Chapter 264: Absolute Violence
[King of Life-Killing Species (Unparalleled Rarity): Harvest over 1,000,000 human lives. Progress: 317/1,000,000]
[You have killed the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning. Your reputation in Kumogakure is now fixed at: Hatred (Locked 100/100).]
[You will be continuously hunted by the Kumogakure forces in this world.]
[Satsui no Hado has increased slightly. Current: Lv3 (576/1200)]
...
"Ha, haha~ Hahaha!"
Large chunks of muscle on Kaito Shirogane's arm were torn, but they were already healing rapidly. He looked at the destruction he had wrought—just by using brute force to compress sand into a rock and throwing it, he had destroyed the Daimyo's residence and killed hundreds of people.
He threw his head back and laughed maniacally at the full moon. It was a genuine joy overflowing from the bottom of his heart.
It was like a child picking up a stick for the first time, swinging it casually, and smashing a beautiful flower by the roadside into pieces. That feeling of realizing one held the power to dictate the life and death of other things... it was intoxicating.
This was pure strength, unadulterated by any energy.
Under this full moon, Kaito Shirogane felt that if he encountered the werewolf from the Jujutsu Kaisen world again, he could blast it to pieces with a single frontal punch.
This was the [Efficiency] of the Second Tier. This extreme efficiency, combined with Kaito Shirogane's terrifying physique, produced an unprecedentedly horrific effect.
Listening to the panicked sounds of the crowd in the Land of Lightning's Royal Capital, many samurai and civilians were trying to save people, while some stationed ninjas were trying to locate the enemy.
"Let's go. It's time for us to make this country submit..."
Kaito Shirogane's tone was slightly raised with excitement. It sounded like a drunkard who had had too much, or a lecher who had obtained a beauty. That sense of relief and comfort from venting one's desires, with every pore open, was palpable to both Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi.
The two watched the purple aura almost burning around Mercenary Tao. That unknown energy, which didn't belong to Chakra, was clearly related to slaughter.
He strengthened himself through slaughter. He pleased himself through slaughter...
Hoo~
Itachi lowered his eyelids and exhaled softly. He confirmed once again in his heart that Mercenary Tao was a complete anomaly, a monster in human skin, completely devoid of normal human ethics.
But then he thought, countless heroes had appeared in the ninja world, yet none could end the millennia of war. Perhaps humanity needed to be surrounded by such monsters to truly let go of greed and stop fighting.
Orochimaru's gaze was even more sinister. Mercenary Tao's attack had shown him the fragility of humans with incomparable clarity. Even ninjas, even a country's Daimyo standing at the pinnacle of power...
Targeted by a guy like this, a rock thrown from two kilometers away shattered the Daimyo's residence...
This completely stripped human life of its weight and power.
Moreover, he felt absolutely no moral consideration from the other party for taking so many lives.
Many ninjas would be unbearable when they first killed; they would vomit. After killing more and getting used to it, they would find various reasons to absolve themselves: it was a mission, ninjas must complete missions, those killed were enemies... And some bloodthirsty people would grow to like killing, enjoying the thrill of abuse and the pain of the dead.
But Mercenary Tao was different. Orochimaru could feel that the other party was simply rejoicing in his own strength.
Mercenary Tao seemed to not consider the guys he killed as humans at all. Or rather, he didn't consider himself human.
Therefore, killing so many people didn't cause any moral fluctuations due to [Empathy], good or bad.
Perhaps if that rock had been thrown at a mountain and collapsed it, he would have shown the same exhilarated smile.
Kaito Shirogane noticed their strange looks and turned back to look down at them.
At this moment, Kaito Shirogane was over three meters tall. His exploding muscles were almost bursting out of his clothes, and his oppressive presence was extremely terrifying.
Both Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi subconsciously assumed combat stances in alert.
Kaito Shirogane sneered.
"Do you know why ninjas have always been driven to wage war, remaining like this for a thousand years?"
"Because... loyalty?"
"No. It's because you have no self-awareness as transcendents."
Kaito Shirogane turned around and walked barefoot toward the Royal Capital built on the distant cliff.
Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi followed behind. Hana Hiranaka and Danzo were placed on the backs of the two summoning beasts.
Kaito Shirogane's voice grew louder and louder, starting to echo like thunder between the cliffs and valleys. Even the clouds and mist seemed to be agitated by the immense sound.
"You possess power, yet lack the spirit to command it."
"What is transcendence? To transcend mundane shackles! Everything in the world changes at my wave!"
"Power controls strength?"
"No! Only absolute strength can give birth to absolute power!"
Uchiha Itachi listened as Mercenary Tao began his "corruption" again. He couldn't stop the content from entering his brain, and he began to ponder its rationality.
Absolute strength... gives birth to absolute power... Can absolute power bring absolute peace...?
Kaito Shirogane's pupils focused, looking at the ninjas maintaining order above the chaotic Daimyo's residence in the far distance. They had also heard Kaito Shirogane's voice and were looking this way, shouting for others to pay attention.
Kaito Shirogane raised his right hand. Intense Satsui no Hado began to condense under his palm.
The Hado (Wave Motion) was a manifestation of Qi, but more unstable and with a more violent reaction.
The intense wave rotated and condensed continuously, finally forming a wave sphere about thirty centimeters in diameter. Because of the intense compression, it became increasingly unstable, emitting an ear-piercing screech.
The sound was extremely sharp, almost causing pain to the eardrums.
Kaito Shirogane curled his fingers, still compressing this wave sphere. He didn't fire it with both hands as a Hadoken like usual.
Since he understood that the shackle between the Second Tier and the Third Tier was energy intensity and energy control, Kaito Shirogane naturally wouldn't relax his control over energy.
Compared to the powerful but difficult-to-leverage soul power in his bloodline, Qi and Hado were much easier for Kaito Shirogane, a constantly training martial artist, to control.
He felt the intense power pulsing under his palm. The terrible energy contained within, if lost control, was enough to completely destroy an area of a dozen meters.
Seeing Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi only on alert but not leaving his side, Kaito Shirogane suddenly had a strange feeling. Even two such powerful ninjas, guys who could casually take hundreds of lives, couldn't perceive his terror now.
This was the difference on a biological level. Although Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi both mastered the energy of Chakra, and from the perspective of energy domination were even stronger than him...
From the perspective of biological attributes, these two were too fragile. Even Uchiha clan members, who counted as having the bloodline of the Otsutsuki clan, were only superior to ordinary people on a physical level.
Whether it was the sense of danger or the resistance to damage, they were far from comparable to him.
To put it bluntly, although everyone was a human-species creature with a human appearance, inside, they were already worlds apart.
Screech!
The intense screech sounded like it was about to explode. Blazing clouds and smoke continuously emitted from under Kaito Shirogane's palm.
In front of the distant Daimyo's residence, a team had already gathered. Several ninjas turned into black shadows, jumping from the cliff at high speed to approach the group. Several others stood ready, hands prepared to form seals at any moment.
The wave under Kaito Shirogane's right hand had now shrunk to less than ten centimeters. The frequency and amplitude of the vibration were extremely exaggerated. Kaito Shirogane felt like he was holding an already exploded bomb, with terrifying impact force constantly scurrying under his palm.
Finally wearing a cruel smile, he pushed his right hand toward the Land of Lightning's Royal Capital, toward the position where those ninjas were forming a formation.
Vmm~
The air instantly caved in. The next moment, emitting a dense wave, the Satsui no Hadoken, blurring the vision, broke through the air.
The Lightning Style ninjas standing before the shattered Daimyo's residence wore exquisite robes. Seeing the purple light light up in the distance, followed by the terrible whistling sound in the air...
As ninjas adept at Lightning Style, they knew very well that some extremely high-level Lightning Style ninjutsu, inducing lightning, would also cut the air and cause similar screeching.
This sound often represented extreme danger!
Over a dozen people formed seals together.
[Lightning Style: Sixteen Pillar Bind]!
This was a special Lightning Style ninjutsu combined with Earth Style barrier techniques. It was usually used to defend against or hinder the movement of Tailed Beasts when facing a rampage.
Accompanied by intense lightning, walls like refined steel rose up, blocking in front of everyone.
Pfft~
Under Kaito Shirogane's smiling gaze, the dense Satsui no Hadoken crashed into the barrier raised by the Lightning Style. The next moment, the steel-like walls silently caved in. As the Satsui no Hado impacted, the intensely compressed energy within it instantly began to diffuse completely.
Incandescent white light erupted from the dense purple light, instantly covering all other light.
BOOM!
Orochimaru raised his hand to shield his eyes, blocking the intense light. Then came the terrible explosion sound and shockwave.
Huge fireworks erupted from the cliff of the Land of Lightning's Royal Capital, completely drowning out the terrified screams.
Swoosh, swoosh, pfft~
Several swift figures carrying flashing lightning instantly appeared behind the three of them. One held a kunai accompanied by lightning, instantly piercing through Orochimaru's neck.
Another slashed at Uchiha Itachi, whose eyes were still looking at the explosion, with a lightning longsword. However, the three tomoe in Uchiha Itachi's pupils rotated slightly, and his figure seemed to blur for an instant.
Clang!
He had drawn his sword at some point, accurately blocking the opponent's blade. At the same time, his three-tomoe Sharingan looked indifferently into the opponent's eyes. The brown-skinned ninja wearing a Kumogakure forehead protector felt his heart sink upon seeing those eyes.
Bad news. It's an Uchiha...
Immediately, the image of crows taking flight appeared before his eyes. The next moment, a sharp blade pierced his throat.
The person who appeared behind Kaito Shirogane was muscular, wrapped in lightning, clearly a master of Nintaijutsu (Ninja Taijutsu). With a tap of his foot, amidst the shattering ground, his figure disappeared again behind Kaito Shirogane, who was half-turning his head.
This muscular Kumogakure Jonin wearing sunglasses held his palm like a knife, appearing abruptly in front of Kaito Shirogane. As his hand-knife slashed horizontally, the air was instantly cut, and the lightning seemed to turn into a silver blade light.
Thud!
At the end of the blade light was a huge palm.
Kumogakure Jonin Odura only felt his hand-knife, capable of splitting mountains and cracking rocks, slashing into a diamond. Amidst the near-shattering of his hand bones, his strength was like a clay ox entering the sea.
Kaito Shirogane's left hand gripped the opponent's arm, which was overly slender in his hand now. Then he turned and smashed this muscular ninja onto the ground.
Bang!
The sounds of the ground and human bones shattering rang out simultaneously.
Bang!
Pfft!
Like a piece of rotten meat, in the face of overly terrible brute force, even a body enhanced by Nintaijutsu shattered instantly, leaving only a twisted arm held in Kaito Shirogane's hand.
[You have killed Kumogakure Jonin Odura. Obtained 1000 Dimensional Points.]
[You have killed Kumogakure Special Jonin...]
[You have killed...]
Pfft!
The ninja, horrified by Odura's brutal killing, didn't notice that the Orochimaru he had killed turned into a snake. Behind him, Orochimaru appeared silently, opening his mouth to spit out a large snake that instantly bit his throat. As toxins were injected in an instant, the remaining ninja twitched twice and went silent.
"Everyone of the Land of Lightning, I am the one who just killed your Daimyo. Now, I will give you a choice..."
"Submit, or die."
(End of Chapter)
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter