Chapter 209: Old Clouds and Thunder, Snake Devours Bull Demon
Chapter 209: Old Clouds and Thunder, Snake Devours Bull Demon
One day ago,
Outside Hell Valley, Land of Hot Water.
The noonday sunlight pierced through the faint crimson mist of Hell Valley, casting its light upon the jagged cliffs that pointed toward the heavens.
Birds dared not fly by, and the bubbling springs sizzled as they flowed.
Squatting on the cliff, a dark-skinned, muscular youth dressed in a single-shoulder white vest of the Hidden Cloud Village with a black underlayer took a deep breath. He withdrew his arm from the boiling spring water and stood up.
From his appearance, he was none other than the son of the Third Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, the young man who had inherited the name "A."
Looking down at the billowing mist below, Hell Valley seemed bottomless, devoid of any human presence.
The young man, A, furrowed his brow.
"This terrain... it's like a natural prison. Trying to make contact with the Blood Pool Clan here without alerting the Uchiha acting as jailers is next to impossible.
"And on top of that, the security has been tightened."
He turned back and addressed the elderly man standing respectfully behind him. The old man was half-crippled, with one arm missing from the shoulder, his body bearing horrific burn scars. A asked in a deep voice:
"Ramui, how did you contact the Blood Pool Clan last time?"
"Lord A, the Blood Pool Clan has always contacted us one-sidedly. This terrain has a secret path out of the valley that only the Blood Pool Clan knows. However, the one who knew of this path, Dodai, died at the hands of Uchiha Setsuna."
"—Eh-ha!"
Young A's temple twitched, and anger flared.
In a flash, his lightning-clad fist smashed through a nearby tree trunk as thick as a person's embrace.
Standing next to him was a youth with dark skin, light yellow hair, black sunglasses, and seven swords strapped to his body. This was Killer Bee, who grinned broadly, raised an arm in a rapping gesture, and started moving rhythmically.
"Baka yarou, kukayaru! Big bro won't stress over this, let's charge forward with power!"
"Lariat combo! Big bro and I together, we'll crush the aged enemy! Ah! Yeah!"
Hearing his younger brother's antics, Young A's temple twitched again. However, accustomed to this by now, he decisively ignored Killer Bee's words and continued to press Ramui:
"So, we can only wait here for news from the Blood Pool Clan?"
Faced with A's fists that were as large as sandbags, Ramui shrank his neck and didn't dare respond.
After all, this important mission had originally been entrusted to three elite Hidden Cloud ninja. In the end, he was the only one who had returned, missing an arm and in disgrace. The village had to send the "A-B Combination" to clean up the mess, leaving him ashamed enough as it was.
Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended in front of the trio!
The lightning scattered upon the cliff, leaving behind a white special scroll.
Staring at the scroll that had appeared out of nowhere, Ramui exclaimed in surprise:
"This is... the Heavenly Transfer Technique! Is this new intelligence from the village?"
The Ninja Art: Heavenly Transfer Technique was a unique secret technique of the Hidden Cloud, capable of delivering any item to any location at the speed of light without being affected by terrain or conditions.
Primarily used for transmitting objects rather than people, the technique was lethal to regular humans, as they would be torn apart by the speed. To date, only the Third Raikage had successfully endured it.
Young A raised an eyebrow slightly, then bent down to pick up the scroll. After unrolling it and reading its contents, his expression became interesting.
"Uchiha Ci?"
"The disciple of Orochimaru, one of the Three Sannin, killed Sunagakure's Ebizō at just 12 years old?"
"The village wants us to cooperate with Sunagakure to take this brat's head...
"And the priority of this mission is higher than liberating the Blood Pool Clan?"
Hearing A's words, the faces of the two behind him changed simultaneously.
Upon hearing the name, Ramui trembled as if transported back to the harrowing battle against two mad Uchiha in an abandoned village in the Land of Hot Water.
Recalling the insane brat who had fought Moroi to the death, willing to trade his life for the kill, Ramui was overcome by a chilling PTSD-like reaction.
These Uchiha madmen were the last people he ever wanted to see again!
And this brat had grown so much in such a short time that he could now kill Sunagakure's upper echelon, Ebizō?
How was that possible?
Just a month ago, he had only been a weakling who relied on throwing shuriken and using explosive tags to self-destruct!
Meanwhile, Killer Bee focused on another point in his brother's words: this brat was Orochimaru's disciple.
Emphasis: Orochimaru!
The mention of this stirred Killer Bee's usually carefree expression, darkening his face as hatred flashed in his eyes.
This strong reaction stemmed from a past event involving Orochimaru—
The death of the previous Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Blue B, following a tailed beast rampage.
Blue B, formerly known as Fukai, had been an exemplary figure in ninjutsu, bloodline, skill, and character, making him the ideal Jinchūriki for the Eight-Tails. To Killer Bee, he was nothing less than a mentor.
Three years ago, after passing Dodai's Lariat test, Killer Bee was chosen as the Eight-Tails' next Jinchūriki candidate.
Accompanying his brother A and Blue B, he fought countless Sunagakure and Iwagakure shinobi on the eve of the Third Shinobi World War. During one mission against Iwagakure, Killer Bee found himself in mortal danger.
It was Blue B and Young A who saved him in time. During this period, Blue B taught Killer Bee how to avoid losing himself before the Eight-Tails. Ultimately, Blue B's guidance enabled Killer Bee to find a way to harmonize with the Eight-Tails and become its perfect Jinchūriki.
But this mentor-like figure had died not long ago due to a tailed beast rampage that caused severe damage to the Hidden Cloud.
The Third Raikage had led elite ninja to reseal the rampaging Eight-Tails, but the mission still resulted in eight casualties. However, it was also during this battle that Young A achieved the feat of severing the Eight-Tails' horn.
Initially, Killer Bee had believed the rampage to be a natural disaster, grieving only for Blue B's death.
But after becoming the perfect Jinchūriki, he discovered the truth—
Blue B's rampage was orchestrated by Konoha's Orochimaru, who infiltrated the Hidden Cloud during Blue B's vulnerable period. Orochimaru used a special genjutsu pill to paralyze Blue B, rendering him immobile.
Then, Orochimaru unsealed the Eight-Tails' "Iron Armor Seal," triggering the rampage.
This led to Blue B's death. Orochimaru also took the severed horn of the Eight-Tails as a sample for research.
Initially, the genjutsu pill's effects caused the Eight-Tails to forget what had happened. However, recently, for reasons unknown, the pill's effects suddenly wore off, and the Eight-Tails recalled the truth, revealing it to Killer Bee.
Thus, the true culprit behind it all was—
Orochimaru!
"Big bro."
Remembering this, Killer Bee stepped forward, ready to request permission to kill Orochimaru's disciple and make him suffer the same loss.
But before he could speak, Young A, standing on the cliff's edge, narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke first:
"This is the perfect opportunity!"
"Bee, Ramui, no need to conceal yourselves. Head out immediately," he ordered in a deep voice.
"Cooperate with Sunagakure and take down this Uchiha Ci brat!"
Ramui froze upon hearing this.
Me? Take down Uchiha Ci?
The intel clearly states that this brat just killed Ebizō! How am I supposed to fight such a lunatic?!
Meanwhile, Killer Bee was also momentarily stunned, unsure of his brother's intentions. Still, this was exactly what he wanted!
Grinning broadly, Killer Bee clapped the bewildered Ramui on the shoulder, rapping once more with rhythmic flair:
"Ramui, let's go wild and take down that Uchiha brat!"
"The fight is on; let's charge forward with power!"
"Oh yeah!"
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