After observing for a minute, Sora said, "He is very strong. I'm surprised that someone so strong has managed to keep his identity and ability hidden for so long."
Genji asked, "Can you trap him with Fuinjutsu jutsu?"
Sora replied, "It'll be tough. Hopefully, Akihiko and Masaru will keep him occupied. Keep an eye on the battle. If he suspects something and tries looking for me, you'll expose yourself and attack him."
Genji nodded. Inscribing seals around the battlefield would need time. And anything could happen in battle. His job would be to ensure that Sora's presence stays hidden.
Sora began inscribing seals around the place where the fighting was happening. Genji followed him closely. Luckily, Zankoku's entire attention was on Akihiko and Masaru. Since Sora didn't leak any killing intent or take any actions that would directly threaten him, Zankoku stayed oblivious to his actions.
Akihiko and Masaru were oblivious to Sora's actions too and fought intensely. Multiple fires were burning in the area due to their Fire jutsus. A lot of the ground was dyed in blood. Akihiko and Masaru stayed away from such areas. Zankoku's Blood manipulation had raised their alertness to the maximum.
Fujin's clone, who was secretly observing, had to change his locations a few times due to Zankoku's wide area attacks accidentally targeting his locations.
After a few minutes, Zankoku stopped attacking. He looked at Akihiko and Masaru. They were breathing heavily. Though there weren't any critical injuries on them, Zankoku knew that they wouldn't last for much longer. He said, "You won't last much longer."
Masaru was looking for opportunities to waste time. He said while breathing heavily, "We can still go on for hours. You haven't seen anything yet!"
Zankoku laughed and replied, "And how would you do that without any chakra? It's only a matter of time before you drop dead. But, I have an offer for you two."
Akihiko squinted his eyes and asked, "What offer?"
Zankoku answered, "Serve Lord Jashin. I'll accept you as my Priests and teach you the ways of Lord Jashin. When I complete the ritual, I will become the strongest person in the world! Then you can rule the world alongside me."
Both Akihiko and Masaru were speechless by his confidence. However, neither showed it on their face. Akihiko stayed quiet for some time before saying, "I need a few minutes to think."
However, Zankoku said, "No, tell me your answer right now. Either you agree, or you die!"
Akihiko put on a thoughtful face. He looked at Masaru and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Masaru thought and answered after a few seconds, "His proposal is tempting. But what about our families? We can't abandon them."
Zankoku heard his answer and said, "When you serve Lord Jashin, all your fellow believers are your family. If you want to, you can convert your current family too."
Masaru replied, "That sounds good. But what if my wife or son doesn't want to follow Lord Jashin? You know the new generation doesn't believe in god."
His question stumped Zankoku. However, Zankoku soon realized that something was amiss. He looked at them. Two spears made of blood appeared in his arms as he threatened, "Enough wasting time. Give me your answer now!"
Masaru said, "Akihiko, I will trust your decision."
Anger formed on Akihiko's face. He looked at Masaru and shouted, "Why the fuck do you always leave tough decisions to me! For one fucking time think with your own brain."
Masaru barked back, "What the fuck do you mean? Didn't you go around saying that you are the leader since you were a kid? So make a fucking decision."
Akihiko shouted back, "Why you runt..."
However, his shout was interrupted by Zankoku throwing the spears at them. Both immediately dodged. Zankoku's face, which already was full of horrifying scars, was dark. He said, "Do you two think that I am a fool?"
A smirk formed on Akihiko and Masaru's lips. Though they didn't say anything, anyone could see their answer. Zankoku was about to attack again when he felt a chakra behind him. He quickly turned around to see Sora some distance from him. A smile could be seen on his face as he made the confrontation hand seal.
In the next second, a barrier appeared around Zankoku. Zankoku quickly moved and punched the barrier with full force, but there was no dent on the barrier. He quickly tried escaping underground, but there was a barrier on the ground as well. Soon, more barriers began forming.
Zankoku was trapped in a 3 layer barrier formation! He was inside the 1st layer. Akihiko and Masaru stood in the 2nd layer. Sora and Genji joined them. They stood outside the barrier under which Zankoku was trapped.
Realizing the danger, Zankoku attacked the barrier with full power in order to break free. His attacks made the barrier shake, but it didn't break.
Masaru smirked and taunted him, "You should have surrendered when you had the chance."
Zankoku stopped struggling and sat down. He replied, "The barrier is strong, but not strong enough. Once my chakra recovers, I can break through it. And though I am trapped, you can't attack me either."
However, Sora smirked and replied, "I am not a half-assed SealMaster like your Priest."
He grabbed a kunai with an explosive tag attached and threw it at Zankoku. The kunai travelled through the barrier like it was air. Zankoku's eyes widened. A blood barrier appeared in front of him. The explosive tag exploded, but he was safe.
Sora said, "This barrier allows one-way travel. Meaning, we can attack you however much we want to. And you can only endure our attacks without being able to counterattack. How long do you think you will last?"
Zankoku's expression became grim. Immediately, layers of blood surrounded him. A multilayered cocoon formation of blood protected him.
Masaru taunted, "Our chakra might have hit rock bottom, but we still have thousands of explosive tags. How long do you think you will last?"
Without another word, the Uchihas encircled the barrier. Everyone began throwing explosive tags into the barrier. Huge explosions took place in the barrier. The Uchihas, who were standing outside it, didn't feel anything at all. Slowly, the layers of cocoons began breaking apart.
Fujin's clone couldn't hear their words but sweatdropped as he saw that scene. He thought, 'How shameless! This is just bullying. They used so many explosive tags during the fighting. And now they have used at least a hundred more. Do Uchihas don't know the difference between a normal paper and an explosive paper tag? No wonder Mieko was spamming explosive tags in the Chunin exams. It's as if they have a printing factory to make them.'
After enduring a few hundred explosive tags, all of Zankoku's defenses crumbled. His body began taking the explosions head-on. His body tried to heal itself, but the amount of damage he was taking was too high.
Akihiko was observing him carefully with his Sharingan. He kept observing until his chakra reserves ran out. He instructed, "Stop!"
Immediately all Uchihas stopped. Akihiko grabbed his Tanto. Chakra flowed through it. He threw it inside the barrier. Zankoku had no energy to move. The Tanto sliced through his neck and beheaded him. The four Uchihas observed him to see if he could still heal up.
So did Fujin's shadow clone. He wondered, 'Will he be alive like Hidan? Or does he not have the same sort of immortality that Hidan will have in the future?'
Zankoku's body didn't move. He was dead. Akihiko looked at Genji and said, "Make a shadow clone and check him."
Genji nodded and made a shadow clone. The clone entered the barrier and checked. Zankoku's body was in terrible shape. The explosions had destroyed a lot of his flesh. Whatever flesh he had was completely burnt. Both his eyes were destroyed. His nose, ears and lips were destroyed too. Even his bones were cracked in many places.
After inspecting, Genji's clone said, "He is completely dead."
Akihiko and Masaru sighed in relief. They had fought him the most and knew what frightening vitality he had. Akihiko said, "Sora, seal his body properly. We will study him thoroughly."
Sora nodded and began sealing Zankoku's body. Akihiko said, "In the mission report, we will mention his abilities and say that his body was thoroughly destroyed by our explosive tags. Nothing was left behind. Don't tell Haru or the kids about this either. You can tell Haru later, but no word to the kids."
On hearing that, the three Uchihas became serious and nodded. Sora asked, "Is it due to..."
Akihiko interrupted, "Yes. The relationship between the village and the clan is deteriorating. Though Fugaku-sama is against the Coup right now, it is probably unavoidable unless the village elders stop mistreating us. If the Coup does happen, then the abilities of this guy would help us immensely if we can learn them."
Everyone nodded. They had seen what fearsome ability Zankoku had. If multiple Jounin level Uchihas could control their blood in a similar manner or even get just the self-healing ability, then defeating them would become very difficult. Only an S rank ninja could defeat them quickly.
Fujin's clone didn't hear their words. After seeing Sora seal Zankoku's body, he dispersed himself. The Uchihas were unaware that the fight and the result had been witnessed by him.
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