Chapter 61: Heart Upgrade, Surrounded and Blocked

Chapter 61: Heart Upgrade, Surrounded and Blocked

Clang!

"You bravely confronted the Jashin Cult Hideki and gained a random skill from your opponent: Earth Release: Earth Flow River (Beginner, C)."

"You bravely counterattacked a Genin who tried to harm you, gaining a random skill from them: Earth Release: Rock Section Cane (Beginner, C)."

"You bravely counterattacked several enemies who tried to harm you. They are now unable to respond."

"Your counterattack was powerful, resulting in a critical hit."

"Due to the presence of special equipment: Earth Grudge Fear Heart (Earth), the acquired Ninjutsu skills have been converted into heart upgrade progress."

"Current progress: Wind (6%), Fire (52%), Lightning (0%), Water (88%)."

"The sword techniques you gained from the group confrontation have been integrated into: Basic Swordsmanship of the Ninja World (Proficient, D) (Detailed description available)."

Another string of text flashed before Uchiha Ci's eyes.

He casually swung the ninja sword in his hand and noticed that his once clumsy grip had suddenly become much more fluid.

The Basic Swordsmanship of the Ninja World forms the foundation of all sword techniques in this world. It includes basic moves such as Iai, overhead strike, circular slash, diagonal right cut (Kesa-giri), diagonal left cut (Reverse Kesa), horizontal cuts, upward cuts from both the left and right, an upward strike from below (Reversed Wind), and thrusting techniques.

Mastering this would provide a solid base for using more advanced techniques like Cloud Style, Konoha Style, and Uchiha Style swordsmanship, giving him a certain degree of proficiency boost. This would prevent embarrassing situations like when he first tried to cut Kakuzu and his heart, where he botched the first strike due to his lack of swordsmanship.

Glancing at the detailed description, Uchiha Ci suddenly realized, Oh, so this is how it works?

Finally, he could retire his improvised brute-force swordsmanship.

The heart upgrade progress, simply put, represented the cultivation of Chakra nature transformations.

Fire and Water, being his original affinities and due to his high proficiency with them, showed higher progress. Moreover, the Land of Hot Water's ninjas primarily used Water Release techniques, which further boosted his water progress.

Wind Release progress likely stemmed from the recent Wind Release: Extreme Air-Cutting Wave that he had used, hence the small increment.

It seemed like recovering his own Chakra affinities wouldn't be too difficult, especially Fire Release. Truth be told, he really missed his Fire Release: Chakra Mode. It was practically a walking explosive weapon.

Additionally, in a conscious state with his body in good condition, he could completely control the Forbidden Technique: Body Revival and regenerate an original heart. When that happened, he could consider replacing the current ridiculous Earth attribute heart.

However, for now, he only had one remaining opportunity to use the Forbidden Technique: Body Revival in battle. Uchiha Ci had already decided to save this chance for the Jashin Cult's leader.

---

The Jashin Cult reinforcements were about to arrive.

After briefly skimming through the notifications and roughly understanding what new skills he had gained, Uchiha Ci stopped paying attention.

He immediately began collecting ninja tools from the broken walls and looting ninja pouches from the corpses or those playing dead on the ground.

However, before he could finish scavenging the battlefield, a series of dark shadows approached swiftly.

Uchiha Ci straightened his back, squinting slightly.

Before him stood twelve members of the Jashin Cult, dressed in their signature high-collared black robes with a leather scripture box strapped to their forearms. After scanning the wreckage of the battlefield, their gazes turned cold, and with a flick of their hands, they drew their exclusive weapons: pitch-black spears, pointing directly at Uchiha Ci.

The leader of the group, like an emotionless machine, asked coldly, "Was this your doing?"

"Tch."

Uchiha Ci let out a displeased sound, annoyed that his progress had been interrupted by a cutscene. His expression darkened, adopting a cold and brooding demeanor reminiscent of Sasuke's:

"So, you want to kill me?"

"Frankly, you're all incredibly ignorant."

Uchiha Ci's eyes snapped open. The black tomoe spun in his scarlet eyes as he sneered disdainfully:

"Under these eyes, I've already seen through all your actions!"

Faced with such a bold, over-the-top boast, a technique far beyond the ninja world's current standards, the Jashin Cult elites couldn't help but twitch.

The leader waved his hand and coldly commanded, "Kill him!"

With that order, killing intent filled the air!

The twelve Jashin Cult members split into three teams.

The first team of four charged forward, wielding their black spears and slashing toward Uchiha Ci.

The second team of six stayed put, forming hand seals, preparing to release ninjutsu.

The third team of two began drawing the Jashin Cult's signature 'Triangle in a Circle' curse pattern, black lines crawling up their faces as they stood motionless in anticipation.

At this moment, Uchiha Ci had only managed to grab half of the ninja pouches scattered on the ground, hanging two pouches on his waist.

He now had 34 shuriken, 8 crudely made kunai that were unsuitable for proper blocking, a ninja sword, a katana, and a sleeve loaded with 40 senbon needles.

Seeing the twelve Jashin Cult elites ready to strike, Uchiha Ci took a deep breath.

Without hesitation, he leaped from the broken wall with a large jump.

He had previously faced similar Jashin Cult elites in a village. Just three of them had nearly killed him.

By all rights, he should fight them here until his last breath.

But the situation was entirely different now.

With the powerful defense of Earth Release: Earth Spear and his intimate knowledge of the enemy's tactics, as long as this group didn't have any strong Lightning Release techniques or other countermeasures to Earth Spear, they couldn't kill him.

In situations like this, where the odds weren't overwhelmingly against him, it was a waste of chakra to continue fighting. Even if he eventually reached the final boss, he might be penalized for dragging things out or intentionally seeking death.

Therefore, after completing his ninja tool scavenging mission, he had to stick to the plan.

With that thought in mind, Uchiha Ci made a large leap.

Planting his feet on the wall, he slid down to slow his fall before immediately straightening up and running along the wall.

The wind roared in his ears, accompanied by several sharp explosive sounds.

He flipped mid-air, throwing two shuriken attached to Earth Grudge Fear threads, embedding them into the mountainside. With a sharp pull of the strings, he narrowly dodged four incoming black spears, flipping gracefully through the air before gliding to the ground and continuing his sprint.

This terrain-based mobility was one of the reasons Uchiha Ci dared to mess around on the wall. How could running be faster than flying?

A grin spread across his face as he neared the rendezvous point he had agreed upon with Terumi Mei.

However, as he rounded the corner of the mountain wall, the smile froze on his face.

He screeched to a halt, eyes wide in shock.

Because the twelve Jashin Cult elites that had been on the wall earlier were now suddenly standing in front of him!

And there were even more of them now!

Sixteen Jashin Cult elites lined up in formation, mercilessly hurling sixteen pitch-black spears directly at him!