"Catch him!"
The Grand Master of the Evil God Cult turned, and Shigure immediately noticed—his body looked less like flesh, more like a corpse animated by dark will. His skin was pale, cracked, stretched tight over his bones. It was the same sickening presence he remembered from the legends of Hidan—the mark of a man consumed by Jashinism.
Fanatical cultists poured into the chamber, shrieking in unison, eyes bloodshot with frenzy.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Five clones flared into life, the six Shigures forming a protective barrier around Hizashi and Noguchi, their kunai raised. Shigure crouched to sever the ropes restraining his sensei.
"Shigure!" Hizashi barked, already sliding into his stance. "They're not ordinary pawns. Be careful!"
But their warning cries came too late—the cultists rushed.
Fwoosh!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Heat swelled like a rising sun as Shigure's flames rolled outward. Screams filled the chamber, bodies burned and charred, the reek of roasted flesh saturating the underground hall.
It should have been the end—yet, grotesquely, the men rose again. Splintered bone cracked, blackened flesh smoked, and their eyes shimmered with renewed life.
Hizashi struck one down with Gentle Fist, chakra cutting an enemy's network in half. The man twitched, collapsed, still and unmoving—yet moments later writhed briefly… then stood again like a puppet.
Shigure's Sharingan spun. Not true immortality. A death-like trance, then resurrection. Damn… it's the same as Hidan's curse!
The Grand Master raised his arms, his voice booming like a priest of death. "Blood for the Evil God! Spill their veins and enact the Death Blood Ritual!"
Shigure's heart sank. Images flashed—Asuma's tragic fate by Hidan's cursed technique. If these zealots mark me with blood, I'm finished.
The Hidden Mist
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Five more Shigures split away, scattering across the room.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
The chamber vanished in suffocating fog.
"Shigure!" Hizashi hissed, Byakugan flaring through the haze. "Careful! Fire then water—your chakra will deplete!"
"No choice," Shigure's voice echoed, low and cold. "Outnumbered, we must end this quickly."
But inwardly he smirked. Peak Kage-level chakra. As if running low is even possible for me.
Predator in the Fog
The room was his hunting ground now. In the blanket of mist, cultists flailed uselessly, their senses overwhelmed.
"Search! Find them! The Evil God is with us!" the Grand Master howled.
But his acolytes knew—it didn't matter. Shigure stalked like a wolf in the herd.
He appeared behind one, soft fist exploding into their chest. The man slumped dead, but moments later, sick vitality burst again from within his skull, forcing him alive again.
Shigure's lip curled. Yes, they rise again. Then I'll kill them faster than they can return.
Seals blurred in the fog. "Compound Jutsu—Water, Earth, Lightning Dragon Bullets!"
The chamber tore apart under triple-elemental force. Thunderous shock erupted with water torrents and mud spears, sparks lashing together in dazzling arcs. Dozens of cultists fell screaming, mangled and broken.
Even the Grand Master staggered, coughing blood as his flesh convulsed unnaturally back into shape.
"Hahahaha!" the mad priest shouted, pain twisting into mania. "The Evil God grants us eternal life—you cannot win!"
The Storm Unleashed
Shigure's eyes blazed, his voice low and sharp. "Then drown in my fire."
Ninjutsu cascaded like a rainstorm.
"Great Fireball!" Boom! A wave of flame ripped through the mist.
"Dragon Fire Technique!" Whip—crash! Searing lines cut like burning chains.
"Phoenix Fire Formula!" Boom-boom-boom! Dozens of blazing sparks annihilated cultists in bursts.
"Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!" Roar! A colossal inferno dragon consumed the chamber in crimson.
"Wind Dragon Bullet!" A typhoon twisted across the carnage, fanning flames until the entire hideout became hell on earth.
Hizashi froze in place, Byakugan wide in disbelief. The boy's chakra shouldn't even permit one such sequence—yet Shigure chained five B-rank jutsu without pause, his body still brimming with inexhaustible power.
Through his clairvoyant vision, Hizashi caught something far more terrifying—Shigure's chakra, glowing brighter than any living man's he had ever seen. Not merely Jonin-level. Not even Kage. This light was something else entirely.
"…Impossible." Hizashi's breath trembled. "His chakra is radiance itself. This child… all this time… he's hidden it."
From the shadows, the Grand Master hacked up blood, body scorched and broken, yet laughing. His mad eyes locked on Shigure.
"Yes… yes… this one will serve our Evil God well. An Uchiha of purest blood. The perfect vessel!"
Shigure stood amid the fire, white tomoe of his Byakuragan gleaming with predatory calm.
"Come then," his voice cut through the mist like steel, "and be the first to die."
P.S. This chapter pushes Shigure into open slaughter—revealing his terrifying chakra reserves as he devastates the Evil God cultists with compound ninjutsu barrages. Even Hizashi, with his all-seeing Byakugan, is shaken by the magnitude of his student's hidden strength.
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