Chapter 266: Absolute Violence (3.5K update, seeking subscriptions)
"King of Slaughter Species (Extremely Rare): Harvested over 1,000,000 Human Race lives; Progress: 317/1,000,000"
"You killed the Land of Lightning Daimyo. Your reputation in Cloud Village is now permanently: Hatred (Solidified 100/100)"
"You will be continuously hunted by Cloud Village forces in this world."
"Killing Intent Ripple has slightly increased. Current: Lv3 (576/1200)"
...
"Ha, haha~ haha!"
Bai Cangshu's arm muscles were severely torn, but they were rapidly healing. He watched as he, using only brute force, crushed sand into stone and threw it, directly destroying the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence and killing hundreds of people.
He looked up at the full moon and laughed madly, a genuine joy overflowing from his heart.
It was like a child, picking up a wooden stick for the first time, and with a casual swing, shattering a beautiful flower by the roadside. The feeling of realizing one had mastered the power to control the life and death of other things was intoxicating.
This was pure power, unmixed with any energy.
Under this full moon, Bai Cangshu felt that if he were to encounter the werewolf he met in the Cursed World again, he would only need one punch to directly obliterate him.
This was the second tier of [Efficiency]. This extreme efficiency, combined with Bai Cangshu's terrifying physique, produced an unprecedentedly terrifying effect.
Listening to the panicked sounds of the crowd in the Land of Lightning's capital, many samurai and commoners were trying to rescue people, and some stationed Shinobi were trying to find the enemy.
"Let's go. It's time for us to make this country submit..."
Bai Cangshu's tone was slightly elevated due to excitement, like a drunkard who had too much to drink, or a lecher who had obtained a beautiful woman. That feeling of comfort, with all pores opening due to the release of desire, was something both Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi could discern.
The two looked at the purple aura almost blazing from Tao Bai Bai's body. That unknown energy, not Chakra, was clearly related to slaughter.
He strengthened himself through slaughter; he pleased himself through slaughter...
Whoosh~
Itachi's eyelids drooped, and he gently exhaled a turbid breath, reaffirming in his heart that Tao Bai Bai was an out-and-out anomaly, a monster in human skin, completely devoid of normal human ethics.
But then he thought again, there were countless heroes in the Shinobi World, yet no one could end a thousand years of war. Perhaps, humanity truly needed such monsters to surround them before they would truly abandon greed and stop fighting.
Orochimaru's gaze was even more sinister. Tao Bai Bai's attack made him see the fragility of humanity with extreme clarity, even Shinobi, even a Kage at the pinnacle of power.
To be targeted by such a guy, who could throw a rock from two kilometers away and shatter the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence...
This completely stripped human lives of their weighty power.
Moreover, he didn't feel that the other party had any moral considerations for taking so many lives.
Many Shinobi would feel reluctant or vomit when they first killed people. After killing more and getting used to it, they would start finding various reasons to excuse themselves: it was a mission, Shinobi must complete missions, those killed were enemies... And some bloodthirsty individuals would come to enjoy slaughter, the pleasure of torment, and the suffering of the dead.
But Tao Bai Bai was even more different. Orochimaru could feel that the other party was simply joyful about his own strength.
Tao Bai Bai seemed to not regard those he killed as humans at all, or perhaps, he didn't regard himself as human.
Therefore, killing so many people did not cause any moral fluctuations in this guy due to [empathy], neither good nor bad.
Perhaps if the other party had thrown that stone at a mountain, collapsing it, he would also have shown a joyful smile.
Bai Cangshu noticed their strange gazes and looked down at them.
At this moment, Bai Cangshu was over three meters tall, his explosive muscles almost completely tearing his clothes. The oppressive feeling was extremely terrifying.
Both Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi instinctively adopted a combat stance, on guard.
Bai Cangshu, however, sneered,
"Do you know why Shinobi have always been driven to wage war, for thousands of years, always like this?"
"Because... of loyalty?"
"No, it's because you don't have the self-awareness of being transcendent beings."
Bai Cangshu turned and walked barefoot towards the capital built on the distant cliff.
Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi followed behind, while Pingzhong Hua and Danzo were each placed on the backs of two summoned beasts.
Bai Cangshu's voice grew louder and began to echo like thunder through the cliffs and valleys. Even the clouds seemed to churn due to the immense sound.
"You possess power, but you lack the spirit to wield it."
"What is transcendence? It is transcending worldly shackles! Everything in this world, I can change with a wave of my hand!"
"Power controls strength?"
"No, only absolute strength can give birth to absolute power!"
Uchiha Itachi listened as Tao Bai Bai began to "seduce" again, yet he couldn't stop the content from entering his mind and beginning to consider its rationality.
Absolute power... can give birth to absolute authority... can absolute authority bring absolute peace...
Bai Cangshu's pupils focused, looking at the Shinobi maintaining order above the chaotic Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence in the far distance. They also heard Bai Cangshu's voice and were looking this way, calling out to others to pay attention;
Bai Cangshu raised his right hand, and a strong Killing Intent Ripple began to condense beneath his palm.
"Ripple" is a manifestation of "Ki," but it is more unstable and reacts more intensely.
The strong ripple continuously rotated and condensed, finally forming a ripple ball about thirty centimeters in diameter. Because it was severely compressed, it became increasingly unstable, emitting a piercing scream.
The sound was extremely sharp, almost making one's eardrums ache.
Bai Cangshu, however, curled the fingers of his single hand, still compressing this ripple, not striking it out with both hands to form a Wave Motion Fist as usual.
Since he had understood that the bottleneck between the second and third tiers was energy intensity and energy control ability, Bai Cangshu naturally would not relax his control over energy.
Compared to the powerful but difficult-to-leverage soul power within his bloodline, Ki and ripple were much easier for Bai Cangshu, a continuously training martial artist, to control.
He felt that strong power continuously leaping in his palm. The terrifying energy contained within, if it lost control, was enough to completely destroy an area of several tens of meters.
Seeing that Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi were only on guard but did not leave his side, Bai Cangshu suddenly had a strange feeling. Even these two powerful Shinobi, who could casually strip hundreds of lives, could not perceive his terror now.
This was a difference at the biological level. Although Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi both mastered Chakra, and from the perspective of energy manipulation alone, they were even stronger than him.
But from the perspective of the biological attributes themselves, these two were too fragile. Even the Uchiha clan members, who possessed the Ōtsutsuki Clan bloodline, were only slightly better than ordinary people in terms of physical body.
Neither their sense of danger nor their resistance to injury could compare to his.
If one had to say, it was that although everyone was a Human Race creature with a human appearance, internally, they were already vastly different.
Screech!
The intense scream was as if it was about to explode, and blazing clouds of smoke continuously emanated from Bai Cangshu's palm.
In front of the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence in the distance, a team of people had gathered. Several Shinobi transformed into black shadows, leaping from the cliff and rapidly approaching the trio. The others were on high alert, their hands ready to form hand signs at any moment.
The ripple beneath Bai Cangshu's right hand had now shrunk to less than ten centimeters. The frequency and amplitude of its vibrations were extremely exaggerated. Bai Cangshu felt as if he was holding a bomb that had already exploded, with terrifying impact force continuously surging beneath his palm.
Finally, with a cruel smile, he pushed his right hand towards the capital of the Land of Lightning, towards the position where the Shinobi were forming their array.
Hum~
The air instantly hollowed, and the next moment, a Killing Intent Ripple, radiating an intense ripple that seemed to blur vision, shot through the air.
The Lightning Release Shinobi standing in front of the shattered Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence, wearing elaborate robes, saw a point of purple light ignite in the distance, followed by a terrifying whistling sound in the air.
As Shinobi skilled in Lightning Release, they knew very well that some extremely high-level Lightning Release Ninjutsu, when summoning lightning, would also cut through the air, causing a similar whistling sound.
This sound often represented extreme danger!
More than ten people formed hand signs together.
"Lightning Release: Sixteen Pillar Binding Technique!"
This was a special Lightning Release Ninjutsu combined with Earth Release barrier techniques, typically used to defend against or hinder the actions of rampaging Tailed Beasts.
Accompanied by intense lightning, walls as tough as steel rose, blocking their path.
Pfft~
The intense Killing Intent Ripple, under Bai Cangshu's smiling gaze, collided with the barrier raised by the Lightning Release. The next moment, the steel-like wall silently caved in. The Killing Intent Ripple, along with the impact, instantly caused its intensely compressed energy to completely diffuse.
Blazing white light erupted from the intense purple light, instantly obscuring all other light.
Boom!
Orochimaru raised his hand to shield his eyes, blocking the blinding light, followed by a terrifying explosion and shockwave.
A huge fireball erupted from the cliff of the Land of Lightning's capital, completely drowning out the terrified screams.
Swish, swish, pfft~
Several swift figures, carrying flashing lightning, instantly appeared behind the trio. One person's kunai, accompanied by lightning, instantly pierced Orochimaru's neck.
Another, with a lightning longsword, slashed at Uchiha Itachi, whose eyes were still fixed on the explosion. But Uchiha Itachi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan subtly rotated, and his figure seemed to blur for a moment.
Clang!
He had drawn his sword at some unknown point, precisely blocking the opponent's sword. At the same time, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan stared indifferently at the opponent. The brown-skinned Shinobi, wearing a Cloud Village forehead protector, saw those eyes and his heart sank.
"Damn it, it's Uchiha..."
Immediately, a scene of crows flying up appeared before his eyes. The next moment, a sharp blade pierced his throat.
The person who appeared behind Bai Cangshu was burly, enveloped in lightning, clearly a master of Ninjutsu. His foot tapped the ground, which shattered, and his figure disappeared again behind Bai Cangshu, who had half-turned his head.
This burly Cloud Village Jonin, wearing sunglasses, clasped his hands like a blade and suddenly appeared in front of Bai Cangshu. As his hand-blade slashed horizontally, the air was instantly torn, and the lightning seemed to transform into a silver blade light.
Pfft!
At the end of the blade light was a huge palm.
Cloud Village Jonin Odula only felt that his hand-blade, which could split mountains and shatter rocks, had cut into diamond. His hand bones almost shattered, and his strength vanished as if into a bottomless pit.
Bai Cangshu's left hand squeezed the opponent's arm, which was too thin in his grip at this moment, and then he turned and slammed the burly Shinobi onto the ground.
Bang!
The sound of the ground and human bones breaking occurred simultaneously.
Bang!
Pfft!
Like a piece of rotten flesh, in the face of overly terrifying brute force, even a body enhanced by Ninjutsu instantly shattered, leaving only a twisted arm held in Bai Cangshu's hand.
"You killed Cloud Village Jonin, Odula, gaining 1000 dimensional points."
"You killed Cloud Village Special Jonin..."
"You killed..."
Pfft!
The Shinobi, horrified by Odula's brutal demise, didn't notice that Orochimaru, whom he had killed, had transformed into a snake. Behind him, Orochimaru silently appeared, opening his mouth to spit out a large snake that instantly bit his throat. As the poison was injected, the remaining Shinobi also twitched twice and fell silent.
"People of the Land of Lightning, I am the one who just killed your Daimyo. Now, I will give you a choice..."
"Submission, or death."