Ryuzetsu and Chino fought while retreating, leading the Fourth Raikage, who was controlled by the Hegemon of Terror, all the way out of the underground cavity.
Although the Fourth Raikage was controlled, he was not without intelligence. He guessed the intentions of Ryuzetsu and Chino, but since the barrier formula of Key Node 8 had already been destroyed by him, in his view, this Key Node 8 had already been captured.
At this moment, chasing and killing the ordinary shinobi hidden in the node's underground base was far less important than chasing and killing Ryuzetsu and Chino, the two stationed generals.
Thoom
In the mountainous area far from Node 8, a fierce struggle broke out between the two sides again!
Ryuzetsu confronted the Fourth Raikage head-on and was sent flying by a single punch. Chino seized the opportunity Ryuzetsu fought for and launched a side attack on the Fourth Raikage, but it was blocked by the Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
After retreating far away, Chino wiped the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth: "Having left the node, my blood blades can no longer threaten him!"
Ryuzetsu sighed inwardly.
With the assistance of the special terrain of the underground cavity and the chakra from the Infinite Tsukuyomi transmitted by the Core Node, they were only barely able to resist the Fourth Raikage controlled by the Hegemon.
Now that the terrain advantage was gone and the chakra from the Infinite Tsukuyomi had been interrupted, the gap between the two sides was instantly manifested.
Let alone defeating the Fourth Raikage now, it would be difficult for the two of them even to save their own lives!
At this time, a Shasha sound came from their headsets, and then the communication was connected, with the voice of the Communication Unit sounding: "Leader, the Research Institute has sent an Engineering Unit to repair the reinforcement nail; we have already begun repair operations here!"
Ryuzetsu and Chino looked at each other.
They saw determination in each other's eyes. Failing to hold the barrier formula and causing the defensive barrier protecting the shinobi world to lack a node was already a major dereliction of duty. Therefore, no matter what, they had to protect the reinforcement nail under Key Node 8 now!
...
Key Node 7.
The ice lake that was originally bitingly cold was now a mess. The destruction of the terrain by the great war far exceeded Haku's imagination, and the strength boost the environment brought to him was gradually declining.
Huff
Exhaling lightly, Haku looked around.
Mifune, the samurai general of the Land of Iron, was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined. It seemed the more pure a fellow was, the more exaggerated the strength boost would be after obtaining the Hegemon's power.
Afterward, seven more shinobi controlled by the Hegemon of Terror arrived one after another, turning the one-on-one duel on the ice lake into a situation where Haku was outnumbered.
Although Haku dealt with three enemies one after another during the fierce struggle, his chakra and physical strength consumption were too great, and he suddenly lost the chakra transmitted by the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Consequently, the situation instantly became precarious.
At this time, the dejected voice of a Communication Unit shinobi sounded in the headset: "Report Leader, we just received news that Node 8 has fallen and the barrier formula has been destroyed!"
"What!?"
Haku was startled.
He did not know specifically who was stationed at Node 8, but he knew it must be one of his companions, so his heart suddenly became heavy.
First the moon was destroyed, then the Infinite Tsukuyomi was interrupted, and now Node 8 had fallen; bad news was arriving one after another.
However, Haku quickly collected his scattered thoughts, looked at the powerful enemies around him again, and thought to himself: "How much longer can I hold out?"
The Mark and Transparent World placed a heavy burden on the body, and maintaining Sage Mode required a massive amount of nature energy. But the surrounding environment had long been completely damaged in the repeated battles, so he was actually already at his limit.
The voice of the Communication Unit shinobi sounded in the headset again: "The stationed general of Node 8 led the enemy away at the end to preserve the reinforcement nail under Node 8. If you cannot resist, please try your best to lead the enemies away and let the reinforcement nail here continue to operate!"
Haku answered calmly: "I understand!"
As a shinobi, Haku followed the principle of the mission being above all else, so he was already mentally prepared to die in battle when he accepted Shinji's appointment. But he would never throw away his life wastefully, because doing so would not help the situation at all except to provide himself with release.
Now that the Communication Unit had given him a second choice, he immediately began to weigh it.
"If the situation continues to deteriorate, it is only a matter of time before this place is lost!"
Having made a judgment, he felt that if the situation developed to the worst-case scenario, it would be better to lead the enemies away to ensure the reinforcement nail of Node 7 continued to run rather than having the entire Node 7 fall completely.
Suddenly, the anxious voice of the Communication Unit sounded again in the headset that had already disconnected: "Report Leader, Node 6 has fallen..."
Haku's face darkened.
...
Key Node 6.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Ido controlled Yakumo's body, rapidly retreating from the Valley of Hell at Key Node 6, which they were responsible for guarding.
The Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi, controlled by the Hegemon of Terror, and several other controlled shinobi followed closely behind, launching a pursuit against them.
"Yakumo, wake up!"
Ido called out to Yakumo while looking back at the pursuers behind them, with an expression of extreme panic.
The series of battles just now was extremely fierce; the entire Valley of Hell was almost leveled to the ground, and Yakumo's combat power relied heavily on the terrain and the chakra transmitted by the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Therefore, as the terrain was destroyed and the chakra transmitted by the Infinite Tsukuyomi stopped, the situation immediately took a sharp turn for the worse. In a short while, Yakumo was severely injured and knocked unconscious. If Ido hadn't been quick-eyed and quick-handed to take over Yakumo's body in time, they would have likely been killed by now.
Under Ido's continuous calling, Yakumo finally woke up: "Where... where is this?"
Ido replied crossly: "Devil knows where this place is!"
Yakumo was startled: "What about the node?"
Ido fell silent.
Yakumo's face was full of shock: "We fled? How could we flee? What about the node? What about the barrier?"
Ido roared: "If we didn't flee, we'd die! What choice did I have!"
After obtaining the power of the Hegemon of Terror, the Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi's chakra was nearly inexhaustible. After she discovered Yakumo could use the power of the blood pools, she used her Bloodline Limit Dissolving Release to corrode and destroy all the surrounding blood pools, greatly reducing Yakumo's combat power.
Coupled with the fact that several more shinobi controlled by the Hegemon arrived later, Yakumo was outnumbered and simply could not hold out.
And because the shinobi controlled by the Hegemon had the protection of the Hegemon's dark purple mist, they did not fear Ido, the spiritual body, nor were they afraid of Yakumo's Five Senses Control. Thus, in the end, even after fighting until she was severely injured, Yakumo could not hold the barrier formula of Node 6.
Seeing Yakumo in a daze, Ido comforted her: "Don't worry, by leading those guys behind us away, we can at least ensure the reinforcement nail underground continues to operate!"
Yakumo regained her senses: "The reinforcement nail?"
Ido said: "So we cannot die yet; we must continue to pin these bastards down!"