Chapter 437: A-B Combo vs. Ishiro
Naturally, Ishiro wasn't going to sit idly by and wait for his chakra to run out.
Although he still had the trump cards of Little Saiken and Little Chōmei, Tailed Beast chakra couldn't enhance his Mind's Eye. In this situation, it was less useful to him than Sage Mode.
Thus, Ishiro began a large-scale counterattack.
Since the Kumo intelligence ninja had already analyzed his abilities, if he continued to hide them, wouldn't that just be telling them that he still had backup plans, making them even more cautious?
Ishiro began to cast various elemental ninjutsu enhanced by Sage Mode.
With his ability to use one-handed seals and rapid two-handed seals, no one present could interrupt him from casting conventional ninjutsu.
Thus, Kumogakure suddenly became a lot more lively.
The defensive barrier that Kumo had set up was similar to the one used on Turtle Island in the original story to confine Naruto and Killer Bee. This barrier was designed according to the attack strength of a single Tailed Beast Bomb.
Unfortunately, using Light Release required a brewing time; otherwise, Ishiro would have just used it to break the barrier and leave.
Unlike before, when he was just dodging in the air, the battlefield's mainstream now became a clash of large-scale ninjutsu. From time to time, A-rank ninjutsu would collide, and brilliant fireworks would erupt, adding a trace of vitality to the originally peaceful and harmonious village.
However, just as Ishiro was changing his tactics, so was Kumo.
The Fourth Raikage began to coordinate with Killer Bee. Originally, because Ishiro was in the air, the Raikage only had one chance to attack each time. Often, just as he had leaped up, Ishiro would be far away. Although he was the strongest, he posed the weakest threat to Ishiro.
But now, the partially transformed Killer Bee summoned multiple giant chakra tentacles, which spread across the sky above Kumogakure.
These tentacles, while clearing the porcelain mud from the sky, could also attack Ishiro, and incidentally, provided more than enough support points for the Fourth Raikage.
Using these chakra tentacles as leverage, the Raikage continuously launched attacks, making it no longer as easy for Ishiro to dodge as before.
And the Kumo army on the ground, after Ishiro reduced the frequency of his attacks on them, also began to play their role. Although Ishiro had been avoiding getting too close to them, some of the ninja among them with relatively long attack ranges could still launch attacks to interfere with him when he wasn't too far away.
Moreover, a large number of genin and chunin who didn't know ninjutsu were scattered throughout the village, constantly throwing projectiles at him. They were also constantly changing positions, covering the jonin among them, making it less easy for Ishiro to determine their movements.
Ishiro was now at a disadvantage. To maintain the situation, he had no choice but to generate more porcelain mud, attempting to use its large-scale attacks to disrupt Kumo's rhythm.
But the Eight-Tails' tentacles did not give him this opportunity.
These tentacles, whipping wildly through the sky above the village, could easily clean up his porcelain. The mud was either flung away or stuck to the tentacles; in any case, it couldn't form a sufficient scale. These tentacles were like cleaning up trash, diligently completing the sweeping of the sky.
With his Porcelain Release—an unsealed, large-scale, and freely changeable jutsu—unable to exert its proper effect, Ishiro's combat power plummeted.
The situation he faced was becoming more and more difficult.
Ishiro's hands flashed through seals: "Sage Art: Water Style: Raging Water Smash!"
To alleviate the pressure from the tentacles, Ishiro began to use B-rank Sage Art.
The ninjutsu, which surpassed a conventional A-rank and approached S-rank power, raged over a wide area, causing the situation in the places it hit to once again become chaotic.
To reduce Ishiro's dodging space, the gathered Kumo army's scale was relatively small. They had split into many teams at various locations in the village, waiting for him to fly over. Some were even moving around, adding to the pressure.
But in doing so, a single ninja army could barely defend against a C-rank Sage Art. It was unrealistic to expect them to block a B-rank one.
Kumo began to suffer large-scale casualties. Often, after one of his B-rank Sage Art jutsus, a small-scale ninja army would suffer over fifty percent casualties.
But this was not the opportunity for Ishiro to break the stalemate. His casting of B-rank Sage Art meant a reduction in his attack frequency, which, on the contrary, was more beneficial for Kumo to besiege him.
The overall situation was still becoming more and more unfavorable for him.
Ishiro began to be forced by Kumo, having to dodge along the routes they had set. Gradually, he was forced into a corner. His dodging space was getting smaller and smaller, while the frequency of the Fourth Raikage's attacks was getting higher and higher.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Just as the situation was about to collapse, Ishiro revealed another trump card.
Facing the Fourth Raikage, who was once again rushing towards him to block him from breaking out of the encirclement, Ishiro used the S-rank ninjutsu, Shinra Tensei, in front of the Kumo ninja for the first time.
By now, his mastery of gravity-type ninjutsu was far beyond what it had been when he was an elite jonin. Although this blast of Shinra Tensei did not send the Raikage flying, it successfully deflected him, throwing him off course.
Kumo had clearly not expected this scene. The one part of their plan they thought was the most secure had had an accident. The Kumo commander had prepared many backup plans to prevent Ishiro from breaking through the encirclement of the ordinary ninja army but had not expected that the Fourth Raikage would need a safety net.
Thus, a gap appeared in Kumo's tight rhythm of attack.
Taking this opportunity, Ishiro placed a thick layer of porcelain defense under his feet, then forcibly broke out of that narrow space.
With this one move, all of Kumo's previous efforts were declared to be in vain. The situation, which had been on the verge of victory, returned to how it was at the beginning.
At this time, in the Kumo command center, the commander's voice sounded in a timely manner:
"The Tsuchikage has used a new ultimate move: an unsealed, gravity-type ninjutsu that can be cast with a wave of his hand. Increase the attack waves to prevent him from using this move to escape the encirclement again."
"At the same time, be careful of the auxiliary role this type of ninjutsu plays with his other jutsu, such as its accelerating effect on his porcelain."
Ishiro sighed. Impressive. He had originally thought that the only genius-level intellect in the ninja world was Shikaku Nara, but he hadn't expected there to be one here in Kumo as well. The foundations of the Five Great Shinobi Villages truly could not be underestimated.
After going to Konoha a few times, I thought I could go anywhere in the world. That thinking was still too naive.
However, my chakra consumption has also been considerable. I won't play with you anymore.
Taking advantage of the fact that Kumo's main force was still adjusting its team, Ishiro once again began to use B-rank Sage Art.
The Fourth Raikage, the Eight-Tails' tentacles, and Darui—these independently operating ninja—reacted very quickly and immediately entangled him. They didn't care that he was using B-rank Sage Art, as long as it wasn't his Light Release Kekkei Tōta. Although it would cause huge damage to the village, as long as they could kill him, everything was worth it.
"Sage Art: Water Style: Driving Rain Technique! Sage Art: Wind Style: Group Wind Tornado! Sage Art: Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Ishiro cast three B-rank Sage Art techniques in a row.
But just as he was casting the third one, the Raikage's attack arrived. The fire jutsu was forced to change direction, smashing into the defensive barrier in the sky.
No one paid any mind to this; this kind of thing had happened many times tonight.
Ishiro continued to dodge. Kumo continued to attack.
Just like before, as the Kumo army converged, his dodging space was once again restricted. Moreover, having had this experience once, Kumo's coordination was even better this time. The speed at which he lost dodging ground was even faster.
Until... the Kumo barrier team sensed something was wrong.
"Command, command! There's a problem with the fire jutsu the Tsuchikage hit the barrier with! The chakra at that position is disappearing! The barrier is being burned by the fire!"
In the command center, the commander, who was in the middle of organizing the attack, paused, listening carefully to the barrier team's report. The barrier was the key to keeping Ishiro here tonight, so their urgent contact was immediately prioritized.
After hearing the report, the commander's face changed. He was just about to notify the Raikage and the others to change tactics and block Ishiro.
But just at that moment...
Pop, pop, pop, pop.
A series of soft popping sounds rang out from every corner of Kumogakure.
The commander's voice went out, but it did not, as expected, reach the ears of the Fourth Raikage and the others.
Because in that instant, the devices they used to transmit their thoughts had been destroyed by Ishiro.
What he had used was precisely the porcelain mud that had been splattered everywhere by the Eight-Tails' tentacles. While everyone's attention was in the sky, all of his porcelain mud had gotten into position. With his sealing jutsu level and sensory ability, after so much time, he had long since figured out Kumo's communication system.
His actions were not finished. The next moment, he formed a one-handed seal and shouted: "Seal!"
Then, the porcelain mud that had been stuck to the Eight-Tails' tentacles rapidly manifested sealing runes.
The next moment, these tentacles all lost power in unison and fell towards the ground. Because they had lost the support of these tentacles, the Fourth Raikage's continuous attacks were immediately broken.
And just at that moment, the spot on the defensive barrier that had been hit by his fire jutsu suddenly broke open into a large hole.
With a flash of his figure, Ishiro flew out of the hole.
Behind him, Darui's numerous Black Lightning bolts all struck the barrier. Only a few shot out of the hole, seemingly grazing the fleeing Ishiro.
The sealing jutsu Ishiro had used on the tentacles was very simple, and the Eight-Tails quickly broke free. But by the time the tentacles rose into the air again, Ishiro had long since disappeared.
Killer Bee could only helplessly retract his tentacles.
The Fourth Raikage knew that once Ishiro left the range of the defensive barrier, it would be impossible for them to keep him. So, he just glanced at the hole in the barrier and helplessly unclenched his fists.
He was now concerned about the safety of the command center, because the commander, who had just been giving orders, had suddenly gone silent. At first, everyone had thought the commander had gone to deal with a more urgent matter and were waiting for orders. But no message had come from the command center, and Ishiro had taken advantage of this gap to miraculously escape.
Clearly, all of this was his doing.
The Fourth Raikage was a little worried about the safety of the command center.
(End of Chapter)
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