'Hm?! Something's wrong! Terribly wrong!'
Hangetsu Hozuki finally sensed that ominous chakra fluctuation that made one's heart tremble, rapidly surging upward!
He could not wait any longer; killing intent exploded within his eyes as he raised his right hand without hesitation, his index finger aimed at that increasingly dangerous figure within the dense mist.
Water Gun Jutsu!
A secret technique passed down through generations of the Hozuki Clan. By shaping the hand like a pistol, a highly compressed water-release chakra was instantly fired from the tip of the index finger. Its penetrating power rivaled steel tools, while its speed far surpassed siege crossbows!
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
Several highly condensed liquid bullets that tore through the air with piercing screeches shot toward Fugaku Uchiha's head and heart in a triangular formation!
And at this very instant, Fugaku Uchiha suddenly raised his head!
The dense fog surrounding the area, capable of isolating both light and sound, seemed to lose all effectiveness at this moment, no longer able to block the eyes that had abruptly opened.
Within them, the original three tomoe patterns had completely disappeared, replaced by a strange design resembling a black curved triangular shuriken. At the outer edge of each of the three points was a tiny black dot.
It was eerie and beautiful, yet mysterious and ominous!
Mangekyo Sharingan!
The next moment, Fugaku Uchiha merely tilted his body slightly, as though he had already foreseen the trajectory, effortlessly avoiding the deadly water bullets.
Immediately afterward, his figure burst forward, charging straight into the depths of the dense mist without hesitation!
Hm?! Those eyes?!
Alarm bells rang wildly in Hangetsu Hozuki's heart as an unprecedented sense of crisis surged upward.
He hurriedly used the Hidden Mist Jutsu to rapidly change positions, but the pervasive fog now seemed to have lost its concealing effect.
He could clearly feel that the figure radiating an ominous aura was closing the distance between them with astonishing efficiency.
Boom!
A blazing fireball struck precisely at his next intended landing point as though it had predicted the future!
Hangetsu Hozuki dodged in a panic, the fireball brushing past his waist while the scorching heatwave burned painfully against his skin.
At the same time, more than a dozen kunai and shuriken followed like shadows, sealing off every possible angle of escape!
Hangetsu Hozuki's pupils contracted sharply as he immediately activated the Hozuki Clan's Hidden Jutsu, Liquefy Jutsu!
His body liquefied instantly, allowing most of the attacks to pass through harmlessly, but he was still a second too slow!
Puchi!
A blossom of blood bloomed within the mist. Despite liquefying in time, two shuriken still pierced deeply into his left arm before the transformation was fully completed!
Hangetsu Hozuki let out a muffled grunt while enduring the pain as he rapidly retreated while once more releasing the Hidden Mist Jutsu in an attempt to conceal himself again.
Yet that shadow-like figure still showed not the slightest hesitation, piercing through layers of fog as it pressed closer step by step.
The next several exchanges nearly became one-sided torment and humiliation.
Hangetsu Hozuki used every method at his disposal, Water Clone Jutsus to lure the enemy, Water Dragon Jutsus to counterattack, even attempting to maneuver around reef terrain, but every action felt as though it had already been written into the opponent's script.
Fugaku Uchiha always managed to appear one step ahead at the most crucial location, either forcing him back with Ninjutsu, harassing him with Taijutsu, or assaulting him with thrown weapons.
Wounds accumulated one after another across Hangetsu Hozuki's body.
"Run! Run as much as you like! But no matter how you run..."
Fugaku Uchiha's voice echoed through the dense mist. His tone no longer carried its usual calm restraint, but instead suppressed a madness and coldness on the verge of eruption.
"It's useless!"
"Because everything about you..."
"Has already been seen through by me!"
"Damn it! Can this guy really predict the future?!"
Hangetsu Hozuki was horrified, and as he desperately dodged, this terrifying thought uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.
Deep within the mist, Fugaku Uchiha's left eye suddenly widened. Blood vessels densely covered the eyeball, making it appear terrifyingly savage.
Visual Jutsu, Omoikane!
In mythology, Omoikane was the god who governed wisdom and strategy, renowned for unparalleled intelligence and extraordinary insight.
Legend has it that whenever the gods faced a crisis, Omoikane could gather the wisdom of all gods, analyze all phenomena, and formulate methods to break through the deadlock.
The effect of this Visual Jutsu was not future prediction, but ultimate analysis and deduction.
Once the Mangekyo Sharingan ability of the left eye is activated, Fugaku Uchiha's thought processing speed would rise to an inconceivable level.
All surrounding information, the slightest changes in wind sounds, the flow trajectories of water vapor, lingering traces of chakra fluctuations, even the friction sounds of clothing caused by enemy muscle contractions, would flood into his consciousness at speeds far beyond normal human comprehension.
These fragmented pieces of information were instantly systematized, organized, and connected, constructing an incomparably clear battlefield map.
Once information gathering was complete, deduction immediately began.
Like a top chess player instantly simulating dozens of future moves in their mind, he could deduce multiple possible developments from all current variables and lock onto the path with the highest probability.
It was precisely because he had witnessed four close companions sacrifice themselves to save him, and hated himself for failing to perceive the danger one step earlier, that Fugaku Uchiha's left eye awakened this Visual Jutsu capable of seeing through the situation.
Therefore, although the dense fog could obscure vision, it could not conceal the web of information woven from countless subtle movements.
Hangetsu Hozuki's location, intentions, and even his next action could not escape the deductions of Fugaku Uchiha's Omoikane.
"Not enough! Not enough!! Still not enough!!!"
Fugaku Uchiha roared madly within his heart.
Although he continuously inflicted wounds upon his opponent through the predictive power of Omoikane, the troublesome Liquefy Jutsu of the Hozuki Clan made it difficult for most attacks to inflict decisive damage.
"Power! I need power!! Even greater power!!!"
As though responding to the roar and yearning from the depths of its master's soul, his right eye, whose effect had remained unclear since awakening, suddenly erupted with tearing agony!
Fugaku Uchiha's right eye snapped wide open, and blood vessels instantly spread across the whites of his eye as a stream of pitch-black blood slowly flowed down from the corner.
At the point where his vision focused, a deep and eerie black flame capable of devouring all light ignited out of thin air!
Amaterasu!
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!"
An incomparably shrill scream suddenly erupted from deep within the mist!
"Damn it! What kind of flames are these?! What exactly is wrong with his Sharingan?!"
Hangetsu Hozuki's figure darted wildly through the dense fog.
At the critical moment, he once more activated the Liquefy Jutsu.
But how could the flames of Amaterasu be something ordinary Water Style could resist or extinguish?
Although he managed to preserve his life, his right arm, along with nearly half his body, had already completely vanished under the burning black flames, reduced to nothingness.
The remains of his body were charred and twisted, and the Liquefy Jutsu could no longer be maintained.
Even if he received the finest medical treatment possible at this moment, he was destined to spend the rest of his life crippled, and without treatment, death was only moments away.
"Mangekyo Sharingan! This is the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan!"
Amid unbearable pain and shock, a term buried deep within his memories flashed through Hangetsu Hozuki's mind like lightning.