Hearing Ikemoto Kaori's dying scream, Uchiha Kazuhiko's advancing body faltered for a moment.
Then, without further hesitation, he burst forth with even greater speed to escape this forest.
"Dammit, that brat is getting away!"
The one-eyed jonin saw that Uchiha Kazuhiko was about to break free from the pursuit of the rogue ninja grunts.
He turned to the black-clad jonin and said,
"Araki, leave this jonin to me. You go after that brat."
"Fine, this guy is all yours."
The black-clad jonin forced the heavily wounded Captain Touma back with a slash, then turned and chased after Uchiha Kazuhiko.
"Don't even think about leaving! Earth Style Barrier: Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!"
Naturally, Captain Touma wouldn't just watch as the black-clad jonin went to hunt down Uchiha Kazuhiko.
Gathering his dwindling chakra, he executed a large-scale earth-style barrier, enveloping himself and the two jonin inside an earthen prison saturated with chakra, buying Uchiha Kazuhiko a higher chance of survival.
The black-clad jonin channeled chakra into his blade and forcefully slashed at the prison wall, but he failed to cut through it, only leaving a finger-width gouge.
"Wind Slash: Cross Cut!"
After testing the barrier's defensive strength, the black-clad jonin formed a few one-handed seals.
A layer of violent wind-nature chakra coated his tachi, and he unleashed a cross-shaped slash that dug deep into the earthen prison, tearing a huge gap in it.
Pfft!
Captain Touma, who was maintaining the barrier with all his strength, was affected and spat out a mouthful of blood.
He then used a Replacement Technique to dodge an attack from the one-eyed jonin.
"Ha ha, I'm off first, Araki. You'd better finish him quickly, or else that brat's head will be my trophy."
The black-clad jonin laughed, glanced at Captain Touma, who was struggling under the one-eyed jonin's assault, and disappeared from the scene with a Body Flicker.
Captain Touma wanted to stop him but was powerless.
He could only fight with all his might, trying to hold out against the one-eyed jonin for as long as possible.
"Heh, Konoha ninja, let me show you the power bestowed upon me by that lord."
Growing impatient after his prolonged assault and eager to chase Uchiha Kazuhiko, the one-eyed jonin halted his attacks on Captain Touma.
He unwrapped the bandages covering his head and removed his upper garment.
"You!!!"
Upon seeing the one-eyed jonin's true appearance, Captain Touma couldn't help but shudder, pointing at him speechlessly.
"Heh, this is the price of power."
The one-eyed jonin stroked the side of his face, which was covered by an unknown black substance, and his upper body, which was covered in dark red scales.
Then he fixed his hateful gaze on Captain Touma.
"Truly mad..." Captain Touma quickly adjusted, muttering softly.
Though quiet, Captain Touma's words were heard by the one-eyed jonin, who said with a fanatical expression,
"Heh, so what if I'm mad? As long as I can avenge Jirō, it's all worth it."
Knowing he was about to die on the battlefield, Captain Touma's expression was remarkably calm.
Mobilizing his last reserves of chakra, he said faintly,
"Come then. Let me witness this so-called power of yours."
"As you wish. Secret Technique: Blood Scale ScatterKill!"
The one-eyed jonin ripped off a large handful of the dark red scales from his body, channeling black chakra into them.
After they absorbed sufficient chakra, he threw them like shuriken, spinning towards Captain Touma.
"Earth Style: Double Earth-Style Wall! Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spear!"
Unaware of the power of this technique, Captain Touma erected double earth walls in front of himself while simultaneously condensed chakra into sharp spikes that thrust up from beneath the one-eyed jonin.
"Secret Technique: Blood Scale Shield!"
The one-eyed jonin sneered, tearing off more scales to form a solid shield, blocking the spike attack.
Meanwhile, the rapidly spinning blood-red scales breached the earth wall defense.
Captain Touma deflected them with kunai, but they didn't fall to the ground. Instead, they continued to spin around him, trapping him inside.
"Ha ha, it's over."
Seeing Captain Touma surrounded by the scales, the one-eyed jonin laughed maniacally.
The black substance on his face writhed, spreading to his chest. An even denser black chakra emerged within his body.
"Secret Technique: Blood Scale Poison Array."
The one-eyed jonin's new secret technique activated.
The blood-red scales hovered in mid-air, then shot out crimson chakra threads that interconnected, forming a massive net-like barrier space.
They released streams of black gas that enveloped Captain Touma's body.
Trapped inside, Captain Touma immediately held his breath, preparing to escape the space using an earth-style technique.
However, he felt his chakra being Imprisoned by countless black poison particles invading through his pores, utterly impossible to mobilize.
Not only that, but more black poison gas also entered his body, turning his blood into black poisoned blood.
As it flowed, it invaded his internal organs. Pain and suffocation came one after another.
His vision darkened in waves. He spat out a mouthful of black poisoned blood and, in the blink of an eye, succumbed to the poison.
"Jirō, just one left. Your big brother will avenge you soon."
The one-eyed jonin panted, put his upper garment back on, used a secret technique to sense Uchiha Kazuhiko's location, and gave chase at full speed.
Just as Captain Touma was slain by the one-eyed jonin, Uchiha Kazuhiko was also intercepted by the black-clad jonin in a valley over ten kilometers away.
"Whew, whew..."
The black-clad jonin gasped for breath, looking at Uchiha Kazuhiko, who had sheathed his tachi. He said with a mix of surprise and relief,
"Brat, I never expected you to be this fast. If I didn't have a secret technique, you really would have escaped today."
"Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Injury, Open!"
Uchiha Kazuhiko didn't know when the other enemies would catch up.
To break through as quickly as possible, he opened the Gate of Injury, which his body couldn't yet fully withstand.
The power of the Injury Gate state turned Uchiha Kazuhiko's skin as red as a boiled lobster.
Muscles and tendons inside his body began to sustain damage.
He truly entered the Eight Inner Gates state, vaulting over the chunin level directly to the level of a jonin.
"Oh? Using a forbidden technique? The aura isn't bad. Pity you ran into me. It's destined for you to die here."
The black-clad jonin knew nothing of the Eight Inner Gates' power, but seeing the violent energy surging around Uchiha Kazuhiko, he grew slightly more cautious.
"Too much talk."
After adapting to the power of the Injury Gate, Uchiha Kazuhiko gave the black-clad jonin a cold glance.
His body crouched slightly, then he charged forward at full speed, instantly appearing right in front of the black-clad jonin.
"What?! How can he be this fast?!"
With the black-clad jonin's eyesight, he only saw an extremely fast black shadow rushing towards him.
He had no time to defend before Uchiha Kazuhiko's kick connected, sending his body flying uncontrollably through the air.
"Replacement Technique!"
The black-clad jonin used the Replacement Technique mid-air to evade, but Uchiha Kazuhiko saw through it.
His figure flickered, appearing in front of him again and sending him flying once more.
This time, the black-clad jonin couldn't use the Replacement Technique to dodge. He could only endure Uchiha Kazuhiko's ensuing assault.
"Reverse Lotus!"
Uchiha Kazuhiko let out a soft cry.
Pushing off the ground forcefully with both feet, he leaped above the black-clad jonin, hammering a fist into his chest and driving his body down from mid-air.
Then, Uchiha Kazuhiko flashed again, appearing where the black-clad jonin was about to land, kicking him back into the air.
The Reverse Lotus was a high-speed continuous attack where the opponent couldn't even make contact.
At such a terrifying speed, the black-clad jonin had no means to fight back. He could only passively endure Uchiha Kazuhiko's powerful, relentless strikes, vomiting blood profusely as if it cost nothing.
Feeling his body nearing its limit, Uchiha Kazuhiko appeared above the black-clad jonin one last time, delivering the final blow.
With a deafening BOOM, the black-clad jonin plummeted towards the ground at a horrifying speed.
The moment he impacted, he cratered the hard ground with a human-shaped pit, instantly kicking up a cloud of dust.
When the dust settled, Uchiha Kazuhiko, who had released the Eight Inner Gates, stood panting heavily at the edge of the crater.
Just as he was about to step forward to check if the black-clad jonin was dead, over a dozen flying blood-red scales pierced through his heart.