novelhk Chapter 246 Acid Rain
Chapter 246 Acid Rain
For three days, acid rain fell in the Land of Rain. Rotting ninja corpses drifted in the muddy swamps, and residual chakra swirled low in the sky like a poisonous mist. Tayuya's long purple hair was drenched by the rain, plastered to her cheeks. The flute rested at her lips, unmoved. A strange force was disrupting her sensory network. Those once clear chakra nodes were now shrouded in a thick, bloody mist, and even the familiar presence of Jirobo was blurred.
"Damn, there's something wrong with the fog in this damn place." Jirobo's roar echoed from the swamp to the left, followed by the dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground. Tayuya looked in the direction of the sound and saw the large man using his hands to pry open a giant centipede that had emerged from the mud. The insect's carapace glowed faintly blue, and fragments of Konoha Anbu forehead guards were entangled in its limbs.
Kidomaru suddenly plummeted from the treetops, spider silk stretched between his fingers into a straight line, pinning three centipedes attempting a sneak attack to the tree trunk. He licked the blood from the corner of his lips, his crimson pupils reflecting the movement deep within the swamp. "It's not the fog, it's the 'cursed seal insects' buried underground. These bugs can devour chakra and interfere with perception."
Tayuya's flute finally uttered its first note, but it wasn't an attack melody. A lavender illusory chakra spread along with the sound, forming a translucent barrier around the three of them, keeping out any approaching Gu insects. She could feel the barrier being gnawed at by the insects every second, draining chakra at a rate three times faster than usual. This was an S-rank mission assigned to them by Ototake-sama: to infiltrate Konoha's Anbu's hidden experimental base in the Land of Rain and destroy the "Cursed Gu" cultivation center. But no one had anticipated the formidable defenses surrounding the base.
"Jirobo, use Earth Release to firm the ground!" Tayuya's flute suddenly rose in pitch, and the illusion barrier instantly contracted, trapping a giant centipede that had broken through the defenses in a cocoon of purple light. "These insects are afraid of vibrations. Your Earth Release? Tuling Dangoku can temporarily repel them!"
Upon hearing this, Jirobo immediately formed hand seals. His muscles swelled in the rain, his already massive frame thickening even further. Chakra erupted from his body like a volcano. "Watch out!" The moment his fists pounded the ground, the entire swamp suddenly heaved. Mud and rocks coalesced into dozens of giant earth balls, rolling in all directions, revealing the Gu worms hidden in the mud.
Kidomaru seized the opportunity to unleash his spider silk, silver threads streaking through the rain, lacing the stunned Gu insects together. His chakra flowed along the threads, injecting a specially formulated paralyzing toxin into the insects. "The shells of these insects can be refined into a defensive material. Bringing them back to Karin for research might be useful."
Tayuya's sensory network finally recovered somewhat, and she could clearly see a cave entrance hidden in the mountainside at the end of the swamp, disguised by illusion. The chakra fluctuations around the cave entrance were extremely chaotic, with the aura of Konoha's Anbu and a stream of Yin chakra shared with Orochimaru—the direction of the "Cursed Seal Gu" cultivation core.
"Be careful, there's a master inside." Tayuya's flute tone deepened, and her illusionary chakra swirled around the cave entrance, trying to break the opponent's disguise. But just as her chakra was about to touch the cave entrance, a powerful mental force suddenly counterattacked, like a blunt knife, piercing her mind.
"Ugh!" Tayuya groaned, the flute slipping from her hands. She could sense the psychic energy mingled with countless painful thoughts, like the howling of hundreds of tortured souls—this was the "spiritual poison" forged by Konoha's Anbu from living people. Even more venomous than the curse seal poison, it could directly attack a ninja's core.
Jirobo immediately rushed over, protecting Tayuya behind him. His chakra formed a thick earth shield, blocking dozens of mental attacks from the cave entrance. "Hold on! I'll help you block it!"
Kidomaru's silk suddenly turned pitch black, a sign that he was infusing his own cursed chakra into the threads. He moved swiftly through the treetops, his silk like a black serpent, shooting towards the spiritual Gu launch points around the cave entrance. "Tayuya, use your 'Magic Flute: Phantom Dragon Nine Seals'. I'll help you lock onto your target!"
Tayuya gritted her teeth as she picked up the flute, her fingertips white from the strain. She knew how risky Kidomaru's plan was—"Magic Flute: Phantom Dragon Nine Seals" was a secret technique modified for her by Master Ontake. It could forcibly drain a target's spiritual energy, but it required precise targeting, otherwise it could easily backfire. Kidomaru's spider silk was now her "eyes."
The flute sounded again, this time with a piercing force that pierced the heart and lungs. Pale purple illusionary chakra spread along Kidomaru's silk threads, like countless fine needles, piercing the spirit poison hidden around the cave entrance. Tayuya could feel her painful thoughts being forcibly pulled away, her brain feeling like it was being pierced by countless needles simultaneously, and her vision began to darken.
"Now!" Kidomaru's roar came from the front, and his spider silk suddenly straightened, clearly conveying the location of the three spirit insects to Tayuya.
Tayuya suddenly poured all her chakra into the flute, and the sound suddenly reached a peak. A purple dragon of illusionary light burst from the flute, following the spider silk's guidance, and bit down on the three spirit insects. A shrill soul-screaming roar exploded in the air, and the mental shock around the cave entrance instantly dissipated—she had succeeded.
But before the three could breathe a sigh of relief, a terrifying surge of chakra suddenly erupted from the cave entrance. A man in a Konoha Anbu uniform emerged, half his face covered in a curse seal. His left eye was a transplanted Sharingan, while his right was embedded with a wriggling poisonous insect. "Those brats from Otogakure are quite capable."
Kidomaru's pupils suddenly contracted. "He's a high-ranking member of the Root. He has at least ten different kinds of Gu in his body, and he also has the blessing of the Sharingan!"
Jirobo's earth shield thickened again, his muscles expanded to the extreme, and his chakra fluctuations were twice as strong as before. "I'll contain him head-on, and you look for opportunities to attack his weaknesses!"
The man sneered and formed a seal with his right hand. The ground suddenly cracked, and dozens of Gu insects bearing the markings of the Sharingan emerged from the cracks and pounced on the three men. These were "Sharingan Gu," cultivated from the cells of Uchiha clan members. They could replicate ninjutsu and cast illusions through sight.
Tayuya's flute immediately changed its pitch, and a cocoon of illusory light enveloped the three of them, blocking the Sharingan's visual attack. She could sense that the insects' chakra fluctuations were somewhat similar to Sasuke's Sharingan, but with a sickening chill. "These insects can copy ninjutsu, so don't use conventional attacks!"
Kidomaru's silk suddenly split into hundreds of tiny strands, each wrapped in a small ball of cursed chakra. He moved swiftly outside the illusionary cocoon, his silk shooting towards the Sharingan Gu like a black rainstorm. "My cursed chakra can restrain these insects. Jirobo, prepare to use 'Earth Style: Earthquake'!"
Jirobo nodded and pressed his hands to the ground. Chakra spread through the soil, softening the ground around the sharingu that had been struck by the spider silk. As the worms sank into the mud, he clenched his fists and said, "Earthquake!"
A violent tremor erupted from the ground, instantly crushing the sharingu stuck in the mud into a pulp. However, the ANBU high-ranking official remained unharmed. His Sharingan suddenly lit up, and a black flame shot out from it—a replica of Amaterasu's fire!
"Be careful!" Tayuya's illusionary light cocoon instantly unfolded, blocking the Amaterasu's flames. However, black flames burned on the cocoon, and her chakra was drained at a terrifying rate, and the color of the cocoon became increasingly pale.
At that moment, Jirobo suddenly rushed out. Instead of defending himself, he lunged at the ANBU leader, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and poured all his chakra into him. "Tayuya! Kidomaru! Attack! I'll use 'Cursed Seal? Self-Destruct' to hold him back!"
"Madman!" Kidomaru roared, and the spider silk suddenly became ten times thicker than before. The black silk thread, carrying a breath of destruction, shot towards the heart of the Anbu high-ranking official.
Tayuya's flute sound also reached its limit, and the purple illusion light dragon appeared again. This time, in the dragon's mouth was the "Illusion Killing Thorn" condensed by her own mental power - this was a move of mutual destruction. Once used, she would be unconscious for at least three days.
The Anbu high-ranking official was caught tightly by Jirobo, unable to dodge. His Sharingan spun wildly, trying to control Jirobo with illusions, but Jirobo's chakra was mixed with the bonds of the Sound Three who had fought side by side for many years, and could not be easily controlled.
"Puff!" The spider silk first pierced the heart of the Anbu high-ranking official, and then, the illusionary killing thorn of the illusionary light dragon also penetrated his spiritual core. The Anbu high-ranking official screamed miserably, and the poisonous insects in his body went berserk, trying to break through his body.
Jirobo took the opportunity to release his grip and lunged towards Tayuya and Kidomaru, knocking them to the ground. The next second, the ANBU high-ranking official's body exploded, and countless Gu worm fragments and black flames covered the surrounding swamp.
The three of them lay in the mud, gasping for breath. Jirobo's arm was burned by the flames, several strands of Kidomaru's spider silk were broken, and Tayuya's face was as pale as paper, unable to even hold the flute.
"Damn... finally done." Jirobo grinned, revealing his smoke-blackened teeth.
Kidomaru turned over, looked at the acid rain in the sky, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "After we go back, Lord Yinzhu will definitely give us good wine."
Tayuya looked at her two companions, covered in wounds but still smiling, and suddenly felt that the pain and danger she had just experienced were nothing. She remembered three years ago, when the three of them had been thrown into the dungeon by Orochimaru as experimental subjects, and it was Master Ototake who had rescued them and improved the curse seal for them. She remembered how Jirobo always saved the most dangerous frontal confrontation for her during every mission, and how Kidomaru always used spider silk to shield her from the damage when she was attacked mentally.
"Hey, you two, don't die here." Tayuya's voice trembled slightly as she reached out and grasped Jirobo and Kidomaru's wrists. Pale purple illusion chakra flowed from her fingertips, easing the pain of their wounds.
Jirobo and Kidomaru also extended their hands, and the three of them clasped theirs tightly. Chakra flowed between them, forming a subtle cycle—a natural "Odonin resonance" forged through countless life-or-death battles. It replenished each other's chakra, accelerating wound healing threefold.
The rain gradually subsided, and sunlight filtered through a gap in the clouds, illuminating the three of them. Tayuya's sensory network expanded again, and this time, she could clearly sense that the core of the experimental base had lost its chakra fluctuations—the mission was a success.
"Let's go back." Tayuya stood up and picked up the flute on the ground. Although her body was still weak, she straightened her back.
Jirobo and Kidomaru also stood up, and the three of them, supporting each other, walked towards the Sound Village. Three sets of footprints of varying depths were left on the muddy road. Between the footprints, there were occasional purple illusory light particles, black spider silk fragments, and traces of earth-style chakra. These were the marks that the Sound Three had carved on the land of the ninja world with their blood and their bonds.
In the distant sky, a falcon flew by. It was the messenger sent by Lord Yinzhu to pick them up.
Tayuya looked in the direction of the falcon, a smile on her face.
She knew that no matter how many dangers the future held, as long as the three of them were together, there would be no difficulties they could not overcome - because they were the Three Sound Ninjas, each other's strongest backing, and the three sharpest blades under Lord Yinzhu's command.