"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Uchiha Itachi roared,
his hands forming seals as a massive fireball erupted from his mouth.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The enormous fireball roared toward the web of electricity formed by Lightning Release: Lightning Binding,
but when the flames struck the web,
they only set off a brief shower of sparks
before vanishing without a trace.
Clearly, they had done no real damage.
"It's no use, brat."
Kitane sneered. "Why don't you give up this pointless struggle?"
He once again controlled the enormous lightning ball in the sky,
and this time, Kitane fixed his sights on the most conspicuous flash of green on the battlefield: Might Guy!
A dazzling bolt of lightning darted down like a venomous snake.
"Guy!"
Kakashi's eyes widened in horror as Chidori began to gather in his hand.
He absolutely could not bear to lose another comrade right in front of him.
Just as the lightning was about to hit Might Guy,
Kakashi moved.
He used Lightning Release chakra to stimulate his body,
raising his speed to an almost unimaginable level.
The Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye spun wildly,
"Whoosh—!"
A silver flash streaked across the sky.
A split second before the deadly bolt of lightning could engulf Guy,
Kakashi's Chidori became like a sharp blade,
and actually sliced the thick bolt of lightning clean in two in midair!
Might Guy stared in stunned disbelief, forgetting even the danger they were still in.
He looked utterly shocked. "Kakashi... you actually cut the lightning in two?"
"Don't just stand there, Guy!"
Kakashi landed without pausing for even a moment.
Instead, his hands flashed through seals before he slammed them down onto the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique!"
The ground immediately rolled violently like the sea.
Since they couldn't break through the defenses Kazuma had set up in advance head-on,
Kakashi tried to attack Kitane from underground instead.
All they had to do was flip Kitane over,
and the Lightning Release would naturally fail.
Kitane sneered at the sight. "Hmph. Lord Kazuma expected this!"
As Kakashi's Earth Release took effect,
the trembling ground exposed the massive iron tower beneath Kitane's feet.
It was a tower of solid steel buried deep underground.
Not only was it as immovable as a mountain against Kakashi's Earth Release,
it was also connected to the electric web. The tower's conductivity
multiplied the defensive power of Lightning Release: Lightning Binding.
Watching this,
Kakashi couldn't help but think with a sigh: His Earth Release was still too weak.
If Ao, the Anbu captain, were here, things might be different...
Not knowing whether Yatsuhashi was alive or dead had also sent Might Guy into a fury.
Seeing that Kitane was about to direct the lightning ball at them again,
Might Guy immediately made his decision.
"Eight Inner Gates: Sixth Gate, Gate of View, open!"
"Boom!"
Green chakra burst from Guy like a volcano,
and a visible wave of air exploded outward from him.
At that moment, Might Guy was like a beast waking from its slumber.
This was the Sixth Gate, beyond the limits of his body as it was now.
"Guy!" Kakashi cried.
"Protecting your comrades—that's what youth is all about!"
Guy became a streak of green light, charging with the resolve to die,
and slammed a Youthful Spinning Kick into the iron tower!
"Clang—!!!"
A deafening metallic groan rang out.
The tower buried deep underground was actually kicked askew by Guy.
"W-what?!"
Kitane lurched to one side, nearly falling over.
He stared in disbelief at Guy, whose entire body glowed green.
"How is this possible?! That tower is buried deep underground!"
Lightning Release: Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning also lost much of its power as Kitane's stance faltered.
The lightning ball in the sky shuddered violently, its glow dimming in an instant.
"Cough, cough..."
Might Guy dropped to one knee, pain tearing through his muscles.
Terrifying currents raced through his body, but he forced himself to stay upright.
Guy gasped for breath. Opening the Sixth Gate had made his meridians ache, but he gritted his teeth and prepared to strike again.
"That's enough, Guy."
Just then, a hand gently rested on Guy's shoulder.
"Leave the rest to me."
"Yatsuhashi?!"
The three of them were overjoyed to see Yatsuhashi safe and sound.
But Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi noticed at once that something was different.
Yatsuhashi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan had become an eerie Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kitane regained his footing. "Hmph! Stop trying to intimidate me!"
He intended to direct the lightning ball again and finish all four of them at once.
But Yatsuhashi drew a deep breath,
his gaze fixed on the tilted iron tower.
Then he gathered chakra furiously into his right fist.
As he simply wound up for the punch, the ground beneath his feet cracked apart.
A pure, suffocating sense of overwhelming pressure radiated from Yatsuhashi.
"Bang!"
He threw a punch!
A thunderous boom erupted across the battlefield,
followed by a terrifying shock wave that came out of nowhere.
The punch produced a visible current of air.
Before Kitane could react, he was horrified to realize that he, along with the tilted iron tower,
had been knocked clean off the ground and sent soaring into the air by that single punch.
"N-no... impossible..."
Kitane screamed in despair as he flew through the air.
The solid steel tower that even Earth Release could not budge
had been blasted into the air by nothing more than a single punch.
Kitane stared at what was happening before him in disbelief.
"H-how is this possible?!"
Kitane's scream echoed through the air.
That punch had drained a third of the chakra in Yatsuhashi's body,
almost as much as the full reserves of an average Chunin.
Kitane crashed to the ground in a heap, but before he could catch his breath,
Uchiha Itachi's Kunai and Kakashi's Chidori were already at his throat and chest.
"Wait, Itachi!"
Kakashi grabbed Uchiha Itachi's wrist with his other hand,
stopping him from ending Kitane's life on the spot.
Kakashi said coldly, "Make him dispel the Lightning Release in the sky first."
After losing Kitane's control,
Lightning Release: Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning did not disappear immediately.
It still hung in the sky, threatening everyone's safety.
But Kitane laughed,
his laughter utterly deranged. "It's no use... Without anyone controlling the formation, that lightning ball will come crashing down! We're all going to die! Hahahaha!"
At that, Kakashi and Itachi's expressions changed drastically.
Just as Kitane had said, the enormous lightning ball high above
was now hurtling down with enough force to destroy everything,
straight toward everyone on the ground!
If it was allowed to hit, even the Daimyo Palace would be reduced to dust.
At that critical moment,
Yatsuhashi looked up at the enormous lightning ball slowly falling from the sky.
A line of blood slowly ran down from his right eye.
"Disperse."
Just one word.
The lightning ball that could have destroyed everything
was forcibly transformed into countless tiny electric snakes in midair, then vanished into the air.
"Phew..."
Yatsuhashi wiped away the blood at the corner of his eye.
The Mangekyō in his eyes faded along with it, returning to ordinary black.
Yatsuhashi looked at the spot of red on his fingertips,
and Uchiha Fugaku's words immediately echoed in his mind.
"Just as I thought. Every drop of Uchiha blood is precious..."
Before you continue