Each punch carried terrifying power, instantly shattering large numbers of statues. Purple-black mist rose from the fragments and was drawn into his arm guard, causing its patterns to faintly glow.
"Hahaha!" Ryoma laughed loudly. "Just as I thought!"
The axe called 'Tiancongyun Sword', the whip called 'Divine Striking Whip', and his own arm guard known as the Lightning Arm were all Ninja Tool obtained from the mysterious Underground Palace in the Land of Hot Water battlefield.
Over time, Kumogakure and Iwagakure had learned their traits. By killing and absorbing souls, these tools could grow stronger.
They had tested this by executing criminals and enemies, but the gains were minimal. Ordinary criminals and Ninja souls simply were not enough.
Unless they slaughtered people in large numbers, which they were unwilling to do. They were not madmen like Hidan who killed without restraint.
They thought uncovering the true power of these Ninja Tool would take a very long time. Yet killing these stone soldiers driven by Moryo produced the same effect.
The gain from a single statue rivaled that of a skilled Genjutsu user. It was an unexpected windfall.
"Two-Tails Jinchuriki!"
"Kurotsuchi!"
Ryoma, Two-Tails Jinchuriki, and Kurotsuchi shouted together, their voices filled with excitement. They had realized why the statues were so hard to kill.
The source was a trace of power from Moryo. It was mental energy from Moryo itself.
Bang! Bang bang!
Ryoma, Two-Tails Jinchuriki, and Kurotsuchi charged into the dense stone army with blazing eyes. To them, these once troublesome enemies had become perfect nourishment.
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi used Body Flicker Technique to appear at the edge of the battlefield. Hiruzen Sarutobi paused in surprise at the sight, then noticed the purple-black mist being absorbed.
Understanding at once, he turned to Kakashi and spoke in a low voice. "Kakashi, go and 'help' as well."
Kakashi's eyes sharpened. He drew the short blade 'Jealousy' from his waist and flashed forward, joining the harvest of stone soldiers.
The mood of the battlefield shifted quickly from tense to frenzied competition.
"What are they doing?"
"What is that purple mist?"
Only the six from Sunagakure and Kirigakure watched with puzzled frowns.
At that moment, two figures appeared like ghosts behind Two-Tails Jinchuriki and Ryoma without warning. Ryoma's beast-like instincts reacted instantly.
"Looking for death!"
He roared and twisted around like a released spring. His lightning-wrapped left arm smashed back with enough force to shatter rock.
However, when he saw the face beneath the hood, pale as bone and wearing a strange smile, he froze. Hiruzen Sarutobi turned sharply as well and recognized the familiar presence.
He called out the long-missing name without thinking.
"Naruto Uzumaki?!"
The thought flashed through Ryoma's mind, but the heavy punch he had thrown did not slow at all. The fist wrapped in violent lightning crashed straight into Naruto Uzumaki's raised hand, which looked pale and weak as it blocked. A dull boom rang out as the force exploded on contact.
The massive impact sent Naruto Uzumaki flying backward. His boots carved two deep grooves across the ground as he skidded, spraying Gravel everywhere before he barely stabilized himself. The air around him shuddered from the blow.
At the same moment, the space behind Two-Tails Jinchuriki twisted in complete silence. A figure wearing a bone mask the color of Ryoma, with scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan exposed, stepped out of the warped space as Obito appeared. His timing was perfect, striking the instant Two-Tails Jinchuriki lost focus due to Naruto Uzumaki's sudden arrival.
A hand slid out from beneath his sleeve, five fingers reaching straight for the back of Two-Tails Jinchuriki's head. Kamui space activated. An irresistible spatial pull burst from Obito's right eye, as if it were tearing at the soul itself.
Two-Tails Jinchuriki felt the world twist and spin in front of her eyes. A crushing dizziness drowned her senses, and it felt as though her entire body was about to be dragged into the distorted space of Naruto Uzumaki. Her balance vanished in an instant.
Just as Obito was about to seize Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
"Roar!!"
A feral and furious beastly howl detonated inside Two-Tails Jinchuriki's mind. Cold, violent blue flames burst from the surface of her body and raced up along the arm reaching for her, spreading wildly over Obito's hand.
A sharp stench of burning filled the air. The flames scorched both flesh and soul, forcibly breaking the process of Kamui space mid-activation. The spatial suction cut off abruptly.
Two-Tails Jinchuriki snapped back to awareness, killing intent flaring in her catlike eyes. She sprang forward like a startled cat, instantly widening the distance between herself and Obito. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she lashed backward without hesitation.
A long whip wrapped in Chakra screamed through the air, crackling with jumping arcs of lightning as it struck at Obito behind her. The sound was sharp and violent, leaving no room for mercy.
Pa!
The 'Godstriking Whip' passed straight through Obito's illusory body, cutting only empty air as if nothing had been there at all. The strike was completely ineffective.
Obito glanced at the blue flames burning along his arm and calmly raised his hand to sever it. What dripped from the severed limb was not blood, but liquid the color of Ryoma. The flames of Two-Tails Jinchuriki were not overwhelmingly strong, but they burned both flesh and soul.
Half of his body was formed from Obito anyway. At worst, he could simply replace the arm later with another Obito one.
"What?"
Two-Tails Jinchuriki's pupils shrank sharply, and she instinctively tried to look toward Obito's eyes. Her reaction was fast but dangerously close to fatal.
"Do not meet his gaze!"
Kakashi's shout exploded in her ears, and Two-Tails Jinchuriki dropped her eyes almost on instinct. In response, the scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Obito's eyes dimmed as the Genjutsu he had been preparing dissipated.
He had intended to use Kamui space or Genjutsu to take the Two-Tails Jinchuriki away directly. The chance slipped through his fingers.
Obito slowly turned his head toward the distant Kakashi. Cold and undisguised killing intent radiated from him like a blade.
"Kakashi."
His voice was hoarse and low, filled with icy mockery. "You really are as annoying as ever."
When Kakashi saw those familiar and intact Mangekyō Sharingan Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his pupils contracted violently. Driven by instinct alone, he immediately used Body Flicker.
In the very next second after he vanished, blood tears streamed down from Obito's left eye. A tree trunk behind Kakashi's previous position was gouged out of existence, collapsing with a dull crash.
"Kamui space?!"
Barely escaping death, Kakashi felt cold sweat soak his back. Obito had shown no restraint at all, attacking with the clear intent to kill. Yet his left eye was supposed to be blind from using 'Izanagi-no-Kaguya Otsutsuki'.
"…."
Sensing the loss of Ti Ze Nv Ming Power in his left eye, Obito frowned. As expected, the Ti Ze Nv Ming Power obtained from 'Moryo' could not be restored. The damage was permanent.
"Obito!!"
A hoarse roar filled with hatred and venom echoed from afar. Obito instinctively looked up, but Mei Terumi's figure appeared behind him in an instant.
This former Mei Terumi, who had been controlled for years by Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan Three-Tomoe Sharingan, locked her bloodshot green eyes onto Obito's back. Her palm struck straight toward the vital point between the shoulders.
Coral Palm!