Chapter 79: The Final Ritual—When Gods Bleed!
Everything before him transformed into streaking lines, rapidly pulling downward.
Uchiha Tsukasa could only watch as Hōzuki Mangetsu's overwhelming barrage descended, completely powerless to counter it.
As Shinnō had warned him—
If his abilities were discovered and targeted countermeasures deployed, he would instantly become prey in the enemy's carefully laid trap.
Tsukasa had intended to rely on his Sharingan and exceptional reflexes to continue close-quarters combat, attempting to seize the lightning blades Kiba and summon a Lightning Release: Kirin to destroy his opponent.
The plan had been sound, but a critical problem arose at the very first step.
His lack of intelligence on Mangetsu, combined with the minor advantages he'd gained in their two previous encounters, had led him to believe he could defeat Mangetsu in direct sword combat.
However—
He hadn't anticipated Mangetsu's exceptionally solid foundation in kenjutsu. When his enemy abandoned stealth tactics and assassinations—his usual ninja approach—and instead engaged Tsukasa head-on in pure swordsmanship, he was utterly outmatched.
Using a blend of the Hōzuki clan's signature techniques and dual-blade mastery, Mangetsu had attacked with devastating precision.
Like a berserker with eight arms, his two blades swung relentlessly, like windmill blades bearing down on him.
The most frustrating part was the constant stream of liquefied fists, suddenly emerging from shoulders or waist, unleashing fierce, unstoppable blows.
Unstoppable. Absolutely unstoppable.
At this point in the fight, Tsukasa knew he'd made a critical error, walking straight into Mangetsu's trap.
Defeat and death were inevitable.
With a hint of resentment—like losing a schoolyard fight after betting his allowance—he couldn't suppress the wild, surging grin that began to spread across his face.
Tsukasa watched as Mangetsu drew the great sword Samehada and stabbed it into his abdomen.
"Ugh!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
The blade pierced his body, swung him in a wide arc through the air, and hurled him downward with tremendous force!
Immediately, the water construct—towering over ten meters tall—roared furiously, condensing into two fists the size of trucks. They caught Tsukasa mid-air and slammed him into the ground!
BOOM!
He wasn't the battered mess he'd imagined, with muscles and bones crushed to powder.
He wasn't suffering the horrific injuries that would make even the legendary medical ninja despair.
With that single devastating blow, the floor cracked—
Yet beneath it, the surface had somehow transformed into swamp-like mud. After passing through the muddy layer, a vertical tunnel coated in some kind of heated solution appeared before Tsukasa.
Tsukasa's mouth leaked blood as his eyes widened in realization.
He craned his neck to look upward and immediately spotted Mei Terumi standing outside the cavity, forming hand seals.
She even winked at him playfully.
Then Mei slammed her palm onto the ground, unleashing her Earth Release technique.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
The earth above the passage shifted, closing over where the impact had struck, forming a massive crater.
The light from above was swallowed by the surging earth, plunging everything into darkness.
At that moment, deep within the underground caverns—
Pools of blood stretched like forests of bleached bones. From the deep wind tunnels, faint, mournful wails drifted.
Torches and light from the passages illuminated the underground plaza.
Rows of crosses stood above the pools of blood, each one bearing a figure nailed to it, tortured nearly to death, their original forms unrecognizable.
One, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand.
Like a medieval cemetery, densely packed, the crosses stood like tombstones.
The difference was that burial didn't seem common here—instead, it looked more like a massive human jerky production facility.
Just then—
A gaping hole eroded through the cavern's ceiling, and a figure plummeted through, crashing headfirst into a pool of blood.
SPLASH!
A massive wave erupted!
"Ptui!" Tsukasa emerged from the pool, brow furrowed, teeth bared in pain.
The great sword Samehada's strike had drained all his remaining chakra.
His forbidden technique—Physical Regeneration—had consumed his life force one final time mid-air, repairing the wound in his abdomen before its power completely expired.
Ultimately, he'd borne the full impact of the fall.
Now he felt pain throughout his entire body, and it felt like several ribs were broken.
"Hiss!"
Still terrified, Tsukasa hurriedly touched his stomach.
Fortunately, the large hole in his abdomen—pierced by Samehada—had been completely repaired mid-air by his forbidden technique.
His abs were firm and intact, and feeling the defined lines made Tsukasa sigh. "My God, how could such a handsome guy with such a great body even exist?"
But then—
A resentful voice suddenly echoed from above Tsukasa's head.
"Although this might not be the right time—"
"But Boss, can you please stop being so narcissistic and look over here? Save me!"
Tsukasa froze mid-pose. He suddenly looked up and saw Hidan—his face covered in blood from Tsukasa's zero-point swan dive—staring at him with a venomous expression from a cross before him.
His follower looked like a crucified martyr, two large, blackened nails hammered through the centers of his palms.
And then, fearing he might escape, his captors had rigged him up with heavy rope knots, like butcher's twine around a side of beef.
He looked less like a divine sacrifice about to ascend to heaven and more like a piece of pork belly hung up to cure.
"What a coincidence," Tsukasa said expressionlessly, lowering his hand.
Hidan, looking utterly miserable, trembled all over as he stared at Tsukasa intently.
"Yeah, what a coincidence! I didn't even know what was happening before I jumped off that cliff."
"I blinked and found myself here."
"It's been forever, and there's not a soul around. Just screaming and howling like something out of a horror movie. I was scared half to death!"
Tsukasa rolled his eyes at him.
Without doing anything, Hidan had somehow jumped straight into the boss room, skipping an entire dungeon's worth of battles and jumping directly into the process of joining the Jashin Cult, getting promoted, and inheriting the cult's assets.
What kind of chosen protagonist luck is this?
Shaking his head, Tsukasa picked up the ninja blade that had fallen with him.
The blade was already riddled with notches and gouges, as if chewed by a dog.
However, because it was reinforced with his Earth Grudge Fear wire threads, the sword had barely avoided breaking completely like his previous katana.
Snap!
The blade struck the wooden cross, severing the rope holding Hidan.
The next moment, the blade broke cleanly in half.
Tsukasa held the hilt in silence for a moment, then quickly relaxed.
It had performed admirably, withstanding dozens of fierce strikes against Kiba—one of the legendary Seven Swords of the Mist.
With the rope cut, Hidan was finally able to move his legs. He looked at Tsukasa eagerly, pursed his lips, and pointed to his palms.
"Boss, there are still these two huge nails. Pull them out for me."
Tsukasa hesitated, looking up and surveying his surroundings.
There was a single passage leading out from the blood pool, which must be the exit to the outside world.
However, with dozens of elite Jashin Cult members guarding the area, even Tsukasa might not be able to break through, let alone Hidan.
After a moment's consideration, he looked up, pointed toward the ceiling, and said to Hidan calmly:
"Hidan, there's only one way to escape from here."
"Huh? How?" Hidan looked surprised, following Tsukasa's finger to stare at the ceiling.
Tsukasa's expression was deadly serious, as if explaining a truly viable escape plan:
"You need to master water-walking and tree-climbing within five minutes, then climb out through that hole, and finally dig through approximately six to ten meters of solid earth with your bare hands."
"That way, you'll reach the castle above."
Hidan was stunned.
Master water-walking and tree-climbing in five minutes? And dig through solid earth with bare hands?
I'm Hidan, not some superhuman!
"Wait, what kind of bullshit plan is that?! You didn't even plan to rescue me, did you?"
In silence, Tsukasa turned his back and nodded solemnly, like a veteran officer, his tone stern.
"Brother, I barely survived getting down here myself."
"How could I have had time to plan your rescue?"
"Instead of complaining, why don't you think about what you should do?"
"Me?" Hidan looked up blankly at the gaping hole in the ceiling, his face contorting with frustration.
"What am I supposed to do?"
If he knew all those advanced techniques, why would he have struggled so much against Kakuzu?
Asking him to learn them on the spot was like saying, "Great job on learning to walk, Hidan—now why don't you try breaking the Olympic sprint record?"
What kind of joke is this?!
Just as Hidan's attention was completely focused on the hole in the ceiling—
Tsukasa swiftly shoved the broken sword hilt into Hidan's mouth, stepped onto the cross's base, grabbed the nail embedded in Hidan's palm, and yanked it out!
SQUELCH!
"MMMMMPH!"
Hidan's eyes bulged, and he bit down on the hilt, wailing. Before he could curse, Tsukasa thrust the hilt back in again and grabbed the nail on the other side.
Of course, all that talking had just been to distract Hidan and prevent him from screaming and attracting enemies.
But at that moment—
A large, powerful hand suddenly appeared from behind Tsukasa and grabbed his wrist in an iron grip.
Then a cold voice echoed from behind him:
"Stop!"
Startled, Tsukasa—without even turning around—yanked the broken blade from Hidan's mouth and thrust it backward.
However, the fierce strike was blocked by his opponent's raised elbow.
"Is this your welcome gift?" the opponent asked coldly.
Tsukasa frowned, then executed a backflip while launching a vicious kick toward the head of the person behind him.
At the same time, his hand had already reached for his ninja tool pouch, ready to throw shuriken.
However—
At that moment, pain exploded throughout his body, and his smooth movements seemed to freeze mid-motion.
The person behind him sneered, grabbed Tsukasa's kicking leg, and viciously lifted him up before slamming him down into the pool of blood!
"You fell from such a height without using chakra to protect yourself, and now you're picking a fight."
"I don't know what kind of arrogance drives you to do such foolish things."
SPLASH!
"GAH!" Tsukasa felt like he'd hit concrete face-first. Pain wracked his entire body, and he couldn't help coughing up blood again.
Only then did he see his attacker's appearance.
He was a towering figure, nearly 1.9 meters tall, wearing the black ceremonial vest of the Jashin Cult. A hood concealed his face beneath its brim, and the front of his robe hung open, revealing a muscular torso and a pendant bearing the Jashin Cult's symbol.
He looked like a walking mountain.
He grabbed Tsukasa's leg with both hands, then dragged him upside-down through the blood pool toward a cross standing beside it.
He raised his hand and swung—
BANG! BANG!
THUNK! THUNK!
Two iron spikes drilled directly through the centers of Tsukasa's palms, piercing bone and nailing him to the cross.
Then the cult leader produced a coil of hemp rope and tied butcher's knots around him as if binding a piece of dead meat.
At this point, the Jashin Cult leader looked at his handiwork and couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth upward.
His grin grew wider and wider, his eyes filling with chilling madness.
"Your gift is appreciated. I'll accept it gladly."
"However, since the stage has been set—please witness together with me—"
"The ultimate ceremony for the birth of the Evil God!"
"When Gods Bleed!"
End of Chapter 79
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