I Am Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 329 - 329 Do You Also Wish to Dance?

"Impudent girl! Uchiha Madara was a figure from the same era as me! In terms of seniority..."

"Oh?" Hikari interrupted him, her crimson Sharingan seeming to flash with a hint of mockery.

"Now I remember. I heard that back then, there was a little brat who didn't know his own limits. He followed the Second Tsuchikage to Konoha, delusionally wanting to negotiate with the God of Ninja, Senju Hashirama. As a result, he didn't even get to see Senju's face and was scared out of his wits by that kid Madara, fleeing back to the Land of Earth with his tail between his legs. That little brat, could it be you?"

These embarrassing revelation words were like the sharpest kunai, precisely striking the deepest scar in Onoki's heart.

That unbearable past was a nightmare he had tried to forget his entire life.

To have it brought up publicly now, especially by an Uchiha junior, made him feel blood rushing to his head, his beard trembling with anger: "You... you, you little brat! Nonsense! Even if you are Uchiha Madara's descendant, today I will definitely teach you a lesson on behalf of your elders!"

"Descendant?" Hikari snorted coldly, her voice not loud but clearly reaching every Iwagakure's Ninja's ears.

"You have it backwards, little brat Onoki. In terms of seniority, that kid Madara should respectfully call me Great-Grandmother."

"Gre... Great-Grandmother?!"

This time, not only Onoki, but even the elite Iwagakure's Jonin behind him looked at each other, their faces filled with absurdity and disbelief.

'If this girl who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen was Uchiha Madara's great-grandmother, how old of a monster must she be?'

'How was that possible!'

Hikari ignored their shock, continuing in her flat tone: "By the way, little brat Onoki, have you... seen Uchiha Madara's power in his prime?"

As these words were spoken, an intangible yet heavy as a mountain pressure suddenly descended.

Onoki felt his heart contract sharply, cold sweat uncontrollably seeping from his temples.

Even though the other party was merely standing there, not even having drawn her sword, it made him feel as if he had returned to that day dominated by Madara's presence.

That bone-deep fear, after decades, clearly surfaced again.

He forced himself to be calm, blustering with a show of strength: "Of... of course I have! I was a powerhouse who confronted Uchiha Madara face-to-face back in the day!"

Onoki added in his heart: 'Even though it was a one-sided crushing.'

"Is that so?" The corner of Hikari's mouth lifted slightly, sketching a haughty curve. "That's perfect. Next, use those old eyes of yours to see clearly how ridiculous it is to compare me with that kid called Uchiha Madara."

She slowly uncrossed her arms, leaning her body forward slightly into a charging stance.

"Prepare yourselves... to dance, little brats."

Before the words fully faded, her figure vanished from the boulder.

The next moment, she appeared a hundred meters away, charging directly towards the army of tens of thousands of Iwagakure's Ninja!

Her speed was so fast it left a faint afterimage in her original spot.

Onoki's face changed dramatically, shouting sharply: "Everyone, be careful! Don't look directly into her Sharingan!"

"Arrogant!" Gari had the most explosive temper. Seeing the other party actually dare to charge alone, he was instantly furious.

"She's just a little girl putting on a mysterious act! Let me deal with her!" Beside him, Muko was also angered by the other party's attitude, waving his hand: "Attack!"

Hundreds of Iwagakure's Ninjas, like a disturbed swarm of bees, charged towards Hikari amidst various roars and shouts.

They would use facts to tell this loud-mouthed little girl that numerical disparity couldn't be made up for with mere words!

Instantly, kunai and shuriken poured down like a storm, and dozens of Ninja simultaneously formed hand seals.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Rock Lodestone Spears!"

"Earth Release: Stone Pillar Spears!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Countless sharp stone spears burst from the ground, mixed with violent wind pressure, instantly covering the large area in front of Uchiha Hikari, attempting to submerge and tear her apart.

Facing this combined Ninjutsu attack sufficient to instantly destroy an elite squad, Hikari's expression didn't change in the slightest.

Her Sharingan rotated rapidly, clearly capturing and analyzing the trajectories of all Ninjutsu and the flow of Chakra.

Her figure weaved through the gaps between stone spears and wind blades like a ghost, sometimes sidestepping, sometimes leaping, sometimes diving with a hair's breadth difference. All attacks failed to even touch the hem of her clothes!

"So fast!"

"How is this possible?!"

Several Iwagakure's Chunin at the front only saw a blur before their eyes. That deep blue figure had already penetrated the Ninjutsu coverage zone, appearing before them as if teleporting.

Hikari struck like lightning.

Her attacks incorporated the sharpness of the Uchiha style Taijutsu, enhanced by Sharingan's insight.

Fists concentrated Chakra precisely struck the Tenketsu of several Chunin, disrupting their Chakra Flow.

Thud!

"Argh!"

Muffled thuds mixed with screams. Those Chunin flew back like broken kites, crashing heavily to the ground, instantly losing combat ability.

"Bastard!" Explosion Release User, Gari, charged to close range, his right fist clenched, condensing highly compressed Explosion Release Chakra.

"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!" He roared, punching towards Hikari's face, attempting to blast her apart in the most violent manner.

However, Hikari merely sidestepped slightly, her left hand reaching out, accurately seizing Gari's wrist.

Her Sharingan coldly gazed into his widened eyes filled with shock.

"Too slow."

Chakra instantly erupted. A tremendous force transmitted through the wrist. Gari felt an irresistible force lifting his entire body, hurling him fiercely towards the attempting-to-sneak-attack Ittan!

Bang!

The two screamed as they collided, tumbling into the crowd of Iwagakure's Ninjas, causing chaos.

Muko, holding a long sword, appeared silently behind Hikari, his blade sharply slashing towards the back of her neck.

'Got her?!' The thought had just arisen when he saw the figure ahead, as if with eyes on her back, slapped backhand without turning her head, striking the weakest point on the side of his blade.

Clang!

A shock force transmitted. Muko felt his hand go numb, the long sword almost slipping from his grasp.

He incredulously looked at the other's pale palm, which actually contained such terrifying power and precision.

"Get lost."

Hikari scolded lightly, turning and delivering a swift side kick, kicking hard into Muko's abdomen.

Muko didn't even have time to block. His entire body felt as if struck by a giant rock, vomiting blood as he flew backward, only stopping after crashing through a rock wall.

In the span of a few breaths, several Elite Jonin like Gari, Ittan, and Muko, renowned within Iwagakure, were already lying on the ground in disarray, either groaning in pain or completely unconscious.

And the hundreds of Chunin and Genin, their encirclement not only failed to slow Hikari's speed but instead became a backdrop highlighting her terrifying strength.

Kunai and shuriken lodged uselessly in the ground behind her. Earth Release stone walls often closed only after she had passed. Wind and Fire Release couldn't even touch her clothes.

She truly moved as if strolling through her own courtyard, the deep blue figure carving an unstoppable path through the earth-yellow crowd.

Wherever she passed, Iwagakure's Ninjas fell like wheat harvested by an invisible scythe.

The crisp sound of breaking bones, the clatter of dropped tools, and suppressed cries of pain interwove into a cruel battlefield symphony.

Her movements were concise and efficient. The Sharingan accurately predicted every attack. Every dodge and counter was perfectly timed, without any superfluous movement, as if killing itself had become an art.

In just a moment, the central part of the formation of the hundreds of Iwagakure's Ninjas who had charged forth so fiercely had been torn open into a huge 'void'.

Hikari stood alone at the center of this 'vacuum zone' composed of fallen Ninjas, over half of the two to three hundred Iwagakure's Ninjas at her feet no longer breathing.

On the battlefield of Ninjas, the disparity in strength was this cruel. A Jonin killing a Chunin or Genin was as simple as crushing an ant.

Hikari paused slightly, raising her hand to gently brush the dust off her clan attire, her demeanor composed.

A breeze from the plateau blew past, stirring her raven-black hair, revealing that cool and exquisite face.

Those crimson Sharingan calmly scanned the surroundings. Any Iwagakure's Ninja touched by her gaze felt a chill run up their spine, subconsciously stepping back half a step, their palms clutching weapons slick with cold sweat. Not a single one dared to step forward again.

"This girl..." The Four-Tails' Jinchuriki Roshi and the Five-Tails' Jinchuriki Han had now arrived beside the livid Onoki.

Roshi crossed his arms, lava-like Chakra restlessly stirring within him. He turned his head and said in a low voice to Onoki floating in the air: "Her tone, showing no respect towards Uchiha Madara... she doesn't seem like Uchiha Madara's descendant at all."

Onoki frowned deeply, his wrinkles seeming to deepen.

The other party's repeated address of 'little brat', and that condescending attitude when mentioning past events, like an elder commenting on a junior, made him feel suspicious.

'When had the Uchiha Clan produced such a figure?'

'Could Uchiha Madara have some unknown peer who survived?'

This thought made him feel uneasy.

Just then, Hikari on the field suddenly brought her hands together in front of her chest, forming an extremely simple Ram hand seal.

However, this simple action made Onoki's pupils contract sharply, a strong sense of foreboding surging within him.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

The cool voice wasn't loud but clearly spread across the battlefield.

The next moment, Hikari parted her lips slightly, a Chakra vast as a tsunami gushing forth, transforming into overwhelming, scorching waves of fire!

The flames were dark red in hue, surging out and instantly forming a massive wall of fire nearly ten meters high and wide enough to cover over a hundred meters, sweeping forward towards the Iwa army with the force of a landslide!

The air warped and steamed under the high temperature, the sand and stones at their feet instantly melted and crystallized!

"How is this possible?!"

"Don't joke! This range is too exaggerated!"

"Great Fire Annihilation... is this really the scale a B-Rank Jutsu can achieve?!!"

Faced with this Fire Release like a natural disaster descending, the Iwagakure's Ninjas' previous courage was instantly replaced by fear. Exclamations and gasps of shock sounded everywhere.

The scorching heat wave hadn't even reached them yet, but the front-row Ninjas already felt difficulty breathing and skin stinging.

"Don't panic! Water Release Users, forward! Combined Water Wall!" The experienced Kitsuchi forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart, shouting hoarsely, trying to stabilize the formation.

Immediately, over a dozen elite Iwagakure's Ninjas skilled in Water Release gritted their teeth and charged out, quickly forming seals.

"Water Release: Water Wall!"

"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

They exerted their full effort, converting Chakra into surging water.

Water walls, torrents, even a roaring water dragon erupted from their mouths or hands, attempting to jointly block this destructive firestorm.

Hiss-!!!!

The massive fire wall and combined water release collided violently, producing a deafening roar.

Scorching flames and icy water eroded and annihilated each other, instantly releasing vast amounts of scalding white steam, spreading outwards like an explosive shockwave!

Dense, impenetrable steam instantly enveloped most of the forward battlefield. Visibility plummeted to less than a few meters. Scalding water droplets beat against the Iwagakure's Ninjas' faces, bringing stinging pain. The strong wind made it hard to keep their eyes open, and their formation inevitably showed signs of disorder.

Before the aftershocks of the Jutsu Clash had fully subsided, the intense steam permeating the battlefield acted like a thick curtain, blocking everyone's vision.

"Watch out!" The usually silent Han, clad in red armor with a steam device on his back, suddenly issued a sharp warning.

His perception of steam far exceeded that of ordinary people. Just now, he keenly detected the steam curtain being forcibly torn open by an extremely swift force!

However, his warning came too late.

The dense steam was torn apart as if by a sharp blade. A deep blue figure shot out at a speed exceeding the limits of visual capture!

Onoki, who had been on guard all along, never expected the other party to be able to instantly burst forth with such terrifying speed after performing such a large-scale fire release, even accurately utilizing the steam to conceal the trajectory of the assault!

His old eyes only saw a blur before an irresistible tremendous force kicked hard into his chest and abdomen!

"Guh-!"

Onoki didn't even have time to mount any effective defense or evasion. His short body flew back like a kite with its string cut, a spray of blood shooting from his mouth, crashing heavily into the crowd of Iwagakure's Ninjas, causing exclamations and chaos.

"Father!"

"Tsuchikage-sama!"

Kitsuchi, Akatsuchi, and other close Jonin were wide-eyed with fury. They realized in horror that they hadn't even been able to see the other party's movement trajectory!

"You!" Han roared.

"Steam Armor: Release!"

The valve on his back device spewed high-pressure steam with a sharp shriek. Simultaneously, a powerful Chakra surged from within him, condensing into a single white tail behind him.

Utilizing the instantaneous thrust from the steam burst and the boost from the Five-Tails' Chakra, Han's speed suddenly increased to an astonishing level, transforming into a red afterimage charging directly towards Hikari, who had just landed and seemed to be preparing for her next move!

The red steel fist, wrapped in high-temperature steam, tore through the air with a dull roar, smashing hard towards Hikari's seemingly slender back!