Chapter 615: Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates
"This time, you brought this on yourself!" Madara held a katana in his left hand and a long-handled scythe in his right. He thrust the katana toward Yugito's eyes and swung the scythe at Ino's abdomen, clearly challenging her: "Let's see who you save."
The glint of the blades was mesmerizing, striking as fast as lightning. This was obviously a deliberate, calculated attack.
Ino had just caught the falling Yugito. Faced with such a lethal move, her best option was to use Yugito as a human shield.
But Yugito was her friend. She couldn't bring herself to do it. The fishing rod in her right hand swept in an arc, the hook suddenly catching Madara's scythe and pulling it aside, diverting the blow that would have cut her in half.
Ino condensed an ice blade in her left hand, bracing to block the next attack.
Suddenly, a flash of blue light, like a thunderbolt, streaked past. The Fourth Raikage charged in at an angle, taking the blow for her with his shoulder.
"Ice Release: Ice Dragon Bullet!" Seizing the opportunity, Ino spun the ice blade twice, dissolving it back into ice-natured chakra. Moisture in the air rapidly condensed, forming a ten-meter-long ice dragon that dove straight at Uchiha Madara.
"Ice Release? Child's play!" Madara bellowed. He tossed aside the katana he'd stolen from a Kumo ninja, dug his feet into the ground, and focused the power of his core. He slammed a fist into the ice dragon's side. A moment later, spiderweb cracks spread across its entire body. Madara had shattered a Kekkei Genkai jutsu using sheer physical strength alone.
"Quite the brute force. All those years of eating rice certainly weren't wasted," Ino quipped. She gently placed Yugito on the ground, leaned back, and swung her Rainbow Light Fishing Rod. Pouring chakra into it, she unleashed hundreds of deep red, arrow-like fishhooks.
"Celestial Surge: Meteor Swarm!"
"Hm? A bizarre technique." It was Madara's first time seeing this attack, and his first time seeing anyone fight with a fishing rod. If he had his Uchiha Gunbai, defending would be simple. But unfortunately, who knew where Obito had tossed that fan.
Mentally cursing something along the lines of Obito, you moron, his Rinnegan rippled. A massive repulsive force blasted out in front of him.
"Shinra Tensei!"
All the hooks aimed at him were blasted away, but the hundreds remaining pierced the bodies of the surrounding White Zetsu. With a flick of her wrist, dazzling chakra threads tugged on the hooks, pulling the chakra straight out of the Zetsus' bodies.
"That's a surprising amount of chakra. Are these things cloned from Hashirama cells?" Ino gathered all the chakra into her fish basket. Before she could finish her sentence, Madara was upon her, swinging his scythe straight down.
Now that she had the chakra, she was calm.
The contents of the basket swirled. Ino reached in, retrieved a glowing red orb, and crushed it instantly.
A translucent red sphere of light immediately enveloped both her and Yugito.
"Celestial Surge: Red Orb."
This was Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's sole defensive technique.
Madara's scythe slammed into the translucent sphere. He had poured all his strength into the attack, aiming to kill Ino in a single blow while she was burdened with Yugito and unable to fight at full capacity.
Yet the ridiculous, paper-thin sphere actually blocked his strike. Sparks flew as the scythe was repelled, bouncing back. Madara retreated two steps, his palms burning and numb from the impact.
It's that durable?
His combat experience was vast; he didn't hesitate, immediately swinging again with devastating force.
Damn, does he have to be this relentless?
Ino estimated the red orb could only hold against Madara for three seconds, tops.
Three seconds would have to be enough. It was the first chance she had to check Yugito's condition.
"Please... I beg you... Avenge... Avenge us!" The Tailed Beast had been completely extracted from Yugito's body. Her life was ticking away. She gripped Ino's sleeve, her face desperate.
"You're really something else, 'Big Cat.' Every time I see you, I'm saving your life. It's too early for last words. You won't die while I'm here." Ino wasn't really in the mood to tease. She pressed her hands to Yugito's chest—left hand Yin, right hand Yang—using her Yin-Yang Release to infuse just enough life force to keep her final breath from escaping.
If they managed to retrieve her Tailed Beast later, she might recover. If not, Yugito's career as a shinobi was over, much like Gai-sensei's after opening the Eight Gates. She would be permanently retired from the front lines.
The instant Madara shattered the "Celestial Surge: Red Orb," Ino leaped back, handing Yugito off to a nearby Kumo ninja.
"What about B? Can you save B? Please!" The Fourth Raikage didn't even glance at his own severed arm. Seeing that Yugito was still breathing, he frantically implored Ino.
Uchiha Madara stood atop the Ten-Tails' head, watching her condescendingly, but he didn't immediately resume his attack.
Ino glanced to the side. The elderly Master Sabu was kneeling beside Killer B's body, sobbing. The giant raccoon, Ponta, also wore a painfully human expression of grief.
She checked B's condition and then slowly shook her head.
Yin-Yang Release could replenish life force, but it couldn't revive the dead. Perhaps the user of the Six Paths could, but without the Rinne Tensei, it was impossible for her.
And using the Rinne Tensei to save Killer B? Ino wasn't that selfless.
The Fourth Raikage was suppressing immense grief, but he didn't lash out at Ino or ask why she couldn't have arrived sooner.
Ino didn't have time to worry about his feelings.
She scanned the battlefield. Kumogakure was finished. "Lord Raikage," she said firmly, "I'll hold off Madara. You need to organize an evacuation."
Ino suddenly sensed danger and leaped sideways. There was no visible enemy, but when she switched to her Rinnegan, she saw it: a humanoid shadow wielding a black receiver, lunging at her.
Is this Madara's Rinnegan technique?
She stopped holding back. The dōjutsu in her eyes flared with repulsive power.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The blast sent Madara's Limbo: Border Jail shadow flying. Ino poured more power into her eyes, and a single tomoe appeared within her Rinnegan. The Bridge of Helplessness manifested. She rang a small bell and scattered a handful of ashes. From the far end of the bridge, Uchiha Izuna slowly walked forth.
Ino didn't just activate her Rinnegan; within the same second, she entered Sage Mode and clapped her hands together.
"Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!" A massive red torii gate plummeted from the sky, slamming down hard onto the Ten-Tails.
The Ten-Tails thrashed, its tails smashing against the gate, but the Myōjinmon's power to seal Tailed Beast chakra was absolute. As Ino continued to channel her chakra, ten more gates fell in succession, pinning down all ten of the beast's thrashing tails. A final gate slammed onto its head, locking its neck in place.
Under the immense pressure of the gates, the Ten-Tails' rampant fury was forcibly suppressed. The behemoth continued to struggle, and the orange pigmentation of Sage Mode appeared around Ino's eyes. Her chakra was draining rapidly, but for now, they were locked in a stalemate.
"Incredible. Your power is nearly on par with Hashirama's." Madara's fighting spirit surged, and he offered the critique with haughty confidence.
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