Chapter 70: Outrageous Logic—Reversing the Killing Intent!
His words were spoken with such force that they carried tremendous impact!
Mangetsu's purple eyes widened slightly beneath his mask.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
The next moment, his expression hardened, fury blazing in his eyes as he punched Tsukasa square in the face.
WHAM!
Tsukasa—not only unfazed—actually laughed.
This proved he'd found an opening!
This rhetorical technique was the same one used by the old man Uchiha Setsuna before using his forbidden technique to self-destruct.
Seeing through Tsukasa's death wish, Setsuna had confidently extrapolated the logic behind his actions, forcibly attributing seemingly rational justifications to Tsukasa's behavior.
While those arguments
Were completely illogical, they'd still left Tsukasa speechless.
It was an utterly absurd theory, reverse-engineered from available intelligence.
And since Tsukasa had already confirmed from the original timeline that
Mangetsu would ultimately choose to follow Yagura to establish a new Kirigakure, and that once Yagura was manipulated, Mangetsu would brazenly join Zabuza's assassination attempt and stage a coup—
Then, using this conclusion as a foundation, he could craft rhetoric specifically designed to attack Mangetsu's psyche.
Shock his convictions, refute his resolve!
The outcome might not match reality, but as long as he struck a nerve, it would very likely create the perfect opening for Tsukasa to turn the tables!
Now, that opportunity had arrived!
In the brief gap before impact, Tsukasa had already prepared himself.
His face ferociously
Met the punch head-on, unflinching and unyielding, taking the full force with his face.
His right hand swiftly pulled a pouch of senbon from the storage seal on his left wrist. With
A flick of his hand,
Sixteen senbon needles shot out from blind spots, targeting Mangetsu's heart, eyes, and throat!
Tsukasa knew that Mangetsu, with his Hydrification Technique, was virtually immune to physical damage.
But that presumably required him to react in time.
Right now,
At point-blank range, with Hōzuki Mangetsu enraged by his words and caught off-guard by Tsukasa's insidious hidden weapon technique—senbon launched from a blind spot, completely unseen!
This move was a guaranteed kill!
Hesitation leads to defeat!
Witness the true assassination techniques of the shinobi arts!
[Ding!]
[You bravely counterattacked against Hōzuki Mangetsu, who despised your provocations!]
[Heart upgrade progress increased, currently: Water (96%)]
The notifications appeared, but Tsukasa didn't bother reading them, his eyes blazing as they locked onto Hōzuki Mangetsu.
Overcoming the strong while weak might sound unrealistic,
But in the shinobi world, anything is possible if you're willing to stake your life!
Earth Release: Earth Spear weakened by the Kirisame Technique, versus Water Release secret techniques caught by surprise.
Both were the shinobi world's premier defensive abilities,
So
Let's see which was more ruthless!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The senbon pierced through the air, aimed at vital points.
Just as Hōzuki Mangetsu's fist connected with Tsukasa's face, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
A tiny glint of white light suddenly flashed in his peripheral vision,
And he instantly realized he'd been ambushed by the same Uchiha who'd just called him a despicable villain.
When Hōzuki Mangetsu realized the same technique he'd used on Mei Terumi was being turned against him,
He couldn't help but feel a surge of frustration, wanting to curse,
"Damn it—who's the despicable one here?!"
Are all Uchiha this good at turning the tables?!
Without time to process this, he immediately activated his Water Release: Hydrification Technique at full power, partially liquefying the areas about to be struck by the senbon barrage.
Splash, splash, splash!
The senbon pierced through his watered body with momentum undiminished, soaring toward the dome and shattering the stained glass ceiling.
Though Hōzuki Mangetsu reacted quickly,
Four senbon still penetrated his mask through the eyeholes—two piercing straight through.
Blood gushed forth.
Mangetsu's left eye was destroyed, and the excruciating pain forced him to tear off his mask, covering his face and screaming in agony.
His remaining eye instantly erupted with terrifying killing intent!
Tsukasa's expression shifted—Crap!
This guy's really pissed now.
He immediately flung a shuriken with his other hand, wrapping wire around the pillars embedded in the hall. He grabbed Mei Terumi's slender waist, pulled the wire taut, and glided away, creating distance.
Once he landed again, he frowned.
In the hall,
The water created by Water Release: Kirisame had already risen to ankle-depth.
In this enclosed environment with all techniques except Water Release weakened,
None of his shuriken techniques, Earth Release jutsu, wire manipulation, or swordsmanship could inflict substantial damage against a vigilant Hōzuki Mangetsu possessing the Hydrification Technique.
However, his opponent could use the water on the ground for rapid movement while employing the Great Water Arm Technique to break through his defenses.
With both sides' abilities modified this way, Tsukasa alone wouldn't survive, let alone while protecting Mei Terumi.
If the future Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi died here,
It was foreseeable that
The Fourth Mizukage's Blood Mist policies would likely continue indefinitely.
Kirigakure might remain under Sharingan control.
At the Five Kage Summit on the eve of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kirigakure might deploy as an enemy agent.
Saving the world was already difficult enough for Naruto, but if a traitor backstabbed him at the crucial moment—
Who knew how drastically the future plot and ending would be altered?
If that happened, his death here might truly be meaningless.
Tsukasa's expression darkened at this thought, and he glared at Mei Terumi—whose psychological defenses were still crumbling beside him—and cursed:
"Damn it! Mei Terumi, you're completely useless!"
"What did you just say?! You jerk!"
Mei Terumi snapped back to awareness and glared at him in disbelief. But seeing Tsukasa's face swollen like a balloon, she couldn't help but suppress a laugh.
"Huh? You dare laugh at me?"
Tsukasa raised his ninja blade, pointing it at Hōzuki Mangetsu across from them.
"Now that you're awake, get ready to fight!"
"This guy's enraged by what I said. Don't you understand what that means?"
Mei Terumi's eyes widened at those words.
What had she just heard?
Tsukasa—this reckless hothead—actually wanted to fight alongside her?
Before this, no matter what kind of enemy appeared,
He'd clap his hands and raise barriers to isolate opponents, separating his teammates and starting a one-on-one deathmatch like some kind of self-destructive maniac.
"Hmph."
As if thinking of something amusing, a hint of playfulness rose on Mei Terumi's face.
She quickly grabbed Tsukasa's sleeve and pulled herself up, surveying the battlefield.
Reigniting her fighting spirit, she began analyzing the situation.
Tsukasa's words had obviously struck a nerve—otherwise Hōzuki Mangetsu wouldn't have reacted so violently.
This also meant that deep in his heart, there might truly exist those terrible convictions he'd been suppressing for years—longing to destroy everything and reduce Kirigakure to ruins.
This might be an opportunity!
End of Chapter 70
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