Chapter 219 : So You're Uchiha Madara
The two men and one woman following Uzumaki Karin were by no means weak.
Strictly speaking, they were powerhouses.
Even facing three squads from Konoha, they showed no intention of backing down.
The tall man stood there with his arms hanging by his sides. His fingers were slightly curled, and chakra threads flickered at his fingertips.
The short-haired woman stood to his left, her hands still in her pockets. Her posture was relaxed, but her eyes were constantly darting back and forth, scanning the area.
The short man stood to his right, cracking his tilted neck. His body swayed slightly, resembling a monkey ready to pounce at any moment.
In contrast, aside from the Hyuga clan squad that had been subdued in a single clash, the remaining two squads—both the Uchiha and the Konoha ANBU—looked incredibly grim as they faced this trio.
The eight members of the Uchiha and ANBU squads were on high alert, yet none dared to make the first move.
Finally, the tall man made his move.
With a light flick of his fingers, two more chakra threads shot out, tracing faint blue arcs through the air as they flew toward the four members of the Uchiha squad.
The threads moved so fast that the naked eye could barely track them; only two tiny streaks of light could be seen darting through the air.
The four Uchiha immediately swung their ninja blades, slashing at the two threads from different angles.
But the threads were too thin. Striking them felt like slicing through empty air. The threads slipped past the blades and wrapped tightly around the wrists of the two men in the front.
Their hands instantly lost all strength, unable to even grip their weapons. The ninja blades slipped from their grasp, clattering loudly against the ground.
The threads constricted around their wrists, biting into their skin until blood seeped from the deep grooves.
Their faces twisted in pain, mouths opening to scream, but before any sound could escape, the tall man flicked his fingers again. The two men were violently yanked forward by the threads, stumbling a few steps before crashing to the ground.
At the exact same moment, the short man sprang into action.
He launched himself from his spot like a suddenly released spring, moving with unbelievable speed.
Instead of charging in a straight line, he zig-zagged. Darting left and right, he carved an arc through the air and slipped right between the remaining two Uchiha.
The two men swung their blades at him, but he ducked low, letting the steel whistle harmlessly over his head. When a blade thrust toward his waist, he flipped gracefully over it.
He was incredibly agile, weaving through the flurry of blades like a monkey. Neither slashes nor thrusts could even graze him.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance to the ANBU squad.
The ANBU with the cat mask thrust a kunai at him, but he simply tilted his head, letting the weapon narrowly miss his ear.
The dog-masked ANBU threw a shuriken, but he dropped low, allowing the projectile to fly over his head.
The bird-masked ANBU formed hand signs and opened his mouth to unleash a Fire Style jutsu, but the short man delivered a vicious uppercut to his jaw. The flames were forced back down his throat before they could even materialize. The ANBU was sent flying several meters backward, crashing to the ground with his mask knocked askew, revealing half of his face.
The snake-masked ANBU crouched and pressed his fingers against the earth. The ground cracked open as several earthen spikes shot up, aiming straight for the short man's feet.
He leaped into the air, flipping over the deadly spikes. As he landed, he stomped directly onto the snake-masked ANBU's shoulders, driving the man face-first into the dirt under the immense weight.
Just like that, a single person effortlessly dismantled the four-man ANBU squad. It looked as easy as an adult bullying children.
It wasn't that the four ANBU were weak; the short man was simply too strong. The two sides were on completely different levels.
Simultaneously, the short-haired woman vanished, evaporating into the air like a drop of water.
While the remaining two Uchiha were still frantically searching for her, a figure suddenly materialized in the empty space between them, rising up as if surfacing from water.
She held a short blade in her hand. It was incredibly short—only the length of a palm—with a very narrow edge.
Though called a short blade, it was essentially a dagger.
She spun gracefully between the two men, her dagger slicing across the left man's wrist and the back of the right man's hand. Both of their ninja blades dropped to the ground simultaneously. Their hands bled; the cuts on their wrists and hands weren't deep, but they were precise enough to sever their grip.
With another flash, she vanished from between them. When she reappeared, she was standing next to the bird-masked ANBU who had been sent flying by the short man.
The man had just scrambled to his feet, his crooked mask revealing half of his pale face.
She pressed her dagger against his throat. The blade rested flush against his skin, and the icy touch of the metal completely paralyzed him with fear.
The trio's coordination was blindingly fast. From the moment the tall man struck to when the short-haired woman subdued the final enemy, only a few breaths had passed.
All four members of the Uchiha squad were on the ground. Some were immobilized by chakra threads, others had been beaten down by the short man, and the rest had their wrists slashed by the short-haired woman.
The four members of the ANBU squad shared the same fate, completely stripped of their combat capabilities.
All three squads had been subdued. The four Hyuga lay on the ground—two controlled by the tall man's threads, and two held at kunai-point by their own comrades. The four Uchiha were scattered across the dirt, some prone, some on their backs, and others curled up in pain.
The four ANBU were similarly strewn about, lying face down, face up, or slumped on their sides.
Uzumaki Karin stood off to the side, showing absolutely no intention of intervening.
Uchiha Sasuke's feelings were complicated. He stared at his fallen clansmen, his lips pressed tightly together as the three tomoe in his eyes slowly spun.
Hyuga Neji felt much the same.
Fortunately, while the three squads had been utterly defeated, none of them had been killed.
Some were bleeding from their wrists, others from their mouths, but there were no fatal injuries. For the time being, they seemed fine.
Because of this, they still had the strength to speak.
The leader of the Hyuga squad lay flat on his back, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He turned his head toward Neji, his eyes burning with uncontainable fury.
"Neji, do you have any idea what you're doing? The clan will never forgive you for betraying the Hyuga."
Neji had initially felt a pang of guilt seeing the Hyuga squad defeated so swiftly.
Looking at his fallen clansmen and seeing the anger and frustration in their pale eyes, he felt a heavy weight in his chest. After all, they were fellow members of the Branch House.
But upon hearing the man's words, Neji's expression instantly turned freezing cold.
"The clan?"
He sneered.
"You mean the Main House."
His tone dripped with obvious mockery.
The man opened his mouth to retort but couldn't find the words.
Neji glared at him, his expression growing even colder.
"Don't worry. I'll make the Main House regret everything."
Hearing this, Sasuke's expression also grew complicated.
He shifted his gaze away from Neji, looking over at the fallen members of the Uchiha squad.
The four men stared back at him with anger and frustration, but mostly with utter incomprehension.
Their eyes seemed to ask: *'You are the son of the clan head. By doing this, are you trying to betray the clan?'*
Sasuke felt a pang of discomfort in his heart.
Seeing this, Uzumaki Karin chuckled.
"What, feeling sorry for them?"
Her voice was casual, heavily laced with teasing.
Sasuke shot her a glare.
By this time, the trio had retreated back to Karin's side.
The tall man retracted his chakra threads, the blue light fading from his fingertips.
The short-haired woman sheathed her dagger at her waist and shoved her hands back into her pockets.
The short man looked dull and expressionless.
The three of them stood behind Karin like three impenetrable walls.
Just as Karin was about to speak, the woman among the trio suddenly changed her expression.
Her eyes snapped from their relaxed state into a piercing glare, sharp as a blade drawn from its sheath.
Without needing a single word from her, the other two instantly moved to protect Karin.
The tall man flanked Karin's left, and the short man took her right. They leaned forward slightly, shifting their weight to the balls of their feet, hands raised and ready to strike at a moment's notice.
In the next instant, a spatial vortex appeared in the clearing, sprouting out of thin air like a spiraling black hole.
Its center was pitch black, its edges warping the surrounding light. The vortex spun faster and grew larger, expanding from a tiny speck into a massive rift.
It appeared with pinpoint accuracy, materializing right beside Sasuke and Neji, less than half a meter away.
The spatial rift tore open, the black vortex lunging toward Sasuke and Neji like a giant maw threatening to swallow them whole.
A tremendous suction force erupted from the gateway, dragging in all the surrounding air.
Sasuke was yanked forward, stumbling a step, while Neji was completely paralyzed by the overwhelming pull.
They couldn't struggle.
The force was simply too massive, so powerful that their bodies refused to obey their commands.
Right at that moment, Karin let out a fierce shout.
"Get lost!"
Her voice was booming, echoing loudly through the forest.
In the next second, an astonishing aura erupted from her body. It was the sheer pressure of unleashing her chakra at full power, an aura so dense it felt tangible.
Golden chains burst from her lower back. They moved so fast they appeared as streaks of golden light shooting from her body, slithering through the air like countless golden snakes—agile, swift, and precise.
Several of the chains shot straight toward the spatial vortex.
The tips of the chains pierced the center of the vortex, like rods plunging into a swirling whirlpool.
The chains churned within the vortex, disrupting its rotation. The spinning slowed, losing its rhythm, and its stable shape warped and distorted.
The chains tightened, wrapping around the edges of the vortex like hands gripping its rim, forcibly pulling it outward.
Under the violent tugging of the chains, the spatial vortex began to deform. It stretched from a circular gateway into an oval hole, and then warped into a twisted fissure.
A distorted figure was revealed from within the fissure.
The man wore dark armor. His long hair cascaded over his shoulders, his face was completely devoid of expression, and his eyes bore the Mangekyo Sharingan.
His body was bound by the chains, which coiled from his waist up to his shoulders, and down around his arms.
Seeing him, Karin's eyes lit up. The corners of her mouth curled into a fierce, savage grin.
"So you're Uchiha Madara."
Her voice was loud, her tone brimming with uncontainable excitement.
"I've been waiting for you."
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