Chapter 612: The Second God of Shinobi
Mugetsu did not even look back.
He concentrated his Rock Breathing, strengthening both his power and defense as Chakra gathered into his right index and middle fingers. His body turned slightly, his arm extended, and he caught the incoming Kunai with perfect precision.
"Hmm?" Danzo's expression shifted.
He had not expected Sōsuke's reaction to be so fast.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Danzo burst out with Chakra, forcing more strength into his arm as he tried to drive the Kunai into Sōsuke's body by sheer force.
The sudden eruption of powerful Chakra stirred up a gust of wind, blowing Sōsuke's hair and white robe. Yet to Danzo's shock, no matter how much strength he used, the Kunai could not move even a single millimeter forward.
"How can his strength be this great!"
Danzo pushed so hard that one foot sank into the ground, but the Kunai still refused to advance.
Even after his sneak attack failed, Danzo did not panic. This place was filled with his Ninja and Hanzo's Ninja, and Uchiha Madara's people were also hiding among them. This operation could not fail.
Swish, swish!
Seeing Danzo make his move, the Root Ninja disguised as Rain Ninja stopped pretending. Some drew swords, while others pulled out Kunai. Those closer to Sōsuke attacked Sōsuke, while those closer to Nagato rushed toward Nagato.
Crack!
Mugetsu's fingers exerted force, and the Kunai held tightly by Danzo snapped in two.
Bang!
Mugetsu clenched his right hand into a fist and struck Danzo in the abdomen with a heavy blow. Danzo was sent flying more than ten meters away.
Bang, bang, bang!
Immediately afterward, Mugetsu's body flashed like lightning. He threw out one punch after another, instantly knocking away every charging Root Ninja and sending them crashing hard into the ground.
Hanzo showed no surprise. He merely watched Sōsuke with a calm expression.
He had expected this much. Sōsuke's Taijutsu was even stronger than his own, and Hanzo had already warned him in advance. How could Danzo's sneak attack possibly succeed?
"Hanzo, what are you waiting for!" Danzo roared in anger, glaring at Hanzo, who stood beside Sōsuke without doing anything.
Just now, when Sōsuke had blocked his sneak attack, if Hanzo had attacked as well, they could have easily killed Sōsuke. Yet Hanzo had done nothing, standing there like a corpse.
Danzo also noticed that the true Rain Ninja, like Hanzo, had not moved. They only watched.
Danzo was somewhat confused about what Hanzo wanted to do. Had he gone back on his word? But Hanzo had not attacked him either.
Then why was he not attacking Sōsuke? Danzo could not understand it.
"I am waiting for a suitable moment to strike," Hanzo replied calmly.
He would not help Danzo fight Sōsuke, nor would he help Sōsuke fight Danzo. He would quietly wait for Sōsuke to resolve Konoha's trouble, and only then would he make his move.
Danzo was rendered speechless by Hanzo's words.
What timing could possibly be better than that opening just now?
However, at this moment, Danzo clearly understood one thing. Hanzo was unreliable.
If he wanted to kill Sōsuke, he had to rely on himself.
"How dare you betray me. After I deal with Sōsuke, you won't have an easy time either," Danzo thought darkly.
Although Hanzo had not attacked him, in Danzo's mind, refusing to attack Sōsuke with him was already betrayal.
Danzo did not immediately turn against Hanzo. He was only worried that overly aggressive words might cause Hanzo to switch sides and help Sōsuke instead.
Danzo was glad that after obtaining Wood Release, he had not slacked off for even a day, but had trained constantly to strengthen his Wood Release.
"I will become the second God of Shinobi!"
Feeling the powerful Wood Release Chakra within his body, Danzo's heart surged.
He had already been a strong Ninja, and now he had not only mastered powerful Wood Release, but his Chakra reserves had also risen to an entirely new level. Danzo did not believe that he still could not take down Sōsuke in his current state.
"Wood Release: World of Trees Advent!"
While the Root Ninja continued their fearless assault on Sōsuke, Danzo rapidly formed hand seals and unleashed a massive amount of Chakra, casting his strongest Wood Release technique.
Although he truly wanted to use Senju Hashirama's Wood Golem, his Wood Release had not yet reached that level.
Bang, bang!
Under the catalysis of powerful Wood Release Chakra, countless trees continuously broke through the soil and grew at an astonishing speed. The open ground was about to become a forest.
This scene made every Ninja on the battlefield, except Mugetsu, show surprise.
Most villages were only on their Third Kage now. Only a few decades had passed since the era when Senju Hashirama dominated the Ninja World. The Ninja World had not forgotten that truly invincible God of Shinobi, nor had they forgotten the God of Shinobi's unique Bloodline Limit.
"He actually mastered Wood Release as well," Hanzo thought, looking at Danzo with a hint of emotion.
This was something Hanzo had not expected.
Konoha actually had a second Wood Release Ninja, and it was Danzo, one of Konoha's high-ranking officials.
"Is this the legendary Wood Release of the God of Shinobi? So strong!" The Rain Ninja watched in shock as the empty ground turned into a forest.
Looking at everyone's stunned expressions, Danzo felt incredibly pleased.
His only regret was that Hiruzen was not here and could not see his Wood Release display its might.
Danzo did not dwell on that for long. Hiruzen would have a chance to see it sooner or later. The most important thing now was to kill Sōsuke and Nagato.
Under Danzo's control, all the trees extended their branches and twisted their trunks, attacking Sōsuke and Nagato.
Nagato condensed Chakra beneath his feet and leaped up suddenly.
The trees immediately stretched their branches toward Nagato, trying to drag him back into the forest.
"Shinra Tensei!"
An incredibly powerful repulsive force erupted from Nagato's body, pressing down all the branches that surged upward. His body flew even higher under the force of the repulsion, rising beyond the range of the branches.
As for Nagato's two Shadow Clones, they could not withstand the pressure and dissipated into white smoke with a bang.
"If you don't want to be caught in the crossfire, stay away. It will be very dangerous from here on," Mugetsu shouted while using Wind Release to clear the wooden tendrils closing in on him.
Although his control was very strong, the range of the Ninjutsu he would use next would be extremely wide. It would be very easy to accidentally injure any Ninja still inside the forest.
Hearing Sōsuke's words, Hanzo did not hesitate. He quickly flashed away.
The other Rain Ninja, seeing their leader retreat, also began to move.
Since Danzo was not attacking them at all, they easily withdrew from the forest.
"Wood Release is indeed not simple," Hanzo thought as he looked at the branches attacking Mugetsu from every direction.
Danzo's Wood Release was not only wide in range, but could also attack enemies within it from every angle. It was almost impossible to guard against completely.
Mugetsu quickly formed a hand seal and created a Shadow Clone. Then his main body switched breathing styles and entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
He quickly raised his right hand, straightened his thumb, angled his index and middle fingers slightly, bent his ring and pinky fingers, and formed the Tiger seal with one hand.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Dance!"
Incredibly scorching deep-red flames were exhaled by Mugetsu.
The wooden strips approaching him were instantly burned into black ash the moment they touched the flames.
Soon, a deep-red sea of fire formed around Mugetsu, burning all nearby trees into ash.
At that same moment, the Shadow Clone finished condensing Chakra.
The Shadow Clone also formed a one-handed seal, straightening and angling its pinky while bending the other four fingers, forming the Dragon seal.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Hurricane!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A terrifying hurricane was exhaled by the Shadow Clone. The wind fed the flames, and in an instant, the sea of fire around Mugetsu expanded violently, swallowing everything around it and turning the land into scorched earth.
"So hot!" The Rain Ninja, while condensing Chakra beneath their feet to avoid being blown away by the wind, were startled by the heatwave sweeping toward them.
The Land of Rain was unusually cool all year due to its constant rain clouds, yet at this moment, he felt as if he were standing inside a giant furnace.
"Combination Ninjutsu: Twin Dragon Annihilation!"
Mugetsu's main body and Shadow Clone unleashed their full power at the same time, increasing their Chakra output.
Roar!
A roar like that of a giant dragon echoed through the battlefield. With the aid of the wind dragon, the sea of fire expanded once again, instantly transforming the entire forest into a blazing inferno.
The vast sea of fire, the rising deep-red flames, and the sharply rising temperature gave everyone the terrifying illusion that they had been dragged into a world of flames.
"How can this be!" Danzo stared at the scene in disbelief.
How could the God of Shinobi's invincible Bloodline Limit lose to a mere Combination Ninjutsu?
This was Wood Release: World of Trees Advent, a technique capable of changing the terrain of an entire area.
"Even stronger than that time!" Hanzo watched the dense forest instantly become a sea of fire and could not help recalling his duel with Sōsuke in the valley.
Fire Dragon Dance was a Fire Release Ninjutsu he would never forget.
That battle in the valley was the clearest battle memory in Hanzo's entire life.
Because of that, Hanzo instantly realized that Sōsuke had become stronger.
The combination of Fire Dragon Dance and Vacuum Hurricane far surpassed Fire Dragon Dance alone. If Sōsuke had already mastered this Combination Ninjutsu during their battle in the valley, then Hanzo might have been killed by this terrifying technique in the very first clash of Ninjutsu.
After all, before fighting Sōsuke, how could Hanzo have imagined that Sōsuke's Ninjutsu would be that powerful?
"Good thing we got out," the Rain Ninja far from the forest thought with lingering fear as they looked at the sea of fire that seemed capable of burning everything to ash.
If they had been even a little slower, they definitely would not have survived such Fire Release.
Thinking of this, the Rain Ninja looked at Sōsuke with complex expressions.
The Rain Ninja who could stand here were basically Hanzo's confidants, and their bias toward Hanzo was absolute.
Some of them had even advised Hanzo to use the full power of Amegakure to deal with Sōsuke, but Hanzo had not approved it.
That was because Hanzo's decision had been made precisely to avoid excessive consumption of the Land of Rain's strength. If he used the entire force of the Rain Ninja to deal with Sōsuke, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Danzo wanted to dodge.
Such Fire Release clearly was not something a Ninja could endure head-on.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Under Mugetsu's control, the entire sea of fire split into ten enormous fire dragons, blocking every direction Danzo could use to escape.
Mugetsu looked at Danzo calmly.
This Combination Ninjutsu, which had consumed a large amount of his Chakra, was naturally not meant merely to burn away the trees.
As long as Danzo had not mastered Space-Time Ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God or Amenotejikara, he could not dodge it. At most, he could only use Ninjutsu to defend himself.
After realizing he could not evade, Danzo stood still, not even using a defensive Ninjutsu, as if he had completely given up and was ready to accept death.
"Sōsuke, wait." Hanzo began condensing Chakra, intending to save Danzo.
Although Hanzo hated Danzo and wished he could kill him with his own hands, Danzo could not die.
Danzo was a high-ranking Konoha official who had come to Amegakure representing Konoha.
If they only defeated Danzo, Konoha might temporarily tolerate it after seeing that the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure had merged and were no longer weak.
But if Danzo was killed, Konoha would definitely regard the entire Land of Rain as an enemy and would certainly attack.
However, Hanzo was still a step too late.
It was not because his speed was insufficient, but because the distance was not short.
Boom!
Ten enormous fire dragons rushed toward Danzo from different directions at the same time. A massive amount of flames exploded together, producing a deafening roar.
For a moment, flames surged into the sky. Danzo and everything around him were swallowed by deep-red fire.
Hanzo stopped and sighed deeply.
He did not believe Danzo could endure such an exaggerated attack with a flesh-and-blood body. Even Chakra defense would be useless.
Such terrifying Fire Release could probably evaporate a lake in an instant. Ordinary defensive Water Release would not withstand it, let alone a human body.
"It's out of control..." Hanzo frowned slightly.
He had thought Sōsuke would spare Danzo's life out of consideration for Konoha's power.
He had not expected Sōsuke to be so ruthless, using a never-before-seen super Combination Ninjutsu from the start, so powerful that Hanzo could not even save Danzo in time.
"Hmm?" Hanzo could not help freezing when he noticed a figure not far away.
Danzo stood unharmed on the scorched earth.
Aside from his mask having disappeared, there were no burn marks on his body.
"Sōsuke!" Danzo's face was grim as he stared fixedly at Sōsuke with his remaining Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
If looks could kill, Sōsuke might already have been cut into a thousand pieces by Danzo's gaze.
In Danzo's imagined battle to surround and kill Sōsuke, he would reveal his Wood Release, stun everyone present, and kill Sōsuke while Sōsuke wore an expression of shock.
In the real battle, his strongest Wood Release had instantly become black ash, and Sōsuke had forced him to use Izanagi to survive with only two Ninjutsu.
"What's going on? Has an enemy invaded?" Some Rain Ninja noticed the commotion from Mugetsu's side and rushed over.
There was no helping it. That blaze rising into the sky was simply too eye-catching. Not just Ninja, even ordinary people would find it hard not to notice.
The only difference was that Ninja rushed toward the source of the fire, while civilians instinctively moved away from it.
A large number of Rain Ninja began gathering, but just as they tried to approach, many Rain Ninja Anbu immediately appeared.
"Lord Hanzo has ordered that no one may pass beyond this point," the Rain Ninja Anbu said coldly.
Hanzo had long prepared to keep ordinary Rain Ninja out of this.
Although the Rain Ninja were puzzled, this was Hanzo's order, so they all stopped.
Some Rain Ninja turned back, while others observed from their positions.
Mugetsu looked at Danzo with a calm expression.
The current Danzo had only two Sharingan.
He had already used one.
That meant Danzo only had two lives left.
.....
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