Chapter 226: Just a Little More

Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Just a Little More

"Just a little more... Just one last little bit!"

It was as though a wild beast lurked within Uchiha Ryota’s heart, roaring furiously!

The blood debt owed for his elder brother, Uchiha Hideki, along with all the torment and humiliation he himself had suffered these past few days—every ounce of hatred, resentment, and unwillingness had accumulated within his heart, giving birth to a savage beast.

A beast that fed on hatred and lived for slaughter!

The man in the demon mask seemed completely unaware of the change in Uchiha Ryota’s emotions. He continued speaking at an unhurried pace. "Once you’re dead, I’ll finally be able to relax."

Unwilling to simply bare his neck and wait for death, Uchiha Ryota secretly accelerated his efforts to wear away the sealing formulas while deliberately stalling for time.

"Can I ask you for one favor?"

The man in the demon mask paused for a moment, then chuckled softly. "Go ahead. What is it?"

Uchiha Ryota deliberately remained silent for quite some time before slowly saying, "I want to be buried together with my brother."

The man in the demon mask shrugged. "Sorry, but your brother’s body has already been disposed of. Once you die, your body will be disposed of as well. So I’m afraid I can’t grant that request."

Upon hearing that not even Uchiha Hideki’s remains had been left behind, even someone as seasoned as Uchiha Ryota could no longer suppress the fury buried deep within his heart.

His entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

The man in the demon mask noticed this and said, "Huh? Trembling with fear? And here I thought you weren’t afraid of dying!"

Uchiha Ryota raised his head and stared fixedly at the man in the demon mask. "Someone is going to die here tonight!"

The man in the demon mask laughed. "That’s right. And the one who’s going to die is you. That’s already been decided. No one can change it!"

With that, the man in the demon mask turned around and walked over to a workbench. He took out a finely crafted set of surgical instruments and began disinfecting them as he said with a smile, "Oh, right. Tell me—should I remove your Sharingan first, or should I kill you and then take the Sharingan from your corpse?"

Staring at the man’s exposed back, Uchiha Ryota said coldly, "Is there a difference?"

The man in the demon mask teased, "There’s still a bit of a difference. At the very least, if I remove your Sharingan while you’re still alive, they’ll be a little fresher, won’t they?"

"Only one sealing formula left! I’ll be able to take my revenge any moment now! I’ll finally be able to kill him!

"I’m going to kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

After wearing away yet another sealing formula, Uchiha Ryota screamed inwardly.

At this point, he was already beginning to lose control of the murderous beast within his heart. Amid his tension and excitement, the trembling of his body grew more and more violent, and his entire being sank into a strange state of madness!

With his back turned toward Uchiha Ryota, the man in the demon mask seemed completely oblivious to all of this.

He continued cleaning his surgical instruments while casually throwing out one teasing remark after another, as though Uchiha Ryota, bound behind him, was already nothing more than meat on the chopping block—a fish already in the pot.

Before long, the man in the demon mask turned around.

Holding a scalpel in one hand and a pair of surgical forceps in the other, he walked up to Uchiha Ryota and declared in an almost matter-of-fact tone,

"Uchiha Ryota, I’ll be taking your Sharingan!"

The corners of Uchiha Ryota’s mouth curled upward slightly.

"Come and take them, then!"

The man in the demon mask remained completely unfazed.

The surgical forceps and scalpel in his hands slowly moved closer and closer to Uchiha Ryota’s eye sockets...

Just as the cold surgical instruments were about to touch Uchiha Ryota’s eyeballs, his dark pupils suddenly transformed into a pair of scarlet Sharingan!

"What...!?"

The man in the demon mask was startled, and his hands froze for an instant.

At that moment, the three tomoe within Uchiha Ryota’s Sharingan began spinning rapidly.

At the same time, amid a series of metallic clatters, all the chains binding his body slipped loose and fell to the ground.

This time, the man in the demon mask didn’t hesitate. He immediately leaped backward!

The instant he broke free, Uchiha Ryota completed a series of hand seals and shouted at the man in the demon mask,

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

BOOM—

In an instant, a sea of flames erupted from Uchiha Ryota’s mouth, filling the narrow cavern in the blink of an eye!

Using a Fire Release ninjutsu on the level of Majestic Destroyer Flame in such a narrow, enclosed space was, from a certain perspective, practically no different from suicide.

And yet, the very first move the experienced Uchiha Ryota chose after breaking free was precisely this Fire Release ninjutsu.

It was enough to show just how overwhelming the killing intent within his heart had become!

The instant he finished casting Majestic Destroyer Flame, Uchiha Ryota neither dodged nor attempted to escape.

Instead, he threw himself directly into the sea of flames!

Enduring the scorching heat of the inferno, he charged straight toward the man in the demon mask, who was likewise engulfed by the flames.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In an instant, accompanied by the rapid sounds of fists and kicks colliding, the two began fighting fiercely within the blazing sea of fire!

Uchiha Ryota seemed to have gone completely insane.

He utterly ignored the flames burning around him, every single strike aimed directly at the man in the demon mask’s vital points as he roared again and again,

"Die! Die! DIE!"

The man in the demon mask was left in a miserable state by the Fire Release ninjutsu. He could barely defend himself against Uchiha Ryota’s frenzied assault, and it wasn’t long before he fell completely on the defensive and was forced into a dead end.

Having gained the upper hand, Uchiha Ryota had already descended completely into madness.

He thrust one hand straight into the man in the demon mask’s chest, seemingly intent on tearing his heart apart with his bare hand!

The man in the demon mask roared, "You damned lunatic!"

Whoosh—

A sharp sound tore through the air.

The man in the demon mask drew a razor-sharp short sword from his waist and casually swung it.

In a single stroke, he severed Uchiha Ryota’s arm at the shoulder—the very arm that had plunged into his chest!

Yet even after losing an arm, Uchiha Ryota seemed completely oblivious to it.

Consumed by madness, he threw himself directly onto the man in the demon mask and sank his teeth into his throat!

With a savage bite, he tore open the man’s windpipe and ripped it out completely!

Pfft—

Blood sprayed from the man in the demon mask’s throat, splattering across the surrounding flames and causing them to shimmer with a strange, multicolored glow.

Then, the man in the demon mask fell stiffly to the ground.

Before long, all signs of life disappeared.

As Uchiha Ryota watched the man in the demon mask die before his very eyes, the three tomoe within his Sharingan began spinning even faster.

At first glance, they almost seemed to have merged together...

"Huff... huff..."

Only then did Uchiha Ryota’s killing intent gradually begin to fade.

In its place, boundless exhaustion and pain came crashing down on him all at once, causing him to collapse onto the ground and gasp heavily for breath.

And as his killing intent subsided, the three tomoe in his Sharingan—which had nearly merged completely together—gradually separated once more, returning to their original three-tomoe form.

Uchiha Ryota also noticed the change in his Sharingan.

He realized that just moments ago, at the very instant he had personally slain his hated enemy, he had come within a hair’s breadth of awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan he had dreamed of for so long.

And yet...

He was still just a little short.

Just that tiny little bit...