Chapter 345 – Barrier Stripped Away, Artillery Fired at Susanoo!
The pale light of dawn illuminated the sky.
As the first rays of sunlight emerged over the horizon, casting a partial silhouette, the clouds overhead were dyed a deep crimson.
Once the envoys of the Five Great Nations passed through the city gates in sequence, the atmosphere atop the city walls shifted in an instant.
No one spoke—not even a breath dared to break the tense silence.
Everyone present knew what kind of figure was about to arrive.
The only question was: from which direction would the madman who declared his intent to assassinate emerge?!
Ninjas and samurai, all who had gathered here, held their breath, nervously eyeing every inch beyond the wall. Their gazes swept across the pre-cleared, empty streets, scouring for any sign of movement.
Until—
Footsteps echoed just outside the gate, unhidden and deliberate.
Tap. Tap. Tap...
Ninja boots crushed the dust, treading steadily over the cobbled stone path.
"Captain! Over there!"
Atop the wall, upon hearing the sound, the deputy commander Motoi sharply turned his head. Pointing in the direction directly ahead of the city gate, he urgently called out to his captain beside him:
"There's a massive chakra signature headed our way!"
Motoi's face tightened. Upon sensing the aura, even the hand seal he was forming with the "Ram" sign nearly trembled out of shape.
That chakra—
It was enough to rival a Tailed Beast Jinchūriki!
In that moment, Rami, the seasoned and composed captain in charge of city defense, swept his gaze downward. His eyes locked onto the bend at the end of the street, and he took a deep breath.
Whoosh—
The moment he saw the figure emerge from the street corner, the young man halted fifty meters from the city gate. His steps ceased, as if something had caught his attention.
He wore a grey undershirt and a short-sleeved black jacket with a high collar. Loose lantern pants secured by Orochimaru's signature purple rope, black shinobi boots—and that unforgettable face, burned into Rami's memory.
"That's him... That's Uchiha Ci!"
Rami drew in a sharp breath, eyes locking onto the young man's position. His nerves immediately tightened.
Beside him, Motoi continued reporting what he saw:
"The regenerative barrier—he's found it!"
"He hasn't triggered the alarm... Wait—what's he doing?"
Motoi blinked in surprise as he watched Uchiha Ci raise a hand toward the barrier.
If Ci took just one more step forward, the barrier squad would detect him and dispatch the main forces immediately.
But instead, Ci simply stood there, right before the barrier, unmoving. No one could guess what he was planning.
"No matter what, Motoi—report Uchiha Ci's appearance to command at once!"
"Hurry!"
Rami made a swift decision, his voice steady but grave.
"Summon Kyōemon!"
Motoi obeyed immediately, summoning the contracted owl to deliver the intel straight to the central keep in the inner city.
At that moment, standing before the barrier, Uchiha Ci naturally saw what they were doing.
But he didn't interfere.
Instead, he slowly rotated the palm pressed against the barrier's surface.
In less than a minute—
From the center of the barrier, intricate symbols resembling tadpoles began to spread outward like veins.
They burst across the barrier's surface, and in the blink of an eye, dyed the entire dome covering the inner city in a crimson hue: the Uchiha Fire Flame Array.
Then—
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
Before everyone's eyes, the barrier encompassing the city revealed its semi-spherical form and then violently fractured, collapsing entirely!
With silent coordination between Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Ci, they instantly seized control over the barrier's core mechanism.
And just like that, the first layer of Kumogakure's defenses was neutralized!
The barrier was down!
In that instant, Uchiha Ci abruptly raised his head.
His crimson Sharingan locked onto the Kumogakure ninjas atop the wall, all prepared for battle.
"Kumogakure," he said coldly.
"Are you ready to welcome me?"
—Whoosh!
The strange visual phenomenon from the barrier's collapse sent a ripple of unrest through the defenders.
And when Uchiha Ci's cold, piercing gaze swept over them, most instinctively averted their eyes, their bodies trembling.
But the seasoned Rami quickly snapped them out of it. Eyes blazing, he roared:
"Stay calm!"
"Stick to the plan—!"
"Release your jutsu!"
In the next instant,
Both sides moved at once!
Uchiha Ci charged forward, his body leaning low in a full sprint.
His eyes were locked onto Rami—the commanding ninja atop the wall.
There was no need for elaborate strategies.
All he had to do was break through the line, smash the wall, and storm the inner city, straight toward the towering central keep.
After all, this time, Uchiha Ci never intended to negotiate or take detours.
This wasn't an assassination that required subtlety—
It only required forward motion.
Relentless. Unstoppable. Unyielding.
With absolute strength—
To crush all resistance.
Sweep away all defiance.
Annihilate every obstacle.
Until no one in the entire city dared speak in his presence—
Then, victory would belong to the Uchiha!
And just then—
A unified roar erupted from the top of the wall:
"Lightning Release: Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning Pillar!" x50!
But faster than their voices—
Was light.
This jutsu transformed the user's body into blinding lightning, tricking the opponent into thinking it was merely a vision-obscuring technique, thus unknowingly pulling them into a genjutsu. Even Sasuke's squad had fallen prey to it.
But this time, Kumogakure didn't care about the genjutsu effect.
All they wanted—was the blinding light.
Fifty beams of light, each as bright as a battleship's searchlight, simultaneously erupted!
The area was instantly engulfed in harsh white light, turning the surroundings into a blinding void.
In this blinding domain, both sides were robbed of vision—
But the prepared side could still act freely in this environment!
At that moment—
From atop the cliff where the central keep stood,
The young A glared savagely toward the mountaintop beside them, where a massive steel cannon was positioned. Two people stood beside it.
He roared furiously:
"Bee! FIRE!!"
One of the cannon operators, a Hyuga ninja with Byakugan, frowned slightly at A's rude tone—but for duty's sake, he said nothing. His white eyes stared forward as he reported calmly without turning his head:
"Baseline zeroed. Adjusting for live fire."
"North. Eleven o'clock. Calibrate three units to the left."
Hearing that, Killer Bee immediately adjusted accordingly and began pouring massive amounts of Tailed Beast chakra into the cannon!
In the next moment—
BOOM!!
The cannon roared, spitting fire as it launched a solid shell!
Whoosh—!
Wind screamed as the projectile tore through the air!
It crossed the city wall in an instant—like a meteor streaking across the sky, trailing crimson flames as it hurtled toward the city gate!
And at that exact moment—
Uchiha Ci and the defenders were locked in their clash beneath the oppressive brightness of multiple Lightning Pillars of Light.
In that blinding white-out, even the Sharingan struggled to maintain visual clarity.
But—
Kumogakure had miscalculated one thing:
They had overlooked Uchiha Ci's Mind's Eye.
Through the perfect synchronization of his five senses and the seamless image stitched together in his brain, Uchiha Ci could clearly see the incoming threat.
"Tsk tsk..."
"So this is the chakra cannon that blew apart Orochimaru's Eight-Headed Serpent Technique?"
He arched an eyebrow at the solid shell speeding toward him.
Orochimaru's attitude had noticeably shifted after the collapse of Kumogakure.
When they met again, he'd been unusually humble—no longer demanding to master every jutsu on sight.
Whether it was thanks to the White Snake Sage's teachings or because he'd eaten one of these cannon blasts... that remained unclear.
In any case—
Under these circumstances,
Uchiha Ci could dodge the supersonic shell by activating Sage Mode.
However—
Sage Mode had to be reserved for fighting the Third Raikage.
Despite its immense power, it wasn't something he could keep active indefinitely.
The Heavenly Crown effect of Sage Transformation removed the drawbacks of Sage Mode. With enough natural energy, he could theoretically sustain it without limit.
But the Sage Heart he'd crafted still couldn't handle true, infinite activation.
Its vast reserves of natural energy were only enough to maintain Sage Mode for five minutes.
And once the state exceeded one minute, chakra consumption would increase exponentially.
With ambient natural energy gathered from a 10,000-meter radius, he could refresh the state once, effectively granting one more activation.
Of course, the longer Sage Mode was used, the more his body's cellular activity increased, gradually strengthening his physique.
The longer it lasted, the faster that strengthening progressed.
At the current rate, he estimated it would take just three years to reach a state where his normal form equaled his initial Sage Mode.
And now, at most, Uchiha Ci could only maintain Sage Mode for ten minutes.
Using it here would be a real waste.
"Then… I'll go with this!"
Uchiha Ci's lips curled into a faint grin as he stared excitedly at the incoming cannonball hurtling toward him!
In his crimson eyes, the black tomoe spun slightly.
In the next instant—
Twenty-six bones, glowing a shade between bright yellow and crimson, erupted from behind him!
A half-body skeletal Susanoo rapidly formed amidst a pale burst of lightning, raising its arm.
In a flash, a skeletal hand of the Susanoo lifted, fingers splayed—
And reached out barehanded to seize the cannonball!