Chapter 546

"The Reaper?"

Uchiha Gin was stunned at the words; although he possessed a low-imitation Reaper mask, he had never thought about dealing with such an indescribable object of unknown background.

What if the other party was a legendary "mechanic monster"? Wouldn't the stats he had stacked for so many years be wasted?

"You used it, didn't you? The Dead Demon Consuming Seal jutsu."

Just as Uchiha Gin was frowning and thinking, a strange figure suddenly drifted into the pale yellow space; although the voice wasn't loud, every word was clearly audible when it fell into his ears.

"You are..."

Seeing the person who had arrived, Uchiha Gin's pupils shrank slightly; he hadn't expected to see the Uchiha's true ancestor so quickly.

"That's right, the old man is your..."

Otsutsuki Hagoromo, floating in mid-air, stroked his long goat beard, the corners of his mouth curling up unconsciously; he was very satisfied with Uchiha Gin's shocked expression.

"You must be the great-granduncle the ancestor mentioned!"

"Huh?"

Hearing this, the smile that had just risen on Otsutsuki Hagoromo's face instantly froze, and his purple ripple eyes slowly shifted to his younger brother, who was a bit awkward behind him.

"Hamura, I need an explanation."

The Uchiha Gin before him was clearly his own descendant—how could he have forgotten his roots and recognized a thief as his father? There must be a villain pulling strings behind the scenes.

"Big brother, he has the Byakugan and the Shikotsumyaku; how can he not be considered my descendant?"

Otsutsuki Hamura, whose scalp was tingling from being stared at by his own brother, thought of the roasted chickens Uchiha Gin sent down every year, so he stiffened his neck and argued.

"Then why don't you mention that he also has the Sharingan?"

Otsutsuki Hagoromo glared fiercely at his younger brother, turned his head to reveal a kind smile, and began his self-introduction.

"My descendant, do not be deceived by those with ulterior motives; the old man is your true ancestor. My name is Otsutsuki Hagoromo, the founder of Ninshu."

"Oh, oh, oh! I've heard the ancestor mention your glorious deeds,?"

"That's right; people of later generations do indeed honor the old man as the Sage of Six Paths who created the world."

Hearing Uchiha Gin call him the Sage of Six Paths, a trace of hidden pride appeared in Otsutsuki Hagoromo's eyes.

"Mm-hmm, I know you; when the ancestor fought the world-destroying Goddess of Kaguya, you didn't hold him back much, right?"

Uchiha Gin nodded solemnly, repeating word-for-word the wild history he had heard from Otsutsuki Hamura when they first met.

"."

"HAMURA!!!"

Otsutsuki Hagoromo, who prided himself on his great cultivation of temperament, finally broke his composure in front of the wild history fabricated by his own brother; his eyes widened, and his purple Rinnegan erupted with terrifying ocular power that made Uchiha Gin feel slightly alarmed.

Otsutsuki Hamura didn't dare to linger; when Uchiha Gin was repeating the wild history, he had already quietly retreated, waiting for an opportunity to run back home to take refuge, but he was still caught red-handed.

"Big brother, I suddenly remembered that there's soup simmering on the moon..."

Facing his big brother's Rinnegan, Otsutsuki Hamura could only force a smile and give a very far-fetched reason.

"Ancestor, you are the nameless hero who sealed the Goddess of Kaguya and saved the world from fire and water."

Looking at Otsutsuki Hamura, who was frozen in place, Uchiha Gin continued to fan the flames.

"There must be some misunderstanding in the middle; everyone should sit down and have a good chat..."

Staring at his big brother's man-eating gaze, Otsutsuki Hamura secretly swallowed his saliva and began to wink wildly at Uchiha Gin.

"Ancestor, don't lose face; you were the one who said Otsutsuki Hagoromo is a 'lying-down winner'."

Will you die if you say a few less words, you damn bastard?

Otsutsuki Hamura felt a deep regret; if he had known Uchiha Gin was such a blabbermouth, he would have bragged a little less back then.

"Phew... Hamura, we brothers haven't sparred for hundreds of years, right? Don't leave later; stay for a casual meal, and incidentally, let's do some after-dinner exercise so I can check if your skills have become rusty."

Otsutsuki Hagoromo looked at his bewildered younger brother with a gloomy gaze for a long time, finally let out a long sigh, and chose to handle business first, then handle family affairs later.

"Then the soup I'm simmering..."

"Stop thinking about that soup; I'm afraid you won't be able to hold it. I'll stir-fry two hard dishes for you later."

"Good... good."

Sensing the ice-cold chill in his big brother's tone, Otsutsuki Hamura felt his sphincter tighten, knowing he was doomed this time; he nodded in despair, looking like a frost-bitten eggplant, and stood back behind Otsutsuki Hagoromo.

"My descendant, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal jutsu borrows the power of the old gods; it's better not to use it again in the future."

Otsutsuki Hagoromo withdrew his gaze from his brother and landed it on Uchiha Gin, who was looking curious before him, and spoke quite seriously.

"This time I can resolve it for you, but next time, it might not be certain."

Power of the old gods?

Uchiha Gin raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this strange term; he didn't know much about the Reaper that harvested the souls of the caster and the target, and the original work didn't explain the origin of the Reaper in detail.

But from Otsutsuki Hagoromo's tone, it could be inferred that the Reaper's background wasn't small—at least enough to make him, the Sage of Six Paths, feel troubled.

"But I don't remember having cast the Dead Demon Consuming Seal jutsu?"

Rubbing his chin in confusion, Uchiha Gin recalled his recent encounters and couldn't find any memories related to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

"Kurama, which is the Nine-Tails Demon Fox in your words."

Otsutsuki Hagoromo showed a look of nostalgia and explained gently.

"The Dead Demon Consuming Seal jutsu in the card ninja tool you made was triggered by an external force, and the Reaper summoned regarded Kurama in the seal as the primary target."

"Huh?"

No wonder that after the Nine-Tails card was split in two, it didn't stick back together as he had imagined, but instead each repaired itself into an independent Nine-Tails card.

So it turns out the Reaper had skinned the Nine-Tails alive.

No wonder he felt a chill behind his back at that moment; it turned out he had been targeted by the Reaper.

Uchiha Gin suddenly realized; it seemed that he had been negligent when performing the hand seals, mistakenly performing the Dead Demon Consuming Seal instead of the Eight-Trigrams Seal, and had muddledly stacked it onto the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Card.

"How is this possible?"

"That's not right; why wasn't the Nine-Tails eaten into the Reaper's stomach?"

"This is definitely not a sword intent she could comprehend at her age."

As the Uchiha clan's foremost sword expert on the surface, Uchiha Izuna's understanding of sword arts far exceeded 99.99% of the people in the Leaf. He could see at a glance that Senju Hijiri's sword proficiency was too over-the-top.

Even if the other party were truly a sword genius, it would be impossible to comprehend this level of sword intent at under twenty years old.

Unless her father lived inside her body.

*Tsk! *

Staring at Uchiha Uchiha Zhili's scrutinizing gaze, Senju Hijiri steeled her heart and decided to cut the Gordian knot.

"Eh?"

Uchiha Uchiha Zhili, who was waiting for the other party's answer, looked suspiciously at the hand Senju Hijiri had placed on her shoulder.

"You haven't answered my question yet."

"Next time for sure."

Senju Hijiri, her face tense, promised stiffly.

Accompanied by a flash of blue light, everyone felt their eyes blur. Of the two girls who had been standing in the arena, only one remained.

"Phew... finally sent her away."

As expected of the Ninja World's fastest woman, Senju Hijiri took less than a second to send Uchiha Uchiha Zhili away and return.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye at the Ninja Clan Alliance members being carried out, she finally fixed her gaze on the two women stalemated on the high platform, the Flying Thunder God kunai in her hand eager to try again.

"Only they are left."

"Sister Uchiha Zhili, over here!"

In the spectator stands, Senju Itama waved to the purple-haired girl walking slowly from not far away.

"Sorry, I let you down."

Sitting gracefully beside Uchiha Gin, Uchiha Uchiha Zhili, who had just experienced a great battle, looked apologetic. She had wanted to get back at them for her best friend, but didn't expect to be hindered by her own soul of gossip and subsequently eliminated.

"You were already great; you eliminated so many people and didn't lose face for the Uchiha."

Uchiha Gin smiled and patted the other's head, handing over the remaining popcorn in his hand, while also wondering how the girl had arrived so quickly.

"By the way, how did you get in? I remember buying tickets requires waiting in line."

"Just happened to run into a kind clansman."

Outside the examination hall, the Uchiha clansman who had finally managed to buy a ticket only to have it snatched away was now staring wide-eyed, holding a mirror, and shouting hysterically:

"Transform! Transform for me, quickly!"

However, things went against his wishes; the three tomoe spinning in his eyes showed no signs of merging at all.

"Strange, do I have to wait in line again?"

"Mr. Gin, why do Senior Hikari and the others keep staying in that posture without moving?"

Uchiha Uchiha Zhili, tasting the popcorn in small bites, pointed her gaze at the two women on the high platform who were as still as statues.

"It's not that they aren't moving, but that they can't."

From the moment they grabbed the Tailed Beast card, the two women had started a long tug-of-war. Using their brute strength as an anchor, they relied on the chakra within their bodies to unfold a struggle for the Tailed Beast card.

Therefore, from an outsider's perspective, the two women had maintained that card-grabbing posture without moving, but in reality, they had already clashed dozens of times, and there was still no winner.

"Red-haired sea woman, are you still not planning to let go? I haven't even used my real strength yet."

Uchiha Hikari, pinching the Nine-Tails' head, spoke in a deep voice. A faint light flickered in her scarlet eyes, and the three tomoe spun faster and faster.

Just as the girl said, she still had the Mangekyō as her trump card. When she used her dōjutsu, that would be the moment Uzumaki Mito was defeated.

Even if you, Uzumaki Mito, have more chakra, once I hit you with the Totsuka Blade, won't you still obediently become my power bank?

"As if I've used my real strength."

Hearing Uchiha Hikari's words, Uzumaki Mito curled her lips in disdain. She still had an endless supply of sealing techniques she hadn't unleashed yet.

Even if your Uchiha Sharingan is strange, once I put a blindfold on you, won't you still obediently act like a dog?

"Hmph!"

The two women refused to give an inch, which naturally made it hard for the Nine-Tails inside the card. But my old Nine-Tails had now recognized the cruel reality, finally gave up resistance, and chose to lie on the ground and rot, waiting for the outcome of being split in two.

"Hehe, you guys continue; it's not like I haven't been cut before."

Since it couldn't live standing up, the Nine-Tails decided to die lying down, letting the two women pull its origin chakra from left and right.

Anyway, the worst outcome was death. For the Nine-Tails trapped in the Tailed Beast card, wasn't death a kind of liberation?

Under the unremitting pulling of the two women, a visible crack actually appeared on the surface of the indestructible Tailed Beast card. Uzumaki Mito, who discovered the crack, furrowed her brows slightly.

Logically speaking, with the blessing of eighteen Four-Symbol Seals, the Tailed Beast card shouldn't be easily damaged.

"It didn't really crack, did it?"

Uchiha Hikari also discovered the crack on the card, her tone carrying a bit of hesitation.

She was only here to find trouble for Uzumaki Mito; if she accidentally destroyed the Tailed Beast card, would it bring unnecessary trouble to Gin?

"How about I count to three, two, one, and we both let go at the same time."

Uzumaki Mito was also a bit uncertain; she was just here to play around, so she suggested in a low voice.

"Fine. After it's done, I'll use glue to stick the card back together, and then we can continue the competition."

Weighing the pros and cons, Uchiha Hikari nodded and agreed to Uzumaki Mito's proposal. The two agreed to let go simultaneously to preserve the integrity of the Tailed Beast card.

"Three."

Following Uzumaki Mito's countdown, the two women slowly relaxed their strength at the same time. The Nine-Tails, being pulled, felt its whole body lighten. Looking down at its already stretched crotch, it instantly wept with joy.

Thanks to the old man's spirit in heaven for protecting me.

"Two."

Just at the moment the two relaxed, Senju Hijiri, who had been lurking for a long time, seized the opportunity. Raising the Flying Thunder God kunai radiating space-time power, she charged toward the high platform.

"Flying Thunder God Slash!"

"One."

Just then, the countdown ended. The two, who had a spirit of contract, didn't play any tricks and simultaneously released their little hands pinching the Nine-Tails card.

However, the next moment, a blue light shone before their eyes.

The Flying Thunder God kunai cut straight down, landing exactly on the Nine-Tails card floating in mid-air, and as luck would have it, it split right at the crack in the card.

*Riiip—*

"Ahhh!!!"

Hearing a crisp tearing sound, the entire examination hall fell into a dead silence. Before the screams could even start, the Nine-Tails' miserable, inhuman wail echoed through the arena.

"I'm split open!"

A few seconds ago,

Inside the Tailed Beast card space, which no one could see, the Nine-Tails, which had just been lying flat and rotting, had its slender limbs tightly bound by iron chains extending from the void.

A cold, gloomy aura from the depths permeated the other end of the space. Feeling the aura from the underworld, the Nine-Tails widened its eyes in shock, staring straight into the bottomless darkness.

Its Tailed Beast perception radar told it that something was about to descend.

"Tap, tap..."

Heavy footsteps sounded. The Nine-Tails subconsciously shrank its head. When a green-faced, fanged figure walked out of the darkness, looking at the short blade held high in the other's hand, only endless fear remained in its beastly pupils.

"I'm eating lemons! Wasn't it agreed to only use the Four-Symbol Seal?"

*Riiip—*