Chapter 306: Reversal

Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Reversal

As time passed, both combatants began to realize just how troublesome the other was!

"How is he this fast?!"

There was a world of difference between the perceptive abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan and an ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan. Even when a Mangekyō Sharingan was only displaying three tomoe, its powers of perception were still far beyond those of an ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan.

Yet Fugaku discovered that even with the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes pushed to their limits, he could only barely keep track of Hiruko’s movements. He was completely unable to predict Hiruko’s next move.

This was clearly far beyond his expectations.

"He can actually keep up with my speed? Is his visual perception really that strong?"

Just like Fugaku, Hiruko was equally astonished.

According to the Akatsuki’s intelligence, there was supposedly nothing particularly remarkable about the Uchiha Clan Head. In fact, the organization’s assessment of Fugaku was rather low, painting him as little more than a thoroughly mediocre man.

Back when Hiruko had still lived in the village, Fugaku had never displayed anything particularly exceptional either.

Because of that, Hiruko had never really taken Fugaku seriously from the very beginning.

But once they actually began fighting, Hiruko discovered that Fugaku was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined. The man was frustratingly slippery, reminding him of Uchiha En during the Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual.

Not far away.

Watching the two locked in combat, Koharu Utatane frowned.

"In my memory, Hiruko looked nothing like this. How did he end up like that?"

Homura Mitokado voiced his own doubts as well.

"And he’s transplanted two Sharingan!"

In truth, Konoha had secretly conducted many human experiments of its own. The most famous among them was undoubtedly the experiment involving the transplantation of the First Hokage’s cells, but the village had also secretly experimented with Sharingan transplants.

The results, however, had been far from satisfactory.

The Sharingan might be a formidable weapon, but it was extraordinarily unforgiving toward shinobi without Uchiha blood. Even someone as talented as Kakashi struggled under the burden of a single Sharingan. If a non-Uchiha were to transplant two Sharingan at once, rather than increasing their combat strength, the eyes would instead become an enormous burden.

That was precisely why, despite the endless number of people who coveted the Uchiha Clan’s Sharingan, those who could actually seize a pair and turn their stolen Sharingan into power they could freely control were exceedingly rare.

After pondering for a long moment, the Third Hokage said, "Perhaps it has something to do with his human experiments. As far as I know, before he defected, he was researching a forbidden technique capable of stealing other people’s Kekkei Genkai!"

Koharu and Homura exchanged startled glances.

Judging from Hiruko’s current performance, it was obvious that the forbidden technique he had been researching before his defection had succeeded.

And for the shinobi world, that undoubtedly meant that a bloody storm was about to descend.

"The abilities he used in the office earlier should have been the Swift Release Kekkei Genkai and the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai!" After a brief pause, the Third continued, "Combined with the Sharingan, that means he likely possesses three different Kekkei Genkai!"

Just then, the battle took a sudden turn.

Instead of dodging, Hiruko took Fugaku’s kunai strike head-on. He then brought his palms together and shouted,

"Storm Style: Storm Demon Dragon!"

In an instant, vast masses of black storm clouds gathered across the sky. Thick bolts of lightning tore through them one after another, illuminating the heavy darkness of the night in intermittent flashes!

"This is bad!"

Fugaku immediately retreated far into the distance.

By now, he could already conclude that without using his Mangekyō Sharingan, there was no way he could defeat Hiruko.

At the same time, however, Fugaku couldn’t shake a strange feeling.

Whether it was Hiruko’s offensive and defensive movements, the rhythm of his fighting, or even the way he utilized the Sharingan, there was an inexplicable awkwardness to everything he did.

It almost felt as though...

Hiruko had very little experience fighting at the highest level.

If not for that, Fugaku, unable to use his Mangekyō Sharingan, might not have lasted this long against him.

"Looks like he also possesses the Steel Release and Storm Release Kekkei Genkai." Shaking his head, the Third said, "Hiruko now possesses five different Kekkei Genkai. Fugaku is probably no match for him. Let’s attack together!"

Koharu and Homura nodded simultaneously.

At that moment, standing beneath the black storm clouds, Hiruko spread his arms wide and declared, "Lord Hokage, regret the decision you made back then!"

As the Third Hokage summoned his own summon, Enma, he said solemnly, "Hiruko, stop compounding one mistake with another. It’s still not too late to turn back!"

"Mistakes?!"

Hiruko’s face immediately twisted with rage as he roared, "Why is everything I’ve done considered wrong?! Is it simply because I refused to accept being mediocre?!"

As though influenced by Hiruko’s emotions, the storm clouds overhead grew increasingly violent. The bolts of lightning within them became thicker and more frequent.

Standing beneath the storm clouds, Hiruko swept his gaze across the surrounding Konoha shinobi and snarled, "Today, I’ll make all of you understand just who was wrong!"

With that, Hiruko suddenly raised a hand.

Countless bolts of lightning immediately poured down from the storm clouds, crashing into the ground below.

The lightning was extraordinarily fast. In the blink of an eye, scores of shinobi were struck by Hiruko’s Storm Release, collapsing across the ground in every direction.

Just then, the Third Hokage swung the Adamantine Staff at Hiruko.

Confident in his Steel Release Kekkei Genkai, Hiruko made no attempt to dodge and laughed.

"None of your attacks can hurt me!"

Bang!

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Hiruko was sent flying by the tremendous force of the Third Hokage’s Adamantine Staff.

"D-Damn it!"

Hiruko climbed back to his feet, thoroughly humiliated and furious.

In truth, the Third Hokage’s strike hadn’t actually injured him. He could even be said to have emerged completely unscathed.

But being sent flying so effortlessly made Hiruko feel as though he had lost face.

And the one person he absolutely did not want to humiliate himself in front of was the Third Hokage.

Yet just as Hiruko was about to counterattack, several iron chains hidden beneath the rubble at his feet were suddenly pulled taut, wrapping around both of his legs and temporarily restricting his movements.

At the same time, Homura Mitokado appeared behind Hiruko carrying a scroll nearly half his own height.

As he unfurled the scroll, Homura rapidly formed hand seals, seemingly preparing to unleash some kind of sealing technique.

After completing the Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual, Hiruko’s sensory abilities had also improved tremendously. The instant he sensed the fluctuation of chakra behind him, an overwhelming sense of danger surged through his heart.

He knew that if he didn’t react immediately, he would undoubtedly die!

Without another moment of hesitation, Hiruko immediately severed both of his own legs, freeing himself from the chains. Planting both palms against the ground, he launched himself high into the air and landed atop the Chimera Summoning Beast that had been circling above the ruins all this time.

"Get us out of here!"

The moment he landed on the Chimera Summoning Beast, Hiruko hurriedly gave the order to retreat.

Never in his wildest expectations had he imagined that a single moment of carelessness would cause the entire situation to reverse in an instant...