Gildarts was not about to let such a perfect opportunity slip through his fingers. Todoroki's massive ice wall had sealed Hanzo in, creating the ideal moment to strike. Without hesitation, Gildarts unleashed his Crush Magic. A vast grid of glowing white lines spread outward, surging toward the towering ice barrier like a net of pure destruction.
If the magic connected, the outcome was almost certain—Hanzo would be torn apart, shredded into countless pieces by the overwhelming force. Victory seemed inevitable.
But in that very instant, the ground trembled violently. With a thunderous roar, a massive shadow burst out from beneath the earth. Ibuse, Hanzo's colossal salamander summon, erupted upward and threw its enormous body between Gildarts' crushing force and the ice wall that confined its master. The beast moved with startling speed for its size, intercepting the attack just in time.
Then, with one swift, terrifying motion, Ibuse opened its maw and exhaled a suffocating wave of poison. A dense miasma gushed outward, rolling like a foul tide and blanketing the battlefield in a matter of seconds. The acrid stench burned the lungs, and the faintest touch of the gas carried the threat of death.
Todoroki, who had been preparing to shatter the ice wall himself, froze at the sudden shift. His instincts screamed danger the moment the salamander emerged, and the choking poison confirmed it. The same realization struck the others as well. Faced with the overwhelming threat of Ibuse's venomous cloud, they had no choice but to abandon their positions and retreat before the noxious haze consumed them.
The brief distraction caused by Ibuse was more than enough for Hanzo. In the blink of an eye, he shattered the ice wall that had trapped him and emerged free once again.
Meanwhile, the Uzumaki clan members were regrouping. Erza, who had been wounded earlier by the vicious slash of Hanzo's sickle, had already taken matters into her own hands. Understanding that this was no ordinary battle and every second counted, she abandoned the slow, orthodox methods of medical ninjutsu. Instead, she resorted to the emergency technique she despised using—biting into her own hand.
The moment her teeth pierced her skin, her chakra surged, accelerating her body's regeneration. Before long, the deep gash across her body sealed completely, the skin smooth as if the wound had never existed. Though the method consumed her vitality and left her with a subtle weariness, Erza knew she had no choice. Against an enemy like Hanzo, hesitation meant death.
Not stopping at herself, she rushed to Yoko, who was clutching his chest, his breaths ragged and shallow. Hanzo's earlier punch had been brutal—his ribs shattered, his lungs punctured. Without immediate treatment, Yoko's life would have slipped away.
"Bite my hand," Erza commanded firmly, extending it toward him.
Yoko hesitated for a fraction of a second. Both of them remembered Shanks' strict warning: no one was ever to use Erza's healing in this way, not unless the situation was dire beyond compare. The technique drained Erza's vitality, causing her great discomfort and shortening her stamina. But this was one of those rare, extraordinary moments where Shanks himself would have allowed it.
Swallowing his reluctance, Yoko bit down. A wave of vitality coursed through him, his collapsed lung mending, broken bones aligning, and breath returning to his chest. Relief flickered across his face as the life-threatening injury vanished.
Only then did Erza allow herself a breath. She had refrained from entering the battle until now—not because she lacked the will, but because she knew she had to heal herself and Yoko first before stepping into the fray. Now, with both of them restored, she could finally stand beside her siblings.
Yet the situation left no time for celebration. The poisonous purple miasma released by Ibuse was still spreading relentlessly, choking the battlefield. With no other option, Erza, Yoko, and the others were forced to retreat, withdrawing step by step until they regrouped at a safer distance.
At last, all ten of the Uzumaki clan siblings stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Though battered and weary, their formation radiated unity and defiance.
As the ten Uzumaki siblings regrouped, their collective gaze shifted toward the towering form of Ibuse. The colossal salamander loomed like a living fortress, its skin glistening ominously in the dim light. Perched upon its massive head stood Hanzo, his figure sharp and imposing, Kusarigama gripped firmly in his hands.
His cold eyes swept over the siblings, and then he spoke—his voice calm, yet heavy with menace.
"I must say," Hanzo began, "to have trapped me within that ice wall and nearly dealt me a fatal blow… if I had been a moment slower, you might have actually succeeded in killing me. That is no small feat."
He allowed a faint smirk to cross his face. "Be proud of that. Consider it a wake-up call—for me. It has been far too long since I last fought in earnest. So… thank you for the warm-up." His tone hardened like steel. "Now, I will fight you with my full seriousness."
Hanzo then lifted his Kusarigama slightly, pointing toward them like a judge delivering a sentence. "And do not fool yourselves. Escaping the purple miasma does not mean you are safe. You have already inhaled enough poison into your lungs. Even now, it courses through your bodies. Whether you realize it yet or not—you are already affected."
His words cut like knives, for they were true. One by one, the siblings began to feel it—the faint tightening in their chests, the sluggishness creeping into their limbs. The poison had already taken root.
Not all were equally vulnerable. Among them, Antares, Erza, and Guy stood tall and unshaken. Their bodies, hardened through unique abilities and monstrous strength, allowed them to resist or outright negate the venom's effects. But the others were not so fortunate. At the current rate, paralysis—or worse—would cripple them within a quarter of an hour. If they lost their mobility in the midst of this battle, the outcome would be catastrophic.
Erza understood this immediately. Her gaze sharpened with resolve as she stepped forward, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Guy. Antares. The two of you hold him off," she ordered. "I'll purge the poison from the others and heal them."
Antares gave a low, confident chuckle, the golden-red scales along his arm glinting faintly. "Don't worry about us," he replied. "Even if we can't land a decisive counterattack right away, I can promise you this—" his eyes locked onto Hanzo with burning defiance, "—we'll withstand anything he throws at us."
Guy clenched his fists, the air around him vibrating faintly with suppressed energy. "That's more than enough," he said simply.
Together, the two warriors stepped forward, planting themselves like shields before their siblings as Hanzo prepared his assault.
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