Chapter 77: Reaper Death Seal? Why Not Just Beat You to Death First?

Outside the barrier.

Hiruzen Sarutobi launched attack after attack, desperately trying to force Susanoo back and break through the barrier so he could stop Uchiha Itachi inside.

However—

What drove him to despair was that even after all this time, Reiji’s chakra and ocular power seemed to be endless.

Susanoo was still being maintained perfectly.

Not long afterward.

Through the barrier, Hiruzen saw Uchiha Itachi walk out of his own house.

There were fresh traces of blood on his body.

"No!!!"

Hiruzen let out a shrill and desperate roar.

It was over.

Everything was gone.

He had already lost his old friend, Danzo.

Not long ago, he had lost his eldest son, Shinnosuke, whom he had placed all his hopes on.

And now, even Shinnosuke’s child was gone.

But it still wasn’t over.

Inside the Sarutobi clan compound, within the barrier, Uchiha Itachi continued slaughtering the members of the Sarutobi clan.

Some fled in panic, trying to escape the compound.

Some saw Hiruzen outside and desperately called out to him for help.

But all of them were blocked by the Uchiha Flame Formation, completely unable to escape their fate.

"Uchiha Reiji... you lunatic! You devil!"

"You destroyed everything I had!"

Hiruzen spat out another mouthful of blood, his aura becoming even weaker.

His voice seemed to come from the depths of the underworld, filled with bone-deep hatred.

"What’s the point of saying that now? You had Uchiha Itachi wipe out the Uchiha clan. Weren’t you going to destroy everything I had as well?"

Reiji curled his lips in disdain.

When dealing with others, Hiruzen could do anything ruthless and vicious.

But when the same thing happened to himself, he immediately showed this sort of pathetic expression.

However—

Even after hearing this, Hiruzen showed no remorse whatsoever.

If there was anything he regretted, it was only that he hadn’t listened to Danzo sooner and wiped out the Uchiha clan, killing Uchiha Reiji before he could grow.

That was why he had ended up in this situation.

Huu!

Hiruzen took a deep breath and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

A final glimmer of light suddenly erupted from his eyes.

Even if you destroy everything I have, you won’t get off easily either!

His hands moved rapidly through a series of seals.

Finally, he brought his palms together with a sharp clap.

"Reaper Death Seal!"

Accompanied by Hiruzen’s furious roar—

A sinister, ethereal laugh came from the void.

A cold wind suddenly swept across the area!

A gigantic phantom of the Shinigami appeared behind Hiruzen.

A dagger was clenched between its teeth, and its eyes stared greedily at Reiji.

The Reaper Death Seal was a life-for-life sealing technique originating from the Uzumaki clan!

By summoning the Shinigami of the underworld and offering one’s soul to it, the user could borrow the Shinigami’s power to seal away the enemy’s soul.

During the Nine-Tails’ attack on Konoha, Minato Namikaze had already been completely exhausted and had almost no chakra left.

Yet relying on the Reaper Death Seal, he had managed to seal the complete Nine-Tails.

And he had even split it into two halves before sealing it!

This demonstrated just how terrifying the Reaper Death Seal was.

Sss!

The Shinigami’s arm pierced directly through Hiruzen’s body.

Hiruzen spat out another mouthful of blood as he sensed an invisible contract being established.

Once the Reaper Death Seal was completed, his soul would be offered to the Shinigami.

However!

Hiruzen’s eyes were filled with boundless hatred as he stared at Reiji inside Susanoo.

Even if he had to die together with Uchiha Reiji, it would be worth it!

Reiji merely glanced at the Shinigami phantom behind Hiruzen before immediately controlling Susanoo and attempting to retreat.

At this moment.

A large number of shinobi had gathered outside the Sarutobi clan compound, hesitating over whether they should step forward and support the Third Hokage.

However, after sensing the terrifying might of the golden giant, none of them truly dared to approach.

"I order you, as the Hokage of Konoha! Everyone here, stop Uchiha Reiji! Don’t let him escape!"

Hiruzen was breathing heavily as he shouted.

That’s right!

After successfully activating the Reaper Death Seal, he was instead worried that Uchiha Reiji would escape.

After all, he didn’t know whether the Shinigami could still seize its target after the target had escaped beyond a certain range.

If he sacrificed his life to use the Reaper Death Seal only for Reiji to escape, he truly would die without resting in peace!

Therefore, they had to do everything they could to stop him.

Hearing that they only needed to stop Reiji, the Konoha shinobi nearby finally dared to step forward.

However—

Before the might of Susanoo, ordinary shinobi were completely useless.

Susanoo did not even need to attack them.

It simply charged into the shinobi blocking its path, brutally sending every single one of them flying!

"Kakashi, should we go down and help the Hokage?"

Might Guy hesitated.

He and Kakashi had also arrived here.

However, one side of the battle was the Hokage of Konoha, while the other was his former student.

Might Guy didn’t know which side he should help.

"...I suggest that we don’t act for now."

Kakashi fell silent for a moment before speaking.

He recalled the strange replacement of the ANBU teams while they had been monitoring the Uchiha compound earlier.

Something must have happened tonight that they didn’t know about.

The situation wasn’t clear.

It was better not to act recklessly.

"Might Guy, I order you as Hokage! Use the Eight Gates and stop Uchiha Reiji!"

Hiruzen noticed Might Guy in the corner and immediately issued an order.

Ordinary shinobi could not stop Susanoo.

The only person who might truly be able to accomplish it was Might Guy with the Eight Gates!

Sigh!

Guy sighed inwardly and immediately rushed forward to block Reiji.

"Reiji, stop. Although I don’t know what happened, I believe the Hokage will make a fair judgment."

As he spoke, he was about to open the Eight Gates by force.

"Guy-sensei..."

Reiji’s expression remained indifferent.

He raised his left hand and casually pointed a finger toward Might Guy.

Might Guy, who was just about to activate the Eight Gates, suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness.

Genjutsu?

But why?

He realized that he had fallen under a genjutsu, yet he had no idea how it had happened.

He hadn’t even made eye contact with Reiji’s Sharingan.

So why had he still been caught in a genjutsu?

What he didn’t know was that with Reiji’s current level of mastery over genjutsu, simply seeing his finger could be enough to fall victim to one.

The activation of the Eight Gates was interrupted.

Might Guy collapsed unconscious, and Kakashi caught him.

"If you can’t understand anything and don’t know what’s really happening, then don’t recklessly burn your youth and end up becoming someone else’s tool."

Reiji spoke expressionlessly.

"Here’s my advice: leave this area immediately."

With that, he unleashed his full speed and rapidly departed.

Kakashi let out a long sigh as well.

Ignoring Hiruzen’s shouts ordering him to stay, he carried Might Guy away.

Hiruzen watched Reiji gradually disappear into the distance, despair appearing in his eyes.

Suddenly—

When Reiji had moved roughly a hundred meters away, he stopped.

Hiruzen’s heart leapt with joy.

Although he didn’t understand why, he immediately prepared to chase after Reiji and die together with him.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Standing a hundred meters away, Reiji shouted.

"Do you want to know why I retreated this far?"

"Because... I don’t want to get caught in my own jutsu!"

As he spoke, three enormous solid golden magatama appeared in Susanoo’s hand!

Yasaka Magatama!

A long-range attack ninjutsu that could be used after Susanoo reached its second form!

Its power increased with the number of magatama.

The three Yasaka Magatama Reiji was using at this moment possessed explosive power comparable to a small Tailed Beast Bomb!

The Reaper Death Seal was a forbidden technique that exchanged the user’s life for the enemy’s.

Even Reiji was extremely wary of it.

But—

What if the person using the Reaper Death Seal was killed directly?

Reiji controlled Susanoo and hurled the three magatama into the distance!

Go!

The three golden magatama traced arcs through the air, spinning rapidly as they carried a terrifying momentum toward Hiruzen.

"What kind of ninjutsu is this?"

Hiruzen was horrified!

It had actually attacked him from such a long distance!

Was this some kind of ability of Susanoo?

Seeing the Yasaka Magatama flying toward him, Hiruzen quickly calculated its trajectory and leapt away.

The Yasaka Magatama slammed directly into the spot where he had been standing.

The ground shook violently.

Hiruzen had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then he saw the golden magatama begin to glow.

The light was extraordinarily dazzling!

Hiruzen’s desperate scream was cut short.

The Yasaka Magatama exploded!

The violent blast completely engulfed him, and the area within a radius of several dozen meters was swallowed by the explosion.

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