An invisible repulsive force exploded, and the Fat Ghost King, as if shoved hard, crashed into the mountain of Soul Crystal with a "bang," collapsing half of the Soul Crystal. It lay on the ground coughing for a long time, its eyes wide open on its fat belly. " The Rinnegan of the Six Paths Ghost Emperor? You are...!"
"I don't have time to chat with you." Tian Uguisu charged forward, spear in hand, aiming the tip at the thickest piece of fat on its back—where the black mist was faintest, presumably its weak point. Seeing this, the Skeleton King chased after her, its giant axe whistling as it cleaved towards the back of her head. Tian Uguisu didn't turn back, flicking her left hand behind her back, palm facing the giant axe. " Banshō Ten'in!"
The Skeleton King's giant axe suddenly stopped, then veered uncontrollably toward her palm, the blade grazing her armor before striking the ground and creating a large crater. In that instant, Tian Uguisu's spear pierced the Fat Ghost King's back, golden flames seeping into the spear shaft. The Fat Ghost King let out a pig-like scream, the eyes on his fat flesh closing one by one, and his body beginning to dissolve into mist.
"Brother!" The Skeleton King's eyes turned red. He ignored the giant axe, opened his arms, and lunged forward, trying to embrace and assimilate Tian Uguisu. Tian Uguisu pulled back her spear, turned, and Rinnegan scanned her surroundings—she saw several particularly strong figures among the Mist Ghosts, wearing black iron armor and wielding weapons far superior to those of ordinary ghost soldiers. They were likely ghost commanders and ghost generals.
"Take care of the small ones first." She thought to herself, using Body Flicker Technique to rush into the horde of ghosts. Her spear danced like a flower, its blue light and golden fire mingling together. With each swing, several mist ghosts turned into black mist, their Soul Crystal scattering across the ground. A ghost general raised his broadsword to strike her waist, Tian Uguisu ducked to avoid it, flicking her spear upwards and piercing its chin. Golden flames poured into its mouth, and the ghost general vanished without a sound, dropping a Soul Crystal the size of a pigeon's egg.
As she was collecting Soul Crystal, a chill suddenly ran down her spine— the Skeleton King had caught up, his giant axe wreathed in green flames, this time much faster than before. Tian Uguisu quickly used her Rinnegan to cast a Shadow Clone Technique; the afterimage was cleaved in two by the giant axe, while her true body retreated to the side of the Soul Crystal Mountain. But the Skeleton King wouldn't let up, swinging his axe again. She was a little too slow to dodge; the axe blade grazed her armor, and the emerald on her chest flashed, blocking the impact, but she was still jolted back a few steps, her throat feeling sweet.
"That's something." Tian Uguisu wiped her mouth, relieved to find no blood, and breathed a sigh of relief— the Earth Spirit Battle Armor was indeed sturdy. But she also knew that this couldn't go on forever; she couldn't kill all the Mist Demons, and the Skeleton King was relentlessly pursuing her. Her Chakra was running low.
Just then, the Skeleton King suddenly roared to the sky, and the fog in the Mist Prison thickened again. The black mist formed from the slain fog demons reformed and actually revived! Tian Uguisu cursed, "Infinite resurrections? You can't take a game, can you!"
The Skeleton King, wielding his giant axe, strode towards her, his green-flame eyes fixed on her. "In the Mist Prison, we are immortal... You won't escape today!"
Tian Uguisu gritted her teeth, knowing she had to use that technique. She took a deep breath, pushing the power of her Rinnegan to its limit, while her hands rapidly Hand Seals, her Chakra surging outwards wildly, even her hair billowing in the air. Suddenly, a huge blue phantom appeared behind her, initially just a blurry outline, but slowly becoming clearer—it had a head and hands, wore armor, and held a giant spear similar in size to the spear in her hand; it was Susanoo!
This was her ultimate Ninjutsu after Sharingan, consuming an enormous amount of Chakra, which she normally dared not use. But now she had no choice; surrounded by Susanoo, she turned the Susanoo's head. "Old buddy, clear the area for me!"
Susanoo let out a deep roar, raising its giant spear and slamming it into the ground. With a "boom," a golden shockwave exploded, and the surrounding Mist Demons turned into black mist in swathes. This time, they did not revive— Susanoo's power carried the attribute of the ultimate Yin Release, capable of completely shattering their souls.
The Skeleton King was startled and took two steps back. " Complete Body Susanoo...?!"
"You're the one who'll take your life!" Tian Uguisu, controlling Susanoo, charged forward, her giant spear piercing straight at the Skeleton King. The Skeleton King raised his axe to block, but this time he couldn't stop it. The giant spear cleaved the axe in two, then pierced its chest. The green flames in the Skeleton King's eye sockets flickered, and its body began to turn into mist. Before dissolving, it roared, "You won't leave the Mist Prison alive!"
With its death, the remaining Mist Demons seemed to lose their leader, their movements slowing considerably, but they still swarmed in a dark mass. Tian Uguisu controlled Susanoo, sweeping across with her spear, each swing killing a swarm, but there were simply too many Mist Demons, like an endless swarm of ants. She sensed her Chakra level; it was less than 30% left— Susanoo too much Chakra.
"It's about time to go." She glanced into her spatial ring, which was piled high with Soul Crystal, along with the Void Wood lanterns she had picked up earlier, and even a few pieces of blue-glowing ore that had dropped when she killed the ghost generals earlier—they looked valuable. She had already amassed enough; there was no need to fight this battle.
She controlled Susanoo retreat towards the stone tablet, where the fog was thinnest and there might be an exit. The fog demons chased after her relentlessly, and several fast-flying demon generals rushed over, only to be pierced through one by one by Susanoo's spear. When she retreated to the side of the stone tablet, Tian Uguisu discovered a dark hole at the bottom of the tablet, from which fog was billowing out—it should be a passage leading to another place.
"That's it." She gritted her teeth, controlling Susanoo giant spear to brace against the ground and block the surging Mist Demons. She then jumped off Susanoo's shoulder and rushed towards the cave entrance. Just as she entered the cave, she glanced back and saw that the phantom of Susanoo had begun to fade, clearly indicating that its Chakra was running low.
"Thanks." She waved to Susanoo and turned to run into the cave. The roar of the Mist Demon came from behind, but it was blocked by Susanoo not catch up for a while.
The cave was pitch black, with only the runes on the armor emitting a faint glow. Tian Uguisu ran forward for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn when suddenly a light appeared ahead. She quickened her pace and rushed towards it, only to fall onto the grass—outside was a hillside covered in wildflowers, the warm sunlight shining on her, showing no trace of Hell.
She collapsed on the grass, panting for a long time. She took out her spatial ring and shook it, hearing the sound of Soul Crystal colliding inside. She couldn't help but laugh. Just then, a familiar voice came from beside her. "You've finally come out! I've been waiting for you here for almost a day."
Tian Uguisu turned her head and saw that Tsubasa's clone was sitting on a rock not far away, carving something with a piece of wood in his hand. When he saw her return, his eyes lit up.
"Why are you waiting for me?" Tian Uguisu sat up and patted the grass off her body.
"My main body is worried you'll be in danger inside, and there'll be no one to clean up your mess and rescue you." Tsubasa's clone walked over, saw the Earth Spirit Battle Armor on her body, and then looked at her reddened eyes, frowning. "You've activated the Rinnegan and Susanoo?"
"Otherwise, how could I have gotten out?" Tian Uguisu took off her spatial ring and tossed it to him. "Look, this time the harvest was quite good, especially that Void Wood. Weren't you looking for it?"
Tsubasa's clone caught the ring, scanned it with his divine sense, and his eyes widened instantly. Then he smiled helplessly, "You... every time you go out, it's like you've wrecked someone's home." He squatted down and tidied her disheveled hair. "You must be exhausted. Rest for a while, I'll take you back to the Shinobi World."
Tian Uguisu leaned against him, inhaling the faint scent of wood emanating from him, and her tense nerves finally relaxed. The sunlight felt warm on her skin, she had someone waiting for her beside her, and her pockets were full of goodies— Hell didn't seem so scary after all.
"Let's go home." She nuzzled his shoulder and whispered.
Tsubasa hummed in agreement, reached out to help her up, and led her down the hillside. Neither of them mentioned the battle in the Mist Prison again, as if the thrilling battle just now was nothing more than a dream from which they needed to wake up.