REVIEWS AND POWERSTONES PLSSS!!!!!Chapter 90: Eyes That Will Not Close
Hearing Yasushi's impassioned declaration, the three Uchiha—Yashiro and the others—reacted like fools brainwashed by a cult, raising their arms and shouting along with him.
"That's right! The Uchiha clan will only live for itself from now on!"
"Let the Hokage and daimyo all go to hell!"
"Kill them all!"
"Let them experience clan extermination just like we did!"
Living Uchiha might just be a bunch of extremists, but dead Uchiha were all complete lunatics!
Lunatics who had no fear of death!
Although Tsunade knew the chances of achieving anything through talk were slim, seeing Yasushi and his group's resolute attitude and the bone-deep hatred for Konoha burning in their eyes still filled her heart with sorrow.
But she was also a veteran shinobi who'd fought on battlefields for years. With just one deep breath, she adjusted her emotions. Immediately clenching both fists, she shouted loudly.
"Fine! I understand your resolve now!"
"So are you here to throw your lives away?"
"Hahahahaha!" Uchiha Yasushi laughed loudly. "The Uchiha don't fear death!"
Accompanying his laughter, the three reanimated Uchiha also burst into maniacal laughter, shouting slogans as they charged toward Tsunade.
"The Uchiha don't fear death!"
"Tsunade, die!"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
All three formed hand seals simultaneously, spewing blazing fire dragons toward Tsunade.
The fire dragons streaked through the air, carving arcs as they locked onto Tsunade's front, left, and right sides—a three-pronged pincer attack.
Tsunade snorted coldly, swinging her arm to remove her jacket and tossing it toward the incoming fire dragons.
The rough cloth jacket instantly ignited under the fire dragons' heat wave, transforming into a fireball.
In that brief moment while the enemy's vision was blocked, Tsunade pushed off hard with her feet, stomping fiercely on the ground.
With a tremendous boom, the ground instantly collapsed into a large crater as stones and dust flew everywhere.
Tsunade's body shot skyward like an arrow released from its bow, tracing a graceful arc through the air and barely avoiding the three fire dragons' pincer attack.
The fire dragons slammed into the empty ground with a thunderous roar, flames scattering everywhere and turning the ground into a sea of fire.
While still airborne, Tsunade twisted her waist forcefully, and her upward trajectory instantly reversed downward.
She raised her long leg high, straightening both legs into a single line in midair. With a sharp whistling sound cutting through the wind, she brought them down like a battle axe toward Uchiha Inabi below.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
"Hmph!" Facing Tsunade's attack, Uchiha Inabi showed no intention of dodging. Instead, his face twisted into a savage grin as he drew the long blade from his waist.
"The Uchiha don't fear death!"
He roared, raising the blade high and thrusting it toward Tsunade's abdomen.
"Tch!"
This was Tsunade's first time encountering such a completely suicidal mutual destruction fighting style. Her brow furrowed involuntarily, and in her haste she shifted her foot, stomping down on the blade's spine instead.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the blade shattered inch by inch under Tsunade's monstrous strength. The shards were swept up by the Heavenly Foot of Pain's violent winds, becoming like sharp kunai that instead pierced into Uchiha Inabi's body.
Uchiha Inabi didn't even blink, completely ignoring the blades embedded in him. A crazed smile spread across his face as he opened both arms and lunged at Tsunade, attempting close combat.
"Get away!"
Tsunade erupted in fury, swinging both arms as her fist carried earth-shattering force and smashed directly into Uchiha Inabi's chest.
With a tremendous boom, Uchiha Inabi's reanimated body instantly disintegrated into countless black fragments that scattered across the ground.
Taking advantage of the time needed for the reanimation to recover, Tsunade ignored the other two Uchiha—Yashiro and Teyaki—charging toward her. Instead she lunged forward, rushing toward Uchiha Yasushi who'd been watching the show with a smile in the back.
Tsunade's explosive power was tremendous. With just one great leap, she left Yashiro and Teyaki behind and appeared before Yasushi.
"Those who defile the souls of the dead are unforgivable!"
Tsunade shouted angrily, clenching her washbasin-sized fist tight. With a sharp whistling sound, she smashed it down hard toward Yasushi's head.
"Super Strength Punch!"
"Hehe..." Yasushi continued smiling, making no move to activate Susanoo. He simply kept his arms tucked in his sleeves and casually blocked in front of his body.
Thud!
As Tsunade's punch landed, that exaggerated superhuman strength bent Yasushi's arms at unnatural angles. Along with the arms, his entire body was sent flying with a single punch, tracing a parabolic arc through the air as he plummeted far into the depths of the dense forest.
With thunderous crashes, tree after tree was toppled by Yasushi's body, kicking up huge clouds of dust in the forest and startling countless roosting birds into flight toward the distance.
"My, what ridiculous strength!"
Yasushi climbed crookedly to his feet, using his ocular power to heal the injuries on his arms while slowly walking back.
By the time he returned to the battlefield, the dust had already settled.
Tsunade lay on the ground bristling with blades, covered in blood from head to toe. Her body was riddled with countless holes, her breathing ragged and failing—clearly on the verge of death.
Yashiro and the other two had joined forces to keep Shizune and the others blocked at the outer perimeter, preventing them from entering to rescue Tsunade.
Earlier, Yasushi had placed blood packs on his body and deliberately used himself as bait to lure Tsunade into attacking, preventing her from evading.
While Tsunade's punch sent him flying, it also splattered the blood pack's contents all over her body and face.
The ones who actually dealt Tsunade the killing blows weren't Yasushi, but the three reanimated bodies she'd underestimated.
When Tsunade was paralyzed by her hemophobia and couldn't move, Yashiro and the other two she'd left behind simultaneously appeared at her back. Without a word, they repeatedly stabbed her over a hundred times.
Villains die from talking too much—there was truth to that saying.
Too many people in anime failed to finish the job when they had the advantage, preferring to monologue and waste the perfect opportunity.
Yasushi would never make such a mistake.
He'd specifically instructed Yashiro and the others not to engage in verbal sparring with Tsunade. The moment her hemophobia paralyzed her, they were to immediately turn her into a pincushion!
The reason they didn't behead her directly was to leave that final strike for Yasushi to perform.
Yasushi didn't immediately kill her. Instead, he walked over near Tsunade, crouched before her, and taunted with a cheerful smile.
"Hey, Tsunade! When you have an illness, you should treat it early!"
"Early treatment, early recovery!"
"Look at you—if you didn't have hemophobia, killing you wouldn't be so easy!"
"You—how did you know—" Tsunade's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Orochimaru, who'd been standing motionless to the side.
"It wasn't me who told him~" Orochimaru shrugged. "His ocular ability is prophecy. He can know many things about the future."
"Is that so?" Tsunade took a deep breath, her eyes sharpening as the diamond-shaped red mark on her forehead began to twist and deform. "You—"
Yasushi suddenly moved with blinding speed. With a swift slash, he severed Tsunade's head from her shoulders.
With a wet sound, under the tremendous arterial pressure, Tsunade's head was propelled skyward by the blood jet from her neck, shooting over ten meters before rolling several times on the ground. Her eyes remained wide open in disbelief, staring at Yasushi who'd suddenly struck the killing blow.
Her eyes would not close in death.
Even in her final moment, Tsunade couldn't understand why Yasushi—who'd been acting superior and mockingly venting his anger just moments before—suddenly delivered the killing strike without even giving her a chance to speak and buy time.
"Hehe—giving people hope first, then plunging them into despair... I really do have wicked tastes!" Yasushi smiled cheerfully as he wiped his short blade clean and returned it to its sheath.
Among everyone present, no one understood better than him just how tenacious Tsunade's life force truly was.
A body severed in two could be reconnected to continue fighting. What were a hundred holes compared to that?
Tsunade's greatest weakness had always been only one thing—her hemophobia.
As long as she overcame her hemophobia, killing her would become a hundred times more difficult.
Yasushi had crouched before Tsunade appearing to mock her, but in reality he'd been carefully observing her expression and body. The moment he detected signs that Tsunade was overcoming her hemophobia, he immediately struck, severing her head and absolutely refusing to give Tsunade any chance of turning the tables.
Even in death, he absolutely couldn't let her die too easily!
He had to kill her precisely when she thought she still had a chance to turn things around, utterly crushing all her calculations while they were still in their cradle, never allowing them to unfold!
The more humiliating her death, the more satisfying the kill for Yasushi!
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