Naruto: I, Uchiha, Just Want to Die

Chapter 16: Major Reversal! The Ancestral Maniacal Laughter! Uchiha Setsuna's Resolve!

The ruins of the village, devastated by the ravages of ninja combat, lay in utter disarray.

Amidst the towering barrier,

The ground was littered with shuriken, scattered threads, and chunks of earth and broken branches severed by ninja wire.

In the center, as Uchiha Ci's soft words fell,

Moroi couldn't help but shudder as if experiencing a trauma reaction.

Despite his previous fierce actions, he now looked extremely battered.

His red cloak was shredded by ninja wire, exposing smooth, bleeding cuts underneath.

The stinging pain from his wounds made him quietly hiss in discomfort.

If it weren't for the sealing scroll he carried, which allowed him to use a sealing technique without hand signs—

And the fact that it was a Binding Formation that he had sealed within it—

He might have truly met his end at the hands of this fledgling genin, Uchiha Ci.

Moroi narrowed his eyes, not daring to be careless. He formed a hand seal, using a sensory technique to scan Uchiha Ci from head to toe.

Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

Pressing closer with his long sword, he revealed a disdainful smile and coldly said:

"Kid, at this point, you still want to deceive me?"

"I've already checked; your chakra is nearly exhausted, your physical strength is less than ten percent, and you've been hit by my Thunder Binding."

"With your current power, even a simple Body Replacement Technique is impossible!"

Moroi's lips curled with a hint of self-satisfaction as if he already held victory in his grasp. He calmly declared:

"You've lost!"

"Your only option now is to wait for death. There's no other way out!"

However, Uchiha Ci's gaze remained eerily calm, even unsettlingly so.

Just as Moroi had said, his condition was dire.

He couldn't even perform an E-rank Escape Rope Technique, let alone a Body Replacement.

Yet at that moment,

A strange look of relief appeared on Uchiha Ci's face as he muttered to himself:

"Finally, I've finally..."

"Kid, what are you babbling about?" Moroi frowned, his eyes locked onto Uchiha Ci.

After their earlier exchange, even with the situation now seemingly in his favor, he dared not let his guard down.

But Uchiha Ci simply stared at Moroi, then suddenly grinned and spoke as if narrating a story:

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this moment?!"

"And now—"

Uchiha Ci's eyes gleamed with madness, his lips curling into a maniacal grin as he exclaimed, "I've finally reached it!"

"How absurd! What nonsense!"

Moroi frowned at the sight of Uchiha Ci still rambling despite the dire situation, and he barked coldly:

"Whatever last wishes you have, it's too late now!"

"Die!"

He decided to stop wasting words,

Intending to pierce Uchiha Ci's heart with a single thrust and end his life!

Moroi gripped his long sword, holding the hilt tightly with both hands, stepped back, and leveled the hilt at his waist.

The blade tip aimed straight at Uchiha Ci's heart!

With just a forceful push, the boy before him would never speak again!

His eyes narrowed with deadly intent as he thrust the blade forward!

He could almost see the image of Uchiha Ci collapsing.

Yet at that very moment,

Bound by the Thunder Binding, Uchiha Ci

Suddenly threw his head back and burst into maniacal laughter:

"Heh heh heh, ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~!"

The laughter had a distinct rhythm,

Starting with a mocking chuckle, growing into a full-throated laugh, and finally nearly choking with mirth, tears almost spilling out.

Uchiha Ci lowered his head and glanced at Moroi, his eyes filled with contempt:

"Kumo-nin, you didn't really think you'd won, did you?"

As Uchiha Ci's words fell,

Moroi's long sword slashed through the high-collared black robe on Uchiha Ci's chest.

But when he saw what lay beneath the robe, his eyes widened in shock, and the smirk froze on his face.

The hand pushing the sword forward abruptly halted!

"Wh-What is this?!" Moroi looked up at Uchiha Ci in terror.

"This?" Uchiha Ci laughed maniacally,

"Let me show you what this is!"

Enduring the intense numbness and the pain of electricity coursing through his body, Uchiha Ci's eyes sharpened.

With one hand, he grabbed the collar of his black robe and ripped it open!

The torn robe revealed a muscular young body bathed in sunlight.

However, on this body,

He wore a garment made entirely of tightly packed explosive tags!

The dark symbols of the explosive tags covered every inch of his body, from head to toe, with not a single spot left uncovered!

The dense characters spelling "explode" created an overwhelming visual impact!

The sheer quantity of tags could likely raze the entire village to the ground!

Moroi suddenly felt a chilling numbness crawl from his toes to his scalp, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Uchiha Ci, this kid, had actually been wearing explosive tags as clothing?!

You've got to be kidding me!

Lunatic!

He's completely insane!

A madman like you isn't afraid of tripping or bumping into something and blowing yourself to pieces?

Suddenly, Uchiha Ci felt his whole body relax, as the "lightning" symbols on the ground stopped functioning due to Moroi's lapse in concentration, cutting off the chakra supply.

Uchiha Ci moved his arms a bit and jumped down, his gaze cold as he looked at Moroi, calmly saying:

"The real winner is me!"

With those words, Uchiha Ci grabbed the explosive tags on his chest.

A mere tug would send the entire village, along with Uchiha Ci,

To the heavens!

The scene fell into a deathly silence.

Outside the barrier, three figures closely observed the battle within.

After Moroi unleashed the Fire Sealing, Binding Formation, and Thunder Binding techniques, the situation suddenly reversed.

The roles of hunter and prey were swapped, with Uchiha Ci now restrained.

It seemed his life would soon be snuffed out with a single strike!

"Ci!"

Elder Uchiha Setsuna couldn't help but exclaim in alarm, immediately ready to break free and use a powerful jutsu to shatter the barrier.

At this moment, Uchiha Ci

Weighed far more in Uchiha Setsuna's heart than before!

Possessing an understanding of the Uchiha-style Manipulated Shuriken Jutsu far beyond his years, able to grasp the Dragon Fire and Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson techniques with minimal guidance.

Moreover,

He could integrate these three techniques to create a combo jutsu that even amazed him.

In Uchiha Setsuna's mind, Uchiha Ci was no longer the failure who couldn't even awaken his Sharingan!

He was,

A genius among geniuses!

As a high-ranking member of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Setsuna naturally understood the process of awakening the Sharingan.

He could easily design an intense emotional stimulus to trigger the awakening of the clan's Sharingan.

However, such actions would be like forcing growth, and without the talent to match the Sharingan, awakening it would only become a burden, a coveted power that others would kill to steal.

But Uchiha Ci was different!

His talent was more than enough to support such power!

In fact, Uchiha Setsuna had already, in that brief moment, concocted a plan of life-and-death scenarios, so melodramatic that it could propel Uchiha Ci to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, turning him into the ultimate maniac.

And now, the situation had flipped!

This genius who had just begun to show his potential was about to be buried in a foreign land.

For the Uchiha clan, for the Hawkish Faction, this was an immense loss!

Uchiha Setsuna gritted his teeth slightly, his gaze turning resolute.

He decided to use Izanagi,

To replace one of the two Kumo-nin blocking him, then forcibly break the barrier and rescue Uchiha Ci.

This kind of talent cannot die here!.