Chapter 192
The Enraged Thunder Shadow, the Blood Pool Clan
Chapter 192 The Enraged Thunder Shadow, the Blood Pool Clan
The chill of late autumn enveloped the towering peaks of Yunyin Village.
Inside the newly renovated Raikage Building, the atmosphere was even more biting and chilling than the cold wind outside.
The Fourth Raikage, A, stood in the center of the office like a volcano about to erupt.
His bare upper body was muscular and bony, with several grotesque old scars remaining on his bronze skin.
Beneath a thick mustache, his lips were pressed into a cold, straight line, and the veins on his thick arms bulged like coiling dragons.
Before him, a Cloud Village ninja reported: "Lord Raikage! The squad guarding Hell Valley has sent a message! Shura has appeared in Hell Valley! And he has several companions with him!"
The name "Shura" was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the fuse of Raikage A, the silent volcano!
"Shura—!!!" A furious roar exploded like thunder!
A's eyes instantly became bloodshot, and violent lightning chakra burst out of his body uncontrollably, making a piercing crackling sound!
In his rage, he didn't think at all. His right arm muscles bulged, crackling with blinding blue lightning, and he slashed down like a battle axe!
boom--! ! !
The heavy desk, made of hard wood, shattered like a fragile piece of paper under Lei Ying's angry attack!
Wood chips, documents, and broken table legs flew everywhere, and the loud noise made the whole office buzz!
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, Ai Kuiwu's figure resembled an enraged Thor, his violent killing intent almost bursting through the roof!
"How dare he... how dare he set foot on the land of my Land of Thunder again?!" Ai's voice roared like a wounded beast, every word filled with boundless rage and deep-seated hatred.
Three years ago, the devastating attack killed and wounded hundreds of ninjas in the Hidden Cloud Village, severely damaging its buildings. Killer Bee, whom he regarded as a brother, was seriously injured while protecting him and took two whole years to recover. To this day, he still bears terrifying scars on his body!
This deep-seated hatred burned in his heart day and night.
"Mabu-i!!" Ai whirled around and yelled at his pale-faced secretary standing to the side, "Assemble the troops immediately! All active Jonin! Anbu! Immediately! Right now! I'm personally leading the team to Hell Valley to tear those bastards, especially that Shura, to shreds!!"
He instinctively covered the thin scar on his forehead with his linen clothes.
That was a mark left by the disaster three years ago. If I hadn't run fast, I would probably have been reduced to ashes in that horrific explosion.
Upon hearing the Raikage's order, Mabui's heart trembled violently.
Shura's terrifying power was etched into the memories of her and all the survivors like a nightmare.
Those two strange and powerful humanoid summoning beasts could not only float in the air, but also absorb chakra, making them extremely troublesome.
Shura himself stood head-on against the AB duo with an unparalleled force, and before being teleported away by the Heavenly Sending Technique, he left behind a dark purple ninjutsu sphere that looked like the end of the world.
The destructive power still haunts her to this day.
"Lord Raikage! Please...please calm down!" Mabui mustered his courage and stepped forward, his voice trembling slightly. "Shura's strength is unfathomable. Even three years ago, he was already...so terrifying! Now he has allies by his side. If we rashly launch a large-scale operation, I'm afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?!" Ai interrupted her roughly, his bloodshot eyes glaring at her. "Just because the enemy is strong, does that mean we should let our foe roam freely within the Land of Lightning?! If I can't even avenge my fallen brothers, what face do I, the Raikage, have to stand here?! What right do I have to lead Kumogakure?!"
His roar echoed through the shattered office, filled with unwavering determination and a ferocious will.
Just then, the office door was pushed open.
"Hey! You idiot brother! You bastard brother! Getting angry is not advisable~" A voice with a unique rhythm rang out.
Kirabi walked in.
He was still wearing his signature Cloud Vest and sunglasses, but upon closer inspection, a hideous, twisted scar extended from his left shoulder to his collarbone. Under the loose vest, large patches of skin on his back were faintly visible, displaying an unnatural, scorched, net-like pattern.
This is the permanent mark left after being severely injured by Shura's Great Spiral Wheel three years ago.
Although his face wore an exaggerated expression like a rapper, his eyes behind the sunglasses were unusually sharp and serious.
"The enemy has appeared in Hell Valley~ How can I, the great master, stand idly by~ But this operation must be cautious~ Too many people will only be a hindrance~ With the strong combat power of the little wooden doll~ and the excellent coordination of the elite members of the Dark Guard~ Target locked on Shura Head~ One hit is the only way to be truly satisfying~!"
Kirabi's rap carries a clear message: this time, quality over quantity in revenge.
Ai's raging fury paused for a moment when he heard Killer Bee's voice.
He looked at the shocking scars on his brother's body, a testament to the shame and pain of the Hidden Cloud Village.
Killer Bee's appearance and advice were like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing some of his blind rage, but making his will for revenge even stronger.
“Better…” Ai’s voice lowered, with a suppressed hoarseness: “You’re right.”
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his boiling killing intent. His gaze swept over Mabuya and the two ninjas kneeling on the ground, and he finally made a decision: "Mabuya, immediately notify Darui, Troy, Nuruyi, and Xi! Have them each select two of their most elite ANBU members. They are to assemble at the village entrance in ten minutes! I will personally lead the team! Target: Hell Valley! This time, that guy will definitely pay for his blood debt!!"
"Yes!" Ma Buyi's heart tightened. Knowing that he could no longer dissuade him, he immediately accepted the order and left.
Killer Bee stood beside Ai, his eyes behind his sunglasses turning cold and focused.
Soon, this revenge team, composed of the strongest fighters from Kumogakure, rushed towards Hell Valley with lightning speed.
Meanwhile, deep within the desolate and barren valley known as "Hell Valley" in the southern part of the Land of Lightning, the atmosphere was equally tense.
Unlike the fiery vengeance in the Hidden Cloud Village, this place is permeated with a repressive, closed-off, and deathly stillness, carrying an air of decay.
The towering ochre-red rock walls on both sides of the canyon are like the walls of a prison, and a few simple stone houses are scattered at the bottom of the valley, forming a small village of only thirty people.
The place of exile for the Blood Pool clan.
Led by Yuuyajo En, Menma and his group silently traversed the desolate valley and arrived at the center of the village.
Kakuzu's deep, hoarse voice broke the silence as he explained to Kisame Hoshigaki, who was warily observing their surroundings, "The Blood Pond Clan was quite famous over a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, one of their women married a daimyo from the Land of Lightning as a concubine, and the daimyo died suddenly not long after. The wife, a member of a prominent noble family in the Land of Lightning, took her anger out on the concubine, accusing her of being a wicked and calamity. In the end, the entire Blood Pond Clan was implicated and banished to this place, never to leave again."
He paused, a hint of mockery appearing on his face covered in stitches: "It is said that the people responsible for escorting them here back then were from the Uchiha clan."
As they spoke, the group arrived at a small open space in the village.
Their appearance, especially the return of Miyajo En with a group of strangers who were clearly outsiders, immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the village. Several sallow-faced, thin, and listless villagers cowered behind the stone house, while a middle-aged man dressed relatively well, with a goatee and a gloomy look, marched forward aggressively, surrounded by several strong young men.
He is none other than the current patriarch of the Blood Pond Clan, Miyajo Jin.
"Yan!" Miyajo Jin's voice was sharp and full of anger as he glanced at Miyajo Yan and Menma and the others behind him.
"You still have the nerve to come back?! And with all these outsiders? What do you want?!" His gaze swept over Kakuzu, Kisame, and Menma, who wore a mask and whose aura was unfathomable, with particular vigilance.
These people are definitely not ordinary ninjas!
Faced with the clan leader's questioning, Yuya Chengyan subconsciously turned to the side, making the doorway of a simple stone house not far behind him even more tightly blocked.
Through the half-open door, one could vaguely see a pale and haggard young woman holding a seven or eight-year-old girl with white hair, looking anxiously outside.
Miyajo En took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice calm: "Clan leader, I have no intention of starting a conflict. I just want to... take my wife and daughter Chino away. The three of us will leave Hell Valley and live outside, and we will never come back."
His words carried a hint of pleading.
"Leave? Hahaha!" Miya Shiro Jin seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, letting out a scathing laugh full of resentment and mockery.
"Leave?! Miyajo En, do you even know why our clan has been trapped in this godforsaken hell valley for centuries?! It's all because of your wife's ancestor! That vile woman! If she hadn't shamelessly clung to a daimyo, killed him, and offended that high and mighty first wife, how could our entire clan have suffered such an undeserved calamity?! Imprisoned here like pigs and dogs, never seeing the light of day! And you still have the nerve to say you'll take them away? They are the bane of our existence..."
"enough!"
A cold, deep voice, yet like a thunderclap, ruthlessly interrupted Miyajo Jin's vicious roar.
All eyes immediately focused on the person who spoke.
The silent, black-robed leader wearing a white three-eyed fox mask.
Menma slowly stepped forward and stood between Miyajo Jin and Miyajo En.
His gaze, piercing through the cold mask, landed on Miyajo Jin's face, twisted with anger and resentment, filled with disappointment at this ninja clan that had once been more famous than the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
Mianma's voice was filled with undisguised contempt and mockery:
"Cowardice is cowardice. Why push all the blame onto women and make excuses?"
Miya Shiro was stunned by the sudden rebuke and the naked contempt in the other person's words, and for a moment he forgot to refute it.
Menma's voice continued, like a cold iron hammer, striking the hearts of every Blood Pond Clan member: "You possess power that would terrify ordinary people, yet as ninjas, you are wantonly oppressed, imprisoned, and enslaved for generations by a group of so-called nobles who are powerless to even kill a chicken. You don't even dare to have the thought of resistance, only daring to fight amongst yourselves and shirk responsibility... Ha, the Blood Pond Clan? You are nothing but a group of cowards whose claws have been dulled, who only know how to bark and howl at the weaker ones."
His words were filled with disappointment, disappointment at the Blood Pool Clan's self-degradation.
"Shut up! What do you know?! You..." Miya Shirojin was so angry that he trembled all over, his face turned from red to green, and his finger pointing at Mianma trembled violently.
The young men behind him also looked angry and were eager to attack, but the invisible aura emanating from Mianma made them instinctively feel fear and dare not step forward.
"So-called nobles are nothing but ordinary people!" Menma's voice suddenly rose, carrying a chilling and oppressive force that pierced the soul: "If they've been slandered, just kill their entire family!"
"If this place won't keep me, there are plenty of other places that will! The ninja world is so vast, surely there's a place where I can find refuge? You possess power far exceeding that of ordinary ninjas, yet you willingly remain imprisoned in shackles, kept like livestock for centuries, your very courage to resist long since worn away! No wonder you can only eke out a living like rats in a gutter in this Hell Valley, generation after generation, with no hope of ever rising above your circumstances!"
The moment the words left his mouth, his face twitched!
There were no hand seals, and no earth-shattering chakra storm erupted.
He just raised his head slightly.
On the scarlet background of his left eye, three tomoe rotated, and a black vortex pattern that seemed capable of devouring everything suddenly appeared, slowly rotating and emitting an aura that made one's soul tremble.
His right eye, like the purest ruby, suddenly lit up, its magnificent light containing the power to see through and interfere with everything!
Both pupils opened simultaneously!
An indescribable, extremely heavy, and terrifying aura, like an invisible tsunami, suddenly erupted from the center of Mianma!
This aura wasn't an outward release of chakra, but rather a pressure originating from the soul's rank!
Eye Technique: Intimidation!
This is an ability that Menma comprehended after obtaining the Mangekyou Sharingan and a purer red eye, based on the pressure that Kaguya Otsutsuki once used.
Simply releasing its pressure can knock people around unconscious, and can even cause substantial damage to objects.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Miya Shiro, who was closest to the victim, felt a "buzz" in his brain, as if he had been hit hard by an invisible hammer!
His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, his face drained of color, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word!
The young men behind him fared even worse. Like kites with broken strings, they were flung away and landed on the ground, trembling like leaves, unable to even lift their heads!
The entire village of Blood Pool fell into a deathly silence in an instant.
All the prying, resentment, and numbness were utterly crushed under the gaze of those eyes, which contained completely different yet equally terrifying power!
All that remained was boundless fear, like an icy tide, engulfing everyone.
Even Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Homura Miyagi behind Menma had to be extremely cautious to keep their footing.
At the entrance of the stone house, the woman holding the girl was even more terrified, her face turning deathly pale.
Standing behind Menma, Miyajo En felt the terrifying pressure that swept across the entire area as if it were a tangible force, and his heart was also filled with turmoil.
Looking at the clan chief and his people, who were sprawled on the ground like mud, and then at the imposing black-robed figure in front of him, a complex and indescribable emotion welled up in his heart.
Mianma's words, like a cold, sharp blade, ripped open the Blood Pool Clan's most unbearable and cowardly wounds over the past century.
The oppressive aura emanating from those eyes utterly shattered the last vestige of pitiful "dignity" in the hearts of these prisoners, a dignity built upon the oppression of their own kind.
The prison that was Hell Valley was completely shattered by an even more powerful force, its invisible shackles broken.
(End of this chapter)