Battle Kitsuchi, Divine Blade Displays Might

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Was that your doing?"

Kitsuchi roared.

He also saw the Iwagakure ninjas lying on the ground nearby, his expression turning grave as he secretly braced himself.

Just then.

The masked figure opposite them suddenly opened his right eye and looked at the two of them.

"It's the Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"Bad! Don't look him in the eye!"

Kitsuchi shouted, hurriedly warning his teammate beside him.

Alas, it was already too late.

Although Natsume's Mangekyo Sharingan was far from reaching the level of mastery in genjutsu compared to the Mangekyo of Itachi, who specialized in Tsukuyomi, the genjutsu capabilities of any pair of Mangekyo Sharingan were inherently formidable.

Direct eye contact was more than enough to control an ordinary jonin for a short period.

Consequently.

The Iwagakure ninja, whose strength was only at the jonin level, had his mind instantly seized by Natsume.

He flipped his hand to draw a kunai and lunged at Kitsuchi beside him.

At the critical moment.

The powerful Kitsuchi reacted quickly.

"Earth Style: Fist Rock!"

Kitsuchi's right hand rapidly transformed into a hard rock fist, significantly increasing its hardness and weight.

He swung out a powerful blow.

He shattered his teammate's kunai and sent him flying with a single punch, crashing heavily into the distance.

One must know that the force of his punch was enough to knock back a jinchuriki in tailed beast form!

At this moment, he had clearly held back most of his strength.

"Earth Style Barrier: Earth Prison Dome!"

Immediately after his teammate landed, Kitsuchi released another Earth Style barrier jutsu.

Using earthen walls to form a prison, he perfectly enclosed his genjutsu-controlled teammate inside.

In just a few seconds and two moves, Kitsuchi had swiftly defeated a jonin teammate and captured him alive.

This was proof enough of his formidable strength.

In fact.

It was precisely because he did not want to incite a war and hoped that the mole could escape, avoiding Iwagakure's continued execution of the plan to attack Konoha and thereby triggering a war, that Kitsuchi let Kabuto go in the original story.

Otherwise, given Kabuto's strength and state at the time, how could he have possibly escaped from the hands of Kitsuchi, who was powerful enough to even suppress the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path for a moment?

"Not bad! You have some skill."

"Is Iwagakure deliberately downplaying your presence just to hide your strength?"

Natsume smiled faintly, hitting the nail on the head.

There was no doubt that this Kitsuchi possessed Kage-level strength!

"What exactly are you trying to do?!!"

Kitsuchi frowned and shouted.

At the same time, he launched another fierce attack.

In his view, since this person had already made a move against them, he was definitely an enemy, not a friend!

Better to beat him up first!

"Earth Style: Earth Core Rising!"

"Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spears!"

Facing a powerful enemy possessing the Mangekyo Sharingan, Kitsuchi dared not show the slightest contempt.

He unleashed various Earth Style jutsus with ease, casting them one after another.

In an instant.

The earth surrounding Natsume rose rapidly and unevenly, as if the entire ground were roaring.

At the same time, a multitude of sharp, pointed rock spears erupted from the rioting earth, hurtling toward Natsume with formidable destructive power!

"To be able to unleash an Earth Style ninjutsu of this scale, your chakra is quite impressive!"

"It is a pity, however, that your attacks are still too slow."

Natsume chuckled softly.

Relying on his agile taijutsu, he moved with ease and elegance amidst the constantly rising and shifting rock formations.

As for those Earth Rising Spear thrusting toward him, they found it even harder to land a hit.

After all, Earth Style emphasizes power over speed.

Compared to Wind Style, Lightning Style, and other such ninjutsu, it lacks a degree of dexterity, making it difficult to strike a master of taijutsu.

Seeing his enemy act so nonchalantly only fueled Kitsuchi's rage.

He abruptly increased his chakra output.

"Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear!"

"Earth Style: Gōryūshi Technique!"

In a flash, dozens of rock spears with even greater power burst forth.

They completely sealed off all of Natsume's escape routes.

Simultaneously, two massive clay giants summoned by the Gōryūshi Technique roared as they leaped into the air.

They swung their fists from above, smashing down toward Natsume.

In this way, even if the enemy were lucky enough to withstand those Earth Rising Spear, the critical strikes from these two clay giants would surely hammer him into a pulp!

It was clear that Kitsuchi was now playing for keeps.

Facing such a torrential, dense barrage of attacks, Natsume did not show the slightest hint of panic.

Instead, he gripped the hilt of the divine blade at his waist with steady composure.

The next moment, red light erupted.

The sharp Kunwu Divine Blade was drawn with a crisp sound.

There was no slash, no swing.

Natsume merely flicked his finger against the blade.

"Hum—"

An invisible, profound, and grand rhythmic sound rippled out from the center of the blade.

Time, space, and everything in the surroundings seemed to be shaken by this rhythm, like water disturbed by ripples.

No object could obstruct the spread of this sonic power.

At the same time, the powerful force of the sonic vibration acted upon Natsume himself.

His muscles, bones, and blood all began to boil, as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer.

His boiling blood evaporated through his pores, forming a halo of crimson light around his body, rising in a dense mist.

A single use of Heaven and Earth Grand Sound was enough to shake Natsume to the point of nearly vomiting blood from the backlash!

And at this moment.

Even Natsume, the wielder of the Kunwu Divine Blade, was shaken to this extent.

Let alone the rock spears and earth chunks in the vicinity.

As this circle of grand sonic rhythm expanded.

Those dozens of rock spears were instantly shattered, turning into piles of fine dust.

The two clay giants that had leaped down also disintegrated directly.

Their massive forms cracked into countless clods of earth on the spot, falling to the ground one after another. Even the chakra contained within the clay figures was completely dispersed...

Even Kitsuchi, who was launching the attack from dozens of meters away, had his ninjutsu interrupted by this incredibly profound rhythm of heaven and earth.

He was forced to retreat three steps, clutching his churning chest as a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth...

"What kind of ninjutsu is this?!"

"How could it have such power!!"

"Is it Wind Style?"

"No, it doesn't look like it!"

"It seems to be related to the weapon in that guy's hand!"

"Could it be that it is a divine artifact?!"

Kitsuchi was struck with immense shock, unable to stop himself from speculating.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth while struggling to suppress the turbulent chakra and surging blood within his body.

At this moment, his expression was graver than it had ever been before!

Simply because he felt he had encountered the most formidable opponent of his entire life.

"Hoo—"

Natsume stood with his blade held horizontally, exhaling a long breath that released a cloud of boiling, foul air.

It truly lived up to its status as a divine artifact worth 5,000 gold coins!

By merely revealing a fraction of its edge, it had easily shattered Kitsuchi's dense barrage of attacks.

From now on, when he went toe-to-toe with enemies using this Kunwu Divine Blade.

He reckoned it wouldn't take more than a few strikes before the enemy's blood was sent into a frenzy and their internal organs were ruptured!

It was just that his own physique was a bit weak. It seemed that in the future, whenever he had free time, he would have to use this divine blade to properly temper his body.

He couldn't have a situation where he didn't manage to shake the enemy to death in battle, only to end up vomiting blood himself...

Having tested the might of the divine blade, Natsume was no longer prepared to drag things out.

He gripped the blade, bent his knees, and leaped, charging rapidly toward Kitsuchi.

At the same instant.

Seeing the enemy suddenly launch an assault, Kitsuchi's alarm bells rang wildly, his eyes bulging wide.

He dared not hold back even the slightest bit anymore.

He drained more than half of the vast chakra within his body, unleashing the ninjutsu he took the most pride in—his ultimate trump card!

"Earth Style: Earth Mountain Technique!"

The next moment, the earth roared and the stone groaned.

Countless chunks of earth surged upward, rapidly forming two massive hemispheres over a hundred meters in size, which then slammed toward Natsume in a pincer attack!