Chapter 198: Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning vs Water Release: Hiding in Mist
Black Zetsu hadn't remained in the mountain's belly constantly monitoring Uchiha Tatsuhata and Pain. After Pain's Rinnegan avatars were successively destroyed, he'd left multiple White Zetsu in the shadows to continue acting as surveillance cameras while he himself came to the external battlefield. He intended to see with his own eyes just how formidable this group of Konoha ninja truly was.
Uchiha Tatsuhata and Nagato fighting together had still been beaten back step by step. Though admittedly, sealing the One-Tail had consumed massive amounts of their chakra, leaving both in poor condition, unable to fight at full strength.
But even so—
It shouldn't have happened this quickly!
This was the power of the Rinnegan and Mangekyō Sharingan combined!
Earlier, Nagato had even planned to abandon this opportunity to seal the One-Tail. If Uchiha Tatsuhata hadn't insisted, they likely would have already interrupted the One-Tail sealing, scattered separately, and fled in different directions to avoid the difficult-to-handle edge of these Konoha ninja.
At this moment—
Only the replica Uchiha Madara remained holding the line.
Leaving the great barrier shrouding the mountain, he'd sprinted underground all the way here, rushing to the battlefield that was no longer far away. When he quietly poked his head out from the shadow of a mountain rock corner, he was greeted by a "rain of wood chips."
The roaring sound was deafening, and the earth trembled violently with it.
Two towering wood humans, majestic as the vajra warriors from mythological tales, engaged in an intense "hand-to-hand combat." Fists and fists collided madly. With each collision, both wood humans' fists sustained damage, and fine wood chips scattered down in profusion.
"Evenly matched?"
Black Zetsu's face was already pitch-black, but careful examination could still reveal his frown. His displeasure had nearly overflowed. White Zetsu, as Black Zetsu's other half, wisely maintained silence under instinctive compulsion, not daring to say any useless nonsense at this time.
The scene before him left Black Zetsu in a very bad mood.
Because although replica Uchiha Madara lacked consciousness and possessed only instinct, according to Uchiha Madara's evaluation before his death, the techniques the replica deployed carried the same power as his own.
Simply put—
This White Yaksha's Wood Release mastery had already reached a level on par with Uchiha Madara.
"Damn it! Damn it! Why must such geniuses always emerge to ruin things! These cursed, cursed..." Black Zetsu cursed incessantly, his eyes filled with long-accumulated fury.
Though Uchiha Madara was the first person since the Sage of Six Paths to awaken the Rinnegan—
Looking back over the previous thousand years, Black Zetsu had encountered quite a few promising candidates not much inferior to Uchiha Madara, who'd also once shown hope of awakening the Rinnegan. But just when they were one step away from success, they'd encounter various forms of interference, ultimately dying at the threshold without ever taking that final step.
Repeated failures had taught Black Zetsu the full measure of agony that came with defeat at the moment of triumph. Consequently, he deeply detested all geniuses he couldn't control for his own purposes.
In his view—
Hyuga Ritsu clearly represented another such troublemaker.
Fortunately, as someone who'd lived a thousand years, he could still control his emotions. After venting his fury through curses, watching the two somewhat battered wood humans brawling, Black Zetsu calmed down and began thinking. He muttered to himself, "Need to find a way."
Find a way to eliminate this obstacle that might threaten the Moon's Eye Plan.
However, such methods couldn't be conjured with a single slap to the forehead. Black Zetsu furrowed his brow, thought for several seconds, then shook his head, temporarily suppressing this notion. He continued focusing on observing the ongoing slaughter between White Yaksha and replica Uchiha Madara.
Intelligence gathering was a necessary prerequisite for formulating plans. Only by understanding what methods Hyuga Ritsu possessed and how capable he truly was could there be any possibility of eliminating Hyuga Ritsu as an obstacle.
Hyuga Ritsu remained unaware that Black Zetsu lurked in the shadows, pondering how to engineer his demise. All his energy was currently absorbed by the replica Uchiha Madara before him.
This was a formidable opponent!
Different from Minato's "assassin" style, this enemy could match him in direct confrontation!
Even though replica Uchiha Madara clearly lacked consciousness, relying entirely on his body's tempered instincts to fight, those thousand-times-refined instincts proved equally troublesome.
Wood Human Technique clearly couldn't suppress the opponent.
The two wood humans' clashes showed almost no discernible difference in strength.
So—
When the wood human became battered and broken, Hyuga Ritsu decisively switched tactics.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern.
Sharp, thick bone spears like towers pierced through the dense, sun-blocking forest, tearing the connected sea of trees into scattered fragments.
Immediately after, Hyuga Ritsu borrowed the wood human's final throwing force. Under the enhancement of his Wind Release Chakra Mode, he launched a surprise attack toward replica Uchiha Madara.
Using long-range attacks like Wood Human Technique and Advent of a World of Trees couldn't suppress the opposing replica Uchiha Madara. The battle would only sink into prolonged confrontation and attrition, ultimately becoming a war of endurance comparing whose foundation ran deeper.
If Hyuga Ritsu weren't pressed for time, he wouldn't mind comparing whose chakra reserves proved more massive with whoever controlled replica Uchiha Madara. He possessed quite sufficient confidence in that regard.
However—
Now wasn't the time for such things. He was currently in a hurry.
Minato and the others still didn't know what was happening inside that barrier-shrouded mountain behind them, but Hyuga Ritsu understood clearly—most likely they were sealing the One-Tail Shukaku stolen from Sunagakure.
With Missing-nin Anonymous and the Deva Path Pain currently absent, the high probability was that both were busy sealing the One-Tail, which was why they'd only sent out these replicas and five Rinnegan avatars to block the way.
Moreover, the sealing had most likely entered its final stages, which was why they'd chosen to block and delay.
Replica Uchiha Madara's reaction speed was divine. Seeing Hyuga Ritsu charging forward, he manipulated the wood human beneath his feet to swing its broken palm in a swatting motion, while he himself leaped cleanly from atop the wood human's head.
The space atop the wood human's head was too narrow.
Unfavorable for evasive maneuvering.
The wood human's broken, incomplete palm was easily broken through by Hyuga Ritsu. The destructive power of Gentle Fist Style: Whirlwind Iron-Cutting Fist was also top-tier, shattering the wood human's palm. Hyuga Ritsu kept his eyes fixed on replica Uchiha Madara, who was trying to open the distance.
Gentle Fist Style: Vacuum Continuous Palm.
Hyuga Ritsu's hands moved swift as lightning, chopping out over ten wind blades in an instant.
This technique was fundamentally the same nature as Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. More precisely, it was Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm after incorporating Wind Release chakra nature transformation, changing the vacuum palm's impact into cutting, giving it stronger killing power.
Over ten wind blades spread out, covering a considerable range.
Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Replica Uchiha Madara didn't use Body Flicker Technique attempting to shift and dodge this wave of attacks. Instead, he chose to endure it head-on, deploying an earth hardening technique to enhance his physical body's strength. His exposed palms took on an iron-like pitch-black color.
The next second, the sharp azure-white wind blades—capable of splitting even rock—fell upon replica Uchiha Madara's body, cutting through the armor constructed from chakra threads but failing to cut through the body similarly constructed from chakra threads.
Crisp sounds of metal striking metal echoed.
Replica Uchiha Madara relied on his profoundly masterful earth hardening technique to withstand Hyuga Ritsu's wave of attacks. Simultaneously, his hands completed hand seals cleanly and efficiently.
Looking at the relentlessly pursuing Hyuga Ritsu—
He opened his mouth and exhaled.
Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning.
From his mouth erupted ash as vast and overwhelming as during a volcanic eruption, containing astonishing high temperatures. In an instant, it spread across this battlefield. The drizzling rain falling from the sky evaporated before even approaching this cloud of ash.
Hyuga Ritsu came to an emergency stop.
He immediately dispelled the Wind Release Chakra Mode around his body, lest he accidentally draw in a wisp of flame and reduce himself to scattered ashes on the spot.
Simultaneously, before this high-temperature-containing ash could swallow him, his hands completed hand seals.
Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique.
Hyuga Ritsu released massive amounts of chakra from tenketsu points all over his body. Borrowing the favorable weather and terrain of the Land of Rain, he summoned dense water mist thick enough to approach the edge of liquefaction.
The instant the two made contact—
A "hissing" sound erupted.
The water mist was evaporated by the high temperature in the ash, but simultaneously the ash's expansion was also curbed. White and gray—two distinctly different mists—spread across the mountain ridges.
"Beautifully done!"
Minato called out in admiration.
Currently resting, he held a crystal ball in his hands. Within the crystalline, translucent sphere, one could clearly see the turbid scene of two different colored mists mixing together.
This was the secret technique called Telescope Technique, capable of projecting scenes within a certain range in real-time within this crystal ball.
The Third Hokage relied on this technique to monitor various areas of Konoha Village not covered by barriers.
Though Minato's sensory abilities far exceeded the Third's, merely sensing chakra only provided a vague general impression and couldn't accurately understand detailed circumstances. Therefore, after reviewing the Scroll of Seals and numerous secret scrolls left by previous Hokage, Minato had spent roughly less than an hour mastering this secret technique.
Now—
He was using this technique to observe Hyuga Ritsu's situation in real-time.
"Indeed impressive. Using Hiding in Mist Technique to break Ash Pile Burning is truly ingenious." Uchiha Fugaku, sitting beside him, agreed in approval.
Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning.
This was a Fire Release technique passed down through their Uchiha clan. As clan head, he naturally knew this technique's power. Unlike other straightforward Fire Release techniques, Ash Pile Burning's greatest strength wasn't its high temperature but rather its nearly omnipresent, extreme diffusion ability leveraging ash's form.
Defensive techniques like Water Release: Water Encampment Wall or Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall couldn't effectively and completely defend against the ash's spread.
But mist, equally omnipresent, could precisely counter ash.
Kakashi boldly spoke at this moment. "The key is that the Hyuga Clan Head's Hiding in Mist Technique is also very impressive."
"Exactly right."
Minato looked at Kakashi with approval. "In battle, having a responsive strategy isn't enough—you must also possess the strength to implement your strategy. For instance, if I faced such an attack, I definitely wouldn't use Hiding in Mist Technique, because my Hiding in Mist Technique lacks the power to counter Fire Release techniques of this intensity."
As he spoke—
His teacher's habits kicked in, and he asked spontaneously, "Kakashi, if it were you facing this kind of attack, how would you handle it?"
"If I faced this situation, I'd most likely use Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage to hide underground." Kakashi gave his counterstrategy after putting himself in that position.
He was naturally born with all five chakra natures—Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, and Earth—complete. However, his energy was limited. He couldn't cover everything, so his greatest expertise lay in Lightning and Earth Release.
The reason was simple—his father, Konoha's White Fang Hatake Sakumo, was most skilled in Lightning and Earth Release. This was called inherited family learning.
"An excellent method."
Minato was very satisfied with Kakashi's answer.
Though this teacher was often too busy to properly instruct Kakashi and Rin, this didn't mean he didn't care about his two students at all. In fact, he cared very much about his disciples. He deeply understood Kakashi's strengths and weaknesses.
The answer Kakashi gave was using Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage to dodge rather than adopting some other method, showing Kakashi had thought seriously, and his thinking remained as sharp as always.
Receiving praise, Kakashi showed no trace of pride.
Today's operation had let him clearly see the gap between himself and Minato-sensei, the Hyuga Clan Head, Shisui-senpai, and others. Though they were all called geniuses, clearly differences existed even among geniuses.
However, the undisputed fact remained that he was younger than both the Hyuga Clan Head and Shisui-senpai. A determination built in his heart—he must become stronger. Only then could he protect Rin properly.
The incident of Sunagakure's One-Tail being stolen filled his heart with a sense of crisis.
He didn't dare gamble that Missing-nin Anonymous stealing the One-Tail was an isolated case. What if Missing-nin Anonymous planned to target the remaining Tailed Beasts?
Rin was now the Three-Tails jinchuriki!
And Kushina-sensei was also the Nine-Tails jinchuriki!
Kakashi clenched his fists. Watching the turbid, unclear image in the crystal ball, he suddenly spoke up. "Sensei, can I learn the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Minato froze.
He glanced at Kakashi, glimpsing the determination contained in Kakashi's eyes—the determination to protect others. "There's no problem with that. However, though the Flying Thunder God Technique isn't a Kekkei Genkai, this technique has extremely high requirements for spatial perception. I can't guarantee you'll definitely be able to learn it, Kakashi."
In the fifty-plus years since Konoha Village's establishment, only Second Hokage Senju Tobirama and Minato himself had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique—naturally there were reasons. This technique's learning difficulty ranked virtually first among all non-Kekkei Genkai and non-secret techniques.
Theoretically, anyone could learn this technique, but over fifty years, many geniuses had met defeat before this technique's invisible high threshold.
Kakashi took a deep breath. Looking at Minato, he said seriously, "Sensei, I know. But I still want to try!"
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