Chapter 325 – I'm Waiting for My Cooldown. What Are You Waiting For?
The fireball from Great Dragon Fire instantly shattered the ice prison. Hot on its heels, a raging torrent unleashed by Kisame Hoshigaki burst through the opening like a broken dam. Water surged forth in a furious rush, crashing down on the frozen surface.
Riding the crest of the wave, Uchiha Ci emerged with a slight smirk on his face.
The moment he spotted that eye made of ice, Uchiha Ci roughly pieced things together—what the Third Mizukage was relying on to fight, and why this man's combat style seemed so bizarre.
His opponent kept his eyes shut because he possessed a technique similar to the Sand Eye of the Sand Style—Gaara's Third Eye.
Uchiha Ci had seen such a technique before—in the Snow Country arc of the original series. It was Ice Style: Thousand-Mile Sight, which used crystalline ice to refract light and track enemies.
Even shinobi without the Ice Style bloodline limit of the Snow Clan could use this type of long-range surveillance technique in a snowy environment.
So it was only natural that the Third Mizukage, who had inherited the full Ice Style legacy of the Snow Clan, would be proficient in such techniques.
Strictly speaking, the Third Mizukage's combat style was much like that of the Third, Fourth, and even the future Fifth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village—ninja who relied on manipulating vast Bloodline Limits in battle.
This was evident in his large-scale ice dragons and the earlier ice prison.
The difference was that unlike the Kazekage, this Third Mizukage had developed an entire combat system around the Ice Style.
He replaced his vision with Ice Style: Extreme Ice Eyes, which he had scattered throughout the surroundings, giving him a panoramic view of the battlefield.
This not only gave him a full visual field while keeping his own eyes shut—it also helped him avoid direct eye contact, thus neutralizing the Sharingan's ocular techniques.
And the reason he'd do this? Most likely, because he had once worked with a formidable ally—
Uchiha Madara.
This combat method had likely been developed precisely as a countermeasure against Madara.
As for why he didn't need hand seals, but had to open his eyes when casting jutsu—
Uchiha Ci had a theory:
Maybe this birdbrain can form hand seals with his eyes!
By keeping his eyelids closed, he concealed the process of forming seals. And that motion of opening his eyes could correspond to the final seal for many Water Style or Ice Style jutsu—the Snake seal.
When all other possibilities are ruled out, whatever remains, no matter how implausible, must be the truth.
Ninjas had a thousand different ways to form seals. Beyond the traditional hand signs, the Uchiha were known for using someone else's hands, Jiraiya had done it with his feet, Minato could do it with one hand—
And in the original story, there had indeed been a ninja who used his eyes to form seals.
"So that's how it is… I was wondering why this guy acts all badass, but sends Kisame to fight head-on while he hides in the mirror doing stealth support."
Squatting atop the surging wave, propelled by its force, Uchiha Ci dragged one hand across the water to halt his momentum. Standing firmly atop the surface, he gazed at the two figures leaping out of the shattered ice prison.
His eyes then shifted to the man with gray-white hair just behind Kisame. A mocking smile appeared on Ci's face as he called out loudly:
"Third Mizukage!"
"Has your taijutsu really degraded to the point where you need cheap tricks to fake strength?"
"Hm?!" The moment those words left Ci's mouth, Bailan—the man trailing behind Kisame—visibly flinched.
"How does he know?"
That's right. Bailan, the Third Mizukage, was even older than Hiruzen Sarutobi. Like Rasa, he specialized in battlefield-wide combat and wasn't particularly strong in hand-to-hand fighting.
That's why he'd left the vigorous Kisame, who had the Samehada fusion technique, to go toe-to-toe with Uchiha Ci.
Because he knew very well—he was no match for the Taijutsu monster who had defeated the Sand Chiyo and singlehandedly smashed two tailed beasts with his bare fists!
If this kid got close, three punches in, and he'd be off to meet Gengetsu in the afterlife.
Now that his weakness had been exposed, Bailan's expression darkened—even with his eyes still closed.
"He saw through my façade after just one exchange?"
"This insight… it's exactly like Uchiha Madara's!"
He tilted his head slightly upward, facing Uchiha Ci, gritting his teeth in secret.
"This kid is too dangerous. He absolutely cannot leave here alive!"
A chilling glint flashed in his shut eyes. Memories of the humiliation Madara had once dealt him surfaced, and his mind was made up.
"There can't be a second Uchiha Madara in this world!"
The moment that thought formed, Bailan opened his bright blue eyes and glared fiercely at the ocean beneath Ci's feet.
He barked a sharp order:
"Kisame, move!"
The moment his eyes opened, ice began exploding outward from beneath his feet, spreading across the ocean surface in an instant until it reached Uchiha Ci!
Kisame responded with a cold smile, raising both hands above his head and diving straight into the sea.
At the same time, Bailan no longer bothered keeping his eyes closed. He stared directly at Uchiha Ci and swiftly formed the Serpent seal with a snap of his hands.
He roared:
"Ice Style: Ice Dragon Devouring Blast!"
Layers of ice instantly snaked up Ci's legs, locking him to the frozen ocean surface.
"—ROAR!!"
Four massive ice dragons burst out from beneath the ice, snarling and lunging toward Ci, sealing off every escape route.
Meanwhile,
Below the surface,
Kisame—now in his Samehada fusion form—brought his hands together with a grin full of jagged teeth, then growled:
"Water Style: Super Exploding Water Shockwave!"
Suddenly—
The ocean beneath the ice began to boil.
No—it wasn't boiling.
The ocean… was rising toward the sky!
Moonlight refracted through the airborne droplets and shimmered across Uchiha Ci's face.
Yet he remained completely calm, even leisurely admiring the surreal scene around him, as the ocean around him was swept up into a massive, nearly 300-meter-wide ellipsoid water prison.
The first Water Shockwave Kisame had used inside the ice prison had already secretly replaced the surrounding seawater with chakra-infused water.
Now, with the second Water Shockwave, drawing from the environment, the two techniques compounded—raising the entire sea beneath them into an immense water dome!
This colossal-scale jutsu left Uchiha Ci with nowhere to run!
Boom!
Watching Kisame soar from beneath the surface and dive into the suspended prison, Bailan curled his lips into a pleased smirk. He formed another seal and pressed his palms onto the water sphere:
"Ice Style: Polar Ice Prison Technique!"
In an instant, the 300-meter-wide sphere began freezing from the outside in, turning into a massive ice orb sinking slowly into the depths of the ocean.
Inside the ice orb,
Kisame swam up to Uchiha Ci, grinning as though he had everything under control.
"Little Uchiha punk, you better thank me~"
"This place was specially prepared to be your burial ground!"
Floating in the water, Ci opened his eyes and calmly glanced at Kisame, who was monologuing like a movie villain.
"What? Don't believe me? Heh~"
Kisame narrowed his eyes, staring at Ci like a patient hunter.
"The water in this sphere is completely saturated with my chakra."
"Every second you're in here, your chakra is being drained by me."
"Plus, you can't breathe underwater, which means no more Fire Style like you used to bust out of that ice prison earlier. And with the Third Mizukage reinforcing the outer layer..."
"This entire thing will become a 300-meter-wide solid ice ball, sinking to ten thousand meters below the surface!"
"The crushing pressure at the bottom of the ocean will slowly strip you of all mobility."
"You'll get weaker and weaker…"
"And I—"
Kisame's voice suddenly turned cold as he locked eyes with Ci:
"I'll kill you at your weakest moment—when your chakra is completely drained!"
With that, he clasped his hands together, creating a trail of bubbles inside the ice orb, staring menacingly at Uchiha Ci.
"Until then, why don't you have some fun with my little darlings?"
"Summoning Jutsu: Thousand Shark Frenzy!"
He slammed his palm down, triggering a massive summoning array inside the prison.
One after another, dull-colored tiger sharks with jagged teeth and dark brown markings swam into the sphere, circling around Uchiha Ci like hungry wolves.
And yet—
Despite the thousand sharks salivating for blood, and the two powerful enemies outside waiting for the kill…
Uchiha Ci just stared strangely at Kisame, who was still busy summoning sharks, and at the Third Mizukage above the sea, quietly observing from a distance as if expecting to enjoy a show.
He finally understood.
These two kept shouting about killing him—
Yet even though they'd had multiple chances to close in, they never dared fight him head-on. They kept resorting to large-scale Water and Ice Style jutsu to trap him.
Trying to kill him not with force, but with a slow-cook strategy—
Draining his chakra, wearing him down with summoned beasts and environmental pressure until he expired.
Sure, this was a textbook ninja tactic.
But—
He was just waiting for a cooldown.
What the hell were they waiting for?
Were they really that afraid of a straight-up fistfight?
Uchiha Ci glanced down at the left side of his chest—
Inside, the Sage Heart was steadily forming.
Within it, a regeneration barrier anchored to the Uchiha Flame Formation had been fully established. Using the chakra core of the Eight Tails as its foundation, it was now giving birth to a powerful suction force far beyond anything Ci had wielded before—like a supernatural water pump.
In a realm invisible to ordinary eyes,
Natural energy from a ten-kilometer radius was spiraling inward at breakneck speed—
And flooding straight into Uchiha Ci's heart!
At this moment,
A power that stirred like a slumbering abyss was slowly awakening!
(TN: Will you revive Uchiha Ci? Voting is open for 24 hours only in my Patreøn. Thanks.)