Fūka's legs shot forward, clamping tightly around Ōnoki's head.
With a fierce twist, she slammed Ōnoki hard into the ground, then stomped down repeatedly, each blow landing squarely on his skull.
Her strength was immense. In no time, Ōnoki's head was buried deep into the earth.
Just as Fūka raised her foot for the finishing strike, her expression abruptly changed—she had sensed something. Without hesitation, she flung herself sideways.
The next instant, a beam of white light flashed through the exact spot where she had been standing.
The Ōnoki on the ground crumbled into scattered rocks and dirt.
"Damn it—a earth clone? Was it back then?"
Fūka rolled away, hands flying through seals as she unleashed a technique toward the source of the light.
"Earth Style: Mud Wizard!"
In her mind, she pieced together when Ōnoki had made the switch.
It must have been the moment he raised his Earth Flow Wall. In that brief instant, her eyes had lost track of him.
A torrent of mud and stone surged forward, roaring toward Ōnoki.
"Earth Style: Hardening Technique."
Ōnoki didn't dodge. He simply activated his own earth release, calming the mudslide and turning it back into ordinary ground.
"Hmph, brat. Using Earth Style in front of me? You're not even taking me seriously."
As he spoke, Ōnoki summoned chunks of rock to orbit around him and charged straight at Fūka.
"As expected of the Tsuchikage. Far trickier than I imagined."
Fūka gave a light laugh. She showed no frustration at having her technique neutralized, her eyes locked unblinkingly on Ōnoki's every movement.
The distance between them rapidly closed. Ōnoki struck first.
Several of the orbiting rocks broke off and hurtled toward Fūka.
"Water Style… no, I should dodge instead—"
She began forming seals, then instantly aborted the technique the moment she saw the white glow in Ōnoki's hands.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
The rocks had only been a feint. Ōnoki's true aim was to force Fūka into a direct ninjutsu clash, then erase her with Dust Release.
Though Fūka evaded in time, a portion of her hair was still grazed. It disintegrated into molecules and vanished.
"That was close. If I were still my old self, I would have lost a chunk of my life by now."
Fūka gently touched the severed ends of her hair with a hint of regret, a vicious glint flashing through her eyes.
Had she not obtained Ōtsutsuki Shibai's cells and remade her body, the outcome would have been unthinkable.
"I seem to have underestimated the old man a little."
"Water Style!"
A violent torrent erupted from the ground like a water dragon, coiling once before crashing down toward Ōnoki.
Ōnoki leaped into the air, easily avoiding the flood.
"Tch."
Fūka clicked her tongue in annoyance.
She had planned to combine water and lightning release against him, but this short old man was not only small and hard to hit—he could also fly.
This wasn't good. Was she really unable to do anything to him despite sacrificing Fūen's arm?
As Fūka considered her next move, her ears twitched. Her expression changed again.
She sensed Kitsuchi's boat approaching. If she didn't decide quickly, she would soon face enemies on both sides.
Without hesitation, Fūka poured massive chakra into a wide-area wind release.
A gigantic tornado laced with pink petals engulfed the entire battlefield.
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed. Realizing Fūka intended to flee, he unleashed Dust Release without a second thought.
A massive white cube enveloped the tornado. White light flared, and the battlefield fell silent.
Fūka and Fūen had already used the Hiding in Rock Technique to vanish underground, completely disappearing from Ōnoki's sight.
"Tch, Hiding in Rock, huh?"
Ōnoki landed, running his hand over the perfectly smooth ground left by Dust Release, deducing their escape method.
Confirming they were long gone, he gave up the chase and searched for the abducted researchers instead.
Soon he found the barely-breathing Sorata and several fallen researchers beside him.
"Damn it… still too late?"
Ōnoki flew anxiously to their side.
Just when he thought the attack was over, Kitsuchi's reinforcement team ran into serious trouble.
"You're pretty capable."
Kitsuchi wiped the blood from his forehead and glared at the motionless man standing some distance away.
Artificial human Ras.
He had appeared out of nowhere, shattering a stone ship tall enough to rival a small building with a single punch. Several shinobi were caught off guard, buried beneath the collapsing rubble—dead or alive unknown.
To protect his comrades, Kitsuchi had taken a heavy stone slab to the back. Sharp fragments had also sliced his forehead, blood pouring freely.
"Damn it—cover Kitsuchi-sama!"
Two lightly wounded Iwagakure shinobi, unaware of Ras's true power, rushed forward to test him.
"Wait—!"
Kitsuchi tried to stop them, but it was too late.
With no choice, he supported them with ninjutsu.
The ground beneath Ras instantly turned to quicksand, dragging him downward.
Even so, Ras remained perfectly still, calmly waiting as the two kunai-wielding Iwagakure shinobi closed in from both sides.
Then, in an instant, he seized both their arms and yanked them down into the swamp, burying their heads completely.
"Earth Style: Earth Core Shifting!"
Kitsuchi refused to let his men drown. He quickly dispelled the swamp, then raised the ground beneath Ras.
He himself charged forward, arms encased in rock.
The moment he entered range, he released the technique. Ras dropped rapidly. The sudden up-and-down motion forced Ras to release the two shinobi.
Kitsuchi had timed it perfectly. As Ras fell to the right height, he unleashed a full-power punch.
"Ugh…!"
Shockingly, the one who groaned in pain was Kitsuchi.
His ferocious strike hadn't landed on Ras at all. Instead, Ras kicked him hard in the side, blood spilling from Kitsuchi's mouth.
Yet Kitsuchi didn't stop. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he kept swinging.
A trace of surprise finally appeared on Ras's face. The last Konoha shinobi he'd hit this way—Asuma—had collapsed in agony.
This burly man was clearly far tougher than that bearded fool.
The two began trading blows.
Ras's expression remained unchanged, while Kitsuchi grew increasingly alarmed with every exchange.
Ras's bare fists were actually stronger than Kitsuchi's rock-encased arms.
Every strike pierced through the stone and transmitted pure pain.
From the sensation, Kitsuchi was certain his palms were already fractured.
What kind of joke was this? His Rock Fist Technique could repel even tailed beasts!
Fists ineffective, Kitsuchi switched to kicks.
Ras anticipated it. Their shins collided.
With a single impact, blood sprayed from the opposite side of Kitsuchi's leg—Ras's attack had punched straight through the limb.
His leg crippled, Kitsuchi's body swayed. He dropped to one knee.
Ras seized the chance and swung a fist toward his head.
Kitsuchi clenched his teeth, refusing to dodge. He formed seals on his own.
Two massive hemispherical domes rose from the ground, closing in on them both.
This technique could suppress even a tailed beast—it was Kitsuchi's strongest anti-army move.
Against an entire legion, no one could escape unless they possessed space-time ninjutsu like Minato.
This time, however, Kitsuchi himself was inside the range.
"Lord Kitsuchi!!!"
The shinobi who had just crawled from the rubble cried out in horror.
They realized Kitsuchi intended to perish together with the enemy.
For the first time, emotion flickered across Ras's face. Seeing the technique's massive scope, he knew he had to escape immediately.
Even with his superhuman artificial body, being crushed between those domes would turn him into paste.
He abandoned the attack on Kitsuchi, preparing to leap away with strength far beyond human limits.
But the moment he moved, an intense pulling force locked his feet in place.
"?"
Looking down, he saw his feet encased in rock—another of Kitsuchi's traps.
"Damn you!"
Though Ras shattered the bindings with raw power, the two hemispheres had already reached their closing positions.
There was no escape.
BOOM——
A tremendous collision, accompanied by a storm of dust, blinded the horrified Iwagakure shinobi.
When the dust finally settled, an enormous spherical boulder engraved with Iwagakure's emblem stood silently in place.
"Ki-Kitsuchi-sama!!!!"
...
"Redeem yourself through meritorious service"—again with the "redeem yourself through meritorious service." Can you people stop doing this to me already?
At Konoha's border, Jiraiya led a small team of Konoha shinobi.
Some distance behind, Kakashi followed with the now-healed Naruto and the others.
With the Fourth Hokage's endorsement, Obito had swiftly passed judgment on Jiraiya.
All of Jiraiya's illegal earnings were confiscated.
The considerable sum was held by Obito to be handed over to Takeshi upon his return.
Jiraiya himself received an indefinite sentence, commuted by the Fourth Hokage's special pardon into "meritorious service"—investigating recent anomalies along the border.
Jiraiya was long familiar with this routine. It was just another way to keep him from leaving the village.
The Third had done it, the Fifth had done it, and now the Fourth was doing it too. Yeah, he was used to it.
He had no objections—of course, that didn't mean there wasn't hatred in his heart.
Right now, on Jiraiya's personal "people I most want to kill" list, Takeshi had dropped to third place.
First was his idiot disciple Obito.
Second was the traitor who sold him out—Kakashi.
Jiraiya had already made up his mind: the moment they encountered an enemy, he would send Kakashi forward to "test the waters." Once Kakashi was half-dead, then he'd step in.
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