Chapter 262: Thunderclap Strikes—One Blow to Defeat the Eight-Tails!
Lightning Style: Kirin.
Developed by the future Uchiha Sasuke in the original series, this technique is hailed as the pinnacle of Lightning Style ninjutsu!
It boasts an immense attack range, overwhelming power, minimal chakra consumption, and an almost unavoidable speed!
However, its weaknesses are equally evident—it requires specific weather conditions and demands the Sharingan to track and guide natural lightning before it can be unleashed.
Against the Third Raikage, who commands lightning as he moves, such a technique would be ineffective. His speed is too great. Though Kirin has a wide coverage area, its dispersion reduces its concentrated power, making it uncertain whether it could even break through the Lightning Cloak.
Moreover, while Uchiha Ci understood the technique's principles and attempted to use it during his six weeks of combat training, performing it with just the two-tomoe Sharingan was extremely difficult and prone to failure.
Thus, when facing the Third Raikage, Ci did not choose to use Kirin.
But now—
With his mastery of all forms of combat and the unnatural transformation of his Sharingan under the influence of natural energy, his two-tomoe Sharingan had directly leaped two stages, attaining the insight exclusive to the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Add to that the storm clouds swirling due to the Third Raikage's arrival, and the massive, stationary target that was the Eight-Tails, gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb like a sitting duck.
He had the time, the setting, and the opportunity!
Ci immediately realized—
This was the only way to save Uchiha Setsuna and the others from the impending Tailed Beast Bomb!
At this moment—
Raising his right hand, Ci poured the last of his chakra into his palm. The blue lightning of Lightning Style: Super Sonic Shock Blade wrapped around his hand—a technique meant for swords, now bursting to life directly in his palm, searing his flesh and peeling his skin apart.
Sizzle—!
The overcast sky suddenly blazed with light!
It was as if the heavens themselves bowed to Uchiha Ci.
Dazzling lightning spread like a web across the sky, stretching beyond the limits of human sight in an instant!
A symphony of thunder resounded, blooming like countless white peonies in the sky!
The battlefield was bathed in an eerie, pale glow, reflecting the horrified faces of all present.
"What… is that?"
The Eight-Tails, Gyūki, suddenly lifted its head, staring at the sky, gulping instinctively.
The next moment, its expression changed drastically, roaring in its mental world at Killer Bee in panic:
"Bee! Disperse the Tailed Beast Bomb! NOW!"
"If that jutsu comes down, it will detonate the bomb along with it!"
But atop its snout, Killer Bee sat dazed, gazing at the sky, seemingly deaf to Gyūki's desperate warnings.
His lips trembled as he murmured,
"…Too late. It's already too late."
"That jutsu… there's no way to dodge it."
His face turned deathly pale, his body slack as if all his strength had drained away. He collapsed onto Gyūki's nose, despair written all over him.
"He's already finished charging."
"And the lightning strike… only takes one-thousandth of a second."
"Faster than the speed of sound!"
As he spoke,
On the battlefield, Uchiha Ci, standing before the towering Eight-Tails, twisted his fingers into a claw and clenched his palm tight!
"Come!"
With his silent, furious command—
BOOOOOM!!
The lightning that had spread across the horizon, reaching the boundary of the world itself, suddenly converged—
Guided by the lightning in Ci's palm, it gathered at the sky above him in an instant!
Then—
A divine beast of thunder, larger and more majestic than even the Eight-Tails in its complete form,
Pierced through the storm clouds!
Its massive head emerged, baring fanged jaws, its crimson eyes filled with a terrifying presence.
Its entire body was composed solely of pure, crackling lightning.
Even a fleeting glance at this awe-inspiring creature would brand its image into one's soul forever.
And then—
ROOOOAAAAARR!!
The furious bellow of the lightning beast shattered the heavens and earth!
"Perish with the thunder's roar!"
Ci fixed his gaze on the Eight-Tails, still craning its neck skyward as it gathered its Tailed Beast Bomb.
With a twisted grin, he roared silently.
Neither the eye could track, nor the mind could react, nor the ears perceive in time!
In that moment—
A straight, impossibly thick lightning column shot down, not as though it was falling, but as if it had instantly connected the heavens, the earth, the Eight-Tails, and the Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth!
Then, it crashed down!
Blinding white light erupted, consuming everything—
Reducing it to ash.
To cinders.
To dust!
BOOM!!!
The massive Tailed Beast Bomb within the Eight-Tails' maw was forced backward by the relentless lightning, hammered deep into its gut!
A muffled explosion followed, igniting a sandstorm that spiraled outward from the canyon's center like a ferocious tide!
Under such apocalyptic force, no ordinary person could bear to look directly at the devastation.
The spectators instinctively covered their faces, plugging their ears with chakra to avoid going deaf from the thunderous shockwave.
When the dust finally settled—
Everyone opened their eyes—
And beheld the scene before them.
The once-mighty Eight-Tails, standing tall and invincible—
Now lay in charred ruin, reduced to blackened remains scattered across the battlefield.
Only one figure remained, sprawled on the ground of the canyon, his body burnt black—Killer Bee.
It was uncertain whether he was still alive.
Having taken the full force of Kirin's devastating impact in his complete Tailed Beast form, along with his own nearly-fully-formed Tailed Beast Bomb—
Even if he had survived, Killer Bee was beyond recovery.
Yet, before the stunned crowd could fully grasp the grandeur of this ultimate Lightning Style technique—
They saw it.
Amid the ravaged battlefield, a figure, body charred and stained with blackened blood, sprinting in a straight line toward Killer Bee!
Uchiha Ci!
He knew—
With his chakra completely depleted, and the Third Raikage still standing, no one could match him in battle.
His only option—
Take Killer Bee hostage.
Only by threatening Killer Bee's life could he force the Third Raikage to retreat, buying precious time.
Though the battle seemed long, it had lasted no more than a few minutes.
And Minato, traveling from Konoha to Hell Valley—even with the Flying Thunder God—had said he would need at least thirty minutes.
To survive until then, Killer Bee was the only bargaining chip!
However—
"Ci! Behind you—watch out!!"
At that moment, everyone's hearts leaped to their throats.
Because—
Ci wasn't the only one sprinting toward Killer Bee.
Someone else moved earlier. Faster. Deadlier.
The Third Raikage—A!
A mysterious glint flickered in his eyes.
That last exchange—
That boy had seized the perfect moment to exploit his opening. He could have pierced through the back of his Lightning Cloak and stabbed him straight through the heart!
But instead—
To protect the people behind him, Ci had given up that chance and chosen to strike at Killer Bee instead.
This choice left the Third Raikage shaken.
And then… deeply contemplative.
At that instant, he truly understood—
What kind of person Uchiha Ci was.
"…I see."
"To you, the things that truly matter—"
"Even at the cost of your own life, you will protect them with your own two hands."
His gaze shifted, now carrying a trace of… admiration.
A true shinobi.
But—
Too dangerous.
No matter what, even if it meant losing Bee—
Uchiha Ci must die.
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