The collapse of the right flank was like the first domino falling, sending a chain reaction sweeping across the entire Throat of the Raging Sands battlefield.
After slaying Wenshu and Huxia, Hatake Sakumo's elusive, lethal figure did not pause for an instant. He appeared as if by teleportation in the area ravaged by sandstorms, where Shinji and the other two were barely holding on, and the crushing pressure abruptly eased.
"Master Sakumo!" Miwa Kato's voice caught in her throat. Looking at that silver-white figure, she felt as though she had found the most dependable support imaginable.
She was using the Mystical Palm Technique to stabilize Hizashi's internal injuries as he kept coughing up blood from overexertion, but she, too, was at the end of her strength.
Hizashi Hyuga knelt on one knee, veins bulging around his Byakugan, yet nothing could conceal the exhaustion that reached deep into his soul.
He forced himself to point at the enormous figure in Partial Tailed Beast Transformation at the center of the sandstorm. "The chakra core-is still on the right side of his abdomen, but the energy flow is more violent-unstable-"
Shinji Uchiha leaned on his long blade, Blazing Inferno, panting heavily, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan locked firmly on Bunpuku (Shukaku).
He had expended an enormous amount of chakra, and sand and stones had cut him in several places, but his eyes remained utterly calm.
He saw the change in Master Sakumo's presence-a qualitative leap, a sign that he had stepped into an entirely new realm.
Without wasting words, he went straight to the point. "Master, conventional attacks have limited effect. His defenses are too strong, and he heals quickly. We need a stronger attack concentrated on a single point, or-to disrupt the host's consciousness."
Sakumo's gaze swept over his three battered yet resolute disciples,