Chapter 185

"Where do you think you're running!" Kuchiki Senya sneered coldly, continuing to pursue Uchiha Itachi.

Uchiha Itachi was indeed a genius of the Uchiha clan, his strength formidable; even with such severe injuries, he still had not lost his fighting ability.

A layer of black chakra armor covered his body surface, completely isolating the pain outside his body, constantly obstructing Kuchiki Senya's pursuit of him.

"Bastard!" Kuchiki Senya was furious in his heart; he was never good at defense to begin with, and now being held back by Uchiha Itachi had put him in a passive position.

Kuchiki Senya gritted his teeth: "I must get rid of you today!"

A fierce glint flickered in his eyes; he knew he had to eliminate Uchiha Itachi quickly, otherwise he would surely die. He was now gravely wounded, and if no miracle happened, he could not hold on much longer.

He was unwilling to accept it — he was about to ascend to the pinnacle of Konoha Village and become its leader. Moreover, his father Kuchiki Kuromei had died at the hands of Konoha ninja, so he hated Konoha ninja to the bone and wanted to avenge him!

"Hoo hoo hoo…" Kuchiki Senya grew frenzied, his eyes flushed red; he exerted all his strength, unleashing various secret techniques, attempting to defeat Uchiha Itachi.

Wisps of chakra swirled around Kuchiki Senya as he wildly swung his tachi, hacking toward Uchiha Itachi.

"Boom boom boom…"

Uchiha Itachi retreated repeatedly, watching Kuchiki Senya with an icy gaze.

Kuchiki Senya's secret technique was immensely powerful and covered a very wide range. But after all, he was an ordinary person with limited total chakra, unable to pour out endlessly like Uchiha Itachi.

"…Whoosh!" Suddenly Kuchiki Senya stopped attacking, then turned and ran toward the depths of the forest.

"Hm?" Uchiha Itachi was stunned for a moment — why had Kuchiki Senya run?

He immediately followed.

"Whoosh!" Uchiha Itachi instantly plunged into the dense canopy; he found Kuchiki Senya's aura growing weaker and weaker, but the man still fled desperately.

"Damn it!" Uchiha Itachi cursed, but his speed increased; in just a few seconds he caught up to Kuchiki Senya, then forming hand seals with both hands, slammed down hard toward Kuchiki Senya's shoulder.

"Rumble rumble!" A ball of fire condensed into shape in Uchiha Itachi's hand and blasted toward Kuchiki Senya.

Kuchiki Senya's face twisted, but his figure abruptly blurred, and the flames passed through his body.

Uchiha Itachi's gaze sharpened slightly: "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

A wall composed of mud blocked Kuchiki Senya's path ahead.

Kuchiki Senya's speed suddenly multiplied more than (Li Haode's) times; his tachi hacked down onto the wall.

"Boom!" The mud wall split apart, but he was caught within it, unable to free himself.

Uchiha Itachi formed seals again: "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

A blazing pillar of fire shot from his hand, bearing straight down on Kuchiki Senya.

Kuchiki Senya barely dodged, but his cheek was scorched, leaving a patch of charred flesh.

"Aaaah! Damn it!" Kuchiki Senya screamed, letting out a furious howl; he had never expected to be in such a sorry state.

He did not dare stay here any longer, afraid of being swallowed by the flames.

"Swoosh—" He accelerated his escape, charging toward the depths of the woods.

"Boom!" The flames struck the tree branches, igniting them; the entire forest went up in flames.

Uchiha Itachi gazed at the raging inferno, a glint flashing in his eyes, then transformed into a gust of swift wind and vanished.

"Cough cough cough…" violent coughing sounds came from within the woods.

156. Waiting Until You're Exhausted

Kuchiki Senya crawled out from the fire, his whole body covered in ash; he looked at the flames around him, his heart filled with dread: "That was close! I almost perished here!"

Although his strength was weaker than Uchiha Itachi's, the gap was not that great; if the two truly fought to the death, he might not survive.

A shadow of gloom flashed in Kuchiki Senya's eyes: "Damn bastard! He actually made me lose face!"

"Just you wait, Uchiha Itachi! You'll die by my hand sooner or later!"

……

Uchiha Itachi jogged along, paying no heed to his own injuries, because he knew that only by doing so could he shake off Kuchiki Senya — otherwise neither of them would escape death.

"Whoosh!" Suddenly, a kunai shot over from the side, embedding itself in the dirt before Uchiha Itachi.

"Hm?" Uchiha Itachi looked at the kunai in confusion; he knew this was an ambush by Kuchiki Senya, but he paid it no heed and charged straight ahead, only slowing his pace by a fraction.

Uchiha Itachi did not know what scheme Kuchiki Senya had in mind, but he could sense the danger, so he had to be cautious.

Sure enough, the moment Uchiha Itachi moved his feet, another kunai flew in — its angle was tricky and bizarre, impossible to guard against.

Uchiha Itachi's gaze turned icy; without hesitation he raised his tachi.

With a "Clang!", Uchiha Itachi's tachi blocked the kunai, but the tremendous impact force sent his body tilting back, nearly knocking him to the ground.

Immediately after, Kuchiki Senya burst out from another route, stabbing toward Uchiha Itachi's chest; the sharp blade tip radiated a chilling cold gleam.

Uchiha Itachi hastily leaned back, narrowly dodging Kuchiki Senya's lethal strike, but a shallow scrape was still cut across his back.

"Heh heh, Uchiha Itachi, you can't escape!" Kuchiki Senya said with a savage grin, his attacks growing fiercer and fiercer.

Uchiha Itachi kept dodging; for a moment he actually could not find any opening in Kuchiki Senya, and had no way to inflict effective damage on him — only managing to delay Kuchiki Senya's advance.

Madness and ferocity surfaced in Kuchiki Senya's eyes: "Uchiha Itachi, stop dreaming — I cannot be killed."

"My recovery ability is extremely strong; even you cannot kill me. I'll wear you down to death right here!" Kuchiki Senya laughed loudly, "Uchiha Itachi, once you're exhausted, you'll be at my mercy!"

(bccb) Uchiha Itachi's gaze was icy to the extreme, but he had not given up.

Suddenly Kuchiki Senya's offensive slowed for a beat; Uchiha Itachi seized the moment to pounce, and in one slash severed the arm in which Kuchiki Senya gripped his tachi.

"Aaargh!" Kuchiki Senya screamed, hastily retreating, trying to save his right hand.

"Boom!" Uchiha Itachi seized the chance to deliver a heavy blow squarely to Kuchiki Senya.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out; Kuchiki Senya half-knelt on the ground.

Kuchiki Senya raised his head, glaring venomously at Uchiha Itachi: "I told you — you can't kill me!"

Kuchiki Senya's eyes began to shift, turning pitch black; the Sharingan within his eye sockets began to rotate, while at the same time the Byakugan in his left eye began to turn.

Kuchiki Senya's aura rapidly declined.

This was a dojutsu unique to the Kuchiki clan, able to grant Kuchiki Senya the power of a higher realm in a short time, but the price was that his eyes would be damaged — perhaps even forever unable to open again.

Uchiha Itachi's gaze grew wary. He knew the terror of Kuchiki Senya's technique.

"Boom boom boom!" Explosions rang out one after another.

"Boom!" Kuchiki Senya's body suddenly swelled, finally transforming into a giant.

This was the power Kuchiki Senya had exchanged his life for; at this moment, he had already reached the peak of a level-five ninja, only a single step away from a level-six ninja.

But this was not the reason Uchiha Itachi feared. The real reason was that Kuchiki Senya's body had actually begun to deform, his muscles and bones all starting to contract, and he had transformed into a strange, bizarre existence that seemed no longer human!

"Roar!" Kuchiki Senya opened his mouth and bellowed, his voice like thunder, deafening.

Uchiha Itachi's complexion changed instantly; he knew Kuchiki Senya had completely become a corpse-demon — no longer human, but something far more evil.

"Bang!" Kuchiki Senya clawed at him, kicking up a sky full of dust as space fragments flew about.

Uchiha Itachi's figure surged upward; he leapt into the air and dodged Kuchiki Senya's attack.

"Awoo!" Kuchiki Senya let out a beast-like low growl, his hands transforming into sharp claws that slashed down viciously.

Uchiha Itachi reacted extremely fast; he gripped his long sword and met Kuchiki Senya's claw strike head-on.

"Clang!" The two weapons collided, producing the sound of Jin Tiejiao.

"Crack!" Kuchiki Senya's sharp claws were wrapped in a layer of pale blue chakra, incomparably keen.

Uchiha Itachi felt his long sword as though it had met steel; his wrist trembled slightly, and his Hukou split open.

But his long sword followed through with a slash, chopping off both of Kuchiki Senya's claws.

"Whoosh~" Kuchiki Senya cried out in pain, though he quickly returned to normal.

"Hmph!" Uchiha Itachi smiled contemptuously; his right foot kicked out viciously, heading straight for Kuchiki Senya's abdomen.

Horror flashed through Kuchiki Senya's eyes: "How can this be? My chakra is actually being suppressed."

Kuchiki Senya was unwilling; he rallied his remaining might and blocked Uchiha Itachi's right leg.

"Bang!" Uchiha Itachi's knee slammed viciously into Kuchiki Senya's waist, kicking him flying away.

Kuchiki Senya slid several meters across the ground before stopping, spitting out a large mouthful of dark blood.

Kuchiki Senya struggled to his feet; three or four of his ribs were broken, and the bone fragments had even pierced his internal organs.

"Unforgivable!" Kuchiki Senya's expression twisted and ferocious.

"Rumble rumble~" The rotting great trees swayed ceaselessly, withered leaves fluttering down in profusion, and Kuchiki Senya's face was utterly wild.

Kuchiki Senya's form began to change; his stature gradually grew larger, transforming into a gargoyle fully over ten meters tall.

This enormous gargoyle was pitch-black all over, its long horns, fangs, claws, and wings all vivid and lifelike, as though real; its eyes were a deep dark red, and its entire body was covered in dense, intricate tattoos — those tattoos seemed to be some kind of cursed seal.

Kuchiki Senya extended his hands once more; this time they had become a pair of rough, stone-textured palms.

"Uchiha Itachi, prepare to die." Kuchiki Senya roared furiously, "Impure World Reincarnation!"

With a "whoosh," this enormous stone gargoyle vanished, and in its original position appeared another gargoyle identical to Kuchiki Senya.

Uchiha Itachi's face was solemn; this time, he knew Kuchiki Senya was serious — and fighting with everything he had.