Before the Four-Tails could fully compress that terrifying Tailed Beast Bomb—before Orochimaru even summoned the Triple Rashōmon—Uchiha Feiyu had already turned into a streak of lightning, darting down the slope like a shooting star.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Orochimaru.
He simply had no intention of standing under a metaphorical collapsing wall. Watching a chakra nuke fly over one's own skull was the kind of experience that shortened lifespans.
Orochimaru caught the brief glimpse of Feiyu vanishing in a flash. His mouth twitched, but all he did was shake his head, form a seal, and press his palm down.
A thunderous boom erupted.
Just as the Four-Tails roared and began molding another Tailed Beast Bomb, a massive purple serpent burst from underground and clamped its jaws around one of the beast's octopus-like tails.
Long before the battle started, Orochimaru had already summoned Manda and ordered him to lurk beneath the battlefield. Once the giant serpent sensed the Four-Tails' chakra, the crafty creature silently burrowed through the earth, emerging right beneath the Jinchūriki to deliver a brutal ambush.
—
Leaving Orochimaru to wrestle a tailed beast, Feiyu, upon reaching the lower battlefield, didn't activate his Lightning Chakra Mode again. Instead, he erased his presence using the Camouflage Hiding Technique, then layered it with the Light-Weight Rock Technique to silence his footsteps.
Avoiding Lightning Release wasn't just because of the faint crackling noise it produced—more importantly, lightning chakra disrupted the refractive airflow of the camouflage, severely reducing its invisibility effect.
On the other hand, Light-Weight Rock drastically reduced his body weight. Combined with Wind Release wrapping around him, it shaved away air resistance and muffled displacement. Even without lightning, Feiyu could still maintain seventy to eighty percent of his top speed.
—
The chaotic battlefield suddenly became hell.
One after another, Iwa-nin stiffened mid-movement, their throats erupting in fountains of blood. Eyes wide with disbelief, they collapsed without ever seeing their killer.
The same eerie scene repeated again and again.
Within mere minutes, dozens of Iwa shinobi had died without understanding how.
At seventy-percent speed, with no sound, no shadow, and even his scent scattered by the wind chakra around him, Uchiha Feiyu was nothing short of a high-speed invisible ghost.
Without sensory ability, a shinobi simply felt a cold touch against their neck—
—and then darkness.
The bizarre slaughter not only reaped lives, it shattered morale. Fear of an unseen executioner spread like a plague; every Iwa-nin felt as though death was breathing down their neck.
Ironically, both techniques Feiyu was abusing had originally been stolen from Iwa.
Yet after merging them into the White Fang flow, Camouflage Concealment evolved dramatically—remaining effective even at high speed—while Light-Weight Rock became the perfect partner, rendering Iwa's countermeasures useless.
—
"Sensor ninja! Where are the sensor ninja?! Find that invisible bastard—urk!"
"No! His speed is too fast! Even if I sense him, I can't pinpoint his position!"
"Use area jutsu! I don't care about friendly fire—just stop him!"
"It's useless! Our ninjutsu can't catch up—ahh!"
The casualty count continued to soar.
Feiyu showed no mercy, slitting throats with ruthless precision. Worse, he shamelessly targeted the weak—genin-level and mid-tier Chunin—soft targets who couldn't last a single exchange even in a fair fight.
against someone invisible?
They might as well have been sheep.
As for the elite jōnin who radiated danger—
Feiyu didn't even look in their direction.
Whether they had hidden trump cards or simply honed instincts, engaging them meant risking detection and entanglement.
And once entangled, a stray attack or unlucky exchange could kill him.
A man who cherished his own life would never chew on hard bones when soft fruit was plentiful.
—
But after another hundred corpses hit the ground, Iwa finally snapped.
Kitsuchi—still locked in a brutal struggle against Akimichi Torifū—forced himself through a direct blow, coughing blood as he broke away. Without hesitation, he formed a rapid sequence of seals and slammed his fist toward Feiyu's general direction.
"Earth Release—Earth & Stone Flow!"
The ground disintegrated into a flood of fine sand that surged outward like a tidal wave, engulfing everything within several kilometers.
Its offensive power was negligible—about as dangerous as someone throwing grit into your eyes.
But killing power wasn't the point.
As clouds of dust filled the air, the fine particulate matter interfered with refracted light around Feiyu, revealing a vague silhouette amidst the haze.
"So it really is you—White Fang's successor, that Uchiha brat!"
Feiyu rolled his eyes.
"Impressive intelligence network. You even dug up the fact that I'm Uchiha, huh? Konoha's leaks must be top-tier."
Whether that information came from spies or internal betrayal, Feiyu mentally recorded the suspicion for later. Sorting that mess out would be a headache for another day.
Kitsuchi spat:
"How could White Fang have a successor like you? Preying on ordinary shinobi—did you inherit nothing of his honor?!"
Feiyu almost laughed.
"Exactly. The honorable White Fang died because of that honor, didn't he? (Sakumo's ghost: Please stop.) Reality proves thick skin keeps you alive longer."
"And besides—I'm fourteen. Every person I killed today is older than me. Instead of whining about me bullying the weak, maybe ask why your Iwa-nin are pushing forty and still stuck at genin or Chunin. Isn't that embarrassing?"
His venomous tongue struck harder than his blade.
Kitsuchi, who'd intended to provoke Feiyu, instead flushed with rage.
At that moment, several massive rock walls suddenly rose around Feiyu, forming a towering stone prison.
A voice echoed from the walls:
"Listen well, brat. Strength alone doesn't guarantee victory. Let me teach you a lesson—next time, don't waste time talking on the battlefield."
Kitsuchi's face emerged from the stone, revealing a smirk.
His earlier rant?
Nothing but a distraction.
He had been buying time.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto