Chapter 113: Breaking the Stalemate
On the other side, Blue Bee and the others were in a tough spot.
The final, most crucial piece of their plan, the surprise attack led by the Third Raikage, had vanished into the horizon. Now, the four of them were left to face Konoha's overwhelming forces alone.
To be honest, when the Raikage had flown past, they had all panicked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi waited for a moment, and after confirming that the enemy's error was so great that they would not be joining the battle, he sneered. "It seems the hunter and the prey do switch places, back and forth."
Blue Bee didn't hesitate. He immediately activated his tailed beast cloak.
Sakumo Hatake, his left hand behind his back, quickly gave a series of hand signals to the ANBU behind him and then charged at Blue Bee.
The first thing Blue Bee did was to fire a Tailed Beast Ball in the direction of Konoha.
"Four Violet Flames Formation!"
A massive, purple wall of light appeared and blocked the Tailed Beast Ball. After a brief stalemate, the barrier held.
Soon, more walls of light appeared, enclosing a huge area, forming a massive cage.
At each of the four corners, an ANBU agent, a specialist in barrier ninjutsu, was squatting.
"You will bypass this area and continue the pursuit," Sakumo ordered the ANBU outside the barrier. "The Jinchuriki may have been moved. Leave this to us."
The last war had proven that without sufficient strength, facing a Jinchuriki was a death sentence. So, Sakumo had sent the other four ANBU to pursue the Nine-Tails.
Inside the barrier were Hiruzen, Sakumo, and the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
They exchanged a look, and then, one with a sword and the other with the Adamantine Staff, they charged at Blue Bee. They didn't know how long the barrier would hold against the Tailed Beast Balls, but they could not let him fire at will. If the barrier was broken, Konoha would be exposed, and the battle would be lost.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio engaged Hiroto, Kyohei, and Samui.
"Ninja Art: Partial Multi-Size Technique!"
A massive fist slammed down. Hiroto, who had just used a jutsu, barely managed to dodge.
Kyohei's short sword flashed, forcing back the Nara clan head. But then, a voice echoed in his mind, and he instantly lost control of his body. The invisible mental attack was the most difficult to block.
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Kyohei's eyes widened in horror as he fought against the control.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Neck Binding Technique!"
The black shadow easily caught the immobilized Kyohei and quickly crawled up his body, heading for his neck.
Just then, a large parasol appeared in front of him. The sealing formula on its inner surface glowed faintly, and the elongated shadow on the ground was dispersed. Kyohei was free and quickly retreated.
"Thanks," he said. "The Ino-Shika-Cho combination is as good as they say. Such a brilliant coordination."
He had almost died in a single exchange. Though he was still smiling, his heart had sunk to the bottom of his stomach. One wrong move, and it was all over. They were trapped.
"I can try to break the barrier with a sealing jutsu," Samui said, her voice grim, "but I can't guarantee it will work. And I'll need at least five minutes, undisturbed."
Hiroto and Kyohei's faces were grim. How could they buy five minutes in this situation?
Just then, the ANBU who had gone to pursue Kayo seemed to have run into trouble in the forest. After a few screams, there was silence. A moment later, a figure, bare-chested and wearing only a pair of pants, appeared on the battlefield.
"Dana! What are you doing here?" Hiroto cried out, his spirits lifted.
Kyohei's eyes also lit up. "Where are the Raikage and the others?" he asked eagerly. He had thought Dana had landed with them. Was it possible their coordinates hadn't been that far off?
"I came through a Reverse Summoning," Dana said, shaking his head. "I'd also like to know where Dad and the others flew off to."
His arrival had also caught the attention of the Konoha ninja inside the barrier, and the battle briefly paused.
Sakumo and Hiruzen both recognized the strangely dressed young man: the genius of the Hidden Cloud, the so-called "brightest new star" of the ninja world, Yotsuki Dana.
But it didn't matter who came now. The Four Violet Flames Formation was complete, cast by four Jonin who were masters of barrier ninjutsu. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki would fall here today, and the era of the Cloud's monopoly on a mature Jinchuriki would come to an end.
Hiruzen even thought that even if they lost the Nine-Tails, it would be worth it to kill Blue Bee here. The Nine-Tails was strong, but its Jinchuriki was far from being able to use its power. But if they could take down the stable Jinchuriki, Blue Bee, here, not only would it be a major blow to the Cloud, but they would also get the Eight-Tails.
The battle inside the barrier continued, the Cloud ninja in a desperate situation.
Dana examined the massive barrier. He was familiar with this famous jutsu. The one before him was even larger than he remembered from his previous life, likely because the casters were stronger.
He slowly approached, and even before he touched it, he could feel the intense heat. It was incredibly strong. To try and break through it by force would be extremely dangerous. And the four casters were in the corners, protected by the pyramid-shaped barrier.
"This is a bit troublesome," he mused. "The top and bottom are also sealed. As expected of one of the two most difficult abilities in the ninja world to deal with."
Barrier ninjutsu and sealing jutsu were both incredibly overpowered. He had used a similar jutsu to trap Sakumo and the others as a child. Similar to sealing jutsu, breaking a barrier was not about how much chakra you had or how strong your attacks were. It was about finding a way to counter it, or having a higher-priority ability.
"Well then... let's try this."
He clapped his hands together. "SAGE MODE!" he roared.
The shout drew everyone's attention.
Pale blue, lightning-shaped markings appeared at the corners of his eyes and extended upwards. A lightning-shaped pattern appeared between his eyebrows, glowing. His hair turned a pale blue and stood on end.
A wind seemed to whip through the forest. Hiruzen was at first confused, then a distant memory came to him, and his heart pounded in his chest.
Is that... the 'Sage Mode' that the First Hokage mastered?! How is that possible?!
His hand, clutching the Adamantine Staff, was trembling. Though it looked different from the First's Sage Mode, the feeling was unmistakable.
This young man... how old is he?! To have mastered the Sage Mode that even the Second Hokage could not learn!
The genius of the Cloud was so brilliant. And Konoha, the village that prided itself on its prodigies... where were their geniuses?
After entering Sage Mode, Dana used his enhanced senses to examine the barrier again, but he found nothing. He knew a little about sealing jutsu, but barrier ninjutsu was a complete blind spot. He tried to coat his hand with sage chakra and approach the barrier, but the intense heat was still there. It seemed sage chakra had no effect.
So that's how it is.
He had only just learned Sage Mode and hadn't had time to develop any new applications. And he hadn't learned any special techniques from Katsuyu before he had been summoned to the battlefield.
Hiruzen and the others inside the barrier, seeing that even in Sage Mode, he could not break the barrier, breathed a sigh of relief. If the barrier were to be broken, they might not be able to win, and if the Cloud ninja escaped, that would be a problem. The ANBU who had gone to pursue the Nine-Tails had likely already been taken care of by him. That would be a double loss.
Fortunately, it seemed he had no way to break the barrier.
Dana contemplated for a moment, then held out his right hand.
His already incredibly powerful control over lightning chakra was now even more terrifying, enhanced by Sage Mode.
A large amount of lightning chakra, compressed into a liquid state, poured from his palm, like glowing blue mercury, and began to envelop his body.
The glowing liquid solidified into a suit of brilliant armor, its seemingly ethereal material and sharp, angular design giving it a sci-fi feel.
"Sage Art: Sage Lightning Armor."
The stunning sight silenced the battlefield.
Hiruzen had no idea what to make of it. This Yotsuki Dana's armor is so flashy, he thought. Could he really break the barrier?
As he was anxiously watching, wondering what he would do, Dana smiled at the people inside the barrier.
"Well then," he said, "I'm going to go and take a look at Konoha. See you later."
Clad in his Sage Lightning Armor, he shot off towards Konoha like a whirlwind, the trees and rocks in his path thrown aside by the force of his Sage Mode-enhanced speed.
Hiruzen's teeth were about to shatter.
This was it.
Attack the enemy where they must defend.
Hiruzen, will you come?