Ōnoki charged out of the village with a group of people, bristling with fury. The little old man floated in the sky, his face full of heroic spirit.
A sea of troops encircled the entire Iwagakure, packed densely, and they even brought extremely sophisticated mechanical equipment.
One look and you could tell they were not to be messed with.
Ōnoki swallowed a mouthful of saliva. With so many enemies, even if they stood still and let him chop, he'd have to chop for a week.
The Iwa nin following behind Ōnoki had their legs go weak; quite a few quietly broke away from the formation and fled back to the village.
Ōnoki's bull-like stubborn temper, of course, wouldn't let him retreat. With undiminished momentum, he flew close to Kairen's army, heading straight for the broadcasting station of the vanguard camp.
Ōnoki first pointed at Kurotsuchi and scolded,
"You spendthrift kid, you dare order your grandpa to surrender?"
Kurotsuchi flared up. "You stubborn old man, look around you—how many people do you still have? You've already been abandoned."
Ōnoki froze, then looked down.
There were very few—just a handful of confidants.
Akatsuchi smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, Lord Tsuchikage, everyone ran back to the village halfway."
Ōnoki was so angry his face turned green.
"These little cowards afraid of death—what's there to fear about Moku Kairen?"
Kurotsuchi continued to persuade him.
"Grandpa, stop struggling. Surrender already!"
"Hmph!"
Ōnoki snorted and glared at Kurotsuchi.
"Surrender? Not in this lifetime. Even if I, Ōnoki, starve to death, I won't surrender to them."
"Stubborn!" Kurotsuchi cursed.
Ōnoki kept nagging. "Kurotsuchi, I taught you wrong. You don't understand the toughness of rock at all…"
Seeing this grandfather and granddaughter about to argue until sunset, Kairen quickly stepped out to smooth things over.
"Enough, both of you. We're family. What conflict can't be resolved?"
Ōnoki stopped arguing and looked at Kairen seriously.
His voice rang out firmly. "Kid, I have walked from the Warring States to today. What monsters haven't I seen? But what kind are you? I've never seen a ninja as utterly beyond common sense as you."
"Chakra surpassing the tailed beasts, the Uchiha clan's Susanoo, Senju Hashirama's Wood Release, and the mysterious Tenseigan."
Ōnoki's tone slowly grew solemn. "You're very strong, and you indeed have the power to rewrite the entire ninja world. But don't think everyone will submit beneath your power."
"The rocks of the Land of Earth won't agree. The countless Iwa nin won't agree."
To avoid Ōnoki being left without anyone to echo him and looking awkward, Akatsuchi shouted loudly by himself,
"That's right, the toughness of the Iwa nin will never submit to anyone."
Kairen smiled. "Old man, I'm your granddaughter's husband after all. How about this—let me give you a hand. I'll stand still and not move. You can unleash your Dust Release to your heart's content!"
Kairen hadn't died once lately, and he felt a bit off.
Back when he was weak, he thought every day about being chopped, or finding someone to chop to improve his strength.
Now it wouldn't do. His power and position were heavier, and he had several hundred people under him waiting to be fed.
Plus he was messing around every day, busy squeezing milk, so naturally he no longer had that thrill of dancing on a blade's edge like before.
The moment Ōnoki heard Kairen's suicidal words, his face lit up with joy.
"Really? You won't dodge? Young man, don't try to fool me!"
Kairen pulled out a cigarette case from his pocket took out one cigarette, and lightly lit it.
One hand on his hip, one hand holding the cigarette in his mouth, his face full of street swagger.
"Come on."
Kurotsuchi snorted from the side. This rogue still couldn't forget trying to tie their relationship together.
For some reason, a bit of concern for Kairen rose in her heart, so she called out,
"Hey! Grandpa's Dust Release is a kekkei tōta. There's nothing he can't decompose. Be careful."
Kairen smiled at Kurotsuchi. "You're worried about me?"
Kurotsuchi turned her face away, wearing a girl's trademark tsundere expression.
Kairen guessed that tonight he'd be able to grab her by the hair and turn a corner.
Ōnoki's expression grew serious; his eyes became sharp and lethal.
"Kid, you asked for this yourself! Don't blame me for not being sporting!"
As he spoke, Ōnoki clasped his hands together and began forming seals to use Dust Release.
A white cube emerged from his palms, crackling with the sizzle of energy.
"Turn into a pile of ash!"
Ōnoki's pupils suddenly shrank as all the chakra in his body condensed into it.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
In the original work, Ōnoki even used this move to eliminate more than twenty of Madara-sama's Wood Clone Susanoo.
This old man said on the surface that he was old, but once he moved, he still had quite a bit of that old-time flair of riding his wife.
Detachment of the Primitive World Technique was released in an instant—a white square body about ten meters in diameter, filled with thick reactive energy.
By rights, wind, earth, and fire would only cause diffusion and crystallization, but Dust Release is just that unreasonable—it directly decomposes whatever it envelops.
In a flash of lightning.
The massive white energy mass in Ōnoki's palm shot toward Kairen like a bolt of lightning.
At this moment, all eyes in the ninja world focused on Kairen.
The fearsome reputation of Dust Release is known to everyone; it's hailed as the number one destructive bloodline—at least no one has ever dared to take it head-on.
Even if there were, such a hero's grave would probably already have been dug up by Kabuto.
Many people thought Kairen would cheat, or escape with space-time ninjutsu.
But to everyone's surprise, Kairen never moved a single step from start to finish.
Quite a few people sneered in their hearts. Taking Dust Release head-on.
But there were still many who believed Kairen had it under control.
Kurotsuchi was one of them. She knew very well that a lecher like Kairen cherished his life immensely. Before he put all the beauties of the ninja world into his harem, he was more afraid of death than anyone.
Yet the truth shocked her greatly.
Ōnoki's Dust Release came down like thunder's punishment.
Kairen slowly exhaled smoke, his eyes utterly calm, as if he had entered sage mode.
Dust Release instantly covered Kairen, dissolving him at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Before Kairen died, the hand holding the cigarette didn't even tilt, perfectly interpreting what it means for elegance to never go out of style.
"Ding!"
"You were killed by Ōnoki's Dust Release. EXP +1000!"
It had been a long time since he'd heard the system's familiar prompt. Now, everything was back.
Ah! The feeling of death was so intoxicating that Kairen couldn't help wanting to get roaring drunk.
Kurotsuchi's eyes almost popped out. "Kai… Kairen, you—why didn't you dodge?"
Ōnoki laughed loudly in the sky.
"Hahaha. You've paid the price for your arrogance, haven't you?"
"What are you barking at?"
A light voice sounded from below.
Ōnoki's heart jolted, and he instantly looked down.
Kairen was still standing there, a cigarette still between his fingers, one hand on his hip. Though he was beneath Ōnoki's feet, his gaze was one of looking down at him.
"Y-you—you—"
Ōnoki pointed at Kairen in disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.
Kairen lightly blew out a cloud of smoke and he continued blandly, "So, what are you barking at?"
Kurotsuchi shook her head. As expected, if this rogue didn't have some real ability, how could he dare be so confident?
Those with sharp eyes in the ninja world were all pondering the technique Kairen used to avoid Dust Release.
...
Land of Lightning.
Sasuke Uchiha was fighting the Kumogakure army with Susanoo activated, aloof and proud, with a bearing that seemed to place the heroes of the world beneath his notice.
Obito stood on the head of the Two-Tails at the side, looking down at the Fourth Raikage's ugly expression.
Then he glanced at the sky.
A pitcher-plant-like figure popped out beside him and said in a low voice,
"Obito, did you see it? What ninjutsu did he use to dodge?"
Obito's Rinnegan slowly emitted a purple light, but what he said shocked White Zetsu.
"He didn't dodge. There wasn't the slightest sign of chakra fluctuation. He completely took the Dust Release attack."
White Zetsu was startled; Black Zetsu's pupils also contracted.
Obito continued, "His body was indeed dissolved by Dust Release. He didn't use space-time ninjutsu, and he didn't use an illusion like Izanagi, yet in the blink of an eye he revived out of thin air."
"This kind of ability…"
Obito frowned.
Between experts, a single exchange of glances is enough to analyze the other's moves. This is what's called experts crossing hands—every move is lethal.
Obito hadn't yet crossed hands with Kairen, but there was always a faint sense of fear in his heart.
The more he understood this person, the greater that fear became.
Kairen was simply unsolvable.
"Maybe… I need more help."
Obito murmured softly, then looked down at the people of Kumogakure and chuckled.
"With the Tenseigan, one person can take down the entire Land of Earth. As the eye of a brother, the Rinnegan can't fall behind."
"Sasuke, pick up the pace."
Obito pretended to act cool, thinking how great it would be if a light screen could livestream him.
There weren't many spectators around, and it felt like whatever he did just didn't hit right.
The voice that came back from Sasuke sounded a bit lacking in breath. "Obito, save me…"
Obito focused his eyes and saw Sasuke get punched in the chest by the Raikage, his life already more than halfway gone.
"Damn! So weak yet still loves to show off!"