"Earth Release: Mud Split."
Crack… CRASH!!!
The solid, thick "ceiling" of the underground cavern was split by an invisible giant blade, producing an overlapping, teeth-aching screech and a distant rumble.
A deep fissure spread forward and backward, cutting through over a hundred meters of soil, rock, and the roots of the vegetation above—revealing the clear sky.
"Earth Release: Rising Rock Platform."
At the same time, Orochimaru's technique completed. He pressed his hands to the ground, channeling chakra. The cavern floor carrying the three of them rumbled, rising rapidly along the split earth as if lifted by invisible hands.
"Ah, how hurtful."
Orochimaru maintained the technique, glancing teasingly at Hii Kōri beside him. His golden snake eyes held little amusement. "Haven't we become friends? Why say such hurtful things, Hii-kun?"
Even with his skill in Earth Release, lifting this scale of rock over a hundred meters was no small drain. But he knew if he didn't expend some chakra here, Hii Kōri would happily hit him with "the wolf's" technique.
"One thing is one thing. If our positions were reversed, Orochimaru-senpai, you wouldn't be comfortable letting me watch without expending anything either, would you?"
Having performed an even more extravagant Earth Release, Hii Kōri adjusted his state with a smile, answering Orochimaru's complaint.
"Fair enough. She is an Uchiha with an awakened Mangekyō Sharingan."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed briefly before settling into a knowing, dark smile.
The rock beneath them rose with a roar. The surroundings shifted from rock walls and soil back to sunlit forest. Only the circular stone platform—dozens of meters in diameter—remained, standing like an isolated island among the toppled trees.
"Cough… cough, cough…"
The girl, slammed into the wall and then back to the ground, tried to rise. But the violent shaking made her already dizzy state worse. She fell back onto the stone platform, coughing up a mouthful of congealed blood.
While being swung like a toy, the Sharingan's excellent dynamic vision had become a burden.
Even though she had quickly deactivated her Mangekyō, the brief vision of the world spinning had left her disoriented.
Her stomach, empty for centuries, cramped. Sour fluid rose, leaving a sharp taste in her mouth.
Her ears still rang. Her back ached where it had hit the wall.
She hadn't heard Hii Kōri's words clearly. But she was used to bloodshot eyes, and she could read lips.
Not an enemy? Clear-headed? In the end, aren't you just like those people—wanting my eyes, wanting to capture me, turn me back into a weapon for you to use?!
Reading Orochimaru's lip movements, bitterness rose in her heart, quickly transforming into purer, fiercer killing intent.
She raised her head. The shuriken-like pinwheel pattern reappeared in her crimson eyes. Bloody tears flowed from her left eye.
"Amaterasu!!!"
The inextinguishable black flames—capable of burning anything until nothing remained—ignited at the focal point of her gaze, engulfing Orochimaru's body.
The flames burned silently, as if consuming sound itself. In moments, all that remained was a patch of blackened ash, mixed with the surrounding rock and soil.
This was one of the ocular techniques implanted in her eyes by her "clan." A curse that had become her weapon.
With these inextinguishable black flames, she had burned countless powerful enemies on the battlefield. Now, this power would not betray her!
But just before the Amaterasu flames ignited, Hii Kōri—as if sensing something—had already dodged, narrowly avoiding the deadly focal point.
Seeing this, the girl didn't try to track him with her gaze. Chasing a Body Flicker user with eye movements limited by neck mobility was too demanding.
She gritted her teeth and activated the second technique engraved in her eyes—Kagutsuchi, named after the fire god, which allowed her to freely shape Amaterasu's flames.
Pouring out her ocular power, the lingering black flames suddenly came alive, forming a spiraling, several-meter-wide black fire tornado that then exploded outward!
Countless small black sparks scattered like petals in the wind, filling the surrounding space evenly, leaving no gaps to dodge through.
With no time to mourn Orochimaru's complete incineration, the Crimson of Agony—Hii Kōri—entered the fray!
Forced to stop and reveal himself, Hii Kōri raised several thin, semi-transparent barriers, layered like peeled onion skins with small gaps between them.
The black sparks touched the barriers, burning through them instantly before vanishing along with the barriers.
Using one thin layer after another to consume the incoming black sparks, Hii Kōri crouched low, reducing his target profile in the girl's field of vision, and charged again like a leopard.
Even without memories of his previous life, he had read records of several Mangekyō techniques in Uzumaki clan texts—including Amaterasu's effects and how to counter it.
These black flames burned everything—even water and other fire could be fuel. But when the fuel was exhausted, the flames would die.
Using multi-layered simple barriers as disposable shields to actively consume Amaterasu's power was undoubtedly the Uzumaki clan's best method against these inextinguishable flames.
Even if the user sustained the flames, the chakra cost of these thin barriers was far lower than the ocular power cost of the Mangekyō. In a battle of attrition, the barrier user had the advantage!
"Ha!"
But the girl had seen this countermeasure on the battlefield. She knew how to break it!
Quickly adjusting, she used Kagutsuchi again, gathering the scattered Amaterasu flames into a burning whip.
Controlling the black flame whip from a distance, she spun it into a vortex while forming the Tiger Seal, her chest swelling slightly.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!"
A series of fist-sized but highly condensed red fireballs shot from her mouth like a storm. Not particularly powerful individually, but when they passed through the black flame vortex, they became coated with the silent black flames—carrying Amaterasu as death-dealing missiles, raining down on Hii Kōri.
This was far more efficient and cost-effective than directly shaping the flames to attack.
The surrounding trees had already caught fire from scattered Amaterasu sparks, becoming an expanding black sea of flames. The airborne sparks still obstructed movement, and the coated Phoenix Flower fireballs fell like a meteor shower.
All of Hii Kōri's ground escape routes seemed sealed.
He raised several more solid barriers, holding off the incoming fireballs and sparks, briefly isolating the deadly black flames.
Amaterasu consumed the barriers instantly, blocking the girl's vision.
Since the flames ignited at the user's focal point, obstructing vision could indirectly prevent direct Amaterasu attacks.
Sensing trouble, the girl used Kagutsuchi again, trying to launch the black flames forward. But Hii Kōri had already taken the opportunity to release Iron Sand from his sleeve, riding an Iron Sand cloud through the burned barrier and rising lightly into the air.
"Remarkable…"
Crouching on the Iron Sand cloud, Hii Kōri looked down at the girl, his tone light and intrigued. "You're just a child, yet you've accumulated such rich combat experience… Hmm, the Warring States period must have been truly harsh."
"…"
Uninterested in his light remarks, the girl shaped the Amaterasu flames into countless arrows and fired them at Hii Kōri in midair.
If he dodged once, he could dodge again. Instead of precise Amaterasu strikes, flooding the area with shaped flames was more effective.
But this time, Hii Kōri didn't even try to dodge. His shadow swelled, swallowing the incoming black flame arrows, then sealed them within using the Fire Sealing Method.
"Or perhaps—since the Senju and Sarutobi sealed you so carefully—you are something special?"
Completely unbothered by the attack, Hii Kōri continued his light questioning.
The girl pressed her hand to her already aching left eye, trying to relieve the strain of overusing her ocular power. She looked up at him, floating in the air. Her eyes now held not only killing intent but also uncertainty.
Flying… not ordinary Wind or Earth Release. Iron Sand manipulation—I've never seen that. And that shadow…
Also, their tone and word choice… different from the Uzumaki ninja I knew…
"The Warring States period… what do you mean?"
She finally voiced her question, her voice hoarse.
"Hmm… how to explain…"
Faced with a question from a girl who looked about his students' age, Hii Kōri hesitated, thinking of the simplest way to answer.
But the girl, unstable and fresh from battle, had no patience. A few seconds of silence rekindled her distrust and impatience.
Stalling again, you evil Uzumaki?
She ground her bare foot into the soil, her red eyes flaring again.
"Since you won't tell me—then I'll see for myself!"
"Tsukuyomi!!!"
The third implanted ocular technique—Tsukuyomi—activated.
Hii Kōri felt his mind waver. The scene before him rippled like water disturbed by a stone. Then, he found himself in an infinite white void.
Everywhere he looked—white, flawless, soft light. Feather-light, yet heavy as the deep sea.
Then, like cracks in fine porcelain, black fissures spread across the white sky and earth, accompanied by an imagined crack crack sound.
White fragments fell, disappearing into deeper darkness. What emerged was a desolate, lonely beach. A lead-gray sky hung low. The air tasted of bitterness. Lifeless, ink-dark waves washed the shore in a monotonous rhythm—but no matter how they surged, the filthy color could not stain the pale sand.
The coast. Having lived in a coastal town, Hii Kōri found it a decent place for seclusion.
But in the girl's memory—shaped by her time as a weapon, leaving her prison only to kill—it was just this bleak scene.
"...Heh. Interesting~"
Hii Kōri watched the scenery
shift and gave a light applause. "It's like being at a theme park. Thrilling."
The moment he spoke, rusted chains—chilling from decades in the deep sea—appeared around him, binding him in place.
Then, the bitter tide that had been rhythmically washing the shore turned violent. A black wave dozens of meters high rose like a wall, crashing down on the chained Hii Kōri, as if to drown him.
"Does it hurt? Fear it! Despair!"
The girl's voice, thick with aggression, echoed in his ears. "This is my illusion space. I can create anything I want. I can make you taste every extreme sensation. Time here can stretch infinitely—a minute into a day, a year. I will torment you here until you willingly spill everything you know!"
Hii Kōri's response:
"Blub... blub..."
A few bubbles.
"...Tch."
Whether amused or enraged by the absurdity, the girl fell silent, her voice fading away.
***
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