Chapter 88: Wind Release: Vacuum Blade
"Huh?"
Yakushi Nonō stood stunned for a brief moment before immediately reacting, her eyes widening in alarm: "Wait! Wait for me!"
With that urgent exclamation, she hurriedly got to her feet and followed Uchiha Kazuki out of the pharmacy.
The previously empty street was now completely deserted—everyone seemed to have been frightened away by the oppressive atmosphere. Three figures of varying heights stood across from them on the opposite rooftop: some crouching, some standing casually, some with arms crossed. They stared coldly at the two people emerging from the pharmacy, making absolutely no attempt to conceal their murderous intent.
When Yakushi Nonō finally saw the three figures clearly, her pupils constricted to pinpoints.
Like a biting winter wind, bone-chilling cold instantly surged up her spine, vertebra by vertebra, until it reached the crown of her head—making her feel as though she'd been plunged into an arctic abyss.
"They... they are..."
Yakushi Nonō's face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling uncontrollably: "The Seven Ninja Swordsmen... why are they here?!"
Hearing this reaction, Uchiha Kazuki touched his nose and coughed lightly twice: "They probably... followed me here."
"Damn it! Has our location been compromised?" Yakushi Nonō didn't think too deeply about it, immediately assuming he'd accidentally revealed their position, which had attracted the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Facing Kirigakure's most elite fighting force, she felt overwhelming despair washing over her: "My lord, I'll hold them off here! Please escape while you can!"
It wasn't that she possessed some noble self-sacrificing nature—nobody could truly be that altruistic, especially toward someone they'd just met moments ago.
But given the dire circumstances, she had no other choice!
Uchiha Kazuki was the messenger carrying the authenticated Root codes, making him far more important than her in both status and organizational value.
If Uchiha Kazuki died here, even if she somehow managed to survive, she would inevitably be purged by Konoha's ANBU as a security liability.
Rather than face that fate, she would use her own death to fight for some kind of future for those innocent children!
Yakushi Nonō drew her kunai with trembling hands and positioned herself resolutely in front of him, pleading desperately: "Please leave immediately—don't hesitate! I only ask that you treat those children well after I'm gone!"
Just as she steeled herself for this final sacrifice, a firm hand gently pressed against her shoulder, pulling her protectively behind him.
"Stand back. You won't need to lift a finger."
Uchiha Kazuki stepped forward confidently, his dark robes fluttering dramatically in the rising wind: "As for those children—you should return to Konoha and take care of them yourself."
His frame—not particularly imposing in size—somehow seemed like an immovable mountain to Yakushi Nonō at that critical moment.
Although there was no sun visible in the perpetually overcast sky, she felt as though warm sunlight was enveloping her entire being.
"Finished with your touching farewell?"
The three figures on the rooftop stared down coldly at him: "Don't worry—neither of you will escape alive today."
"Uchiha Kazuki, we've finally tracked you down!"
Mangetsu, half-crouching on the roof's edge, revealed a sinister sneer: "That guy's Shibuki—it's on you, isn't it?"
"Shibuki? Let me think for a moment."
Uchiha Kazuki pretended to ponder briefly, then responded with a mocking half-smile: "Oh yes, I remember now. But sorry—that piece of junk... I already threw it away."
"Arrogant Uchiha bastard. Keep talking while you still can."
Mangetsu's expression suddenly darkened dangerously, his eyes filling with bone-chilling killing intent. He slowly straightened up, gripping the hilt of the massive bandage-wrapped sword at his waist: "You didn't even bother concealing your movements, leaving such obvious tracks everywhere. I'll make you deeply regret your carelessness!"
"???"
Hearing the enemy's accusation, Yakushi Nonō's mind filled with confused question marks.
What did she just hear?
Didn't bother concealing his whereabouts and deliberately left obvious footprints the entire way?
So the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were able to track them down entirely because of this reckless idiot?
Her eye twitched involuntarily, her neck stiffly turning sideways to stare at Uchiha Kazuki with an incredulous expression—as if silently asking: Are you actually incompetent?
"I don't conceal my movements because there's absolutely no need."
Uchiha Kazuki explained with infuriating calmness: "Would you particularly care if a bunch of ants discovered your footprints?"
CRACK!
Visible veins bulged prominently on all three swordsmen's foreheads simultaneously.
"You're saying we're nothing but ants in your eyes?"
Mangetsu's expression turned absolutely ferocious, his eyes practically spitting flames: "Excellent! You've successfully enraged us, Uchiha Kazuki!"
BOOM!
Roof tiles shattered explosively as chakra whipped up a fierce gale.
The very next instant, Mangetsu—radiating intense killing intent—rushed forward like a hurricane. White bandages fluttered dramatically through the air as the legendary blade at his waist began emanating brilliant blue light.
"Hiramekarei—Release!"
The twin flat blades—shaped distinctly like flounder fish—unleashed a powerful concentrated burst of compressed air from their characteristic round holes.
In that single instant, the entire weapon erupted with a massive torrential outpouring of chakra. The legendary blade seemed to perfectly echo its wielder's battle intent, and their cultivated synchronization amplified Hiramekarei's destructive power several times over—creating a deafening sonic boom that split the air itself.
"Watch out! That's Hiramekarei!"
Yakushi Nonō's expression changed dramatically as she shouted an urgent warning: "It concentrates the user's chakra and releases it all at once in devastating attacks!"
RUMBLE—!!!
The entire street was instantly engulfed by the violent explosive impact, creating a massive destructive shockwave.
Surging air currents crashed outward in all directions like a tsunami. In the area centered directly on Mangetsu's position, surrounding stone pavement cracked and completely shattered. Visible ripples of force swept across the street, plunging everything into utter chaos.
Hiramekarei—wreathed in surging torrents of blue chakra—blasted a crater three full meters in diameter into the ground.
However, no body was visible within the smoking crater.
"Body Flicker Technique?" Mangetsu sneered after his devastating attack completely missed its target. His sharp gaze quickly locked onto a position not far away: "I remember now—the intelligence reports from our Iwagakure contact mentioned your Body Flicker Technique is exceptionally fast."
"Hahaha! Need our help yet, Mangetsu?"
The two men still standing casually on the rooftop sneered mockingly at this display: "Or should we just take over from here?"
"Shut up! I'm more than enough on my own!"
Mangetsu's face darkened with wounded pride as he coldly rejected his two companions' offer, stomping his foot forcefully against the ground once more.
BOOM!
Azure chakra surged forth explosively like a raging tsunami.
Compressed air spewed violently from Hiramekarei's round holes, the twin blades becoming wreathed in surging torrents of chakra as they unleashed continuous waves of devastating energy.
Wave after relentless wave—their combined destructive power resembled a tide capable of pulverizing solid rock, or a flood bursting through dam walls—crashing forward with absolutely unstoppable momentum.
WHOOSH!
A fierce gust of wind swept over the battlefield, causing Uchiha Kazuki's black robes to flutter and snap wildly.
"Die—Uchiha Kazuki!!!"
Mangetsu flicked his wrist with practiced expertise, gathering maximum concentrated chakra into Hiramekarei's twin blades before slamming them down with earth-shattering force.
Just as the legendary blades were mere inches from reducing him to minced flesh—
Uchiha Kazuki took a casual half-step forward. His right hand's five fingers bent slightly in a specific formation, and suddenly a piercing, high-pitched shrieking sound filled the air.
"Is that... the sound of compressed wind?"
The sharp, ear-splitting noise painfully stimulated his cerebral cortex, as if physically piercing through his eardrums.
Yakushi Nonō couldn't help but cover her ears in agony, barely managing to keep one eye open against the raging gale.
HISSSS—!
A terrifying concentrated windstorm roared wildly around Uchiha Kazuki's position.
The rapidly spinning vortex of air gathered in his right hand from different directional vectors on both sides simultaneously.
Like a master blacksmith forging a legendary weapon through countless precise hammer strikes—using the gathered wind itself as both furnace and hammer—constantly compressing and refining the air currents into an invisible blade nearly as thin as a single sheet of paper, appearing so fragile it might shatter at the slightest touch.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Uchiha Kazuki slowly raised his hand, firmly grasping the impossibly slender wind blade between his fingers, then swung it downward in one decisive motion.
SLASH!
The razor-thin blade—moving like a flash of pure light—sliced vertically downward from directly between Mangetsu's eyes.
Mangetsu froze completely, his entire body locked rigidly in place. Hiramekarei—still releasing residual chakra—seemed to emit a mournful wail as its brilliant azure glow gradually faded into nothing.
Then, to everyone's absolute horror, an extremely thin red line began slowly spreading downward from the center of Mangetsu's forehead.
SPURT!
Bright crimson blood suddenly erupted like a geyser, spraying directly along the precise path of the cut.
Only in that final moment did the thought manage to form in Mangetsu's dying consciousness: "Am I... dead?"
THUD!
His bisected body collapsed heavily onto the blood-soaked ground, vital fluids gushing out in torrents.
"Hmm, still somewhat imprecise."
Uchiha Kazuki adjusted his glasses with his index finger, his eyes remaining perfectly calm and composed—though seemingly frowning slightly in mild dissatisfaction: "Applied a bit too little force. I was actually planning to cut you cleanly in half."
[End of Chapter 88]
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