Outside the barrier, Dodai rapidly formed hand seals.
Uchiha Setsuna's expression immediately changed when he saw this.
He instantly recognized the ninjutsu Dodai was forming: Earth Style: Earth Rising Excavation!
It was a large-scale Earth Style ninjutsu capable of raising an enormous volcano from underground and forcibly drawing out enemies hiding below.
But in the Land of Hot Water, a scorching volcanic region filled with hot springs and mountains, the nature of this technique would change drastically once used.
What Earth Rising Excavation drew up from below
would not be the enemy.
It would be endless, scalding, boiling water that could cause third-degree burns after even a brief soak—
Underground boiling water exceeding 100°C!
The tremendous boost this terrain gave their ninjutsu was what gave the Kumogakure squad confidence that they could kill Uchiha Setsuna.
It was also why they had chosen to lie in wait in the Land of Hot Water rather than ambush Uchiha Setsuna at the Land of Fire's border.
Dodai could wait no longer.
The cause of all this was that mad Uchiha brat inside the barrier!
If not for him forcibly turning the battle situation around and desperately holding Moroi back,
and even awakening the Sharingan now, showing signs of turning defeat into victory,
Dodai would never have gone this far.
That thought lingered in Dodai's mind.
The way he looked at Moroi suddenly became conflicted.
Because the consequence of doing this
was sacrificing his good brother, Moroi.
Kumogakure had always been a village that revered brotherhood.
Guilt, frustration, and shame pounded madly against his heart, filling his face with struggle.
But Uchiha Setsuna, that old bastard—
his extreme words,
and the full fury of the strongest clan in the shinobi world today!
made Dodai feel an unbearable terror, as though he could not breathe under its crushing weight.
Kill him!
Kill him!
Kill him!
Once that thought arose, it multiplied uncontrollably through Dodai's mind like a curse.
Until those three words were all that remained in his head.
The next instant—
Dodai's gaze sharpened as he roared:
"Enough!"
"Moroi, drop the barrier!"
"I'll kill him myself!"
Inside the barrier,
"What did you say, Senior Dodai?"
Moroi froze when he heard Dodai's words.
That brief lapse
gave Uchiha Ci an opening. He slid his grip down the blade of the ninja sword, his Blood Palm clamping tightly around the hilt, then viciously kicked Moroi in the abdomen.
Bang!
Moroi was sent flying, and the ninja sword flew from his hand into Ci's grasp.
He tumbled several times across the ruins before bracing himself with one hand and stopping his momentum.
Without caring to continue fighting Uchiha Ci, he turned around with a stunned expression
and looked at Dodai outside the barrier.
Yet Dodai merely took a deep breath. His hand seals did not stop as he coldly ordered:
"I said, open the barrier!"
"Open the barrier?" Moroi's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Dodai.
"You want me to open the barrier now?"
His face flushed, then paled, his expression changing rapidly.
As a member of the team who had participated in planning the entire operation, how could Moroi not know just how terrifying and widespread the power of Dodai's Earth Style: Earth Rising Excavation was?
Yet now, Dodai wanted him to drop the barrier and claimed he would personally kill Uchiha Ci!
Did he not know that once the ninjutsu was unleashed, it would engulf even his own teammate?
At that thought, chills ran through Moroi's heart. Looking at Dodai, who had once seemed like an elder brother to him, his eyes were filled with unfamiliarity.
At last, he demanded furiously:
"What the hell kind of joke are you making?"
"You're forming the seals for Earth Rising Excavation, and you want me to open the barrier?!"
"Do you want to kill me too, Dodai?!"
Hearing this, guilt appeared on Dodai's face.
He did not respond, nor did he dare look at Moroi again. He merely turned to Ramui beside him and gritted out:
"Ramui, protect me. Don't let that old bastard Uchiha Setsuna get close!"
Ramui was also greatly shocked.
"Dodai, you..."
Dodai merely shook his head and said grimly:
"Do I need to repeat myself? If that old bastard gets away, can you really not imagine the consequences?"
Ramui bit his lip slightly. "Then why drag Moroi into this too..."
Dodai let out a deep breath, formed the final hand seal, and said with an icy expression:
"Bullshit! If we don't kill that mad brat along with him, then without the barrier stopping him, that old bastard will escape on his own!"
"The situation now is different from before."
"Moroi has already done what he needed to do. He sealed all the Exploding Tags on that mad brat."
"That mad brat is no longer a threat."
"Instead, he'll become our aid!"
Ramui could not help glancing sideways at the Third Raikage's right-hand man.
A trace of wariness flashed through his eyes.
Honestly,
it was no wonder Dodai had risen to a high position in Kumogakure at such a young age, while Ramui had struggled for half his life and remained only an ordinary Jonin captain.
Shaking his head, Ramui sighed and said indifferently:
"You're right."
"Sometimes, bonds are restraints stronger than a barrier."
Dodai did not reply. He merely narrowed his eyes.
He looked at Uchiha Setsuna, who wielded the Crimson Flame Longblade and spun into a slash, trailing a long tail of flame and a crimson line drawn by the Crimson Sharingan. Dodai's gaze turned icy as he sneered.
He slammed a palm onto the ground!
The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains trembled!
Earth Dragon Reversal—countless chunks of earth writhed and rose from underground.
An enormous volcano slowly crawled up from beneath the ground, its crater instantly swallowing the entire barrier where Moroi stood.
Thick mist billowed around the crater's rim.
Uchiha Setsuna's eyes nearly split apart at the sight as he roared:
"What are you doing, Kumogakure?!"
"Uchiha Setsuna, let's make a wager." Dodai's hands continued forming seals as a cruel smile appeared on his face.
This time, he would unleash Futton: Rubber River.
He would turn the earth into a molten river of rubber, then use Rubber River to seal the volcanic crater.
The boiling water drawn up by Earth Rising Excavation would create intense pressure within, causing the volcano to expand.
The perilous environment inside the volcano, along with the boiling water that would violently erupt at the end,
would be Heavenly Might beyond human reach!
"You have two choices now."
Dodai looked coldly at Uchiha Setsuna and shouted:
"You can stay here and keep stalling against us."
"Then watch with your own eyes as I kill that brat who is about to defeat Moroi."
"I have to admit it—you won. You ruined all our plans by sacrificing only a Genin brat!"
"If you leave now, I won't stop you!"
"Of course, there is another choice."
Dodai raised a finger and pointed at the colossal volcanic crater billowing thick white mist.
He sneered:
"Jump down there now!"
"With your ability, maybe you can save that brat."
Uchiha Setsuna's expression changed drastically.
"My technique is about to seal the crater, and you still haven't made your choice?!" Dodai opened his eyes wide and roared.
Uchiha Setsuna glared at him, gritted his teeth slightly, and stood at the crater's edge.
Without the slightest hesitation,
he turned and leaped straight into the volcano!
Dodai sneered. "Now, it's all over!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he formed hand seals and spewed forth a surging river of rubber!
The liquid rubber in its molten state clamped tightly over the crater like a pot lid.
The dust settled!
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