Chapter 223 Two-Tails Acquired
Just as Dou Guang was dealing with the Two-Tails, Gyūki seized the opportunity! Its massive body, like a collapsing mountain, charged forward with an aura capable of crushing everything. Its eight tentacles, like giant battering rams, carried enough power to shatter mountains, slamming into Susanoo's front, sides, and top from all directions! The air was compressed, creating visible white ripples.
"Hmph!" Uchiha Dou Guang snorted coldly. Susanoo's right arm instantly rose, and the Ame no Habakiri in its right hand slashed out. The sharp aura, carrying the might of thunder, severed half of the eight tentacles in an instant. After crashing to the ground, the severed octopus tentacles continued to writhe irregularly, raising large clouds of dust.
But at that very moment, the Tailed Beast Ball that Gyūki had been condensing in its mouth was finally complete! The extremely compressed, black sphere, radiating an aura of destruction, shot out with a trajectory that tore through space, aimed at the crystal above Susanoo's head, and roared forth! The speed was incredible!
Uchiha Toukoka within the crystal smiled slightly. With a flick of his Susanoo's left arm, he hurled the Two-Tails, Matatabi, who had been pierced by Futsu-no-Mitama, away. The two divine weapons crossed in front of his chest.
Boom!
The Tailed Beast Ball and the divine sword collided violently. A sphere of light, a hundred times brighter than the sun, instantly expanded, its destructive shockwave spreading spherically. If this attack had struck the ground, everything within a radius
of several kilometers would have been razed to the ground! However, in the next instant, a series of strange sealing runes appeared out of thin air around the sphere of light. The shockwave from the explosion was effectively contained within the runes' area of effect, then compressed into a golden rune before disappearing into the air.
"He can even seal a Tailed Beast Ball?" Seeing this, Gyuki and Matatabi, who had barely managed to stand again, felt a surge of despair. Was this person Uchiha or Uzumaki? Even during the Warring States period, few members of the Uzumaki clan possessed such mastery of sealing techniques. Now, these two were no match in hand-to-hand combat, and their attempt to rely on the power of their Tailed Beast Balls was thwarted by the opponent's sealing techniques.
However, Uchiha Touko gave them no chance to hesitate. The two longswords in his Susanoo, imbued with accumulated, ferocious power, slashed upwards, one after the other, unleashing two crescent-shaped arcs of azure light that tore through the sky—Susanoo: Thunder God's Wrath! The target was the throat of Gyuki, who had paused slightly due to launching his Tailed Beast Ball!
Gyuki, horrified, hastily raised his two thickest tentacles to cross and block.
*Sizzle—!!!
* "Moo—!!!" Accompanied by a teeth-grinding cutting sound and Gyuki's heart-wrenching roar, the two mountain-like tentacles were severed at the root! Azure lightning exploded violently at the cuts, preventing regeneration, and black blood gushed down like a waterfall.
Regaining its strength, Yutaka gritted its teeth and, taking advantage of the moment when Gyuki drew fire, once again closed in at high speed from behind! It opened its massive maw, burning with eerie blue flames, and unleashed a long-accumulated Tailed Beast Ball at close range towards the back of Susanoo! Simultaneously, two regenerated, eerie blue flame tails lashed out like whips at the base of Susanoo's wings, attempting to disrupt its mobility.
Uchiha Touko, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, abruptly slammed Susanoo's enormous wings shut! Like two massive black crystal barriers, they not only blocked the lashing flame tails but also encased and isolated most of the explosive power of the Tailed Beast Ball from the wings! The eerie blue flames burned and eroded the dark purple chakra surfaces of the wings, emitting a piercing sound.
At the same time, Susanoo suddenly spun around! Using the immense centrifugal force of the turn, the Ame no Habakiri, crackling with azure lightning, drew a perfect arc, faster than before! The blade precisely slashed towards Matatabi's relatively vulnerable neck, exposed by the Tailed Beast Ball!
Matatabi's cat-like eyes narrowed, and relying on his feline instincts, he ducked and turned sideways at the last second!
Boom!
The katana grazed Matatabi's spine, severing a large patch of its fiery mane and leaving a deep, bone-revealing burn gash on its tough skin! Dark blue blood mixed with lightning splattered out, and Matatabi screamed as it rolled away, plowing a burning furrow into the ground.
"Damn it, fight him!"
Gyuki and Matatabi were completely enraged.
They let out a deafening roar, their chakra erupting like a volcano! The remaining six tentacles of the Gyūki grew and expanded wildly, carrying a ferocious, suicidal aura. Like a giant cage, they coiled around Susanoo from all directions, attempting to completely lock it down and crush it! At the same time, its giant horn on its bull's head gleamed coldly, aiming fiercely at Susanoo's abdomen!
Matatabi, enduring excruciating pain, pushed the eerie blue flames all over his body to their limit, transforming them into a blue sea of fire that could incinerate everything, sweeping upwards from the ground, attempting to burn away Susanoo's foundation!
Faced with this pincer attack, a net-like assault, the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in Touko's eyes suddenly shone brightly! He formed hand seals in front of his chest.
His enormous wings suddenly stretched backward to their full limit, then completely enveloped his body, like a curtain that blotted out the sun, forcefully resisting the converging force of the Eight-Tails' tentacles! At the same time, his body, protected by the wings, sheathed his sword, crossed his hands, gripped the hilt, and began to gather all his strength.
The Susanoo, which had remained motionless, reached its peak! The silver runes on its solidified black chakra armor gradually became more dazzling!
In the next instant, the Susanoo's wings suddenly opened, and the immense force directly sent the Gyūki flying. Then, its twin swords were drawn—Susanoo: Two-Sword Style: Iai Slash!
*Whoosh!*
Two enormous, unimaginably massive, azure-blue sword energies, like scissors wielded by a god, burst forward in a fan shape with terrifying power capable of tearing through space and severing cause and effect!
Wherever the sword energies passed,
the Gyūki's massive horns were cleanly severed!
The six tentacles that had been binding and binding the Gyūki were instantly shredded and annihilated upon contact with the sword energies, like a hot knife through butter!
The azure sea of fire that had set the world ablaze was forcibly cleaved, torn apart, and dispersed! The violent sword energy even plowed two bottomless, enormous trenches in the ground, stretching to the horizon!
The massive bodies of Gyūki and Matatabi were struck as if by an invisible hammer, letting out bloodcurdling screams as they were cleaved away by the earth-shattering double-blade strike! Deep, intersecting, bone-revealing gashes were left on their bodies, azure lightning burning fiercely in their wounds, frantically eroding their tailed beast chakra and causing unbearable pain.
They crashed to the distant earth like two giant meteorites, triggering a second earthquake-like shockwave.
The impact of the tailed beasts landing caused the already unstable Cloud Village army's formation to crumble under the bombardment of Hiruzen Sarutobi's combination ninjutsu. Seeing their Hokage display such power, the Konoha army's morale soared, and they fought as if the battlefield were empty.
At this moment, the uninterrupted combination ninjutsu used by Hiruzen Sarutobi became the best cover for the Konoha ninja.
After defeating the two tailed beasts, Uchiha Touko glanced at the battlefield. Hiruzen Sarutobi's combined ninjutsu created a massive dragon of composite chakra that moved freely among the Cloud Village's army, inflicting damage without harming a single ally.
Touko couldn't help but admire the old man's control over ninjutsu. While Touko could now precisely control his targets when using large-scale lightning release ninjutsu, unlike a few years ago when he got so caught up in the action that even his teammates couldn't get close, he could never achieve the same effortless ease as the old man.
The situation on the battlefield instantly became one-sided after the two tailed beasts fell. Led by Kakashi, the Konoha ninja launched a massacre.
This time, the Cloud Village's resistance was countless times weaker than in the previous battles within the Land of Fire.
This is not hard to understand. The Cloud Village soldiers, who had previously clashed head-on with Konoha, still harbored the hope that their invincible Raikage would come to their aid after defeating Uchiha Touko. But in the eyes of these Cloud Village soldiers now, their Raikage had just been tossed back into the formation like trash, and then had his right arm blown off in front of everyone. The two Jinchuriki were like toys in front of the enemy Hokage. Moreover, facing Uchiha Touko's Susanoo, which seemed like a god descended to earth, who could muster the courage to defy a god?
"Quick! Use the Heavenly Transfer Technique to send the Raikage and the two Jinchuriki back to the village!" Seeing the battle situation becoming increasingly unfavorable, Xi hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs.
Given the current situation, winning this war is impossible. Therefore, Xi has no choice but to cut their losses. This time, they brought a third of the village's strength, and losing them all here would be a devastating blow. But if their Raikage and two Jinchuriki also perish here, their village will be on the verge of destruction.
As for the potential damage the Heavenly Delivery Technique might cause to the target's body, Kumogakure can't afford to worry about that now.
"Hmph, trying to escape?" Kumogakure's little actions naturally didn't escape the notice of Uchiha Touko, who was observing the entire situation from above.
The team that used the Heavenly Delivery Technique first sent away the still unconscious A, and then rushed to the side of the two Jinchuriki who had been forced back to their original forms and were unconscious.
Uchiha Touko didn't stop A from being sent away. A had lost an arm, and even if he recovered, his fighting ability would likely never return to what it was before. Furthermore, the current situation was entirely A's own doing; the Hidden Cloud Village would inevitably suffer heavy losses in this battle because of his recklessness. His reputation as Raikage within the Hidden Cloud Village would likely plummet, and the white ninjas, whose ambitions had been ignited by White Zetsu, would probably not stand idly by and let A continue to trample on them.
However, A could leave, but the Tailed Beasts would have to stay.
Uchiha Touko casually formed a hand seal, creating a shadow clone. The clone and the original arrived almost instantly beside the two fallen Jinchuriki. The team using the Heavenly Delivery Technique were terrified upon seeing this and could only speed up their technique.
Uchiha Touko calmly formed several complex hand seals and then slammed them heavily onto the ground.
Dark sealing runes spread from the ground towards the two Jinchūriki, completely enveloping them in moments. Then, from their bodies, azure and dark red chakra flowed along the sealing runes, slowly condensing in mid-air into the shape of a Tailed Beast, appearing as if the Tailed Beast had been directly ripped from the Jinchūriki's bodies.
Seeing this, the team that had cast the Heavenly Delivery Technique could only accelerate their hand seals.
Uchiha Touko, seeing this, sneered, and two bursts of violent plasma erupted from his feet, heading straight for the people casting the Heavenly Delivery Technique beside the two Jinchūriki.
At this moment, two black-clad Cloud Village Jonin, fearlessly blocking the lightning, stood in their way.
Although they were electrocuted and charred within a single breath, they successfully bought time for their comrades.
"Your spirit is commendable, but your speed is too slow," Uchiha Touko said coldly, forming the Unbound Hand Seal. The sealing technique was completed instantly, and the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails let out a mournful cry as they were dragged out of their Jinchuriki's bodies.
At the same time, the Heavenly Delivery Technique was also completed, and the two Jinchuriki's bodies disappeared from the battlefield.
"Consider these two tailed beasts as interest for your Kumogakure's provocation of our Konoha..." Uchiha Touko chuckled, looking at the incredulous-looking Hii not far away, and slowly said. However, before he finished speaking, the body of Gyuki, which had been separated from Killer Bee and was tightly bound by the sealing runes, exploded in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, only a twitching octopus leg remained.
Seeing this, Uchiha Touko's lips twitched slightly; he had actually forgotten about this.
However, having a Two-Tails wasn't entirely without its benefits.
Uchiha Touko, watching the Two-Tails struggle and bound by the sealing runes, nodded in satisfaction. Then, his Mangekyou Sharingan activated, and he unleashed a genjutsu specifically designed for tailed beasts at Matatabi.
Soon, the patterns of Touko's Mangekyou Sharingan began to appear in the Two-Tails' eyes. However, this process didn't last long. After a cry of pain, the Two-Tails broke free from Touko's control. Of course, as a price, its chakra body became ethereal.
"Isn't this the genjutsu Madara left behind to control tailed beasts? How can it fail? Is my genjutsu that bad?" Touko scoffed, somewhat annoyed.
"Kakashi!" Seeing this, Touko called out to those behind him.
The next instant, the space around Touko slowly began to rotate, and Kakashi's figure stepped out from the void.
"Take this thing back!" Touko ordered, turning back.
"You..." Kakashi was speechless at the sight, but since Uchiha Touko had given the order, he could only look at Matatabi, who was bound by the sealing technique, and use the Mangekyou Sharingan's genjutsu, which was exclusive to tailed beasts.
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(End of this chapter)