Chapter 378: The End
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A meteor shower rained down from the sky. Every village stood prepared, and every nation braced itself.
Whish! Whish!
Just as they feared they would suffer catastrophic losses, a pillar of light erupted from the direction of the Hidden Cloud Village. After piercing the atmosphere, the energy rapidly dispersed, splitting into smaller beams that intercepted the meteors.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
However, a vast number of meteors still plummeted toward the Shinobi world.
"They're here."
"Water Dragon Bullet!"
In the Hidden Mist Village, countless water dragons rose from the surface of the sea to strike the meteors. A barrier rose rapidly as Mei Terumi personally commanded the defense.
The other hidden villages followed suit. Only the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf were different. The Hidden Cloud's high-tech cannon intercepted every meteor in its path.
As for the Hidden Leaf...
"Summoning Jutsu: Manda the Third!"
A titanic serpent appeared within the territory of the Hidden Leaf. This snake was four to five times larger than the original Manda. With a single sweep of its tail, it swatted the majority of the meteors into open clearings.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kabuto Yakushi stood suspended in mid-air, treading upon the head of Manda the Third, controlling it to strike the falling rocks.
"Kabuto, so this is the Manda newly cultivated using Otsutsuki cells. It's much better than that ill-tempered fellow I used to deal with!" Orochimaru remarked, seeing this scene. He didn't miss the chance to complain about his old summon.
"Sage Art: Scourge of the Pythons!"
The markings around Orochimaru's eyes elongated. He extended his right hand, and countless White Phosphorus Snakes emerged, growing larger and larger as they lunged at the meteors. By using sheer numbers, they blocked most of the impact; even if their bodies were smashed to pieces, they regenerated rapidly and continued the assault.
"Orochimaru, you're not bad yourself—you actually learned Sage Mode!" Tonbo's brow twitched as he watched the two display such divine might. Even Orochimaru had mastered Senjutsu. Furthermore, the mode appeared to be perfect, completely different from Kabuto's. It felt more akin to Hashirama's Sage Mode.
Orochimaru replied, "A mere Sage Art is no challenge for me." He felt slightly underestimated. If he couldn't even research a vessel capable of sustaining Senjutsu, he would be far too pathetic.
"Then I'm coming in, too." Tonbo crossed his hands into a seal.
"Scatter—Senbonzakura."
Hum!
Countless petals filled the vision of the Konoha ninja in the sky. They surged forward to cover the falling meteors, like cherry blossoms lifting the stones before grinding them into dust.
"So powerful!"
"All three of them are incredible!"
The Konoha ninja watched, dumbfounded. The actions of these three had wiped out the meteors they were preparing to attack collectively. The sky fell silent.
Kakashi was equally stunned. Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Tonbo were becoming stronger and stronger. He frowned slightly. This was especially true for Kabuto and Orochimaru, who both had prior records. He had thought that by placing them in the R&D Department to focus on technology, their strength would be somewhat suppressed. Instead, they were more powerful than ever. He wondered if Tonbo could keep them in check; if not, only Naruto would be capable of it. With this kind of offensive power, range, and scale, they were more troublesome than Tailed Beasts.
"As expected of Dad, he's amazing!" Tianyu Tobitake's eyes sparkled.
Maki stopped the hand seals she was forming. "It's a pity our ninjutsu talent isn't as good as Dad's. Really, did Mom dilute our talent?" It was frustrating; compared to their father, they were probably only a match for him when he was a child. Now, it felt as if they weren't even the same species.
"Do you think our little brother will end up like them?" Tianyu knew their younger brother was studying under Orochimaru. If he surpassed them in the future, it wouldn't be a surprise. They felt their brother's talent was far superior to theirs.
Boom!
On the moon, a golden pillar of light erupted from Toneri's hand.
"Die! No one can stop the ancestor's will!" Toneri remained convinced that destroying the Shinobi world was the wish of the ancestor. Massive amounts of chakra poured from his body, surging toward Neji. His primary target was Neji; as for Naruto, he would deal with him later.
On the other side, Naruto had enveloped himself and Hinata in the Nine-Tails' chakra. They were facing the stone giant.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata's face was very flushed. It was so warm—Naruto's embrace.
Naruto said, "Don't be afraid, Hinata. Neji should be able to handle this." Because he had to protect Hinata, he could only watch from the sidelines. Neji... just what kind of power is this? He didn't understand how Neji's strength had increased so much, even allowing him to fly in the sky like an Otsutsuki.
Suddenly, the battlefield shifted. Neji extended his right hand, concentrating his domain's power into a single line.
Infinite Slash.
Countless forces that redirected direction were concentrated into the beam of light in his hand, which he swept across Toneri's attack.
Swish!
It vanished. Toneri's attack collided with his and seemed to be neutralized, layer by layer, until it was gone. Finally, utilizing the Tenseigan's power, Neji appeared directly in front of Toneri.
"Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Six Palms."
With just thirty-six palms, Neji sealed all of Toneri's chakra. Once sealed, Toneri's eyes began to change, reverting to their original state.
"These are Hanabi's eyes." Neji plucked them out.
Whish!
"Neji, you're so strong now!" Naruto, having dealt with the stone giant, appeared before him while still holding Hinata. He looked at Neji with amazement—especially since Neji's eyes no longer had the bulging veins of the Byakugan. Hinata shyly buried her face in Naruto's chest.
"Eh? It's over?" Tonbo and the others returned to the lab and looked at the screen; the battle had ended. Neji was currently carrying the sealed Toneri by the hand, walking toward his palace.
"It's fine, I have the playback." Orochimaru gave a mysterious smile and manipulated the computer. Soon, the footage of the battle appeared. These were the things they had missed while they were outside.
"The Tenseigan is truly excellent, but it still doesn't feel as perfect as the Sharingan," Orochimaru praised after watching Neji use his domain power to perform directional manipulation, causing Toneri's Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion to conflict with itself and cancel out. However, he still believed the Sharingan was more perfect.
"Neji truly is a genius to master that power in such a short time and develop such effective maneuvers!" Tonbo marveled at Neji's current strength. However, he was most impressed by Orochimaru and Kabuto. They had become so strong without a word. It was ridiculous—is this the power of local geniuses? Whether it was learning or research ability, they were top-tier. Sometimes he felt his own brain couldn't keep up. It seemed Orochimaru and Kabuto's inspiration would never run dry.
With another instant combatant added to their side, the future Kara organization would surely suffer. After all, Tonbo himself was already a powerful combatant with partial knowledge of the future.
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