Chapter 321: Regenerative Absorption, True·Multi-Lotus Chainless Cannon!
Clang!
The Samehada, glowing red all over and wrapped in thick bandages, slammed heavily to the ground.
In the next instant, dense barbs tore through the fabric, and a grotesque tongue-like appendage shot impatiently from the tip of the blade, frantically dragging across the ground.
At this point, it no longer resembled a blade—it was more like a sentient fish, writhing under the searing heat of Uchiha Ci's inner fire!
As the impact of the sword echoed through the ground—
A flurry of sharp, rushing wind sounds suddenly exploded in his ears!
These were the pursuing shinobi trailing behind Hōzuki Suigetsu's older brother, Fuguki Suikazan.
Wearing the Four-Wave masks with tear-like streaks, they moved with chilling detachment, launching lethal strikes aimed only at the enemy's vital points.
In a flash—
Uchiha Ci's instincts flared in alarm.
He keenly sensed that all of his critical points—throat, temples, lower back, carotid sinus, and even Little Uchiha Ci—were now locked onto by a deadly killing intent.
As he tilted his head upward—
He saw each of the pursuing shinobi, clad in Kirigakure uniforms, some wielding sharp blades, others gripping water whips, throwing kunai, or mid-seal with their throats tilted upward.
They attacked in coordinated waves, operating in squads of ten jōnin, executing a strange group strike technique that allowed all of their attacks to land on Uchiha Ci at the same moment despite coming from different directions.
Fortunately, though these pursuers were ferocious in appearance, their actual strength still fell short of their leader, Fuguki Suikazan.
The sheer speed of their movements wasn't even on the same level.
While Uchiha Ci found it difficult to counter and evade an elite jōnin like Fuguki at full strength, this group of pursuers was another matter entirely—
In an instant, a fierce gleam flashed in Uchiha Ci's eyes.
He thrust both hands behind his back and drew four shuriken from the ninja pouch strapped to his waist.
With a dazzling whirl, he flung them back without hesitation.
Almost simultaneously, as though it had appeared out of nowhere, a kunai materialized in his right hand.
Using the moonlight refracted through the eight shuriken, he launched the kunai stealthily under cover of shifting shadows.
Though he hadn't used it for a while, the Uchiha-style Manipulated Shuriken Technique was already ingrained into his muscle memory!
If the master-level version of this technique represented flawless accuracy and calculations,
Then this transcendent version was the act of conjuring miracles from the impossible—utilizing light, airflow, and enemy reactions as weapons.
Even falling leaves or scattered flowers could be lethal in his hands!
The eight shuriken were laced with steel wires pulled from his pouch, crisscrossing toward the nearest enemies and forming a simple net above their heads.
"!!"
The vanguard—a close-combat specialist wielding a straight-edged blade—immediately narrowed his eyes.
If he charged in blindly, even if he wasn't turned into a pincushion by the shuriken, he'd be sliced to ribbons by the wires!
He instinctively swung his blade to deflect the incoming shuriken and cut through the wires behind them.
But at that very moment—
A sharp glint of cold steel suddenly flashed from the darkness, piercing through his blocking blade and reflecting the moonlight over the sea in a blinding arc!
Pshhht!
A spray of blood burst in midair!
Simultaneously, Uchiha Ci launched himself off the ground, springing into a wide-stance leap and seizing the throat of the downed shinobi with one hand.
But he had no intention of whispering, "Do you also wish to dance?" to a corpse.
Instead—
He swung the corpse in a full circle around him, using it as a human shield to absorb the incoming barrage—
The dense volley of ninja tools, two successive water whip strikes, and a long blade—
Most of them were deflected by the lifeless body!
As he descended, Uchiha Ci delivered a flying kick to the forehead of an oncoming pursuer.
Just as the man's face contorted from impact and his body was about to be flung away, Ci twisted midair, grabbed the man's wrist, and rapidly formed a "Tiger" hand seal—
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
The unstable fireball clashed violently with a rising wave of water jutsu powered by the sea beneath,
And in a flash, thick white steam burst outward, engulfing everything!
The pursuing shinobi were forced to halt, their vision obscured by the mist.
One of them immediately formed the "Ram" seal and coldly barked:
"Disperse your chakra! Initiate the Hidden Mist Technique!"
In this environment, the Hidden Mist Technique was meant to grant them visual dominance within the fog.
However—
Before they could react, Uchiha Ci stepped out from the dense mist, striding openly while still gripping a pursuer's corpse by the throat.
Seeing this, Fuguki Suikazan's gaze sharpened in an instant.
He noticed something peculiar about the way Uchiha Ci's hand clutched the corpse's neck.
That hand—
It looked as if it had merged with the dead shinobi's flesh, glowing red along the arm in sync with Uchiha Ci's slightly exhilarated breathing—
As though something was constantly being extracted from the corpse and flowing into Ci's body!
During this process—
The massive gash carved into his left shoulder and chest by the Samehada began to heal rapidly—visibly—before their very eyes!
This was Regenerative Absorption—Sage Mode: Cellular Reabsorption!
Ever since attaining Sage Mode, this ability had become one of Uchiha Ci's innate powers.
It allowed him to draw in the flesh and cells of others, transforming them into his own, granting his injured body super-speed regeneration.
It closely resembled Uchiha Madara's [Chakra Absorption], though slightly inferior in chakra efficiency.
Huff—
As the chakra flowed through him once more, the sensation of renewed strength made a smile tug at Uchiha Ci's lips.
Bang!
He scanned the ten shinobi surrounding him, then casually tossed aside the desiccated corpse, drained of both chakra and cell vitality.
With a long, dragon-like exhale of white breath—
He lifted his head.
His Sharingan flared to life, scarlet-red with three black tomoe orbiting a black, star-shaped cross at its center!
"Are we done here?"
As the veins around his eyes bulged and his expression grew darker, a sinister grin twisted across his face.
"Then—here's your move… returned!"
As he spoke, Uchiha Ci raised his right palm.
From his palm bloomed a black sun-like seal!
Immediately, a radiant golden-yellow sphere of light began to form above it!
This was a Sage-enhanced cannon forged from natural energy and chakra—
True·Multi-Lotus Chainless Cannon!
Unlike Jūgo, who required full-body transformation into Sage Curse Mark Second State to form a cannon mouth,
Uchiha Ci, having conquered natural energy and achieved a superior Sage Form, could unleash this move without altering his body or losing his mind.
A black sun seal would form in his right palm, enabling perfect control over the Multi-Lotus Chainless Cannon—capable of focused blasts, delayed detonations, spread shots, and indiscriminate point-blank vaporization.
Meanwhile, in his left hand, a white crescent moon seal had formed—signifying another, yet-to-be-revealed power.
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