With retreat no longer an option, the combat shinobi continued slaughtering the Obsidian Dragon Lord's remaining vassals. Their movements, however, carried an unmistakable urgency.
"Confident, aren't you?" Kakuzu said flatly.
The platinum armor offered no reply.
The platinum spear shot downward like a streak of light.
"Combination Ninjutsu — Fire-Wind Wild Wave!"
The Fire mask and Wind mask formed by Earth Grudge Fear opened their maws simultaneously. Fire Release: Searing Migraine collided with Wind Release: Pressure Damage, fusing into a vast inferno that swallowed the battlefield.
The descending spear stalled within the sea of flame.
The previously restrained platinum greatsword tore free of Kakuzu's tendrils and slashed downward through the blaze.
A puff of smoke exploded.
(Shadow Clone Technique… convincing to the eye. But the soul never lies.)
The Platinum Dragon Lord, operating the armor from afar, had expected the substitution. Testing was the objective. Only by fighting personally could he gauge the ceiling of ninja power.
The clash continued.
After unleashing several high-grade techniques, Kakuzu began to sense something off.
Despite the opponent's overwhelming presence, the oppressive pressure he felt was not as crushing as expected.
(Is that truly his full strength… or is he probing me?)
Kakuzu leaned toward the latter possibility.
And that realization gave him hope.
As long as the enemy believed himself superior, there was room to break the stalemate.
—
Elsewhere, another platinum armor descended upon Karatachi Yagura's forces.
The Kaguya clan head, fond of close-quarters combat, was reduced to a pulp within moments by a single hammer strike.
The gruesome sight tightened every heart present.
The Three-Tails positioned itself forward, its massive shell absorbing incoming spells. The Hōzuki clan head expelled two roaring water dragons, while the Yuki clan head froze them mid-flight, transforming them into colossal ice dragons layered with razor shards.
With the Platinum Dragon Lord dividing his focus between battlefields, his control slackened slightly.
The three leaders managed to hold the armor at bay.
However, the consecutive use of mid-tier Origin Magic had drained a large portion of his spiritual reserves. He could not unleash a decisive finishing strike immediately.
Below Seventh Tier, instant-cast magic barely harmed the Three-Tails. Most attacks shattered harmlessly against its armored shell.
Each swing of its tails carried the destructive power of a Seventh-Tier spell.
The platinum armor avoided direct clashes. Its durability was finite. If exhausted, it would collapse and be captured.
The battle dragged on.
Both sides gathered intelligence through bloodshed.
Kakuzu waited patiently.
Then he found his opening.
Sacrificing one heart—shattering the Dragon mask—he merged the Wind, Fire, and Lightning masks into his right arm.
"Earth Grudge Fear — Final Discharge!"
A beam of compressed chakra erupted like a lightning railgun.
It blasted the katana aside.
It pierced the platinum armor's right shoulder clean through.
(This attack surpasses even low-tier Origin Magic…)
The older the Platinum Dragon Lord grew, the more astonished he became at ninja evolution.
He stared down at the panting Kakuzu.
That was the original body.
And with continued assault—
He was ninety percent certain he could kill him.
But…
He checked the armor's durability value.
Then he looked at Kakuzu—eight tendrils extended, posture steady, as though reserves remained.
Then he glanced toward the advancing Kirigakure shinobi.
Without another word—
The platinum armor turned and departed.
The barrier dissolved.
Kakuzu exhaled quietly.
"Fall back," he ordered at once.
"This opponent belongs to Konoha now."
He had no intention of gambling his remaining hearts.
"Lord Kakuzu, the direction the armor fled—"
"I know."
He cut off the elite jōnin sharply.
"Do you believe we can outrun something that flies?"
Silence.
"Too few, and we die. Too many, and we slow down. Our task is to alert Yagura and request Northwest Army reinforcement."
Then he added coldly, "If you prefer to chase death, I won't stop you."
In peacetime, his authority held weight.
In crisis, he was still an outsider.
The jōnin bowed stiffly.
"Understood."
Kakuzu initiated strategic withdrawal.
—
Meanwhile, once freed from divided control, the Platinum Dragon Lord's second armor surged in power.
Its movements became drastically sharper.
The platinum spear nearly skewered Yagura through the chest.
"Damn it!"
Yagura forced the Three-Tails to crash bodily into the armor, unleashing Tailed Beast Bombs without restraint. Water Release techniques flooded the terrain until the mountains became a temporary inland sea.
The Hōzuki and Yuki clan heads capitalized on the aquatic advantage. Nine-headed ice dragons shimmered beneath refracted sunlight.
Then—
A hammer and sword burst from beneath the water.
They targeted the Hōzuki and Yuki clan leaders from behind.
"Watch out!" Yagura roared.
The Hōzuki clan head liquefied instantly, narrowly escaping death.
The Yuki clan head invoked Demonic Ice Mirrors, vanishing between crystalline reflections.
The two weapons returned to the platinum armor rising from the flooded surface.
Then—
They looked up.
Two identical platinum armors now hovered overhead.
Faces darkened.
Behind Yagura, over twenty combat shinobi of at least chūnin rank assembled in tight formation, prepared to unleash B-rank or higher Water Release techniques at a moment's notice.
A true Kage-tier had already fallen.
And the real battle—
Was only beginning.
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