliva.
Peerlessly sharp Wind Release Chakra instantly wrapped around the blade like a living thing.
Buzz—!
Piercing air whistle! The Kusanagi Sword’s blade weirdly and swiftly extended forward crazily, turning into a fatal silver line piercing the hundred-meter passage, instantly penetrating all smoke and gale.
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s expression unchanged, his head tilted slightly to the left with minimal movement.
Sizzle!
The Kusanagi Sword’s cold gleam shot past his right ear.
Although it didn’t directly hit the head, the wind pressure condensed to the extreme, almost substantial, still left a smooth mirror-like cut on the outer side of his right ear!
But weirdly—no blood splattered from the severed ear edge.
Instead, dark red liquid like viscous lava slowly seeped out, dripping down like candle tears.
The severed area…
Was shockingly slowly flowing molten rock emitting scorching high temperature!
Uchiha Ikeizumi glanced at the Kusanagi Sword’s blade; besides Orochimaru’s disgusting saliva that even Uchiha Ikeizumi was somewhat unwilling to touch, the blade surface was also surrounded by a visible layer of faint Wind Release Chakra.
No wonder it could wound from a distance.
Orochimaru not far away showed no surprise in his eyes; his unnaturally flexible neck suddenly whipped! The hundred-meter-long Kusanagi Sword turned into a silver wheel sweeping horizontally, intending to cut Ikeizumi in half at the waist!
Ikeizumi’s figure leaned back sharply, the cold light sweeping past his face; the several walls behind him disintegrated in neat slices as if laser-cut.
“Heh heh… Ikeizumi, I know how troublesome that pair of eyes of yours is… Not long ago, someone revealed intelligence about those eyes of yours to me; just listening to it gave me chills!”
Orochimaru’s voice was like hissing snake sounds; his hand seals showed no slowdown.
“Can’t give you a chance to use those weird dojutsu!”
He suddenly opened his mouth wide, spewing a scalp-numbing black flood—shockingly, countless black swimming snakes!
Hiss hiss hiss—!
Tens of thousands of thigh-thick black monstrous snakes with scales flashing weird metal sheen surged out madly.
When they surged over the scorching lava on the ground, shockingly, their scales only made a “sizzle” burning sound.
Apart from a few wisps of black smoke and some edge damage, their forward speed didn’t slow at all!
“These are a group of little ones I specially bred to counter your lava; their scales have very strong high-temperature resistance. Even if thrown into a volcano crater, they can survive for a minute.”
“In a ninja’s battle… one minute decides many things, heh heh.”
As Orochimaru said, the dense black snakes had astonishing tolerance to high temperatures.
The lava on the ground was not enough to stop their advance.
Even more terrifying, every black snake opened its mouth full of fangs!
And in every snake mouth, a extremely sharp long sword was held, with each weapon’s blade or hilt engraved by Orochimaru with tiny precise black curse marks!
Orochimaru showed Uchiha Ikeizumi his most classic ability.
—Human spits snakes.
—Snakes spit swords.
“Ikeizumi… This is a little gift I prepared specially for your proud ‘Lava Release elementalization’…”
Orochimaru’s voice mixed in the dense snake hisses, clearly conveying sarcasm and absolute confidence: “A special Lava Release elementalization similar to Water Transformation Technique? Indeed immune to most physical attacks in the world and some elemental attacks…”
“But what about certain space-time ninjutsu, soul-level ninjutsu, including forbidden jutsu curse marks that act directly on chakra?”
His golden slit pupils locked onto Ikeizumi.
As if trying to appreciate the “container’s” panic.
Watching the snake horde army like a black tide squeezing full the passage, emitting weird metal texture and curse mark glow, Orochimaru’s sickly confidence almost overflowed his face.
“Don’t see me as one of those arrogant ninjas; against you as an enemy, I’m very cautious. To deal with you, Konoha’s genius Ikeizumi, I’ve also made a lot of necessary preparations.”
“This is what an experienced ninja does.”
…
While the battle on Uchiha Ikeizumi’s side intensified, the conflict in the Konoha Military Police Force Headquarters had also reached an extreme.
Uchiha Fugaku’s face was tense as if his parents had died.
He looked at Uchiha Izumi before him with deep disappointment.
The young person who once had such a good relationship with Itachi now looked unrecognizable even to him. She even launched a coup against him, the Uchiha clan leader, in public, and there were a few non-Uchiha clan outsiders here.
Facing the girl’s successive pressing questions, Uchiha Fugaku clenched his fist, then released it.
Uchiha Fugaku said expressionlessly: “I have a clear conscience regarding the Uchiha Clan, the Police Force, and Konoha Village.”
He lowered his gaze to stare at Izumi, slowly saying: “It’s not that just because you alone think I don’t qualify as Uchiha clan leader and Captain of the Police Force, I need to step down as you wish.”
“I became clan leader and Captain back then because I was recognized by the clan members and by the Hokage.”
“But what if we don’t recognize you now?!” The one who suddenly interjected was a special jonin of the Police Force. This special jonin was himself a member of the Uchiha radicals, and he already looked at Uchiha Fugaku very unfavorably.
This Uchiha special jonin said without politeness: “Back then, the ones who pushed you to the clan leader position and Captain of the Police Force were all the old fogeys in the Uchiha Clan.”
“Now those old fogeys either died at Ikeizumi’s hands or have retired and no longer care about ninja clan affairs.”
“Now it’s our young generation’s turn to elect a leader we recognize, right?!”
After his words, other Uchiha clan members echoed: “When you decided to spare Uchiha Itachi, you already lost the qualification to lead the Uchiha Clan! Let alone now, you’re openly opposing absolute justice.”
“The Captain of the Police Force doesn’t believe in justice… Heh! If this gets out, you’ve lost all face for the Police Force; what qualification do you have to lead us?”
Another Uchiha said coldly: “You say you have a clear conscience, which means you think you’ve contributed to the Uchiha Clan, but we can’t see any contributions from you.”
“We can only watch the Uchiha Clan being constantly squeezed out by the village, only see you talking to Koharu Utatane in an almost obsequious posture.”
“If this counts as contributing to the Uchiha Clan, you might as well openly turn the Uchiha Clan into the Hokage’s dog.”
“That way, I might respect you a bit. Because you’re openly wanting to lead all clan members to be loyal dogs of Konoha’s higher-ups.”
Uchiha Fugaku: “…”
He felt many clan members had deep misunderstandings of his behavior.
He absolutely had no idea of being a “loyal dog” to Konoha’s higher-ups.
But under this emotional impact, Fugaku realized that even if he explained, they probably wouldn’t listen; they’d only believe what they wanted to believe and what they saw.
Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath, staring at the group of Police Force ninjas before him, but said nothing more to them, instead turning to the other Uchiha Clan members.
Among this group of clan members, not all were ninjas; most were Uchiha Clan civilians who hadn’t awakened their eyes.
And this group was actually the majority in the Uchiha Clan.
It’s just that their voices were usually drowned out by the ninjas’.
Uchiha Fugaku still had a sliver of hope for them, hoping these Uchiha Clan civilians usually distant from absolute justice could understand some of his difficulties as clan leader.
“What do you think?” So Uchiha Fugaku asked them.
He was trying to give the Uchiha Clan civilians a chance to speak.
But the next second, Uchiha Fugaku regretted it.
“…Fugaku-sama, if you’re really thinking for the Uchiha Clan, why keep Uchiha Itachi?” An older Uchiha civilian with graying temples mustered courage and asked: “Just because he’s your eldest son, do you have to keep such a huge hidden danger who will kill off the entire Uchiha Clan in the future?”
“Before Uchiha Ikeizumi killed Uchiha Itachi, we lived in constant fear every day. Afraid that one day we’d wake up not to our families, but to the cleaver in Uchiha Itachi’s hand. We’re very afraid of becoming souls slain by his blade.”
“To avoid him, I even secretly moved my child out of the Uchiha Clan Compound to live somewhere in the village. We… are already scared to this extent.”
He looked at Fugaku and continued: “Not long ago, if not for Uchiha Ikeizumi stopping the finally rampaging Uchiha Itachi.”
“We all would’ve been killed by him! We civilians have no power to resist ninjas!”
The sincere voices from Uchiha civilians left Fugaku speechless.
Uchiha Fugaku was silent for several seconds before finally saying things like—”He hasn’t truly acted yet, so strictly speaking it’s not evil”, “I have my own difficulties, he’s my child after all”, “Itachi isn’t as extreme as you think.”
But his heartfelt words instead made the Uchiha Clan civilians look at him with even more disappointment.
Uchiha Fugaku suddenly realized that his ideas and the clan members’ ideas were not on the same wavelength at all.
They couldn’t understand him, just as he and they couldn’t understand Itachi.
“Fugaku…”
An elderly Uchiha civilian coughed, his facial wrinkles twitching as he said to Uchiha Fugaku: “You’ve been clan leader and Captain of the Police Force for so long… Sigh, if you really respect the clan members’ opinions as you show, it’s time for you to rest.”
…
“What makes you have the illusion that ‘Lava Release is my only means’?”
Facing the thousands of madly surging curse mark black snakes, Uchiha Ikeizumi expressionlessly clapped his hands together.
“Wind Release…”
This was the A-rank ninjutsu he “blasted” out from Shimura Danzo.
“Vacuum Serial Great Spheres.”
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff—Suddenly, it was as if dozens of invisible giant cannons fired simultaneously in the narrow passage.
One by one, over one-meter-diameter semi-transparent “wind spheres” condensed to substantial form appeared out of thin air.
The wind spheres carried ear-piercing shrieks tearing the air, ruthlessly crashing into the black snake tide ahead!
Every “Vacuum Great Sphere” impact triggered a small storm!
The terror was not the direct impact force, but the ultra-high-speed vacuum wind blade turbulence formed after Wind Release was compressed to the extreme!
Shred!!!
The first wind ball fell into the snake horde core. In an instant, air within several meters radius centered on the impact point was instantly evacuated!
Dozens of ferocious black snakes didn’t even have time to wail; their iron-hard scales twisted and tore like paper, along with the ninja tools in their mouths, all squeezed and ripped by the invisible violent wind blades.
Ultimately ground into a mist of blood foam mixed with metal dust!
Flesh and blood flying couldn’t describe this instant disassembly terror!
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
Subsequent huge wind balls fell one after another, like plowing through, exploding bloody mists in the black snake tide.
Those mutant scales that could briefly resist lava high temperatures were fragile like thin ice under Wind Release’s extreme cutting and air pressure crushing.
The entire passage was filled with foul bloody stench and pulverized metal dust.
Like a purgatory slaughterhouse!
Orochimaru’s golden slit pupils suddenly contracted—not heartbroken over the snake horde loss, but one extremely tricky “Vacuum Great Sphere” after shredding all obstacles along the way…
Actually retained momentum with a shrill whistle straight at his face!
The Kusanagi Sword in his mouth slid out like a spirit snake, bringing slippery saliva, while its length quickly retracted to a controllable over one meter.
Orochimaru swung the sword at the huge wind sphere.
No earth-shattering collision; the condensed wind sphere was precisely split by Orochimaru’s Kusanagi Sword! The chaotic vacuum wind blades and airflow inside the halved wind sphere whistled past his body, cutting two deep gashes in the wall behind him.
“Hm?!”
The next second, Orochimaru’s feet suddenly sank into the ground. He immediately looked down to see the ground underfoot had turned into a muddy swamp at some point. Looking up, thousands of black snakes were also trapped in the swamp, struggling and thrashing inside.
“Wind Release and Earth Release ninjutsu… You’re actually this proficient too?”
In the instant Orochimaru’s mind was slightly distracted by the swamp underfoot.
An unprecedented terrifying heatwave and chakra fluctuation as if to boil the entire space erupted suddenly from Uchiha Ikeizumi’s direction!
And more terrifying than any previous time.
Rumble rumble rumble—
This Lava Release flood was like the first world-destroying breath spewed by an awakening sleeping volcano! No longer lateral impact, but with resolve to incinerate everything, violently surging skyward!
The crimson lava pillar pierced through countless reinforced concrete layers without hindrance; the human experimentation research base’s sturdy structure was like a paper toy before this pure heavenly disaster force.
The entire underground base shook violently, groaned, and disintegrated.
Huge metal beams twisted and snapped like noodles, alarm sounds drowned in the deafening collapse roars!
“What are you doing… Trying to destroy my life’s work?”
Orochimaru watched the heaven-destroying lava crimson pillar pierce into the clouds, even the thick cloud layer kilometers high dyed dark red.
Rolling thick smoke like a world-destroying pillar connecting heaven and earth.
Sulfur’s foul stench spread for several kilometers around.
The huge vibrations continued endlessly, rubble falling like raindrops into the mud swamp, splashing turbid mud. A slight ominous premonition in his heart made Orochimaru unable to stop looking up.
“Meteor…”
“Volcano.”
Not sure if it was an illusion, Orochimaru seemed to hear Uchiha Ikeizumi say a few short words amid the collapsing noise.
…
…
