All-Killing Ash Bones · All Worlds Seal!

The clamor atop Kikyo Mountain continued from late night until dawn.

After a night of fierce fighting, not only the main battlefield but even the forests along its edges were steeped in the stench of blood.

Konoha's elite squad had already withdrawn. It had been one of the teams assigned to protect Tsunade, and after Tōka recovered from his injuries, it returned to her side.

"Slug, you should leave too." Tōka rose, brushing the dust from his clothes as he spoke expressionlessly.

After resting for half the night, most of his chakra had recovered.

But the anger in his heart had not faded in the slightest.

"Tōka, what are you planning to do?" Slug keenly noticed that something was off about Tōka's expression.

There was an added chilliness to it, making it feel a trace of fear.

Tōka's eyes narrowed. He reached out, yanked Slug free, and held it up before his face. "Take a message to Tsunade for me."

"What does Tōka want to say?" Unused to being held by its tail, Slug twisted its head and asked.

"If she doesn't want too many Konoha people to die, then retreat."

As soon as the words fell, Tōka gave Slug no chance to reply and casually flung it away.

Whoosh!

Tōka's body dipped as chakra gathered beneath his feet, and he sprang forward.

Watching his receding figure become a black dot and vanish into the forest, Slug ultimately chose to give up.

The shadows of trees on both sides flashed backward at high speed, while the wind howled without pause.

After shaking off Slug, Tōka arrived alone at a secluded mountain hollow.

"The sounds of battle are getting farther away. This should be the other side of Kikyo Mountain." Tōka surveyed his surroundings, then took out a black sphere after repeatedly confirming that no one was following him.

Crack!

Tōka squeezed hard, crushing the black sphere outright!

This was the tool Black Zetsu had left behind for communication. Crushing it meant that Tōka was looking for him.

"I wonder where Black Zetsu is. He might take a while to get here." Tōka muttered to himself, then found a large rock and sat down.

He refined chakra as he waited for Black Zetsu.

Just as he closed his eyes, a Pitcher Plant sprouted from the ground not far away.

"What do you want with me?" Black Zetsu's hoarse voice rang out.

"That fast? I thought it would take a while!" Tōka abruptly opened his eyes, surprise flashing through them.

"For such an important battle, of course I had to record it properly," Black Zetsu said blandly.

He had been at the main battlefield all along and only came after sensing Tōka's summons.

Black Zetsu was not only plotting how to free Kaguya; he was also responsible for recording everything that happened in this world during the time she was absent.

When Kaguya descended, he would show her everything that had occurred.

"Prepare four White Zetsu for me." Tōka got straight to the point, his tone leaving no room for refusal. "Ones with abundant chakra."

"What are you planning?" Black Zetsu frowned slightly. His instincts told him that something bad was about to happen.

"There's just a technique I want to try." Tōka's gaze was icy, thick chill flickering in his eyes.

Black Zetsu raised a brow. No matter how he listened, he could sense an overwhelming killing intent. Had someone provoked his younger brother?

"You want White Zetsu because you intend to..."

"That's right. Exactly what you think!"

Tōka looked at Black Zetsu expressionlessly, making no effort to hide what he was thinking.

At that, Black Zetsu's face darkened. Of course, he was already pitch-black, so no change could be seen.

"Where am I supposed to find four White Zetsu with abundant chakra in such a short time?" Black Zetsu wanted to refuse, but to avoid provoking the enraged Tōka into doing something reckless, he phrased his refusal rather tactfully.

"Heh..." A cold smile curled Tōka's lips, and his deep black eyes made Black Zetsu feel a pang of guilt.

Though Tōka could not detect them, that did not mean he knew nothing.

Black Zetsu had planted White Zetsu inside Tōka's body to monitor him. As for the number, perhaps there happened to be exactly four?

Seeing Tōka's faintly amused expression, Black Zetsu's mouth twitched. In the end, he chose to compromise. Since the White Zetsu assigned to watch him had been discovered, there was no use keeping them there.

"Whew... You really have me beaten."

Black Zetsu spread his hands, his tone brimming with helplessness.

As Black Zetsu finished speaking, four clumps of white matter appeared on Tōka's body, wriggling as they emerged. They were unmistakably four White Zetsu.

"I'm rather curious about the technique you want to test!" Black Zetsu quickly adjusted his attitude and asked with a smile.

"You won't be disappointed. If you want to watch, stand farther back." Tōka glanced at Black Zetsu and formed seals, creating three Shadow Clones.

His chakra instantly dropped to one-quarter, but it was more than enough to control four White Zetsu.

"Oh? Are you worried about me?" Black Zetsu put on a touched expression, his body writhing like a noodle.

Tōka could not even be bothered to give him a proper look. "If that's what you want to believe, then sure."

Black Zetsu pursed his lips and said nothing, staring wide-eyed at the four figures. He truly was curious about what technique Tōka intended to use.

Before long, Tōka's expression turned solemn.

Preparations complete!

"Scatter!"

One original body and three Shadow Clones controlled the four White Zetsu, racing wildly in four different directions.

At the Sunagakure Shinobi encampment on Kikyo Mountain, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were fighting Rasa and Chiyo.

The two massive summoned beasts occupied nearly half the area, creating an empty zone around them.

Compared to Gamabunta and Jiraiya, Manda was clearly far more threatening.

While fighting, Manda never forgot to attack the Sunagakure Shinobi forces. Wherever there were more Sunagakure Shinobi, Manda burrowed straight toward them.

With one bite, Manda swallowed at least a dozen Sunagakure Shinobi.

"Rasa, draw Orochimaru away!" Chiyo controlled the White Secret Technique and forced Gamabunta all the way to the edge of the battlefield. Jiraiya was also straightforward enough that, while facing Chiyo alone, he did not attack any other Sunagakure Shinobi.

But Manda and Orochimaru were different. Faced with attacks from golden sand, Manda not only refused to retreat but became even more savage and violent.

Its enormous body rolled through the Sunagakure Shinobi camp, killing more than a dozen Sunagakure Shinobi in an instant!

Hearing Chiyo's words, Rasa's face darkened further.

He wanted to lure Manda and Orochimaru away, but that damned snake only had eyes for the Sunagakure Shinobi and ignored him completely.

In the span of a few breaths, Manda swallowed another dozen or so Sunagakure Shinobi whole.

"Orochimaru! Do you dare stay and fight?!" Rasa roared furiously.

"Heh heh, and what can you do if I don't run?" Orochimaru sneered as he licked his lips, thick disdain gleaming in his cold eyes.

Just as Orochimaru said, even if they fought head-on, Rasa could do nothing to him.

And Manda's combat strength could not be ignored. Ordinary ninjutsu attacks were utterly useless against it!

From beginning to end, Orochimaru, standing atop Manda's head, had barely made a move.

Compared to Orochimaru, Manda was even more detestable!

Manda never fought Rasa head-on. Whenever it had the chance, it bit straight into the Sunagakure Shinobi camp.

Many Sunagakure Shinobi did not even know what had happened. They only saw a black curtain descend from above before losing consciousness.

"Bastard!" Rasa bellowed, his eyes splitting with rage and spittle flying.

He raised both hands, and the golden sand behind him swirled up like a storm.

"Magnet Release: Golden Sand Wave!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!~~

The incredibly dense golden sand rolled continuously, transforming into a massive wave of sand that surged toward Manda.

"Manda, you're the target." Orochimaru seemed to have no intention of acting. He stood smiling atop Manda's head and spoke lightly.

"Hmph, it's only sand!" Manda snorted disdainfully. Its massive tail swept out, whipping up a powerful gale that slammed the attack back.

Bang!!

Terrifying shockwaves burst outward, mixed with huge amounts of golden sand and forming a massive sandstorm!

"Get out of the way!"

"The sandstorm is coming!"

The battlefield instantly descended into chaos. Everyone abandoned their opponents and retreated toward the rear.

Like a roaring beast baring its fangs and claws, the sandstorm swept across the entire land...

Tōka arrived halfway up the mountain and looked toward Kikyo Mountain's summit, just in time to see the enormous storm sweeping across the battlefield like a pillar holding up the heavens.

"It looks imposing, but it won't do much damage to ninja," Tōka analyzed calmly.

A sandstorm might not even be fatal to ordinary people. As long as they found somewhere sheltered to hide, it would pass.

Much less ninja, who had far more ways to escape danger than ordinary people.

"Where have the other clones reached?" Tōka glanced at Black Zetsu, who followed him like a tail, and asked.

"Are you asking me? I thought you knew!" Under Tōka's icy gaze, Black Zetsu's grumbling grew quieter. He briefly sensed the White Zetsu's locations.

He continued, "Two are a thousand meters away, and the other is nearly two thousand meters away."

"Is that so?" Tōka grinned. It seemed they had reached their designated positions.

Clap!

Tōka pressed his hands together and rapidly formed seals.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!! Is it starting?"

"I can't wait!~"

Black Zetsu shrieked excitedly, only to receive a cold glare from Tōka. He immediately fell silent and covered his mouth.

"Time to collect the reward, Ebizo..."

Meanwhile, at the high ground where Konoha's command post was located.

Tsunade stood high above, looking down over the battlefield. Although Konoha held a clear advantage, an extremely ominous feeling welled up in her heart.

"Something's wrong. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen."

The thought had barely crossed her mind when a ripple of chakra appeared beside her.

The gazes of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Tsunade all turned toward it. A Slug appeared at Tsunade's side—the very one that had been following Tōka earlier.

Tōka's aura lingered on Slug's body. That decayed, deathly aura was easy to recognize.

"Slug?" Tsunade froze slightly.

"Tōka drove me away," Slug explained.

"Huh?!" Tsunade looked completely bewildered.

"Tōka asked me to tell you that if you don't want Konoha to suffer too many casualties, you should order everyone to retreat." After saying that, Slug quietly remained to the side.

But upon hearing those words, Shikaku Nara and the others displayed different expressions.

Tsunade pressed her lips together, her brows knotted tightly.

"What do you think Tōka means?"

"This..."

Even Shikaku Nara, the strategist, could not make sense of it. Tōka was only a genin. Although his abilities were terrifying, his chakra was insufficient...

Insufficient chakra? No, that was not right! Shikaku Nara recalled a piece of intelligence that had arrived several nights ago.

"Shikaku, did you notice something?" Inoichi Yamanaka asked.

"Lady Tsunade, perhaps we truly should retreat," Shikaku Nara said seriously.

"Hm? Why?" Tsunade's expression tightened. She had the feeling that Shikaku Nara's next words would leave her stunned.

"Judging from Tōka's Kekkei Genkai, anyone struck by it will certainly die." Shikaku Nara pondered for a moment before explaining, "According to the intelligence from the battle against Jūzō Biwa, the maximum range of All-Killing Ash Bones was only about a hundred meters."

"And during the battle, the scroll Tōka threw also only covered a radius of a hundred meters."

The others fell silent. As important members of the Hokage faction, Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi had heard those reports as well.

After recalling the details, they turned their eyes toward Shikaku Nara again, because they knew his next words were the crucial part.

"What if he had the chakra of a jonin—or even a Kage?" Shikaku Nara's single sentence was shocking enough to kill.

"What? That's impossible!!" Tsunade blurted out.

Scenes of bone forests stretching across the mountains flashed through their minds...

They all swallowed hard.

"Five nights ago, Tōka specifically went to see Lord Orochimaru," Shikaku Nara said gravely.

"Orochimaru?" Tsunade gritted her teeth and cursed, "That bastard!"

A few days ago, she had wondered why Orochimaru had been willing to trade something so important for her Yin Seal training method!

Now Tsunade finally understood. Orochimaru had prepared the Yin Seal for Tōka!

Who knew what those two had traded in secret.

"Should we retreat?" Shikaku Nara was only analyzing the possibilities suggested by the intelligence. The final decision still rested with Tsunade.

Tsunade remained silent with a cold expression, deeply conflicted.

Konoha's situation on the battlefield was excellent. Once the sandstorm passed, they would surely defeat the Sunagakure Shinobi before nightfall. Giving up now was truly hard to accept!

But Tsunade also feared that the scene flashing through her mind might really come to pass.

Slug could not possibly lie to her. Since Tōka had said that, he was bound to do something.

Moreover, the powerful unease in Tsunade's heart was growing stronger and stronger.

"Can you sense Tōka's location?"

The moment Tsunade's words fell.

Suddenly!!

Four streams of chakra filled with a decayed aura abruptly appeared halfway up the mountain...

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat as they thought, It's really happening!

Buzz buzz!!!

Four terrifying surges of chakra shot into the sky in succession. Halfway up Kikyo Mountain, chakra from four directions resonated, forming a quadrilateral zone.

A gray world saturated with the stench of death blanketed the entire Sunagakure Shinobi camp on Kikyo Mountain.

Crack!

A waist-thick gray bone burst from the ground.

Crack! Crack!

Two more enormous gray bones sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain.

Crack, crack, crack...

The earth shattered as countless gray bones surged from the pitch-black fissures, their rotten stench spreading like a dense fog.

The Konoha shinobi ran downhill like madmen, using every ounce of strength they had.

The Sunagakure Shinobi, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot in complete confusion.

They had clearly been on the verge of collapse, so why...

Why did those Konoha bastards look as though they had seen a ghost? As if some terrifying monster was about to emerge from the Sunagakure Shinobi camp.

Pfft, pfft, pfft...

Countless gray bones filled with the aura of death and decay burst from the ground.

"All-Killing Ash Bones—All Worlds Seal!"

A voice cold enough to pierce the bone rang out from the depths of their souls, echoing over the summit of Kikyo Mountain for a long while.