Chapter 272: The Fifth's Arrival
The moment Uchiha Akira materialized inside the hidden, damp cavern—the secret base of the Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village) resistance—Mei Terumī's heart couldn't help but quicken violently.
[His chakra… it's overwhelming. And those eyes…]
"He's… so handsome…"
Mei Terumī's cheeks involuntarily flushed slightly. She had a moment of acute, inappropriate infatuation, a brief wave of entirely absurd thoughts that swept through her mind.
Just as Mei Terumī's focus wavered, a furious, warning shout sliced through the tension!
"WHO are you?!"
Ao's figure instantly darted forward, placing himself rigidly between the beautiful female leader and the sudden, silent intruder.
Ao's loud shout instantly brought Mei Terumī back to her senses.
She bit her lip hard, the sharp, intense pain pulling her out of her ridiculous, infatuated state.
[Damn it! What was I just thinking?! Focus, Mei! This man is a Kage-level threat!]
"Ao-senpai… Lady Mei…"
Chōjūrō's timid, nervous voice sounded. He was already gripping the hilts of the twin swords strapped to his back, his fear palpable.
The atmosphere in the cavern instantly froze to an icy, absolute point.
The dozen or so other Kirigakure Ninja of the resistance—veterans and rebels—also drew their weapons, forming a desperate semi-circle, their faces grim as they faced this mysterious, utterly foreign enemy.
Facing this tense, highly volatile atmosphere, Uchiha Akira's expression remained unchanged. He observed them all with cool, analytical detachment.
Akira's gaze passed over the cautious Ao and the terrified Chōjūrō. He looked directly at Mei Terumī, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"You. Are you their leader?"
Mei Terumī's heart tightened in her chest. The opponent had seen through her carefully maintained subordinate position at a single, effortless glance!
"Who exactly are you, sir?"
Mei Terumī forced herself to calm her breathing. She adopted a façade of composure and asked in a deep, steady voice.
"Breaking into our secret base, using a high-level space-time ninjutsu… what is your intention?"
"Who I am, you will soon know." Uchiha Akira smiled faintly, an infuriatingly self-assured gesture.
"As for my purpose…"
He let the silence stretch for a moment, letting the tension build, letting the Kirigakure ninja brace for any threat.
"It's very simple."
"From today onwards, the entire Kirigakure will be under my command."
This single sentence instantly made everyone present's minds go blank. A loud, shocked buzzing sound filled their heads.
[How arrogant was this?!]
[A strange ninja, breaking into the heart of the Hidden Mist, telling them he wanted to take over the entire Village?!]
"What are you… talking nonsense about?!"
Chōjūrō, pushed past his usual timid fear by the sheer audacity of the statement, was incomparably furious.
"This is the Kirigakure! It's one of the Five Great Ninja Villages! It's not a place for you to run wild!"
Chōjūrō roared. His anger overriding his caution, he suddenly completed the necessary hand seals!
He drew the twin swords from his back—Hiramekarei (ヒラメカレーイ)!
[Inorin's Note: Hiramekarei (Twin Swords) is one of the legendary Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist. It is capable of storing and emitting large amounts of chakra to alter its shape, often into a hammer or sword.]
"Chōjūrō, don't be reckless! Stop!"
Mei Terumī's face changed drastically. She quickly spoke, trying to stop the inexperienced young man.
But it was already too late!
Chōjūrō, whose head was clouded by reckless anger, had already completed the charge!
"Hiramekarei: Release!"
Buzz—!
The two thick blades of Hiramekarei were instantly covered by a massive surge of blue chakra. The chakra rapidly connected the blades, forming a gigantic, glowing chakra hammer that pulsed with terrifying, destructive light!
"Die, invader!"
Chōjūrō roared, raising the giant chakra hammer, which was even larger and heavier than his small body, with both hands, and brought it down on Uchiha Akira with all his might! The air screamed in protest!
Ao, beside him, instantly tensed, his Byakugan staring intently at Uchiha Akira. He was ready to launch his own defense or attack, but he waited for the hammer to land.
Just as the giant hammer was a foot away from striking Uchiha Akira—
The space directly in front of Akira suddenly, violently twisted and shimmered.
The next instant, Uchiha Akira's figure vanished completely into thin air.
Hiraishin no Jutsu. (飛雷神の術, Flying Thunder God Technique)
[Inorin's Note: This is the signature space-time Ninjutsu of the Second and Fourth Hokage. It allows instantaneous teleportation to pre-marked locations, or in this case, direct high-speed short-distance shifting.]
"What?!"
"Disappeared?! How is that possible?!"
Chōjūrō's immense chakra hammer heavily, uselessly, smashed into the empty spot where Uchiha Akira had just been standing.
BOOM!!!
A deafening bang! The entire cavern shook violently.
A terrifying, deep crater, several meters in diameter, was forcefully smashed into the hard ground. Countless crushed gravel and dust, mixed with a violent blast of compressed air, splattered wildly in all directions!
The attack missed!
Chōjūrō's heart instantly plummeted to rock bottom. He knew he had failed.
"It's over, Chōjūrō."
An indifferent, cold voice sounded, not from the front, but right next to Chōjūrō's ear.
Bang!!!
Chōjūrō was sent flying by a punch from Uchiha Akira, who had instantly repositioned behind him. The light in Chōjūrō's eyes instantly scattered, and his consciousness plunged into endless darkness before he even hit the ground.
Uchiha Akira's seemingly ordinary punch—the kind he used to destroy puppets—contained unimaginable, concentrated physical power.
Chōjūrō's entire body was launched backward, a mere ragdoll.
The massive chakra covering Hiramekarei instantly dissipated. The heavy twin swords also clanged as they fell uselessly onto the stone ground.
All of this happened in a flash of lightning.
From Uchiha Akira's initial disappearance to his reappearance, and then to his final punch sending Chōjūrō flying, the entire process took only a few rapid breaths!
It was so fast that most of the dozen people present hadn't even realized what had happened! They were still bracing for the hammer's impact!
"Chōjūrō!"
Mei Terumī let out a cry of surprise, her voice sharp with shock.
Ao reacted the fastest. He extended his arms, trying desperately to catch the flying body of Chōjūrō.
"Ugh!"
The moment Ao's arms touched Chōjūrō's body, a terrifying, unimaginable residual force surged through him, making his veteran ninja hands go numb!
But that wasn't all!
That terrifying force didn't weaken at all! It carried both Ao and Chōjūrō's bodies, continuing their rapid trajectory backward!
Boom—!!!
A deafening roar.
Ao and Chōjūrō crashed heavily, violently, into the hard rock wall dozens of meters away.
The entire cavern shook violently again, groaning under the force.
Countless rubble and dust fell rustling from the ceiling.
On the rock wall, a huge, human-shaped indentation was forcefully smashed into the stone. Spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly in all directions, radiating from the point of impact.
Mei Terumī and the others were all stunned into silence by this display of absolute power.
With just one strike.
Ao, an Elite Jōnin of the Kirigakure who wielded the Byakugan and was known for his sensory skills.
And Chōjūrō, one of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen, wielding the powerful "Hiramekarei."
Both were completely defeated, crushed, without any ability to fight back.
They didn't even have the qualification to make the opponent truly commit to an attack.
Mei Terumī stood still, her body trembling slightly, a cold dread replacing her brief infatuation.
"Who… exactly are you?"
Mei Terumī was tense, chakra gathering in her mouth and lungs, ready to fight to the death with her unique elemental nature.
Uchiha Akira looked at her, who was on high alert, and chuckled softly.
"This isn't the place for a political discussion, Mei."
"Come. I'll take you to a suitable place to have a good talk about the future of the Land of Water."
The moment his words fell, Uchiha Akira's figure vanished into thin air again.
Gone!
All the hair on Mei Terumī's body instantly stood on end! Her instinct was screaming a fatal warning!
Danger! He's behind me!
"He's ahead!" Ao's strained voice croaked from the rock wall, his Byakugan trying desperately to track the impossible move.
Just as Mei Terumī made her judgment—too slow!—and prepared to spew out her corrosive acid mist forward, a warm, dominating presence suddenly materialized behind her ear.
"Too slow."
Uchiha Akira's voice was right there. Mei Terumī's body instantly trembled violently.
Without thinking, she spun and threw a chakra-infused punch behind her!
However, Mei Terumī's wrist was easily caught and immobilized by a warm, powerful large hand.
"I said," Uchiha Akira's voice sounded in Mei Terumī's ear, a low, irresistible command.
"Let's go somewhere else."
Buzz—!
The entire world in front of Mei Terumī instantly twisted, violently!
The dark and damp cavern, her terrified companions, the giant indentation in the rock wall—everything was frantically spinning, stretching, and deforming into a blur of light and shadow!
The world spun completely upside down!
"Lady Mei!"
Ao used his last bit of strength to struggle out of the indentation in the wall, poking his head out and letting out a desperate, useless roar.
But he could only watch, horrified, as Mei Terumī and the mysterious man's figures completely disappeared in a violent spatial ripple, gone to an unknown destination.
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