Uchiha Chapter 72: Battle — Underhanded Tactics
A wild laugh suddenly rang out from high in the sky.
Hahaha! What an arrogant brat! Just as expected of an Uchiha. I acknowledge you.
Ōnoki laughed heartily. He genuinely acknowledged Gōenji's strength.
"But this old man won't go easy on a junior."
Whoosh—!
Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed Dust Release.
A beam of light tore through the sky and shot straight toward Gōenji.
Knowing that Gōenji could absorb Chakra, Akatsuchi immediately joined the attack. A mass of rock slowly condensed around his arm as he launched himself toward Gōenji.
Whoosh—!
Gōenji controlled his Wind-Fire Wheels, the flames spinning rapidly beneath his feet as he easily evaded their combined assault.
He wasn't an idiot.
There was no way he would stand there foolishly and wait for two opponents to coordinate their attacks while he tried to absorb Dust Release with his technique.
Against powerful shinobi, teamwork offered an advantage that a one-on-one battle simply couldn't match.
Otherwise, the standard battlefield squad formation of one leader accompanied by three subordinates wouldn't exist.
Konoha had developed that model through countless experiments and battles.
Its importance was beyond question.
"I don't need you to go easy on me."
Gōenji's eyes narrowed.
"Just don't complain when I use my youth to bully an old man."
He formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball tore across the sky and surged toward the two Iwagakure shinobi.
At Gōenji's current level of strength, fighting the two of them simultaneously was somewhat difficult.
All he could say was that he was doing his best.
Still, his safety wasn't really a concern.
He could fight, fly, and even heal himself.
His combat system was simply too well-rounded.
At this point, he was only lacking a few specialized abilities.
For example, healing, elemental transformation, and scouting techniques based on Fire Release...
Uh...
Looks like there are still quite a few areas left to develop.
That meant he still had plenty to learn.
But none of that mattered right now.
At present, those weren't his priorities.
His offensive Fire Release techniques were undoubtedly the most numerous.
After all, among the various types of ninjutsu, developing offensive Fire Release techniques was the easiest for him.
"Earth Release: Rock Golem!"
At that moment, a towering giant emerged from the ground.
Ōnoki and Akatsuchi landed on its shoulders.
Facing Gōenji's Great Fireball, the giant simply raised one hand and blocked the incoming flames.
The flames swept around both sides of its palm.
The scorching heat spread toward Ōnoki and Akatsuchi.
Their expressions became solemn.
This attack was far more powerful than an ordinary Great Fireball.
How exactly is he doing this?
Judging from Gōenji's expression, he didn't seem to have consumed a massive amount of Chakra.
Their intelligence reports had already pointed out this peculiarity.
Uchiha Gōenji seemed capable of increasing the power of his ninjutsu without significantly increasing his Chakra consumption.
They simply couldn't understand how he was accomplishing it.
Whoosh!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
...
What an arrogant bastard.
I never expected Lord Madara to be looked down upon by one of his own descendants.
This is hilarious.
Deep underground, White Zetsu listened to Gōenji's words and laughed hysterically to himself.
He imagined the aged face of the Uchiha in their underground hideout.
I wonder what his reaction would be if he heard this.
That would definitely be interesting.
Information like this was worth reporting.
However, if he wanted to avoid getting killed, he still needed to gather some important information.
Looking up at Gōenji, White Zetsu couldn't help wondering whether Madara had made the wrong choice.
Shouldn't we be targeting Gōenji instead of Uchiha Obito?
Obito's talent wasn't particularly impressive.
Just look at this guy.
At such a young age, he could already fight against the Tsuchikage.
He was far stronger than Obito.
Oh, Tobi. I'd really like to see Lord Madara's expression too. It would definitely be interesting.
Another White Zetsu appeared beside him.
Tobi's pale face twisted.
"Why don't you just go die? Looking at you is already enough to annoy me."
"What? Don't think you're amazing just because you can fight."
"I'm very strong. You'd better watch yourself, or I'll beat you flat."
"Hmph. I may not be good at fighting, but I'm definitely better than you at tattling."
"Oh my God. You actually know how to use your brain?"
Boom! Boom!
The battle continued.
The battlefield remained filled with chaos.
Kunai.
Shuriken.
Corpses.
Blood flowed across the dry earth, soaking into soil that had never before been stained red.
Since Iwagakure had the advantage on the ground, they had no reason to keep fighting Gōenji in the air.
They descended directly to the ground.
Their fundamental battlefield skills—trap-setting and the use of kunai and shuriken—were all extremely polished.
Ōnoki was worthy of his reputation.
His combat experience was incredibly rich.
Working together with Akatsuchi and using the Light-Weight Rock Technique, they repeatedly combined their attacks with Dust Release to suppress the well-rounded Uchiha Gōenji.
Whenever Gōenji used Zero-Breakthrough to absorb Ōnoki's Dust Release, Akatsuchi immediately moved in and forced him into close combat.
Whenever Gōenji tried to use the Blade of the Rising Sun, the experienced Ōnoki saw through his intentions and interrupted the technique before he could complete it.
Damn it! Stop interrupting my casting!
Where's my invincibility window?!
Even with his superb Taijutsu, Gōenji couldn't help but grow frustrated.
He had originally planned to use the Blade of the Rising Sun to eliminate the close-combat specialist Akatsuchi first.
But he had realized that old Ōnoki really was cunning.
Whether Gōenji used Shadow Clones or other ninjutsu to buy himself time, Ōnoki always found a way to interrupt him.
So this is what an old monster who's been fighting for more than eighty years looks like!
Whoosh—!
Another beam of light flashed across the battlefield.
This time, it was a horizontal slash.
It was almost identical to the attack Gōenji had seen Ōnoki use in the anime to sweep across Susanoo.
But this time, the attack was more focused.
It was aimed solely at Gōenji.
Gōenji leaped into the air.
The Wind-Fire Wheels appeared beneath his feet, carrying him upward.
His control over the surrounding air made him far harder to hit than an ordinary shinobi.
Just as expected.
He saw Akatsuchi suddenly burst out of the ground below.
The bastard had hidden himself underground using Earth Release.
If Gōenji had dodged in the other direction, Akatsuchi would have been waiting there to attack him.
The sky was completely different from the ground.
Although both sides could fly, everything in the air was far easier to see.
Hmph.
Gōenji was still thinking about this when a gust of wind suddenly whistled past his ear.
His eyes widened in shock.
He raised his sword in front of the left side of his face.
A gigantic rocky fist slammed into the blade.
Bang!
Gōenji was sent flying.
He gritted his teeth against the agonizing pain from the impact, then immediately controlled the Wind-Fire Wheels and pulled away from the engagement.
"Hiss! That hurts like hell!"
How long had it been?
It had been a very long time since Gōenji had experienced pain this intense.
He hated pain more than anything.
Damn it.
I have to develop a technique that doesn't cause pain.
No.
He should develop a technique that prevented him from getting injured in the first place.
Healing techniques like those used by Tsunade or Sakura definitely wouldn't work.
What he needed was defense, not healing.
Besides, the healing process itself could be extremely painful.
How do people like Tsunade manage it?
How can she seem completely unafraid of pain?
It was ridiculous.
"Goodbye."
Ōnoki's voice drifted over.
Gōenji turned his head.
A beam of Dust Release had already entered his field of vision.
His Sharingan spun rapidly, tracking every movement of the Dust Release.