"Wood Release: Hell Disturbance!"
Several twisted, thorny trees spiraled upward with violent force, aiming to entangle and crush Sōmi.
Whoosh!
Within the blood-red barrier, a small, emerald-golden Shukaku stood atop a golden cloud. It was Sōmi, who had utilized Senjutsu Chakra to partially transform into his Tailed Beast form.
Below the golden cloud, thick, thorny branches intertwined densely, forming a network of brambles as they reached for Sōmi.
"Sage Art: Sky Refining Cannon!"
The small Shukaku that Sōmi had transformed into abruptly compressed its belly, then unleashed a barrage of emerald-blue wind bullets.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The wind bullets, each the size of a human head, whistled through the air with a sharp, piercing sound before slamming into the jagged branches.
As the bullets made contact, they exploded like storm cannons, unleashing violent gusts of wind.
Boom!
A raging storm of wind blades erupted, shredding and severing the thorny branches that were climbing upward.
However, Sōmi's golden cross-shaped pupils narrowed slightly. He had noticed that the Masked Man's Wood Release bore a resemblance to Hashirama's—capable of absorbing Chakra!
If it were the kind of Wood Release used by Tenzo (Yamato), which was more suited for forestation, one Sky Refining Cannon would have been enough to obliterate his entire "three-bedroom apartment" into a pile of wood chips.
But the Masked Man's Wood Release was different. It withstood over a dozen storm cannon blasts, and the wind blades only managed to slowly chip away at the branches.
Without the infusion of Senjutsu Chakra, even attacks powered by pure Tailed Beast Chakra would have been absorbed and nullified by the trees!
Clang!
As the wind blades and thorny branches wore each other out, a crisp metallic sound reached Sōmi's ears.
The Masked Man had leaped into the air, wielding a black chain in his hands. He swung the chain with force, aiming to disrupt Sōmi's ability to perform sealing techniques that could block space.
"Heh!"
"How naive..."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Sōmi's mouth. While the Masked Man had devised a strategy to counter him, Sōmi understood his opponent's fighting style better than anyone. If the Masked Man thought he could exploit an opening with close combat alone, then...
Despite Sōmi's Shukaku form being heavily armored in emerald-golden plating, his speed was completely unaffected.
Using the momentum of the golden cloud's dive, Sōmi's right claw slashed fiercely at the Masked Man.
Clang!
Surprisingly, the Masked Man didn't phase through the attack. Instead, he physically clashed with Sōmi, the sharp beast claw scraping against the black chain, sending sparks flying.
However, the chain appeared to be no ordinary weapon. Despite the ferocity of Sōmi's emerald-golden beast claw, the chain showed no signs of breaking or damage.
Suddenly—
As the force behind the beast claw grew heavier, the Masked Man's chain seemed to vanish into another dimension, becoming intangible. Sōmi's claw, losing its opposing force, continued downward due to inertia.
The Masked Man's blood-red eye glowed intensely, his Mangekyō Sharingan with its scythe-like pattern fixating on Sōmi. He intended to channel his ocular power directly into Shukaku's Chakra within Sōmi.
If he could strip away the Tailed Beast Chakra surrounding Sōmi, he could instantly pull him into Kamui's Dimension.
Once inside Kamui's Dimension, Sōmi would be at the Masked Man's mercy. Even if he couldn't kill him outright, he could simply starve him to death.
However, the Masked Man was unaware that someone in Sunagakure had already mastered the ability to open Kamui's Dimension proficiently.
But soon, the Masked Man's plan fell apart. He realized that the seal on Sōmi's abdomen was unexpectedly sturdy!
If an ordinary Tailed Beast seal was like a sheet of paper in the face of the Mangekyō Sharingan's power, and the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was like a sheet of cardboard, then the seal on Sōmi's abdomen was like layers of interlocking steel armor—astonishingly robust.
"What kind of seal is this?!"
As the Masked Man's ocular power failed to break through, a look of intense shock flashed across his eye.
Of course, this was partly because the Masked Man's Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't specialized in genjutsu, and he only had a single ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, not even a pair. Against Sōmi, who was fully prepared, his ocular power was insignificant.
Nevertheless, the Masked Man had undergone "combat training" in the "illusion space" of the Old Dancer.
Though his plan had failed, his movements didn't falter. Using his momentum, he twisted his body mid-air, swinging the chain toward Sōmi's neck.
But Sōmi's reaction defied the laws of inertia. After his claw missed, instead of following through downward, he used the golden cloud's momentum to engage the Masked Man in close combat.
Clang! Clang! Bang! Bang!
The Masked Man moved with exceptional agility, leaping between the ground and the air. In his left hand, he wielded a sharp, forked wooden spike, while his right hand swung the chain.
Whenever he found an opening, he attempted to touch Sōmi's body, intending to activate Kamui and pull him into the alternate dimension.
However, Sōmi, aware of the Masked Man's intentions, coated his Shukaku-transformed body with a layer of violet Cursed Seals!
Even though the Masked Man didn't give him the opportunity to unleash a powerful Sage Art, Sōmi was still able to activate the Cursed Seal ability fused with Shukaku.
After a prolonged exchange, the Masked Man finally realized that he couldn't defeat Sōmi on his own.
When the violet patterns appeared on Sōmi's body, the Masked Man found it increasingly difficult to manipulate the surrounding space with Kamui. His absorption speed dropped significantly.
Under such conditions, there was no way Sōmi could be dragged into Kamui's Dimension.
"Heh!"
"If this is all you've got, then you can take your regrets with you and bid this world farewell!"
Sōmi leaped down from the golden cloud, landing opposite the Masked Man. As he crouched and pressed his hands to the ground, he taunted his opponent.
A few meters away, the two were surrounded by the towering, square blood-red barrier. The surface of the barrier burned with what seemed like blood flames.
Yet Sōmi didn't seem to mind the enclosed space. He made no immediate attempt to break the barrier.
"Sage Art: Golden Prison Soul Dance!"
Rumble!
The ground before Sōmi collapsed, and sand infused with golden light surged upward, swallowing rocks, soil, and grass into the depths.
As the sand churned violently, it began to take on a violet hue under the infusion of Sōmi's Senjutsu Chakra.
This was violet-gold sand imbued with sealing properties!
"Hmm?!"
"Why haven't Zetsu and the others arrived yet?!"
The Masked Man's thoughts turned anxious. He was beginning to realize that he couldn't take down Sōmi alone.
Even his most powerful Wood Release techniques were ineffective!
Sōmi's Chakra wasn't just Tailed Beast Chakra; it was Senjutsu Chakra, fused with Natural Energy. Against such power, the Masked Man's half-baked Wood Release was only effective against ordinary Jinchūriki.
Boom!
The violet-gold sand didn't immediately attack the Masked Man. Instead, it surged upward like a tidal wave, encircling him and forming a glowing prison.
As Sōmi's hand seals changed, black runic patterns began to spread across the surface of the sand prison. The runes intertwined, transforming into silver chains that coiled tightly around the prison.
The chains gradually faded into an ethereal state, their sharp, pointed ends anchoring themselves into every corner of the prison.
Clink, clink!
The silver chains wrapped around the violet-gold prison, forming a crisscrossing pattern resembling the Eight Trigrams.
Sōmi clasped his hands together, his golden cross-shaped pupils fixed on the Masked Man within the prison.
Though the Masked Man remained in his intangible state, he was now trapped, unable to escape even in his phased form.
This explained why Sōmi had been so puzzled earlier—why the Masked Man had chosen to fight head-on rather than flee.
If the Masked Man had focused on escaping, Sōmi, without his sealing techniques prepared, would have had no way to capture him.
In the end, arrogance demands a price.
And for Sōmi, the best price is his enemy's life!
Time passed slowly...
Suddenly—
Sōmi's eyes narrowed sharply. In Sage Mode, he keenly sensed spatial fluctuations. As his hand seals changed—
Whoosh!
A dense violet-gold storm erupted within the prison!
Upon closer inspection, the storm was composed of countless razor-sharp golden blades, their edges glinting coldly.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound was like the buzzing of countless locusts and flies.
The Masked Man's black cloak with red clouds was shredded into pieces in an instant, revealing his body underneath.
What Sōmi saw made his expression shift.
It wasn't because Sōmi had any strange inclinations or was excited by the Masked Man's appearance. Rather, it was the sight of the Masked Man's right arm.
The arm was deathly pale, like that of a corpse, and embedded with multiple Sharingan, each with three tomoe, all staring directly at Sōmi...
"This guy..."
"He's imitating the Sensual Sun God, too..."
Sōmi wasn't intimidated by the eerie sight. Instead, he felt relieved—thankfully, he had prepared a trump card for today.
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