บท 100: Ch.100 Trapping the Dog Inside
Despite his distaste for Doma's pretentiousness and tendency to bully the weak, Akaza was well aware of the strength of the Upper Moon demon ranked above him.
Especially given that both he and Doma had devoured many shinobi from the shinobi world over the past few days, storing vast amounts of chakra within their bodies.
This significantly boosted their strength.
Given this, Akaza was genuinely surprised that Doma had fallen so quickly. And the terrifying scream Doma let out earlier sent chills down his spine.
After all, Doma was a monster devoid of emotions, someone who almost never experienced true joy, anger, or sorrow. For a creature like that to release such a near-hysterical scream, Akaza couldn't even imagine what had happened to him.
At that moment, one of the ice mirrors in the Demonic Ice Mirrors moved aside, and a figure appeared in the open space where the mirror had been.
Akaza immediately tensed up.
He instantly recognized this figure as the one who had been standing coldly on the rooftop, silently watching the entire battle unfold.
"Is this the leader of the Akatsuki? Is this the Lampbearer of this world?" Akaza wondered silently.
Uchiha Shinji was also scrutinizing Akaza at this moment.
Unlike Doma, who had nearly exhausted his chakra, Akaza still radiated intense chakra.
If it weren't for Haku trapping Akaza in this place with all his might, dealing with this Upper Moon demon skilled in taijutsu would have been far more difficult.
Though he held little hope, Shinji still asked, "Why did you invade the shinobi world?"
"Hmph!"
Akaza responded with a cold snort, fully convinced that the person in front of him was indeed the Lantern Bearer of the shinobi world.
It wasn't anything Shinji had said that revealed this—it was a gut instinct. Akaza's instincts told him that as long as he killed this man, his world would be saved.
Shinji didn't expect an answer. Seeing that Akaza wasn't cooperative, he didn't waste any more time and immediately activated Amaterasu.
Whoosh.
In an instant, under the watchful gaze of Shinji's Mangekyō Sharingan, black flames drifted toward Akaza.
Akaza's taijutsu reflexes were sharp, and he reacted immediately, retreating as he raised his arms to shield himself.
But no matter how fast he was, he couldn't outrun Shinji's gaze. After all, Shinji didn't need to slowly turn his head like certain other users of Amaterasu—he could control the flames with just his line of sight.
As a result, the black flames ignited on Akaza's left arm, which he had raised to protect himself.
"Ah!"
A searing pain shot through Akaza, piercing his very soul.
In all his centuries as a demon, this was the first time he had encountered flames that triggered a primal fear within his body!
Without hesitation, Akaza ripped off his left arm at the shoulder, violently tearing it away and tossing it aside.
The left arm, consumed by the black flames, turned to ash in just a few breaths.
The black flames even spread to the surrounding ice mirrors, igniting the ice as if it were flammable.
Akaza's eyes widened. "It can burn ice? What kind of fire is this?"
Witnessing the eerie power of Amaterasu, Akaza suddenly understood what had happened to Doma.
Akaza's quick decision-making caught Shinji off guard for a moment.
After all, Shinji had used Amaterasu to deal with many demons, including the Upper Moon Five, who had fallen easily to the black flames. This was the first time he had seen a demon use such a drastic method to avoid Amaterasu's lethal blow.
However, Shinji didn't hesitate. He immediately launched Amaterasu again.
Akaza was still trapped inside Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors. In this confined space, he might have dodged once, but there was no way he could dodge twice!
As the black flames came at him again, Akaza had no choice but to shield his body with his newly regenerated arms.
This time, both of Akaza's arms were consumed by the black flames simultaneously. Desperate, he tore off his right arm with his left and then ripped off the left arm with his regenerated right.
As the black flames continued to spread and the area he could stand on shrank, a fierce light flashed in Akaza's eyes.
Gathering all of his chakra into his fists, Akaza lunged at Shinji without hesitation, shouting, "Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!"
Boom!
A massive explosion reverberated inside Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors.
Then came the sound of glass shattering—crack-
Akaza stared at Shinji, who was so close yet seemed impossibly far away, his expression filled with frustration.
Despite putting everything he had into this strike, it hadn't hit Shinji. Instead, it had collided with a massive red skeletal arm.
In the blink of an eye, the red skeleton arm appeared out of nowhere, standing between Shinji and Akaza.
Akaza's full-force attack struck the red skeleton arm, and the force of his punch created a crack in it.
However, the recoil shattered Akaza's own fist, reducing it to a mangled mess, forcing him to jump back.
Seeing that Karin's Susanoo had been cracked by Akaza's punch, Shinji was a little surprised but only slightly.
Akaza was indeed powerful, but so what?
Shinji hadn't even moved. He merely narrowed his eyes.
Akaza, shocked, instinctively retreated.
Yet, as Akaza prepared to attack again, he suddenly felt a chill. Looking up, he saw a massive wave of black flames falling toward him, landing directly on his head.
"Ahhh!"
Akaza let out a blood-curdling scream.
He could sever other parts of his body to escape the black flames, but his head was a vital point. Once the black flames engulfed it, even he couldn't respond quickly enough.
Within moments, the black flames spread across his entire body, completely consuming him.
Watching Akaza turn to ash and scatter into the wind, Shinji extinguished all the remaining Amaterasu flames and turned to Karin.
Karin nodded in understanding and quickly closed her eyes to sense the area. "There are nine chakra signatures nearby, but none of them seem to belong to demons."
Haku, having dispelled the Demonic Ice Mirrors, walked up to Shinji.
His face showed signs of fatigue, as he had expended a large amount of chakra to keep Akaza trapped. Even with the advantage provided by Doma's Blood Demon Art, which enhanced his Ice Release, Haku had struggled to contain the Upper Moon demon.
Without that advantage, he might not have been able to hold Akaza at all.
[Invasion successfully thwarted]
[Rift closing]
The voice of the Lamp echoed in Shinji's ears.
"Only two Upper Moons, huh..." Shinji paused, reflecting. "It seems their goal this time was to sow discord between the Akatsuki and the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Sending two Upper Moons—one in the open and one in the shadows—to kill me was probably just a convenient bonus."
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