"!?"
The smirk on Hiruko's face froze almost instantly, a look of disbelief rising in his scarlet eyes.
Ranmaru, who had retreated to the side to observe, also changed his expression: "How is this possible!"
Having also experienced the Bloodline Fusion Ritual, he was very clear about Hiruko's ability. With 'Dark Release' already activated, such a thing should be impossible.
For a brief moment, the thought even flashed through his mind whether he was under the opponent's genjutsu.
On the field.
The two sides charging at each other completed a pass.
Glancing down at his right arm area, which had become empty, his expression twisted instantly. In that split second just now, if he hadn't timely activated 'Swift Release' and 'Steel Release' to dodge the spread of Menma's 'Great Spiralling Ring', the loss would have been more than just a right arm.
"Huff huff..."
Anger, shock, combined with the injury, made him gasp heavily, looking exactly like a wounded bull!
Opposite him, Menma also turned around, the corner of his mouth rising, a natural look of contempt appearing on his face: "Tch, so you're only at this level! Those guys in the Hidden Leaf are really a bunch of incompetent fools, letting trash like you come and go freely!"
Hiruko's blood rushed up instantly: "Brat, what did you say!"
Ranmaru aside hurriedly shouted: "Hiruko-senpai, be careful of his jutsu just now, that was definitely not an ordinary ninjutsu!"
Hiruko gritted his teeth: "I know!"
The moment 'Dark Release' failed upon contact just now, he realized the opponent's jutsu was not simple, but it was too late for regret now.
Actually, not only him, but the Nine-Tails and Sasuke, who lost to Menma before, also underestimated the power of the 'Great Spiralling Ring' and were caught off guard by Menma.
It could be said that solely in terms of destructive power, the 'Great Spiralling Ring' comprehended by Menma had reached the top tier level of the Ninja World, it was just not widely known.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, Ranmaru asked: "Senpai, do you need me to act?"
Hiruko roared: "You stay there obediently, watch how I deal with this brat!"
Menma smiled, then snapped his fingers lightly.
The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, etc., which were hidden before, all emerged, guarding by his side along with the Vermilion Bird and Celestial Maiden that had been following him.
"Kill him!"
With Menma's order, the Nine-Faced Beasts, except for the Celestial Maiden, attacked in unison.
"Hmph!"
Hiruko snorted lightly and went to meet them.
The current Hiruko was no longer the combat weakling who had just undergone the Bloodline Fusion Ritual. Battle after battle had greatly honed his combat skills and enriched his combat experience. At the same time, with the passage of time, his control over his various Bloodline Limits also had a qualitative improvement.
So despite losing an arm, relying on his own 'Swift Release' and 'Steel Release', he was still able to maneuver with ease against the numerous Nine-Faced Beasts.
Suddenly, he spotted a flaw, broke through the siege of the Nine-Faced Beasts, flashed, and raided in front of Menma.
Menma did not yield at all, immediately punching out.
Inheriting Naruto's physique, his taijutsu was not bad. Moreover, he still had a hidden move 'Tailed Beast Transformation' unused. If it really came to a last resort, he could just use 'Tailed Beast Transformation' directly, defeating ten with one force!
However, Hiruko painstakingly raiding in front of him was obviously not to compete in taijutsu with him.
Just at the moment the two sides locked eyes, the Mangekyo Sharingan in Hiruko's eye sockets suddenly emitted a bewitching brilliance.
Menma's expression froze first, then he became furious: "Damn guy, I'm going to kill you, kill you all!"
Amidst roaring, Menma activated 'Tailed Beast Transformation'. His whole person rapidly turned into a huge Nine-Tails at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Subsequently, he seemed to completely lose his reason, venting the anger in his heart towards the surrounding forest!
"Heh!"
Hiruko smirked, quickly pulling away from Menma.
Undoubtedly.
In the moment of eye contact just now, he activated the dojutsu 'Yumota' contained in the left eye of his Mangekyo Sharingan.
The ability of 'Yumota' was to output emotions. These emotions could be fabricated by Hiruko or real.
Of course.
The more real the emotion, the stronger the ability of 'Yumota', and the better the effect.
And Hiruko, who mastered 'Yumota', had an extraordinary sensitivity to the enemy's emotions. So even though he didn't know the intelligence that Naruto was controlled by a Heart Demon beforehand, he still keenly sensed that this Jinchuriki brat's mind had a problem.
This was undoubtedly the enemy his 'Yumota' was best at dealing with!
And his anger before was not fake. Being humiliated by a brat and losing an arm was simply a great shame to him. So instead of controlling his emotions, he let the anger boil to enhance the effect of 'Yumota'.
Menma was originally an emotionally unstable Heart Demon, filled with uncontrollable anger towards everything. Coupled with the anger instilled by Hiruko using 'Yumota', sure enough, he instantly lost his reason, turning into a beast that only knew how to vent its anger.
Swish swish
Hiruko and Ranmaru hid far away, standing on the crown of a large tree, admiring Menma going crazy in the forest.
Ranmaru was somewhat puzzled: "He..."
Before Ranmaru finished speaking, Hiruko, on whose face no trace of anger could be seen, smiled: "Mhm, this brat is obviously a bit off, countered by my dojutsu!"
Ranmaru suddenly realized: "No wonder you were so confident!"
Hiruko looked at the empty right arm socket, curling his lips: "Still miscalculated a bit, almost capsized in the gutter because of this brat."
Ranmaru asked: "What do we do now?"
Hiruko said: "There are ninjas from the Five Great Ninja Villages everywhere nearby. No time to wait for him to exhaust himself. We'll make a move when it's about time!"
"Okay!"
Ranmaru nodded.
Menma in Tailed Beast Transformation was no different from a real Tailed Beast, so a moment of venting leveled the surrounding forest to the ground.
Such a huge commotion naturally attracted the attention of everyone nearby. No matter which faction, they all rushed towards this side after noticing it.
Hiruko, racing against time, couldn't wait for Menma to exhaust himself.
Under these circumstances, ordinary people wouldn't dare to approach, let alone make a move.
But Hiruko and Ranmaru obviously didn't belong to the category of 'ordinary people'. After Menma's chakra weakened slightly, they immediately joined hands to activate the 'Chimera Technique', using the ability of the Chimera buds to pierce into the body of Menma in Tailed Beast Transformation, and then using the means used against Gaara before, forcibly dragged the Yang Nine-Tails out of Menma's body...