He had the distinct feeling that Uchiha Nobuhiko had just raised a death flag.
As fierce winds swept through the area and waves churned below, Chiba stood atop the Wood Golem's head, narrowing his eyes slightly as a subtle expression crossed his face.
Still, he had not expected Uchiha Nobuhiko's Susanoo weapons to be formed from his own abilities. Their attack power and sustained offensive capability were remarkably perfect. This must also have been...
He had been played.
At the same time, although his expression was somewhat strange, there was no such ambiguity in Chiba's gaze. On the contrary, his eyes were filled with gravity.
At that moment, the two massive water swords forged from Water Release Chakra Shape Transformation before his eyes were hissing as thick steam poured from them. Meanwhile, the two halves of the split katana were cutting deeper and deeper into the water swords. The deeper they went, the more violently the water swords steamed.
His attack had been completely neutralized.
For him, the two strikes had achieved nothing. He had suffered quite a loss.
Although he had activated Gate of View Mode again, it was only because the Kage-level Chakra had broken down and fed back into his body, replenishing his cells with a certain amount of energy through pure physical energy. It was like eating, restoring nutrition, and getting some rest. This had restored a considerable amount of his stamina—at least enough stamina to activate Gate of View Mode.
That was why he had been able to promptly use Wood Release, the Wood Golem Technique, to block Uchiha Nobuhiko's Susanoo attack beneath that strike.
However, while Gate of View Mode reduced the burden of the Eight Gates and allowed him to use Eight Gates Chakra, it was still fundamentally the Eight Gates. It unlocked