The Battle at the Dueling Arena 4

Ōnoki paused for a moment. "Go... what?"

"We need to help everyone," Hinata a low voice, speaking rapidly, "We are Ninjas, we are warriors. What kind of warrior deserts in the face of battle?"

Warrior.

The word echoed in Ōnoki's mind.

He instinctively retorted, "No, Ninjas aren't warriors. The most important thing for Ninja is to obey orders and complete missions."

He was a guard, a member of the Land of Earth's Delegation. His mission was to safely escort the Envoy to the Shelter, not to rush back to the Dueling Arena to help take care of his uncle.

Every Ninja was taught this way, and he believed it too.

But at this moment, a voice in his heart was stubbornly urging him to break the rules and leave for the Dueling Arena.

Hinata frowned when he saw that he hadn't said anything for a while, "Are you going or not? If you're not going, fine, just don't expose us."

"Us? "Ōnoki looked up, his gaze passing over Hinata's shoulder, and saw the person behind him.

The children stood scattered in the shadows of the Ruins.

The children who were closest to Izuna were gathered together, seemingly discussing something.

A little distance away from them, the children who had attacked Izuna on the Arena were still scattered about.

The girl who carried Explosive Tags and tried to kill Izuna, the boy who was the first to be beaten by Izuna and couldn't fight back, and a few other faces whose names he couldn't recall.

They didn't stand with the children in the Theatre Troupe, but they each used their own methods to break away from the main group and stood here, not leaving.

They are all people who want to go back.

Ōnoki turned to look in the other direction. The Rock Ninja's group surrounded the Land of Earth's Envoy, Ishimi, so tightly that there was no gap in their encirclement. They were heading towards the underground Shelter.

The boy, still just a young boy, looked at them and couldn't help but think, "With them protecting the Envoy, even if he's missing, nothing will go wrong, right?"

Just then, an enormous, rough hand landed on his shoulder.

Lei Jun Yotsuki A from the Land of Lightning bent over, bringing her head close between him and Hinata, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? What are you plotting?"

He deliberately kept his voice very low, but Ōnoki still felt his eardrums buzzing from the sound.

Hinata him a wary look; he recognized him as someone from the Land of Lightning.

Ōnoki tried to pry his hands open, but Ai held them firmly down. Although it didn't hurt, the pressure made him feel uncomfortable.

Ōnoki frowned. "What do you want to do?"

Ai looked left and right, then whispered, "You kids want to go back, don't you?"

"So what if it is?"

"Can I come along?"

Ōnoki looked at him in surprise, and Hinata couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you the leader of the Land of Lightning's Guard Unit? What will happen to your team if you go?"

Ai sighed, "There's nothing I can do; my best friend is there."

Hinata looked the large man up and down, raising an eyebrow. "Your team agrees?"

"I don't care if they agree or not." Ai curled his lip. "If I can't even stand by and watch my own friends die, then I shouldn't even bother competing for the Raikage position."

These words were spoken with such boldness that even Hinata couldn't help but glance at them.

Ōnoki looked at him and suddenly remembered that back at the teahouse, this guy was so arrogant that you wanted to punch him, but now he wasn't annoying at all.

"So, little guy?" Ai looked down at him. "What are your plans?"

Ōnoki glanced back one last time and noticed that the person standing at the very back was peeking at him.

Seeing him turn around, she hurriedly waved her hand, as if trying to get him to come over quickly.

Ōnoki smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. Then he turned and walked on.

Let's go.

Meanwhile, on the Dueling Arena, seeing Izuna shred the countless boulders with a single strike, Isshiki couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

Gravel rained down on the edge of the playground, raising a cloud of gray-white dust.

Hashirama sighed, his voice filled with a weariness that suggested he'd been thoroughly exhausted. "Just how much power does this guy have left...?"

Madara's face showed Dead-Fish Eyes. He turned to Izuna: "Izuna, do you know this guy?"

Izuna gave an unexpected answer.

"This is not his true form yet."

"Ah?"

Tobirama hearing this, Tobirama's usually calm expression cracked. "Isn't that right?!"

Just then, Isshiki flew into the air.

His body rose vertically into the air, his white robe billowing in the wind, looking down at them from above.

Hashirama blurted out, "Holy crap! He can fly?!"

Izuna didn't reply. His Susanoo took off and flew rapidly towards the edge of the village.

Isshiki knew this was an attempt to lure him away, but he was furious.

Having been entangled in a fight between two mortals for so long, bombarded by a swarm of ants with Ninjutsu, and even had all the Black Rods shredded by that brat's spatial Dōjutsu.

Now he no longer wanted to use any threatening methods; he just wanted to tear Uchiha Izuna, that scourge, to pieces.

So he followed immediately, his white figure piercing the sky.

Black Zetsu finally found a chance to escape.

He silently slipped from the edge of his sleeve, which had been raised as he Isshiki away, and the moment he hit the ground, he turned into a pool of black liquid, seeping into the cracks of the sandy soil and disappearing.

At the last moment before Izuna was Isshiki away, Izuna glanced out of the corner of his eye at the spot where Black Zetsu had disappeared.

He withdrew his gaze and continued flying out of the village.

Haeharu's Mental Power and Chakra reserves were insufficient to support Mind Link at this distance. After Izuna left, everyone was no longer in the same state of perception as Izuna.

As if waking from a dream, everyone was somewhat dazed.

Some people followed the direction they had gone the very next second after the Shadow Possession Jutsu was lifted.

Here, after Izuna's Susanoo been flying for a while, the blue skeleton suddenly became illusory, like a projection with a poor signal, its outline flickering in and out of the air.

Izuna's left eye began to bleed again.

Thick, red liquid welled up from his eyes, trickling down his cheeks. The Mangekyō Sharingan pattern in his eyes flickered, seemingly reaching its limit.

Ban immediately stepped forward, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said in a low voice, "I'll do it."

Izuna shook his head. He didn't speak, but Susanoo away into the distance.

The hand on his shoulder didn't let go, but it didn't try to persuade him again.

Finally, they arrived at a basin.

Surrounded by low hills on all sides, with a wide depression in the middle, far from Konoha, far from the Amusement Park, and far from all the people and things that need to be protected.

Upon arriving here, Izuna's Susanoo disappeared.

A blue skeleton emanated from his body, turning into specks of light that drifted in the air.

The Isshiki followed immediately.

His white robe was covered in dust, his long hair was disheveled by the wind, and his grayish-white pupils were gloomy with utter anger.

The moment they landed, Tobirama and Izuna vanished.

Madara and Hashirama didn't waste a single second.

Susanoo rose from the ground beneath Madara's feet.

The blue Chakra Giant stood on the earth like a mountain, each plate of his armor was enormous, he gripped two swords and slowly lowered his head.

The air was rippled visible by the pressure of Susanoo, and pebbles began to roll down the slopes of the hills surrounding the basin.

Hashirama clasped his hands together, Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands burst forth from the earth.

A wooden Buddha statue, even larger than Susanoo, rose from the ground, with a thousand arms unfolding layer upon layer behind it, each arm holding a fist, and each fist as big as a house.

The ground in the entire basin sank several inches the instant the Buddha statue was completed.

After a long battle, they have discovered something.

Isshiki can absorb Ninjutsu, but he has never absorbed an attack from Susanoo, nor has he absorbed a Wood Release technique.

He can shrink objects, but he cannot use the ability to shrink or enlarge people themselves.

Susanoo is not Ninjutsu, but a creation of Dōjutsu. More importantly, Isshiki way to deal with Susanoo is to destroy it rather than absorb it. Why Susanoo does not absorb Wood Release is still unknown.

But since he didn't absorb it, there must be a reason. We should give it a try.

As a result, this terrain suffered.

The thousands of arms of Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands Shou swung out simultaneously, their fists slamming into the ground like a torrential rain.

Each punch sent up a cloud of mud and rocks tens of meters high, the shockwaves uprooted the surrounding trees, and created one overlapping giant crater after another in the ground.

Susanoo drew its twin swords, the two blue blades drawing two arcs of light in the air, following their master's gaze as they cleaved the hillside, smoothing the entire slope into a clean surface.

Isshiki dodged through the devastating barrage of fire.

His body shrank to the size of a grain of rice, moving through the gaps between fists.

He expanded back to his normal size in mid-air and hurled several Black Rods at Susanoo with his backhand.

The enormous iron rod was driven into Susanoo's chest armor, penetrating three-tenths of an inch, but it was far from piercing through.

Isshiki wanted to get close to Madara's location and eliminate the high-attack, low-defense Uchiha, but Hashirama wouldn't let him succeed.

Having no Isshiki, he dodged the grasping arms and turned to deal with Hashirama first.

He weaved through Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands, slicing and destroying several thick arms before finally reaching the Buddha's shoulder and kicking it in the head.

Wood chips flew everywhere, but Hashirama wasn't kicked down. He withstood the blow, grabbed Hashirama's ankle, swung him up, and threw him towards Madara's blazing sword.

Isshiki reaction speed is extremely fast.

In the instant he was swung away, he shrank to the size of a grain of rice, slipping through the gaps between the flashes of blades and the shadows of fists, climbing all the way up along the blade that Susanoo slashing down.

He expanded back to his normal size on the side of the blade, and with the force of the push, he shot like a cannonball toward the crystal Barrier at the head of Susanoo.

Madara's Sharingan caught the white afterimage, but he didn't have time to react while in Susanoo.

The protective layer of Susanoo cracked in front of Isshiki's toes, the crystal shattered into pieces, and a tremendous force pierced through the cockpit, landing solidly on Madara's chest.

Madara's body was kicked out of Susanoo and crashed into a distant mountain wall, causing the rocks to collapse with a deafening roar.

He coughed up blood during his fall, leaving a red trail of blood in the air.

Susanoo lost its Chakra supply behind him, and the huge blue Giant began to collapse from its armor, turning into light and dissipating piece by piece.

Hashirama was not affected by Madara's departure.

His gaze was fixed on Isshiki, and the thousands of arms of Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands Shu swung again, with a barrage of fists closing in from all directions, attempting to seal Isshiki within the fist formation.

But the Isshiki was too fast. The white figure weaved through the rain of wooden fists, shrinking, expanding, and changing direction, each step perfectly timed with the gaps in Hashirama's attack rhythm.

He sliced through several thick arms, sending wood chips flying like snowflakes, then grabbed a gap in one of the severed arms and shot it straight at the top of the wooden Buddha's head.

With one foot stomping on the face of the broken wooden Buddha, Hashirama reached out to grab his ankle, intending to repeat the same trick and throw him down again.

But Isshiki reacted even faster, pulling back his leg and changing his stance, his fist passing between Hashirama's Hashirama and striking him in the chest.

Hashirama groaned as his body was sent flying from the top of the wooden Buddha's head, crashing into the ground on the other side of the basin and carving a furrow tens of meters long.

Tobirama seized this opportunity.

As soon as Isshiki arrived in front of Hashirama, he threw out the Flying Thunder God Kunai, and the next instant his figure appeared out of thin air where the Kunai was.

With a flick of his right hand, he Kunai and aimed the blade straight Isshiki the body.

Without turning his Isshiki, he merely tilted his head slightly, letting the blade graz Tobirama ear. With his left hand, he grabbed Tobirama's wrist, which he couldn't retract in time, and slammed him to the ground. Before Tobirama could react, his right hand simultaneously grasped the Black Rods that appeared out of Tobirama.

The two movements were seamlessly connected, as if the Flying Thunder God's landing point was already known.

Tobirama remained on edge the entire time, and the moment he realized his failure, he activated the Flying Thunder God to teleport from his spot to the Kunai he had just thrown.

Isshiki immediately caught up.

Tobirama reacted extremely quickly this time.

Just as Isshiki's fingers were about to grip his throat, he braced himself against Isshiki's back and rolled over, avoiding the following thrust.

At the same moment he landed, he flung out several Kunai, Kunai spread out in a fan shape in the air and shot in all directions.

With Isshiki turn, he swept a whip kick toward his head, the wind from the kick already brushing against Tobirama's silver-white hair, but his figure vanished in the frame before the contact, reappearing beside the kunai still in mid-air in the Kunai distance.

Isshiki clicked his tongue in disgust. "Damn Space-Time Ninjutsu!"

No sooner had he finished speaking Tobirama appeared from behind him.

The moment I braced myself against his back, I left traces of the Flying Thunder God technique on his clothes.

Tobirama thrust his Kunai straight Isshiki the back of the neck, the tip of the blade less than an inch from the skin.

But he was still a step too late. Isshiki had already turned around, and the moment his eyes met the Kunai, the weapon shrank.

He threw several Black Rods behind him, blocking all of Tobirama's escape routes.

Tobirama activated the Flying Thunder God the instant the Kunai shrank, but the Black Rods were too fast, piercing through his limbs and waist just before he disappeared, and blood mist exploded in the air.

When he appeared beside Izuna, he staggered forward, knelt on one knee, and had several severed Black Rods stuck in his body.

Meanwhile, Hashirama had already pulled Madara out of the rubble.

The green light of the Mystical Palm Technique enveloped Madara's chest, and the ribs that had been broken by the Isshiki were reconnecting and healing.

Madara, biting a strip of cloth torn from his clothes, let Hashirama press the dislocated bones back into place. He didn't utter a sound throughout the entire process, only his Sharingan remained fixed on Isshiki's direction.

Hashirama released his grip, and Madara spat out the gag from his mouth and stood up.

The blue Chakra of Susanoo ignited once more from beneath his feet, and his skeleton, muscles, and armor condensed and took shape layer by layer.

The sage patterns on Hashirama's face lit up again, and the wooden Buddha with Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands rose up from the ground behind him once more.

The two men took a step forward simultaneously, returning to the battlefield.

Tobirama laboriously pulled out the Black Rods embedded in his limbs, the green light of the Mystical Palm Technique flickering at his fingertips.

His Medical Ninjutsu was far less proficient than Hashirama's; he could stop bleeding, but it would take a lot of effort to get the muscles to heal properly.

The ground in the center of the basin in the distance has been completely deformed.

Susanoo's twin swords cleaved the hill with smooth cuts, while the fists of the Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands rained down like a storm, sending up mud and rubble tens of meters high.

Hashirama and Madara's attacks remained fierce, but Tobirama could clearly see that their movements were beginning to slow down.

His brother and Madara Uchiha were indeed very strong, strong enough to change the terrain and level hills, but their Chakra was not unlimited.

Meanwhile, Isshiki's reaction speed and stamina have not declined significantly. On the contrary, he is becoming more and more adept at maneuvering between fists and swords. Even the Flying Thunder God cannot gain the slightest advantage. He can react even when someone circles behind him. He is simply inhuman.

Damn it, how am I supposed to defeat this kind of enemy?

He looked down at Izuna, who had been sitting motionless on the ground since earlier.

Izuna's left eye was still bleeding.

Thick, red liquid seeped from the corner of his eye, sliding down the curve of his cheek like a stream that would never dry up.

He had his head down and his hands on his knees, looking as if he were asleep.

But his Mangekyō Sharingan was still active, his blood-red pupils unfocused, pointed in a certain direction in the void.

"Hey," Tobirama said, frowning, "What do you mean by saying he's not in his final form? How exactly can we defeat him?"

Izuna did not answer immediately.

He felt very dizzy.

The battle from just now still lingered in his mind, but the images kept shifting between near and far, making it difficult to recall clearly.

The imagery of Isshiki's fist, the moment the Black Rods pierced his shoulder, and Hashirama being kicked away overlapped in his mind, only to be covered by something deeper.

He felt himself in a strange, lucid dream-like state.

The pain kept him awake, but his consciousness seemed to extend beyond his body.

It lies dormant deep within, only surfacing to utter a few words when asked crucial questions.

"Keep wearing him down..." Izuna's voice was soft, as if through a veil of water, "... and that will force him to reveal his true form. We must... uh..."

His words trailed off. Something was tearing at his head.

His vision went completely dark for a brief moment, then returned.

Tobirama, oblivious to the sudden change, frowned and repeated, "Continuous exhaustion? You make it sound so easy. We'll be the first to reach our limits. Big Brother and Madara are already close to their breaking point, not to mention the others—going up there is just suicide."

Izuna was silent for a moment, then he suddenly grabbed Tobirama's hand.

The hand was icy cold. Tobirama instinctively tried to pull away, but froze when he met Izuna's gaze.

Izuna's eyes were empty.

The intricate patterns of the Mangekyō Sharingan continued to rotate slowly, but there was no focus in those eyes; they were as eerie as glass beads.

"Send me there," Izuna said.

"... what you up to?"

"Deplete him."

Tobirama frowned even more deeply. His gaze swept over Izuna.

This guy is clearly at his physical and Chakra limits; he can't even stand up, and there seems to be something wrong with his left eye. Going up in this state won't just wear down the enemy; it'll be suicide.

"I won't take you there." Tobirama frowned.

"Only I can do it," Izuna's voice was still soft. "Take me there."

"Can't you understand human language?--"

Izuna just stared at him.

The bleeding, unfocused Mangekyō Sharingan stared at Tobirama, making him feel uneasy all over.

"Alright, alright! I got it!" Tobirama cursed, then took a deep breath, put his hand on Izuna's shoulder, and looked up at the sky above the basin, which had been shattered by Susanoo and the Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.

Looking for an opportunity to intervene.