novelhk Chapter 292 Cursed Forest
Chapter 292 Cursed Forest
The "Cursed Forest" in the western ninja world is perpetually shrouded in black fog. White skeletons cling to dead branches, swaying in the wind. Even chakra is devoured by the miasma. Legend has it that the first Uchiha clan leader once sealed a tailed beast here, leaving behind a "Scroll of Space-Time Eye Technique" hidden deep within the secret realm. Yinzhu stood at the forest's entrance, his black windbreaker stained white by the miasma. The Eternal Mangekyō shimmered silently beneath his eyes, barely piercing the black fog at a distance of ten meters. "It's more dangerous than the intelligence reports suggest. It seems this upgrade won't be so easy."
As he entered the forest, the dead branches beneath his feet suddenly crackled, and countless green eyes lit up from the black mist—they were the "Soul-Eating Wolves." These ninja beasts feed on chakra, their fangs laced with a nerve-paralyzing toxin. The wolf king, leading the pack, was three times the size of a normal wolf, its fur shrouded in a black miasma. It growled deeply at Yinzhu.
"Let's warm up first." Instead of rushing to activate his Mangekyō, Yinzhu drew a standard kunai from his waist, condensing his chakra on the tip. The wolves pounced, and Yinzhu dodged sideways to avoid the wolf king's bite. His kunai slashed through a wolf's throat, only to find that the wound was instantly healed by the miasma—these ninja beasts, in the Cursed Forest, possessed the ability to heal themselves!
"Interesting." Yinzhu's eyes sharpened, his Eternal Mangekyō suddenly illuminating. "Genjutsu? Sharingan!" The crimson power of his pupils pierced the black mist, and the wolves froze in their tracks. But the wolf king suddenly roared, breaking free from the genjutsu's control. Miasma condensed in its mouth into a black ball of light, which shot towards Yinzhu. Yinzhu activated Flying Thunder God, teleporting ten meters away. The ball of light slammed into the ground, and the exploding miasma instantly withered the surrounding trees.
"We can't delay too long. The miasma will drain our chakra." Yin Zhu took a deep breath, combining the power of his Mangekyo with that of Flying Thunder God. "Flying Thunder God? Illusion Clone!" Three clones, imbued with illusionary energy, appeared simultaneously, each running in a different direction. The wolves were drawn in by the clones, but the wolf king saw through the ruse and pounced on Yin Zhu's true form.
Just as the wolf king's fangs were about to reach Yin Zhu, he suddenly turned and stabbed his kunai into the wolf king's eye, simultaneously injecting chakra into the wound: "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Flames spread through the wound, searing the wolf king's internal organs. The wolf king let out a shrill howl and collapsed to the ground, convulsing as the miasma within his body slowly dissipated. Seeing the wolf king dead, the other wolves fled, but Yin Zhu did not pursue—his chakra had been depleted by 30%, and this was only the first level of the secret realm.
Five kilometers into the forest, the ground suddenly shook violently, and a giant, crystal-white python emerged from the ground. The crystal patterns on its scales reflected an eerie light—it was the "Crystallized Python," capable of transforming chakra into crystals to trap its enemies. As the python's tail swept across, Yin Zhu teleported out of the way, only to find that the ground, where it had swept, instantly solidified into crystals, freezing even the miasma.
"Crystal chakra? It's somewhat similar to Jingyan's ability." Yinzhu's Mangekyo telescope scrutinized the python's scales, noticing a weak spot in the crystal pattern on its abdomen. He deliberately exposed the flaw, allowing the python's head to crash into him. Simultaneously, he activated "Genjutsu Kotoamatsukami," temporarily controlling the python's movements and thrusting his Flying Thunder God kunai at the weak spot.
"Dang!" The kunai bounced off the crystal scales, and Yinzhu's arm went numb from the shock. The giant python broke free from the illusion and opened its mouth wide. Crystalline chakra condensed in its mouth into a beam of light, shooting towards Yinzhu. Yinzhu teleported onto the giant python's back, condensing his chakra into a fist, and smashed it into the weak point of the scales: "Fire Style? Fire Dragon Bomb!" The flames bombarded the scales, leaving only a scorch mark.
"This won't work. We must find its weakness." Yin Zhu's kaleidoscope suddenly captured the chakra flowing beneath the python's scales—crystallized chakra converging at its heart, its true weakness! He took a deep breath and poured all his remaining chakra into the kaleidoscope. "Kaleidoscope? Space-time rift!" The crimson power of his eyes tore a spatial rift at the python's heart. The space-time force within the rift instantly crushed the python's heart.
The giant python let out a mournful cry, its massive body collapsing to the ground with a crash, its scales gradually losing their luster. Yin Zhu collapsed to the ground, his chakra nearly depleted. At that moment, the Uchiha clan emblem in his pocket suddenly heated up—the scroll from the deepest part of the secret realm was calling him. He took a chakra recovery pill, rested for a moment, and continued his journey deeper.
The core of the secret realm lies a dilapidated altar. At its center stands a masked figure, clutching the "Scroll of Space-Time Eye Technique"—the "Shadow Puppet Master," a remnant of the Akatsuki organization, apparently also seeking the scroll. Surrounding the puppet master stand ten puppets of Uchiha clan members, each possessing a Sharingan, evidently crafted from the corpses of Uchiha.
"That Uchiha brat is stronger than I thought." The puppeteer's voice was hoarse as he controlled the puppets to attack Yinzhu. The puppets were agile, their Sharingan predicting Yinzhu's attacks. Even his Flying Thunder God teleport was intercepted by the puppets. Yinzhu's Mangekyo spun rapidly, only to discover that the puppets' chakra fluctuations, connected to the miasma of the Cursed Forest, allowed for infinite regeneration.
"We must get rid of the puppeteer first." Yin Zhu's eyes sharpened, and he deliberately let a puppet's kunai pierce his shoulder, and at the same time threw the Flying Thunder God Kunai at the puppeteer's feet. The puppeteer, believing Yin Zhu had no power to resist, controlled all the puppets to surround him, trying to seize his Mangekyō.
At that moment, Yin Zhu activated "Mangekyo: Space-Time Rift," causing a spatial rift to explode around the puppeteer. Simultaneously, Yin Zhu activated Flying Thunder God, teleporting behind the puppeteer and pressing a kunai to his throat. "The scroll is mine!" The puppeteer attempted to control his puppets to fight back, but Yin Zhu's chakra had blocked their meridians. Ultimately, the puppeteer was crushed in the space-time rift, and his puppets fell with him.
Yin Zhu picked up the scroll from the altar and opened it. It contained instructions for cultivating the "Space-Time Eye Technique: Teleportation Barrier"—a technique that could create a space-time barrier within a certain range, tripling the speed of Flying Thunder God's teleportation. He put the scroll away and sensed the chakra fluctuations within his body. After three battles, his Mangekyō pupil power had not weakened; instead, it had grown stronger, having surpassed its limits.
Daybreak had already broken by the time they left the Cursed Forest. Standing at the forest's entrance, Yin Zhu watched the rising sun, feeling the newly awakened "Space-Time Rift" ability within him, a smile playing on his face. This journey into the secret realm had not only yielded the lost scroll of pupil technique, but had also elevated his combat prowess to a new level—from merely being able to cautiously deal with enemies to being able to proactively create opportunities and counterattack powerful foes. This was a true upgrade.
He clenched the scroll in his hand and walked towards the Sound Village.