Chapter 79: Ōnoki! I'm Here to Negotiate Terms
For a user of the Flying Thunder God, a Kunai is never used to kill people; it is used for movement.
Swish!
The instant the Kunai grazed Ōnoki's robe, an orange flash suddenly ignited.
Yahiko's figure warped out of thin air. Using the momentum of the Kunai's flight, he completed a spin mid-air that defied physics. Chakra instantly wrapped his right leg, which, like a giant splitting axe, chopped down fiercely onto the Old Man's shoulder!
"What?!"
Ōnoki was greatly shocked, never expecting this young man would actually dare to charge him in close combat.
Bang!!
The kick landed squarely on Ōnoki's blocking arm.
Even with the protection of the Earth Release Hardening Technique, the immense impact still sent Ōnoki plummeting toward the ground like a meteor.
"Is this the so-called Tsuchikage? Your body is quite sturdy!"
Yahiko pressed his advantage, leveraging his body mid-air. The Adamantine Sealing Chains behind him were ready, preparing to completely Seal Ōnoki the moment he landed.
However, experience triumphs.
Just as Yahiko was about to unleash the chains at point-blank range, Ōnoki, who was falling, suddenly stabilized himself in mid-air.
A flash of shrewd cold light flickered in his cloudy, aged eyes.
"Brat, don't get too carried away!"
Ōnoki did not form hand signs, or rather, he had already completed the preparation of the jutsu the moment he was kicked.
"Earth Release: Super Added-Weight Rock Technique!!"
An invisible force field, heavy as a thousand tons, detonated with Ōnoki as its center.
Yahiko's Epitaph did indeed see the future where his movements became distorted, but the vision did not show him suffering any attack—because gravity is invisible!
This was the blind spot in intelligence!
Buzz!!
The terrifying gravity pressed down like a massive mountain. Yahiko felt the bones in his entire body screaming. His fierce pursuit instantly lost its shape, and he plummeted uncontrollably toward the ground like a kite with a broken string.
"Damn it!"
Yahiko's heart seized. If his body hadn't undergone multiple reinforcements, his internal organs might have been crushed into paste just from that blow. He gritted his teeth and held on, avoiding kneeling instantly, but his body was locked in a fatal stiffness.
"Die!!"
Ōnoki seized this once-in-a-lifetime opening, and the destructive white light in his palm suddenly flared.
At this range, no aiming was necessary; he could blast the opponent into dust with his eyes closed!
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!!"
This time, it was point-blank output!
The destructive white light instantly swallowed the space where Yahiko stood.
But 0.001 seconds before the white light touched his skin.
The red and white Stand phantom reappeared, its perpetually angry Face seemingly mocking the impotence of fate.
Time Deletion.
Buzz.
The white light swept past, but only through a mass of air that did not exist in the current dimension.
Yahiko, who had been immobilized by gravity, forcefully broke free from the physical constraints like a ghost within this excised temporal gap, flashing dozens of meters away onto a pile of rubble.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Time resumed its flow.
Yahiko knelt on one knee, panting heavily, cold sweat dripping down his temples.
That was close.
He nearly capsized in the ditch. This old coot Ōnoki, whether in combat experience or underhanded tricks, was so shrewd it made one's scalp tingle.
Meanwhile, Ōnoki took the opportunity to regain altitude in mid-air, staring dumbfounded at the unharmed young man below.
Although the previous kick hadn't breached his defense, it had left half his body numb.
The two stared at each other across the distance, the air thick with awkward tension.
One held Time Deletion and Flying Thunder God, slippery as an eel, impossible to catch.
One could fly and use ultra-long-range area attacks, tough as a turtle, impossible to take down.
For a moment, neither could gain an advantage over the other.
"Hoo... hoo..."
In the sky, Ōnoki's breathing started to become rapid.
The continuous high-intensity instant Dust Release, coupled with the drain from the Super Added-Weight Rock Technique just now, was proving strenuous for a septuagenarian.
What was worse... *Crack.*
Ōnoki's tightly strained expression suddenly twisted, and one hand instinctively grasped his lower back.
He had been fine when he took the kick, but it was the rapid stop, turn, and gravity release just now that caused his old, dilapidated back to finally protest.
Damn it! He threw out his back!
"I'm done fighting."
On the ground, Yahiko suddenly dispersed the Chakra around his body and, acting as if nothing happened, plopped down onto a relatively flat rock.
Ōnoki in the sky froze, the half-formed Dust Release in his hand nearly detonating in his palm.
He's giving up already?
"Hey, Old Man in the sky."
Yahiko looked up, his eyes full of mockery, and pointed at Ōnoki's waist, "I heard that 'crack' down here. Is it worth wrenching your old bones apart just for a bit of Face?"
Ōnoki's aged Face instantly flushed the color of a pig's liver.
Having such a private physical pain exposed publicly felt worse than being slapped twice across the Face.
"Ignorant brat! Stop spouting nonsense! This Old Man can still fight for three days and three nights!"
"Alright, stop pretending."
Yahiko waved his hand, interrupting Ōnoki's bravado. "The situation is clear. Your Dust Release is indeed unique in the Ninja World, but you can't hit me."
"And as for me..." Yahiko shrugged, looking frank. "As you've seen, I currently have no way to drag you down from the sky."
Ōnoki snorted coldly. Although he didn't want to admit it, it was the truth.
"So, are we going to continue wasting time like two idiots?"
Yahiko stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and his previously lazy eyes suddenly sharpened like blades.
"How much Chakra do you have left? How much courage is left in your five thousand troops after I scared them?"
"Most importantly..."
Yahiko extended a finger, pointing north, toward Iwagakure, and uttered the words that made the Old Man lose his composure:
"For a battle you are destined to lose, how many more Iwagakure Ninja lives do you intend to sacrifice? Have you forgotten the nightmare the Third Raikage left you?"
Hearing these words, Ōnoki's body, floating in the air, suddenly stiffened.
The Third Raikage.
That nightmare of three days and three nights.
That was the most painful victory in Iwagakure's history, a tragic victory bought with ten thousand lives!
Yahiko keenly captured the flicker of hesitation in Ōnoki's eyes and immediately increased his verbal assault.
"As I am now, although I don't possess the Raikage's ultimate shield, I have absolute evasion that you can never hit."
Yahiko smiled, grinning like a calculating devil.
"Ōnoki, do you want to repeat that Hell? You can certainly continue flying in the sky; I can keep wasting time with you."
"But I guarantee you, before my Chakra runs out, I will use my mobility to kill every single one of the five thousand Iwagakure Ninja you brought, leaving none alive."
"Guess which happens first: you die of exhaustion, or Iwagakure is wiped out?"
Ōnoki gritted his teeth and slowly lowered his altitude. Although he remained vigilant, this was already a sign of weakness.
As the Tsuchikage, he could not gamble the Village's future on a fit of pique.
"If you want Iwagakure to retreat, don't bother with such naive talk," Ōnoki's voice was low and hoarse. "This Old Man came here with great fanfare, and I absolutely will not return empty-handed!"
Hearing this, the smile on Yahiko's lips grew even brighter.
He wasn't afraid of Ōnoki getting angry; he was afraid of Ōnoki refusing to discuss interests.
As long as he was willing to discuss interests, he wasn't an enemy, but a potential "Client Dad."
"Who said you had to go back empty-handed?"
Read 30+ Advanced Chapters at P@ Tre On
FictionTimeo