A Slap for White Fang at the Start

"Did it miss?"

Forced back by Shukaku's arm, Genetsu glanced at the tip of his blade.

That strike had originally been aimed at Bunpuku's chest, yet it had been deflected toward his shoulder.

"Was that the Sand Shield known as Absolute Defense?"

Genetsu raised his eyes toward the other man and chuckled.

"Not bad. This is the first time anyone has managed to deflect my thrust to this extent."

"Sand Shuriken!!"

Bunpuku did not answer. With a flick of his hand, the yellow sand thrown from his sleeve spun through the air in the shape of blades.

It was practically like fighting another Gaara.

Genetsu's body became a blur as he darted back and forth through the endless sand projectiles.

Observation Haki allowed him to see through the trajectories of the Sand Shuriken completely!

"His offense, perception, and technique have all reached perfection. Without question, he is the most flawless ninja in every aspect that I have ever seen..."

Bunpuku gritted his teeth. There were truly few enemies who could make him feel so troubled.

He also knew clearly that if Genetsu got into close combat with him, he would not stand the slightest chance.

Yet ordinary techniques were difficult to land.

He could only expend even more Chakra to use a large-scale ultimate technique.

But that came with a risk. Once a Jinchuriki's Chakra was exhausted, or their life was in danger—

the seal could loosen.

"I don't have time to think about that!"

Bunpuku suddenly clapped his palms together.

Crash—

Endless yellow sand surged into the stone ground beneath the battlefield. In an instant, it crushed the hard rock into sand that Shukaku's power could control.

An area spanning more than two li in every direction turned entirely into a desert.

The next instant, Genetsu, along with Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Sarutobi Rie, and the others battling the Sunagakure Shinobi nearby, all felt a tremendous pulling force beneath their feet.

It continuously dragged them downward.

"Prison Sand Burial!"

Bunpuku shouted in a low voice.

He rewrote the terrain into a desert, then dragged every enemy standing on the sand into a two-hundred-meter-deep abyss underground and buried them.

The pressure brought by the endless sand could leave an enemy unable to move even a finger.

Even as a Jinchuriki, this move would nearly exhaust all of his Chakra.

The reason Bunpuku had transformed such a vast area into a desert was to prevent Genetsu from evading with that exaggerated sensory ability again.

"A ninjutsu Gaara used to bury Kimimaro? And you spent even more Chakra to expand its range."

Genetsu muttered to himself.

"D-Damn it, I can't break free!"

"Help! Someone, send reinforcements!"

"Urgh! Urgh! Hel—help—"

The Sarutobi Clan ninja nearby were also caught by Bunpuku's technique.

The stronger ones desperately tried to break free using the Body Flicker Technique, while the weaker ones could not resist at all and were quickly dragged into the abyss beneath the sand.

"Sh-Shinnosuke, save me!"

The yellow sand had already reached her neck. Tears filled Sarutobi Rie's eyes as she reached toward Sarutobi Shinnosuke and cried out.

"Rie!"

Konohamaru also strained to reach out toward her, trying to grab hold of her.

The scene looked exactly like something out of a third-rate romance movie.

However, reality was not a movie.

Before their hands could even touch, Sarutobi Rie was completely dragged underground by the sand.

Meanwhile, the quicksand had already swallowed Sarutobi Shinnosuke from the waist down.

"Damn it! Rie!!!"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke cried out in anguish. In the final instant before he was buried underground, he raised his right hand to his lips and bit his thumb open.

The next second, his entire body was buried within the quicksand.

"Between the strongest absolute defense and the strongest flame of attack, which do you think is stronger?"

Genetsu withdrew his sidelong gaze. Though the quicksand had reached his neck, there was not a trace of panic on his face as he calmly asked Bunpuku.

Bunpuku's pupils suddenly contracted, and intense unease rose within him.

Boom—!!

A violent flying slash suddenly burst from the quicksand, burning with black flames capable of reducing everything to ashes.

Just as Hatake Sakumo could coat his blade and Sword Qi with lightning—

Genetsu used flames.

Flame Release: Kagutsuchi!

Although he could not manipulate the Black Flame's shape as masterfully as Sasuke Uchiha could with the Mangekyo's power—

for Genetsu, who had already mastered Armament Haki, attaching Black Flame to a flying slash was effortless.

The attack came far too suddenly.

Before Bunpuku could react in any way, the slash burning with Black Flame had already reached him.

The next thing he felt was the intense pain shooting from his left shoulder.

"Urgh—Aah!!"

Amid a cry of pain, a left arm fell to the ground.

The severed limb still burned with undying Black Flame.

"That Black Flame is!?"

In the distance, Hyuga Hiashi, Hyuga Hizashi, and the others, who had activated their Byakugan and taken in the entire battlefield, suddenly changed expression.

Some time ago, they had received intelligence from the clan.

It said that a Sunagakure spy had destroyed the Third Hokage's Hokage Rock using violent Sword Qi and strange black flames.

And today, they had seen Genetsu use this move.

Then the one who destroyed Hokage Rock must have been...

The Hyuga brothers did not dare imagine it.

Genetsu leaped out through the opening cut by the Sword Qi.

Just as he landed, a movement sounded behind him.

Genetsu turned his eyes toward it and pursed his lips.

"Oh? Young Master Konohamaru, you're not dead?"

Behind him, a giant ape leaped out of the quicksand with Sarutobi Shinnosuke on its back.

Enma.

The ace Summoned Beast of Konohamaru's father, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Though in the later stages he was nothing more than a fire poker—

in the early days, he had his shining moments, resisting the Nine-Tails and assisting Hiruzen Sarutobi against Edo Tensei Hashirama and Tobirama.

Had he used the Summoning Jutsu before completely losing the ability to move?

"Tch, what a shame."

Genetsu could not help spreading his hands in disappointment.

"Rie! Rie! Enma! Hurry and save Rie!"

However, Sarutobi Shinnosuke had not heard Genetsu's mockery at all.

After escaping, he immediately jumped off Enma's back, dropped to his knees at the spot where Sarutobi Rie had been buried, and frantically dug through the sand beneath him.

"No. There's no breath left below."

Enma sensed the area, frowned, and shook his head.

Even without sensing it, he could infer it from the pressure he had felt while charging out with Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

Even for him, saving Sarutobi Shinnosuke under such tremendous pressure had taken all his strength.

A ninja like Sarutobi Rie, who was merely at the level of an elite Chunin, could not possibly have survived.

"No, no! I won't believe it until I see Rie's body!!"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke roared in agony.

"Sand Shower!"

Sensing the torrential rain of sand descending from above—

Enma's expression changed drastically. He grabbed the sobbing Sarutobi Shinnosuke around the waist and rapidly dodged away.

Genetsu also leaped into the air, lightly stepping twice in midair before standing nearly ten meters above the ground.

"Standing in the sky!?"

Enma and the many ninja around him stared in disbelief at Genetsu, who stood in the air.

Was it a technique like Ōnoki's from Iwagakure?

Of course not. This was another skill Genetsu had obtained from the system.

Flash Step from Soul Society, evolved dimensionally from the Naruto world's Body Flicker Technique.

Although both involved bursting forth with power from beneath one's feet to achieve an effect similar to instantaneous movement—

Flash Step had another advantage.

Reishi Float.

However, Genetsu's Flash Step was not yet fully perfected.

After all, according to Soul Society's worldview, experts like Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and Sōsuke Aizen had trained for centuries, even millennia.

Yet Ichigo Kurosaki, a mutt who had only been a Soul Reaper for two years, could somehow surpass those ancient monsters. That was fucking ridiculous.

"Both the speed and power have improved significantly compared to before..."

Genetsu had no interest in paying attention to anyone else's shock. He lowered his gaze toward Bunpuku, whose arm had been severed.