Chapter 456: Limbo: Border Jail
After the giant bird was dealt with, only the giant centipede remained. This summon didn't attack Ishiro; its task was to get Nagato out from under the Kunai Rain.
The giant centipede was in bad shape. Because Ishiro sensed Nagato was in its mouth, the Kunai Rain had been relentlessly pursuing it.
Poof!
The battered centipede vanished in a cloud of smoke, and Nagato walked out slowly.
As for the three-headed dog behind the Fortified Mud Wall, after Nagato had moved, it had already been sealed by the porcelain kunai that had turned to mud.
If you can't kill it, seal it. Ishiro had plenty of methods; he wasn't afraid of such strange abilities.
With that, all of Nagato's giant summons were gone.
Nagato stretched one hand toward Ishiro. "Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull)!"
Despite the great distance, Ishiro flew uncontrollably toward Nagato.
A long-range battle was disadvantageous for Nagato. The Rinnegan provided many abilities, but not all were direct combat techniques; many were supplementary. With the Six Paths of Pain absent, Nagato's combat arsenal was limited. The advantage Ishiro gained from senjutsu empowerment greatly reduced the gap between them.
Therefore, Nagato chose close combat. He had previously ceded the initiative to Ishiro, but now he was taking his first active move to seize the upper hand.
While pulling Ishiro in, Nagato was also rushing forward to meet him.
"Kunai Rain." Ishiro was calm. He used the force of the Universal Pull to accelerate his own Kunai Rain.
The porcelain kunai shot toward Nagato at incredible speed.
Nagato frowned, not expecting this move. He switched jutsu.
"Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push)!"
"Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push)!"
The first shout was Nagato's. The second was Ishiro's.
Nagato wanted to repel the kunai, but Ishiro wanted to use his own push to accelerate the kunai even further.
The two gravitational forces collided. Ishiro's Shinra Tensei was far weaker than Nagato's. However, the kunai, already moving at high speed due to Nagato's Universal Pull, didn't just fly back. They underwent a process of slowing down before being repelled. Because of Ishiro's interference, this process was extended.
This left Nagato unable to simultaneously deal with the other Kunai Rain groups attacking from behind and above.
Nagato stretched out his other hand, aimed it behind him, and used Shinra Tensei again.
But now, Nagato had no way to deal with the kunai rain from above.
Yahiko and Konan cried out in unison, "Nagato, look out!"
The next second... Splat, splat, splat, splat!
A countless number of mud impacts were heard where Nagato stood. At the last moment, afraid of injuring Nagato, Ishiro had turned the porcelain kunai into mud.
But the mud didn't hit Nagato. It all slammed into an empty space about half a meter above his head.
There was nothing there, yet the mud was being blocked as if by an invisible barrier.
Hm?
Ishiro didn't rely on his eyes in combat; he relied on his Mind's Eye.
And in the perception of his Mind's Eye, there was another figure floating above Nagato's head.
Is this? The Rinnegan dōjutsu: Limbo: Border Jail?
Ishiro scanned the area with his Mind's Eye. There was only one. Was this all Nagato could summon, or was he holding back?
A massive amount of mud slammed into Nagato's Limbo clone. Ishiro immediately controlled the mud, preparing to seal it. At the same time, more mud surged toward the clone.
Nagato, having freed his hands, directed the Limbo clone to move while using Shinra Tensei on the sky above him.
All the kunai near Nagato were briefly repelled.
Ishiro ignored Nagato's main body and directed the kunai in the air to instantly surround the Limbo clone.
Then, to Nagato's astonishment, the kunai swarmed it, enveloping the clone and turning it into a mud figure.
The Limbo clone tried to shake off the mud, but it was ineffective. The mud only got thicker.
Finally, a seal formula appeared on the mud, and the Limbo clone was directly sealed.
"Phew..." Ishiro let out a breath.
Nagato said in surprise, "Ishiro, you can see this clone?"
Ishiro shook his head. "I can't see it, but my sensory jutsu can perceive it."
Nagato said, "That sensory jutsu of yours is too strong."
Ishiro nodded. "Among all my jutsu, it's the only one that exceeds the current definition of an S-rank technique."
Internally, Ishiro thought: Thank you, Obito Uchiha. Thank you, Shisui Uchiha. Thank you, Sōkai. Thank you, Izumi Uchiha. Without all of you, my Mind's Eye would never have reached this level.
The battle had reached a natural conclusion. If they kept going, Konan and Yahiko would probably have a heart attack. Ishiro and Nagato tacitly agreed to stop.
Konan and Yahiko let out a sigh of relief and ran over.
Konan was the first to speak: "Nagato, Ishiro, you two are too reckless! You scared me to death!"
Ishiro rolled his eyes. "We both knew our limits. I didn't use Dust Release, and Nagato didn't use any of his Rinnegan's purely offensive-only abilities."
"We could control all those jutsu. What were you worried about?"
Konan glared at him.
Yahiko pointed at the mud ball Ishiro had sealed. "Nagato, what was that?"
Ishiro cooperatively released the seals on the Limbo clone and the three-headed dog.
Nagato recalled the Limbo clone into his body and explained, "This is also a Rinnegan dōjutsu. It can summon a clone with strength nearly equal to my own."
"Currently, I can only summon one. Normal people can't see this clone. I didn't expect Ishiro's sensory jutsu to be able to perceive it."
Yahiko sighed in admiration. "Ishiro, I didn't realize you were this strong, to actually suppress Nagato."
Ishiro replied, "Nagato was holding back from start to finish. He gave me the initiative and let me control the rhythm of the fight."
"Plus, I'm very familiar with all of Nagato's abilities, while I've learned many new jutsu over the years that he wasn't familiar with. That's the only reason I gained an advantage."
Konan said, "Alright, it's getting late. You both used a lot of chakra. Let's go back to the village and rest."
Ishiro and the others nodded.
Arriving at their residence in the River Village, Ishiro saw Sōkai, Chiga, and Sasagawa Ayumi chatting about their spars with the River Village genin.
Ishiro wasn't concerned with such minor things and asked, "Where is your Senior Kanako? I don't see her."
Sasagawa Ayumi replied, "After Senior Kanako talked with Senior Konan about Paper Release, she shut herself in her room."
Ishiro nodded. Konan had probably taught Kanako a few things, and she needed time alone to digest them.
Ishiro said, "You three rest early. I need to make a trip back to the village right now. I should be back by morning."
"Yes, sir," the three replied, not asking why he was returning.
Ishiro used the Light/Heavy Boulder Technique to fly back to Iwagakure. That night, he convened a high-level meeting.
"Sorry to call everyone so late, but I have something to show you."
With that, Ishiro took out the ninjutsu scrolls he had gotten from Obito Uchiha.
"Obito Uchiha moved into our Land of Earth. This is the... cough... 'rent' I extorted from him."
"In the future, we should be able to get something every month until he moves out of the Land of Earth."
"It's all Madara Uchiha's training notes. Take a look."
Ikura, being closest to Ishiro, read the names on the scrolls: "Fire Release... Water Release... Earth Release... Wind Release... Lightning Release... Yang Release... another Fire Release... and this one is... Wood Release?"
Ishiro said, "I have to return to the River Village, so I'll be brief. Madara's ninjutsu notes are incredibly rare."
"The Fire Release scroll I got last time helped me a lot. We need to utilize these to find ways to raise our village's overall strength."
"This upcoming Chunin Exam hosted by the Akatsuki Organization... I'm afraid it won't be peaceful. We must prepare."
Ōnoki said, "You only brought four disciples this time. Since you're back, don't forget to take intelligence ninja back with you."
Ishiro nodded. "Understood."
"As for these notes, divide them up and make copies. I need to study them in the Land of Rivers as well."
The group quickly transcribed copies of all the scrolls. Ishiro took the originals and put them in his ninja pouch.
Ōnoki said, "We will arrange who gets to view these notes. Weren't you in a hurry? Is there anything else?"
Ishiro said, "No, this was it. I'll leave it to you. I'm heading out."
After handling Madara's notes, Ishiro took two Anbu intelligence ninja and left Iwagakure.
The next morning, when Sōkai and the others woke up, they found Ishiro was already back.
He was already studying Madara Uchiha's training notes.
Unlike the rough check he'd given them when he first got them, this time Ishiro was reading meticulously, analyzing every word and phrase.
Madara was definitely a 'Super-Kage' like Nagato. And having forged a bloody path out of the Warring States period, his combat experience was immense.
From these notes, it was clear Madara wasn't born with all five natures, but after awakening the Rinnegan, he could certainly use all of them.
Even for jutsu outside his specialty of Fire Release, the insights were high-level and extremely useful to Ishiro. After reading them carefully, Ishiro felt his own five-nature ninjutsu still had vast room for improvement.
Hm. Perfect. I have Nagato here as a free sparring partner. There's still almost a month until the Chunin Exams. This is the perfect time to use Nagato to improve my five-nature ninjutsu.
From that day on, Ishiro pestered Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan daily to practice his five-nature ninjutsu. Most of the time he sparred with Nagato, and occasionally with Yahiko or Konan.
Sōkai, Chiga, and Ayumi sparred daily with the River Village ninja. They were already fighting Chunin. Even Chiga, who wasn't a combat specialist, felt no pressure against the River Village genin.
Fugaku Uchiha's reply letter had also reached Ishiro's hands. In his spare time, Ishiro began guiding Sōkai according to Fugaku's methods. The method was excellent. Sōkai's strength finally began to enter a period of rapid growth.
While his strength wasn't changing day by day, he could feel a significant improvement every few days.
Kanako, meanwhile, was practicing the Paper Release techniques Konan had taught her.
Ishiro couldn't say for sure how much his four disciples were progressing, but he could feel that his own five-nature ninjutsu was improving dramatically.
Now, Ishiro could easily force Nagato to use his high-level Rinnegan dōjutsu using only his five-nature ninjutsu!
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you