Chapter 4
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"What?"
Uchiha Kirito couldn't believe what he had just heard, his face twisting into an expression of shock and disbelief.
Normally, he had bullied Obuya many times. Obuya had never dared to resist, not even once offering a word of rebuttal. This sudden reversal left Kirito momentarily speechless.
Rin, hearing Obuya's words, was also surprised. She quietly reached out and tugged at his sleeve, trying to prevent a direct confrontation with Kirito.
"Rin, don't worry. I know my limits—I'm not here to kill him. Today, I just want to show him who the real fool is."
These words completely stunned Rin. She could not imagine what Obuya could possibly use to fight Kirito.
"Hahaha…"
Kirito laughed maniacally, but there was no joy on his face. Instead, it looked vicious, almost feral.
"Good, very good! Trying to act tough in front of a woman, daring to speak to me like that… today I will give you a lesson in blood! Let's see if you dare talk back to me next time."
Rin knew well how dangerous Kirito was. More precisely, anyone from the Uchiha Clan, due to their bloodline, was almost never weak. Even Obito, regarded as a disgrace by the Uchiha, was still formidable compared to others his age in Konoha.
"Stop, Kirito! The village has strict rules. You are forbidden from recklessly using ninjutsu or fighting aggressively. Do you want to break village law?"
Kirito sneered coldly. "I'm giving him a lesson—why would I need ninjutsu for that? Kid, prepare to die…"
Ignoring Rin's attempts to intervene, Kirito suddenly attacked.
He snatched a knife from someone nearby, leaned forward, and leapt toward Obuya. Ten steps away, he suddenly sprang into the air, swinging the blade down with full force.
The strike was aimed directly at Obuya's shoulder. If it connected, one arm would inevitably be crippled.
Kirito's audacity to strike so ruthlessly stemmed largely from the fact that Obuya wasn't officially from Konoha. Even if he injured him, it wouldn't technically violate the laws of the Land of Fire.
The sudden, aggressive move caught everyone off guard. Rin's attempts to stop him were powerless.
Obuya stood unshaken.
At the exact moment Kirito's blade descended, Obuya's already-prepared "barrier" activated instantly.
Whoosh!
The sound of wind cut through the air.
A semicircular dome of light, spanning over ten meters, enveloped him.
Trapped inside Obuya's "Surgical Barrier," Kirito immediately felt a repelling force countering his downward strike, weakening his momentum by a noticeable degree.
Inside the barrier, Obuya's body was enhanced in all aspects. The blade that seemed so fast to others appeared much slower to him.
With a slight sidestep, he avoided the strike that could have split him in two.
"Missed… how could it…"
Kirito's decisive blow had gone wide.
Before he could react, a hand pressed against his chest just as his strength from the swing had waned and new energy had yet to surge.
"Zzz!!!"
A strong, high-frequency electric current surged through Kirito's heart, coursing through his entire body.
His eyes bulged, and his body stiffened instantly.
"Cough!!"
Kirito coughed violently, spitting blood, while his face seemed to bleed from every pore.
He fell stiffly to the ground like a puppet.
"Ah~~"
The onlookers were terrified by the sudden turn of events, shouting loudly in alarm.
Rin, standing behind Obuya, gaped, stunned.
"That… Lightning Release!!"
"This Obuya… he hasn't even learned to climb trees yet—how could he possibly know Lightning Release?"
"No, look at Kirito's body…"
At someone's remark, everyone noticed something unusual. The part of Kirito's chest that had been struck was completely intact. Not a scratch, not even a tear in his clothing.
"Lightning Release is known for its devastating destructive power… so why didn't this strike leave a single external injury?"
Everyone was baffled.
Only Obuya knew the truth. His technique, Cardiac Shock, wasn't a standard lightning-style technique but an electric-based power—distinct from the elemental Lightning Release.
Kirito's entire body was paralyzed and stiff, yet he hadn't passed out. Obuya had intentionally held back.
A mere scuffle was a minor offense; killing would be a capital crime—especially against a powerful Uchiha.
Obuya approached Kirito, towering over him.
In Kirito's eyes, there was nothing but shock, humiliation, and unwilling defeat.
Obuya flicked his foot, and Kirito's knife fell into his hand.
"I warned you kindly—slap yourself and apologize to Rin. You refused my kindness. I said that if you didn't, I would not only make you cough up blood but also make your life miserable going forward."
"Obuya… don't…"
Rin's face turned pale in fear.
But it was too late.
Obuya swung his blade from below, the tip scraping the ground and sending sparks flying. He cut through Kirito's right wrist—his hand severed instantly.
It didn't end there. Obuya spun his blade again, slicing off Kirito's right leg.
Throughout this, Kirito showed no sign of pain, no scream. Most bizarrely, no blood flowed from the severed limbs.
The horrified crowd watched, dumbfounded.
Obuya bent down, picked up the severed hand, rotated it, and pressed it back in place. Again, the impossible happened: the hand reattached—but reversed, palm facing upward, opposite the other hand.
He did the same with the severed leg—attaching it in the opposite direction, creating the shocking image of one toe pointing forward, the other backward.
The crowd screamed in terror.
"What… what kind of ninjutsu is this?"
"Medical ninjutsu… it has to be medical ninjutsu. And advanced medical ninjutsu capable of reattaching severed limbs! I've only heard of it before—this is the first time seeing it with my own eyes."
Rin watched, stupefied.
She herself was a medical ninja, assessed by her teacher Namikaze Minato as highly talented. She knew that high-level reattachment techniques did exist—but they were difficult to perform. Yet here, in Obuya's hands, it looked effortless.
What Obuya had just used was not ordinary medical ninjutsu at all. It was the power of the Surgical Fruit. The technique displayed was one of the two beginner-level devil powers: Barrier · Human Body Reconstruction.
Rebuilding Kirito's hand and leg was merely a small demonstration. If Obuya wished, he could have disassembled Kirito entirely and reassembled him like a set of building blocks.