Chapter 216: The Slaying of the Three Snake Hime!
Hayaakitsuhime's massive serpent pupils reflected the figure atop the Wood Human. Her mind was in turmoil, her eyes filled with disbelief and an unprecedented sense of the absurd.
She had lived for a thousand years and witnessed countless oddballs who followed strange "Ninja Ways."
But this Uchiha ninja, who would dare to single-handedly invade the sacred Ryūchi Cave merely for a vague notion of "punishing evil and promoting good," was the sole example!
She could sense the faint aura of Tagitsuhime, who was embedded in the cliff face.
She saw the horrific, smoking puncture wound on Ichikishimahime's body.
The charred remains of Manda still emitted a burnt smell not far away.
An intense, chilling dread stabbed at her soul like cold needles.
"I can't! I must stall for time! The White Snake Sage is immensely powerful; it must have sensed the fierce battle here! If we can just hold on a little longer, the White Snake Sage will surely come to save us!"
"You, human ninja—" Hayaakitsuhime fought through the churning, burning pain in her body. Her massive serpent head reared up, forcing herself to remain calm. Her voice was hoarse:
"What exactly is your basis for judging good and evil? You must know that you and I are not even the same species!"
Her huge vertical pupils locked onto Ikeizumi: "We in Ryūchi Cave follow the natural law of the strong preying on the weak and the survival of the fittest! Survival, evolution, and slaughter—that is our 'Ninja Way'!"
"By what right do you use your human system of false moral standards to label our actions, which merely follow our own laws of survival, as 'unpardonable' evil?!"
Ikeizumi Uchiha gazed at her indifferently. Not a ripple stirred in his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan.
Hayaakitsuhime's sophisticated argument regarding "natural law" versus "human morality" was completely ignored. It went in one ear and out the other.
"Because I am human."
Ikeizumi Uchiha's cold voice lacked any emotional fluctuation.
This concise answer utterly dumbfounded Hayaakitsuhime, slamming shut any words she was about to speak.
Ikeizumi Uchiha had no interest in debating with a Red-Name evildoer.
He violently clapped his hands together.
The magma beneath his feet instantly turned violently crimson and soft, surging upward like a volcano that had finally found a breakthrough point after millions of years of suppression. Viscous, scalding, and emanating a destructive aura, the magma churned like boiling blood.
Vast amounts of magma rapidly converged and shaped. In the blink of an eye, it coalesced into a colossal, fierce Magma Dragon Head, several times larger than the Wood Human's own head, entirely composed of molten rock!
The Magma Dragon Head was lifelike, its mouth agape, revealing sharp fangs formed of flowing magma.
Magma constantly dripped from its mouth like drool, hitting the ground with a "sizzle" sound and sending up plumes of white smoke.
The massive Magma Dragon Head lunged at Hayaakitsuhime!
"Hiss—?!"
Hayaakitsuhime's vertical pupils instantly shrank to pinpricks. The lethal sense of crisis made all her scales stand on end!
In this moment of danger, Hayaakitsuhime twisted her massive serpent body with all her might.
She tried to roll sideways to evade. However, her colossal size after reverting to her serpent form became a fatal burden at this moment. Her movement was especially clumsy before the charging Magma Dragon Head.
SPLAT—!!!
The awful sound of a hot branding iron meeting butter abruptly erupted. Hayaakitsuhime's tough scales were instantly melted like ice under fire upon contact with the Dragon Head's molten fangs.
The magma's terrifying heat instantly carbonized the contacted flesh and bone.
"HISS AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
A soul-shattering agony swept through Hayaakitsuhime's entire consciousness like a tsunami. Her massive serpent body was violently bitten into two halves!
The severed edges were pitch black, internal organs and broken bones exposed to the air, then quickly carbonized by the residual, extreme magma heat!
Hayaakitsuhime's upper serpent torso thrashed and slammed frantically, while the lower half slumped limply, the cooked wound at the severance point instantly bursting open.
Blood poured out like a flood, only to rapidly evaporate in the high heat.
A shriek, inhuman and unlike any snake's, echoing with endless pain and despair, reverberated beneath the dome of Ryūchi Cave for a long time!
On the other side, Ichikishimahime witnessed the gruesome sight of Hayaakitsuhime being sliced in half by the Magma Dragon Head. Ichikishimahime's thoughts raced in terror.
Manda was hot-tempered and not very familiar with me! Orochimaru was just Manda's contractor! As for the White Snake Sage's orders—my life is more important than her commands!
If I stay here, I will truly be killed!
Flee! I must flee!
I must get away from this Uchiha lunatic!
Her massive serpent head violently spun around. Ichikishimahime unleashed all her survival potential.
Her colossal serpent body twisted frantically, ignoring the severe pain from her wounds.
She crushed the debris on the ground as she fled desperately toward the deeper, more secluded areas of Ryūchi Cave.
Had she run at the very beginning, she might have escaped.
Now, it was too late.
The next moment, countless thick, dark-brown vines, several tens of centimeters in diameter, violently broke through the hard ground, rising up with overwhelming force.
They possessed a clear hunting instinct, instantly locking onto Ichikishimahime's massive serpent body like a pack of sharks smelling blood.
WHOOSH—!
The thickest vine shot out like lightning, wrapping with perfect precision around the frantically thrashing tip of Ichikishimahime's tail.
"What?!"
Ichikishimahime felt a sudden tightening in her tail. A massive pulling force came, abruptly halting her desperate dash. Her huge body was even yanked backward a step.
Before she could turn back in panic to see what was happening—WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—!!!
More vines surged forward like a dark-brown tsunami, covering the sky. They wrapped around her middle body, abdomen, and even her neck with the flexibility and speed of living giant pythons, securely binding Ichikishimahime.
Ichikishimahime let out a desperate hiss, thrashing her body wildly, trying to break free.
She even opened her massive mouth, attempting to bite through the vines with her venomous fangs!
But the toughness of Mokuton far exceeded her imagination! The vines, imbued with enormous life force, were not only incredibly resilient; her fangs only left shallow marks and couldn't sever them!
The dense vines, like a giant python constricting its prey, began to tighten mercilessly.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The chilling sound of shattering bones rang out in quick succession, like popping corn. Her serpent bones couldn't withstand the terrifying constriction of the vines.
Intense pain and asphyxiation instantly overwhelmed her!
Ichikishimahime felt her internal organs being squeezed out of place. Her lungs couldn't draw a single breath of air. Her massive serpent pupils bulged and became bloodshot from the pain and lack of oxygen.
Ichikishimahime's eyes were filled with extreme terror and despair.
Her struggle rapidly weakened.
Only unconscious twitching remained.
Konoha Village
Meanwhile, in the Hokage Office.
Smoke billowed, almost obscuring the figure of Hiruzen Sarutobi. He frowned deeply, the fire on the pipe in his fingers flickering.
He was exhausted by the internal corruption and the Kumogakure spies revealed by the Sarutobi Nadoko Incident.
Crucially, he was certain that there was more than one Sarutobi clan member colluding with the Kumogakure spy, but he still didn't know who they were.
"BANG!"
The office door was abruptly pushed open. An ANBU ninja wearing an animal mask knelt on one knee, his voice urgent: "Lord Hokage! Something has happened inside the Uchiha Police Force—!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi lifted his bloodshot eyes, his voice raspy: "What is it that has you so flustered?"
The ANBU ninja took a deep breath, reporting quickly: "Fugaku Uchiha has been impeached by his own clan members! He has publicly stated that he will officially submit his resignation to you tomorrow, stepping down as the Uchiha Clan Head and the Konoha Military Police Force Commander!"
"What?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand, holding the pipe, trembled violently, dropping ash.
He wondered if the thick smoke was making him hallucinate.
The Nadoko matter was already driving him to distraction. Now, the Uchiha Clan was staging a coup d'état at this critical juncture?
How could Fugaku be overthrown by his own clan?
He instinctively took a deep drag from his spicy tobacco, letting the scorching sensation stimulate his tired nerves, forcing himself to calm down and think.
"Who is leading the impeachment against Fugaku?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was low.
"It is Ikeizumi Uchiha's subordinate, Ikeizumi Uchiha!" the ANBU ninja answered without hesitation. "This forced removal of Fugaku Uchiha was deeply involving Izumi Uchiha, Lady Tsunade, and the Ninja Cat Kijiro."
"In addition, it included a large number of core Uchiha Police Force ninjas, and many ordinary Uchiha clan members. The momentum is huge."
The ANBU ninja paused, adding: "Based on observation, Fugaku Uchiha's conservatism and compromise in internal and external policies in recent years seem to have accumulated a large amount of dissatisfaction among his clan members, who feel he failed to uphold Uchiha's dignity and interests—"
"Wait—"
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted the ANBU ninja's rambling. He had caught a key name.
"Tsunade?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi almost didn't react: "She's not an Uchiha ninja. How did she get involved?"
The ANBU ninja replied: "When Lord Koharu Utatane went with Root ninjas to apprehend Ikeizumi Uchiha (female) and others, it was Lady Tsunade who stepped in to stop Lord Koharu. Following that, Lady Tsunade escorted Lord Koharu and the Root ninjas all the way to the Police Force headquarters."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
He slowly put down his pipe, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table, letting out a sigh filled with weariness: "Hmph. The old man probably understands why Fugaku chose to abdicate so readily."
He rubbed his throbbing temples, a complex look flashing in his eyes: "Tsunade is the old man's direct disciple, and the granddaughter of the First Hokage. She is also one of the Konoha Sannin. Her time spent in the village accumulated considerable prestige."
"To many people, especially the Uchiha clan members, her attitude, to some extent, represents the old man's attitude, or at least a tacit approval from the upper echelons."
"Even though she hasn't been involved in village affairs for a long time, that influence still exists."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice carried a hint of helplessness: "It was probably Tsunade's 'endorsement' that completely stripped Fugaku of the will and reason to resist. Under internal and external pressure, he could only choose to step down."
"In Fugaku's eyes, this might be the last shred of dignity he could maintain."
The office fell into a brief silence, broken only by the faint sound of tobacco burning.
A moment later, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke again, his voice low and serious: "Has the Uchiha Clan internally nominated a new Clan Head candidate?"
"There is no clear election result yet."
The ANBU ninja quickly replied, "However, based on observation, the name with the highest support among the numerous Uchiha clan members present, especially the young ninjas and ordinary clan members, is—Ikeizumi Uchiha."
"Ikeizumi Uchiha—" Hiruzen Sarutobi repeated the name softly, which dissolved into an even deeper sigh.
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said: "Given Ikeizumi's personality, the position of Uchiha Clan Head, which requires dealing with complex clan affairs and balancing various interests, is something he would never accept. In his concept of 'Absolute Justice,' this would only be a shackle, binding his hands and feet, hindering his ability to 'execute justice' in the ninja world."
He changed the subject, his tone becoming intensely serious: "But—"
"The key position of Konoha Military Police Force Commander, responsible for village security and possessing independent law enforcement authority, is likely to truly fall into Ikeizumi's hands."
Although, according to the system, the final appointment authority for the Police Force Commander rested with him, the Hokage.
However, when the wave of support for Ikeizumi Uchiha within the Uchiha Clan reached a colossal momentum—
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew very well that if he forcefully vetoed the decision or appointed someone else.
It would inevitably trigger violent turmoil within the Uchiha Clan.
It might even provoke a strong backlash and disturbance.
Perhaps Setsuna Uchiha failed to ignite a coup that would affect the entire village, but one decision by him, Hiruzen Sarutobi, might instead motivate the Uchiha ninjas to suddenly want to overthrow him, the Hokage.
Konoha, already walking on eggshells due to the Nadoko incident, could absolutely not afford for the Uchiha Clan to cause another major incident at this critical moment.
Ryūchi Cave
As the thick tree vines continued to tighten, the scales on Ichikishimahime's serpent body were directly ripped off, revealing raw, bloody flesh.
Every vine bit deeply into the flesh, crushing one bone after another, then squeezing the crushed bones into fragments.
Following a thunderous "CRUNCH," a massive blood mist enveloped the area. All the thick vines were stained crimson, accompanied by large amounts of shredded flesh and bone fragments splattering in all directions.
When the notification flashed before Ikeizumi Uchiha, he knew that Ichikishimahime, one of the three high-ranking members of Ryūchi Cave, was dead!
The giant Wood Human turned its body slightly, raising its single remaining enormous arm, and punched out at Tagitsuhime, who was embedded in the cliff face, clinging to life and having lost all ability to resist!
BOOM!!!
Tagitsuhime, who was desperately trying to heal herself with Senjutsu energy, widened her eyes.
She had no chance to dodge. She could only watch helplessly as the fist grew larger and larger in her field of
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vision.
Until her consciousness plunged into darkness.
Ikeizumi Uchiha's cold gaze shifted again, landing on Hayaakitsuhime, who had been blasted into two halves by the Magma Dragon Head.
The magma flowing below seemed to be lifted by an invisible hand, surging like a flood toward the screaming Hayaakitsuhime.
Hayaakitsuhime's screams completely and utterly stopped!