Seeing Through the Diversion, Purple Lightning Susanoo Clashes Head-On with One Hundred Thousand White Zetsu!
The torii gate of the old shrine swayed precariously in the wind and snow.
As dawn approaches, the darkness deepens.
Sasuke trudged through the snow and stepped out of the shadows.
Kakashi leaned against a broken stone pillar, his hand subtly gripping the edge of his ninja tool pouch. Shikamaru squatted beside him, chewing on a bitter blade of grass, his gaze fixed intently on Sasuke.
A few days ago, Sasuke was like a mad dog ready to bite everyone in its path.
But now, things are completely different.
Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He slowly raised his eyes, the scarlet six-pointed star pattern on his left eye spinning silently in the darkness, exuding an almost deathly coldness and clarity. There was no ferocity, no murderous intent.
"Take your hands off your ninja tool pouch, Kakashi." Sasuke's voice was unusually calm, even the usual hint of sarcasm had vanished completely. "I have no interest in turning my sword against my own people."
Shikamaru spat out the grass stem, unable to help but mutter to himself, "This Uchiha Clan brat has finally emptied the lava from his brain."
Kakashi loosened his grip and straightened up. He didn't ask what Itachi had said; that wasn't important. What mattered was that Sasuke, the clever one from Team 7, was back.
"Now that you're clear-headed, take a look at this." Kakashi pulled a tattered roll of parchment from his pocket and tossed it over.
Sasuke reached out and caught it.
"The information just came from the venue," Kakashi said gravely. "Obito and declared war, but was repelled by Naruto. Before he left, he deliberately left this map. The circled location on it is Lightning Cloud Gorge."
Sasuke glanced down at it.
The parchment was old, and the Coordinates of Lightning Cloud Gorge were drawn in a huge circle with red cinnabar, so arrogant that it was as if the words "Come and catch me" were written next to it.
"Naruto wants us to intercept them at Lightning Cloud Gorge?" Sasuke asked.
"Naruto's exact words were: 'Obito let out a loud fart, let's go see what kind of shit he took.'" Shikamaru stood up, brushing the snow off his legs. "The Raikage and his gang are jumping up and down in a panic because they think Obito is going to capture the Eight-Tails. But I always feel that this map is so fake it's almost insulting to people's intelligence."
Sasuke remained silent.
He ran a single finger along the edge of the parchment, the six-pointed star spinning rapidly, his gaze penetrating the rough texture of the parchment.
"An illusion." Sasuke scoffed.
He drew his Kusanagi Sword with a backhand motion.
Swish!
The sword tip precisely sliced open a charred mark on the side of the parchment, then slashed along the edge.
With a piercing tearing sound, the parchment split in two. From within, a thin, black lining fell out.
The lining is covered with dense, twisted red lines, each line outlining the old flame crest of the Uchiha Clan. These crests intertwine to form a completely different underground labyrinth map.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. "There's a hidden plan?!"
"Itachi taught me." Sasuke stared intently at the black diagram, his voice low but carrying an undeniable certainty, "Crow hunt, they always avoid the brightest Kakkō and burrow into the darkest corner."
He sheathed his sword and spread the black map on the stone.
"Lightning Cloud Gorge is the fire that Obito deliberately lit. He wanted to draw the attention of all the elite forces of the Five Great Nations to the territory of Kumogakure."
Sasuke pressed his finger on the largest Uchiha clan crest in the center of the black diagram.
"But his real killer move is hidden in the place least likely to be suspected. This is his true destination."
Kakashi took a closer look, and his expression changed drastically. "This is... the underground of the Land of Iron?"
"Directly below the venue," Sasuke said coldly, "Is an underground military transport tunnel for samurai that has been abandoned for at least fifty years. It runs through the entire Land of Iron mountain range."
Shikamaru felt a chill run down his spine. "A diversionary tactic. He wants to keep Naruto and the Five Kage tied up above, then use Lightning Cloud Gorge as bait to lure away the Mobile Force, and finally swallow the Land of Iron whole, bones and all, from underground!"
"Not entirely." Sasuke turned around, his scarlet cloak fluttering in the wind and snow. "It's Akatsuki's true trump card about to be unleashed."
Without any hesitation, Kakashi bit his finger and slapped it onto the snow.
Bang!
As the white smoke dissipated, the Ninja Dog Pakkun appeared.
"Highest alert! Notify Naruto to immediately search all underground passages in the venue!" Kakashi spoke rapidly.
"Woof!" Pakkun turned and ran, disappearing into the snowstorm in a blur.
"Let's go." Sasuke unleashed a burst of Chakra in his legs. "Let's see what kind of monster is lurking underground."
The three of them transformed into three black streaks, rushing down the treacherous snow cliffs of the Land of Iron.
Half an hour later.
On the western side of the Land of Iron, deep within a hidden valley crevice.
This is a ventilation shaft buried under thick snow, originally sealed off by a rusty iron fence about two fingers thick. But now, the fence has been violently destroyed, and twisted steel bars are stuck upside down into the surrounding rock walls.
The three landed silently at the edge of the ventilation shaft.
Kakashi crouched down, touched the broken iron bars, and frowned deeply beneath his mask.
The fracture surface was extremely smooth, and you could even feel a trace of residual heat.
"It was cut by a combination of Wind Release and extremely high-temperature Fire Release. The Chakra purity is very high; the person who did it is a top-tier expert," Kakashi said in a low voice.
Something inside has died.
Sasuke stood before the dark cave entrance, the six-pointed star spinning rapidly.
His gaze pierced through the bottomless, pitch-black passage, capturing the trajectory of Chakra floating in the air.
"There's a disgusting smell in the air." Sasuke's nostrils twitched slightly, his voice chillingly cold. "Like a thousand-year-old rotten tree, mixed with the lingering, nauseating spatial fluctuations from Obito."
"I smell blood," Shikamaru added.
"Enter."
Sasuke the way, leaping into the darkness.
The deeper they went, the wider the passage became, but the temperature strangely continued to drop.
The rock walls on both sides were covered with ancient defensive runes from the Land of Iron, but at this moment, these runes were all covered with a layer of dark red, disgusting slime, losing their luster.
On the ground of the passage, the corpses of more than a dozen warriors from the Land of Iron lay scattered about.
Shikamaru stopped beside a corpse and used Kunai to pry open the samurai's heavy armor.
Just one glance was enough to make Shikamaru's stomach churn.
The samurai's corpse resembled dried tree bark, its skin clinging tightly to the bones. Not only was there no blood, but even the Chakra channels within his body had been completely drained. Most bizarrely, a pale, wooden bud had sprouted from the samurai's chest.
"Killed in one blow, then instantly drained dry." Shikamaru stood up, his face grim. "This isn't caused by regular Ninjutsu. It's more like... being used as fertilizer by a plant."
"It's Wood Release." Kakashi's gaze darkened. "Not pure Wood Release. Obito possesses a large number of experimental subjects."
Sasuke didn't look at the corpses; his attention was entirely focused on the deepest part of the passage.
When they reached the third huge fork in the road, Sasuke suddenly stopped.
He suddenly raised his right arm, blocking Kakashi and Shikamaru who were about to continue forward.
"Stop."
The passageway was eerily quiet; even the sound of breathing was amplified.
"What's wrong?" Kakashi quickly grasped the starting stance of the Chidori, and the lightning crackled softly in his palm.
"Listen." Sasuke closed his eyes.
In the depths of darkness, there was no wind, no sound of any living creature.
But after about three seconds, a teeth-grinding "crunching" sound traveled up the Leyline.
The sound was extremely muffled, like thousands of tons of metal squeezing and rubbing against each other, carrying a terrifying resonance powerful enough to tear eardrums apart.
Immediately afterwards, the bluestone slabs beneath the three people's feet began to tremble violently, and gravel fell from the dome above their heads.
Rumble--!
The tremors grew increasingly violent, and suddenly the rock wall in front of them cracked under the strain.
"Watch out!" Kakashi yelled, grabbing Shikamaru and frantically retreating.
Bang!
The entire rock wall in front of them shattered with a deafening roar!
Amidst the swirling dust and rubble, countless pale tree roots, as thick as water vats, burst forth from the wall like tentacles crawling out of hell. The surfaces of these roots were covered with blood-red veins, beating rhythmically like living hearts.
Each throbbing was accompanied by a tremendous metallic scraping sound coming from deep underground.
"What the hell is that?!" Shikamaru's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. The shadow spread rapidly beneath his feet, transforming into several sharp spikes that pierced forward.
But when the shadow struck the root, it produced a crisp, metallic clang, without even breaking the skin.
"It's not the sound of tree roots growing..."
Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes.
With the help of the dim light, he finally made out what was hanging on those pale tree roots.
They were humanoid monsters. Their bodies were deathly pale, without facial features, only twisted limbs. Hundreds and thousands of these monsters hung densely on the roots like ripe fruit.
The deafening metallic scraping sound didn't come from tree roots at all; it came from the fact that these pale monsters were all covered in heavy steel armor. They were frantically crowding and colliding in the narrow underground passage, like a white torrent of steel!
"100,000 White Zetsu..." Kakashi gasped. "Obito the entire Akatsuki directly to the underground of the Land of Iron!"
Roar--!
Awakened, the White Zetsu army discovered Sasuke and his companions, letting out shrill screams as they surged forward like a tidal wave.
"A bunch of disgusting scum."
A line of crimson tears rolled down Sasuke's left eye.
Boom!
A burst of violent purple Chakra erupted from its body, instantly illuminating the dark passage. The massive Susanoo rose from the ground, skeletal arms took shape, and a giant sword made entirely of lightning swept out.
"Today, I'll see just how strong Obito's trump card really is!"