Chapter 130: The Power of the Uchiha?
"Watch out!"
The woman—likely Terumi Mei—sensed something was wrong the moment she saw Uchiha Kei smile inside the Water Prison Jutsu.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
That smile was too calm, too confident—too dangerous.
Her instincts screamed at her, and she shouted a warning.
The Uchiha clan was always troublesome to deal with. Proud, arrogant, even reckless—but undeniably powerful.
And when it came to the Sharingan, that power only grew more terrifying.
If you weren't careful, you might die without even knowing how you died.
The male Mist ninja was momentarily stunned.
Then his face drained of color.
Inside the water prison, Uchiha Kei… vanished in a puff of smoke.
A clone. A fake!
The same realization struck both Mist ninja at the same time:
We've been tricked.
They immediately drew their weapons, shifting into full alert.
Now, surrounded by thick mist, they felt something chilling—
This fog, meant to trap the enemy, had become a hunting ground.
They were the ones exposed.
And Kei, with those crimson eyes, was the predator in hiding.
A light breeze drifted through.
Cold sweat slid down their faces.
They were no strangers to tension—but facing an unknown, elite Uchiha, even hardened Mist assassins could only grit their teeth and stay calm.
Then the wind picked up.
A kunai came whistling through the fog—silent and sudden.
The male Mist ninja reacted instantly, parrying it with a swift backward slash.
But before he could breathe, a shadow dropped from above—
A sword hummed through the air, emitting a high-pitched, distorted screech.
The blade shimmered with chakra, and in an instant, the air was filled with thunder.
Spring's rumble, summer's crack, autumn's growl, winter's dry boom—
Sharp bolts, wild bursts, sky-splitting roars—
It felt as if every kind of thunderstorm the world had ever known had come crashing down around him.
And yet—
There was no real lightning.
Nothing touched him. No heat. No flash.
Only sound.
Only pressure.
It was… unreal.
Unsettling.
Terrifying.
He felt like he was staring at a version of himself—warped, incomplete, foreign.
Is this the power of the Uchiha?
Is this… their true power?
No time to think.
Even if Kei's sword didn't carry the same polished rhythm as a master's, the form was almost identical.
How much of his sword style had this Uchiha copied?
How much had he already learned?
One thing was certain—if he didn't defend now, he'd be dead.
The Mist ninja raised his blade high.
Twin chakras—Wind and Water—flared to life on his sword as he brought it down hard to meet Kei's strike.
Kei's blade fell like lightning, impossibly fast.
At the moment their swords clashed—
Kei's body twisted.
Just slightly. Just enough.
His blade arced in a strange, unexpected curve.
"Raikiri!"
Like a lightning serpent, Kei's sword slipped past the Mist ninja's guard.
It slammed into the man's waist with a vicious crack, chakra exploding on contact.
Paralysis struck him immediately.
The wound split wide, lightning chakra numbing his entire body.
Blood gushed freely—but the Mist ninja could do nothing.
He stared at Kei in disbelief.
He'd been defeated.
By his own sword style.
Copied, altered… and used against him.
The feeling of utter defeat twisted in his chest.
This couldn't be real.
And yet—Kei's modified sword art was so vicious, so unpredictable, and with that paralyzing lightning chakra—
He had no chance.
Uchiha Kei looked down at the motionless Mist ninja and nodded in satisfaction.
He hadn't killed him—not yet.
There were still… things he wanted to take.
Of course, any "benefits" Uchiha Kei planned to extract from the captured Mist ninja would have to wait—
first, he needed to deal with the woman who looked suspiciously like Terumi Mei.
That is… if the other guy didn't bleed out before then.
---
"You used the water from your clone to trap me in a Water Prison. Clever move."
Kei casually flicked the blood from his blade.
"But you really underestimated me—and my eyes.
So… got anything else up your sleeve?"
The woman said nothing.
But she raised a kunai defensively in front of her.
That was all the answer he needed.
Kei nodded.
The next moment, he vanished—his Body Flicker Technique exploding into action.
In a blur, he reappeared behind her, chakra-charged sword already descending.
There was no hesitation, no mercy—he wasn't about to go easy just because she was a woman.
But the Mist kunoichi was fast.
In one smooth motion, she twisted her body and raised her kunai, blocking his blade in the nick of time.
Then, the two engaged in fierce close combat.
She was nimble, sharp, and impressively quick…
But against Kei—who had both speed and Sharingan—she was still at a disadvantage.
Within seconds, several cuts had already appeared on her body.
If she hadn't escaped the moment Kei started to unleash Rankiri, his signature lightning slash—
she would've already been captured… or dead.
But this woman wasn't a fool.
She could see just how deceptive Kei's blade techniques were.
And there was no way she'd let herself get taken down by that sinister Rankiri strike.
Still—dodging it came at a cost.
The moment she revealed an opening, Kei slammed a powerful kick into her torso and sent her flying!
"Fire Style — Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Kei wasn't about to waste the opportunity.
He didn't expect the fire jutsu to kill her, but it would definitely disrupt her rhythm—and that was more than enough.
As expected, the moment she hit the ground, she began forming hand seals:
"Water Style — Water Formation Pillar!"
Still under heavy pressure from Kei, and now forced to channel chakra into defense—
Her rhythm was shattered.
That was always dangerous for a shinobi.
A ball of water, like a falling meteor, spewed from her mouth and exploded outward on impact, rising into a towering wall of water.
It met Kei's fire head-on—
A massive burst of steam erupted, completely clouding her vision.
But she didn't stop.
Her pace had been thrown off, yes, but that didn't mean she'd lost.
Her hands blurred again in a rapid seal sequence.
Chakra surged inside her.
She was waiting—watching—for the perfect chance.
Then…
A shadowy figure emerged through the mist.
She didn't hesitate.
She didn't care if it was a trick or not.
This was her only shot!
"Boil Release — Skilled Mist Technique!"
A deadly blend of Water and Fire chakra, the acidic mist exploded forth—
The temperature rose instantly, hot enough to melt flesh and metal alike.
But just then—
A blade silently pierced her shoulder from behind.
Before she could even scream, a surge of lightning chakra flooded her body, paralyzing her instantly.