Chapter 142: The Existence of Shinobi is This World's Greatest Mistake
Sawai wanted to intervene but didn't know whom to help—until one Cloud ninja had his chest split open. No blood sprayed out. Only densely packed pale threads drifted forth. Only then did he find his opening. He charged forward with a hand-blade strike, severing the head clean off.
This chaotic melee erupted hastily and ended swiftly.
After several breaths, four Cloud ninja corpses lay on the ground. The seven monsters constructed from white threads were all eliminated. Their remains dissipated like smoke in the blink of an eye.
A Cloud ninja, still shaken, gasped, "What kind of monsters were those?"
Sawai said nothing, but his solemn expression sufficiently revealed his inner turmoil.
Those seven things masquerading as Cloud ninja were indeed genuine monsters. They possessed chakra signatures completely identical to the originals, the same combat methods. Unlike fragile, easily shattered clones, their durability was extremely high. Moreover, they clearly felt no pain, thus displaying exceptional ferocity in combat.
If not for Sawai—this massive variable interfering with the battle's direction—the confrontation between the seven Cloud ninja and the seven monsters impersonating them would most likely have resulted in the monsters' victory.
Even with Sawai's interference, they'd still paid with four lives. Only three survived.
At this moment, one person instinctively spoke. "Speaking of which, why wasn't there a monster disguised as Captain?"
This question was likewise one Sawai contemplated. Why had no monster impersonated him? Were there coincidentally only seven monsters hiding here? Or could they not replicate his appearance?
His mind suddenly flashed to those threads that had tried approaching him earlier but were deflected by the lightning wreathing his body. He looked sharply at the three surviving Cloud ninja. "Did any of you see those white threads earlier?"
Two of them blinked, their faces blank.
But the third widened his eyes, speaking hurriedly. "I saw thread like spider silk penetrate my arm. But the situation was too chaotic then, and I felt nothing. Before I could pay attention, it disappeared. I thought it was my imagination."
Hearing this answer, Sawai took a deep breath. "These monsters impersonating you might be connected to those white threads. The threads tried approaching me but were deflected by the lightning wreathing my body. Perhaps that's why no monster impersonating me appeared."
One Cloud ninja frowned tightly. "So where did these monsters come from?"
Sawai glanced somewhat helplessly at this subordinate who didn't know how to think—or had no brains at all. Without courtesy, he said, "Do you even need to think about it? Besides us, who else is here?"
The Cloud ninja who'd asked the stupid question had a sudden realization. He instinctively shouted, "That damned red-eyed brat!"
Watching his subordinate discover this obvious fact like he'd discovered a new continent, Sawai's heart filled with helplessness. Best not bring brainless idiots like this out next time. Of course, the prerequisite was this idiot surviving to return to the village.
Just as Sawai's mind contemplated the future, an ice-cold voice—as though drifting from an ice cavern—reached their ears.
"The ones who deserve to die are you bastards!"
The instant the words fell, surrounding trees exploded violently. Wooden fragments shot forth at extreme speed. The three Cloud ninja were all struck by this dense scattering attack. They immediately fell like three rag dolls. Looking at the vast bloodstains, one knew all three died thoroughly.
Sawai's expression didn't change. His subordinates' deaths triggered no emotional fluctuation.
His body bore no wounds either. The earlier exploding wood fragments couldn't injure his flesh—tough enough to withstand kunai stabs. Moreover, his eyesight and reflexes were excellent. Swinging his hand-blade, he shattered all approaching wood fragments.
He stood in place, staring fixedly at the pale yellow Susanoo that emerged through broken trees. Uchiha Tatsuhata's figure stood within Susanoo, his arms holding his younger brother Uchiha Torajiro's already cold corpse.
Sawai had a realization. Then his face showed a savage smile. "Looks like you two are... brothers? What a shame! If I'd known you were brothers earlier, I'd have left him with one breath to say some words before killing him!"
He was provoking Uchiha Tatsuhata, wanting to enrage him into losing rationality.
Then he'd find an opportunity to finish off this Uchiha brat.
He still held tremendous confidence in himself. He hadn't retreated due to the extraordinary methods Uchiha Tatsuhata displayed. He was confident he could handle this young Uchiha brat.
Sawai's provocation succeeded. For Uchiha Tatsuhata—a brother-obsessed man who'd lost his brother—his younger brother was the most untouchable reverse scale. Whoever dared touch it would pay the price. Moreover, Sawai was the murderer who'd killed Torajiro!
"You won't die pleasantly. I guarantee it."
Uchiha Tatsuhata, holding his brother Torajiro's corpse, made this declaration.
The next instant, Sawai struck preemptively. He burst forth with extreme speed, instantly rushing before Susanoo. He deployed the Lightning Release taijutsu Heavy Flow Violent, using his elbow to viciously strike Susanoo.
Amid crisp cracking sounds, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the pale yellow Susanoo's ribs—like bulletproof glass suffering a heavy blow. Sawai's face showed a smile.
This big thing certainly looked frightening and indeed possessed extraordinary hardness, but ultimately wasn't indestructible. As long as his destructive power was great enough, he could likewise shatter this big thing.
However—
He made a mistake.
Because the pale yellow Susanoo had captured too much of his attention, he forgot his subordinates had all perished. He forgot the blood-written lesson: when facing an Uchiha alone, never directly meet their Sharingan's gaze.
He inadvertently made eye contact with Uchiha Tatsuhata's crimson eyes—within them, pitch-black elongated curved blade patterns appeared so mysterious and bewitching, filled with an indescribable soul-stealing beauty.
Just like that, Sawai maintained his Heavy Flow Violent attack posture, standing motionless in place like a sculpture.
Quietly, the lightning pervading his entire body disappeared. From the palm of Uchiha Tatsuhata's right hand—the one holding his brother's corpse—emerged fine, dense white threads like tentacles. This time, they easily entered Sawai's body, circulated once, then withdrew.
Immediately after, more white threads surged from his palm, intertwining together in midair. In the blink of an eye, they sketched a humanoid outline. As facial features and physique became clear, one could see it was unmistakably Sawai's appearance.
Finally, after weaving a pair of lively eyes in the eye sockets, this woven Sawai immediately "came alive." Lightning suddenly wreathed his entire body like armor. He took one stride before the real Sawai, swinging his hand-blade to easily break both of Sawai's arms.
Snap!
Uchiha Tatsuhata snapped his fingers.
Sawai, drowning helplessly in genjutsu, suddenly awoke. His pupils filled with terror and unease. Especially seeing another version of himself before him—worse still, the severe pain from both arms made cold sweat pour down.
In just a brief instant, relying on what he considered a sufficiently clever brain, he sorted out the current situation. He'd fallen into genjutsu. Uchiha Tatsuhata seized the opportunity to create a monster disguised as him. For the purpose of torturing him, rather than directly killing him, his arms had been broken.
Escape! He must escape now!
Having grasped the situation, Sawai felt grateful he'd broken free from genjutsu control before being tortured to death by Uchiha Tatsuhata, giving himself a chance to survive. As for the possibility Uchiha Tatsuhata had voluntarily released the genjutsu... he didn't even consider it. Because if that were true, it meant no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape Uchiha Tatsuhata's grasp. So there was no need to think in that direction at all.
Lightning blazed intensely from Sawai's feet. He suddenly bolted toward the northeast.
However—Heavy Flow Violent!
The fake Sawai deployed this Lightning Release taijutsu technique, viciously striking his elbow against the fleeing Sawai's back. It directly broke Sawai's spine, making him fall to the ground like a maggot.
What awaited Sawai next was slow torture. Though Sawai considered himself a tough guy, when he truly tasted this terrible treatment, his heaven-shaking wails and shrill screams gradually fell from high-pitched to barely audible.
At this time, Uchiha Tatsuhata stepped forward. He looked down at Sawai—like mud, his entire body except his head no longer having any intact flesh. He asked coldly, "Tell me, what's your purpose infiltrating Konoha's position? Why did you hunt Torajiro and his squad?"
His crimson eyes again met Sawai's murky, dim gaze.
In an instant, Sawai was dominated by Uchiha Tatsuhata's ocular power.
His expression wooden, he opened his mouth and answered, "I was ordered to come abduct Uchiha clan ninja. Uchiha Torajiro was the prey targeted by this operation."
Uchiha Tatsuhata's jaw muscles bulged. He exerted all his strength restraining himself from kicking Sawai to pieces. He continued asking, "Why do this? What are you abducting Uchiha clan ninja for?"
"Because we're conducting research. Research on the Uchiha clan's Sharingan. Research on all bloodline limits from other villages we can get our hands on."
"Damn it!"
Uchiha Tatsuhata's chest heaved violently. After quite a while, he calmed down and asked again, "Intruding into Konoha's position like this—aren't you afraid of not making it back?"
"Not afraid. Because someone in Konoha is cooperating with us. They want to eliminate the Uchiha clan but find it inconvenient to act themselves, so they entrusted this matter to us. Without Konoha providing intelligence, we couldn't possibly locate Uchiha clan ninja so accurately."
"Who? Who in Konoha is cooperating with you?"
"Konoha's Shinobi of Darkness—Shimura Danzo. Of course, he's not personally at the front lines. I even heard he apparently already lost in Konoha's internal political struggle. But the forces he left behind at this front line are still quite substantial."
Bang!
Sawai's head was kicked to pieces by Uchiha Tatsuhata using all his strength. Skull fragments mixed with brain matter scattered in a fan shape across the ground. The headless corpse completely collapsed to the earth.
Uchiha Tatsuhata stood in place. The pale yellow Susanoo disappeared.
The next second, the white outer garment on his body squirmed, gradually inflating like a balloon being pumped with air, becoming three-dimensional. It detached from Uchiha Tatsuhata's body, transforming into White Zetsu's appearance.
This White Zetsu spoke up. "Hey, Tatsuhata, what's next? Avenge your brother? Let's go kill that Shimura Danzo guy! And the Cloud ninja side too—they experimented on your Uchiha clan. Kill them for revenge!"
He clamored, instigating Uchiha Tatsuhata to take revenge.
However—
"Not enough!"
"?"
White Zetsu blinked in surprise. "What's not enough?"
"Killing Shimura Danzo, killing the Cloud ninja—none of it's enough. Far from enough. They killed Torajiro, but it's not only them. What killed Torajiro was the Five Great Shinobi Villages. It's this shinobi world that never ceases warring!"
Uchiha Tatsuhata gazed with those crimson eyes at his brother's peaceful face. His heart ached as though sliced by knives. Suffocating despair coiled around his heart. He murmured, "None of this should be like this. The existence of shinobi is this world's greatest mistake. That old bastard Uchiha Madara only speaks mad ravings, but one thing he said was correct—this utterly terrible shinobi world no longer has any need to continue existing!"
White Zetsu stared blankly as Uchiha Tatsuhata found a storage scroll from Uchiha Torajiro's corpse and sealed Torajiro's body within. For a moment, he was actually speechless. The inducement techniques Black Zetsu-sama taught him had no use at all. Uchiha Tatsuhata had voluntarily embarked on the path Black Zetsu-sama desired.
He stammered for quite a while before saying, "Tatsuhata, what you're saying is a bit hard to understand. I don't get you humans' affairs. But generally speaking, we're going to avenge your brother, right?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata glanced at White Zetsu and shook his head, too lazy to waste words with this brainless thing. He said, "Let's go, Abu. We're finding Uchiha Madara. I want to hear how he plans to destroy this utterly terrible shinobi world and create a new world where everyone has a beautiful future."
The White Zetsu named Abu hurriedly agreed. "Okay!"
Speaking, he voluntarily transformed like clothing, wrapping around Uchiha Tatsuhata's body. He clamored, asking, "By the way, Tatsuhata, what was that technique you used earlier? Those threads you released? Is it your Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular jutsu?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata didn't answer. He only rebuked, "Less chattering. Let's move out."
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