"Crack crack crack—!!"
The sound of shattering rang out crisp and sharp.
Before everyone's eyes, the violet-black Susanoo that had just been bombarded by hundreds of millstone-sized mud projectiles was smashed to pieces. The armor that had only just grown shattered into fragments, the ribs snapped one by one, and then all of it collapsed and dispersed into the void. Without a continuous supply of Uchiha Hatoha's chakra, the manifested form could no longer be maintained.
"What a chance!"
Inoichi Yamanaka couldn't help but shout in excitement.
With Susanoo dismantled, the unidentified Uchiha hiding within was fully exposed, his true body still immobilized by Shikaku Nara. There could hardly be a better opening to attack—and indeed, someone seized it at once.
"Lightning Blade Art: Lightning Flash Bullet."
"Hiramekarei: Blood Mist Blade Technique—Bone Spikes."
The figures of Ringo Ameyuri and Hōzuki Mangetsu appeared right in front of Hatoha.
Each wielding a ninja blade, they launched their assault on the now-unprotected Uchiha. Rather than choosing high-output techniques, they prioritized speed, unleashing the fastest attacks possible through their swords.
Brilliant spheres of lightning.
Long spikes condensed entirely from chakra.
Like a sudden downpour, they rained down toward Hatoha.
However—
Just as the lightning orbs and chakra spikes were about to strike—
"Wood Release: Rampant Spear Tree!"
Hatoha's left arm instantly swelled and distorted. From it grew a towering giant tree, completely concealing his body behind the trunk. Every lightning orb and chakra spike slammed squarely into the massive tree.
The lightning blasts blew chunks of bark and wood off the trunk, while the chakra spikes pierced deep into its core.
But unfortunately—
Because these attacks had sacrificed part of their destructive power for speed, they failed to penetrate the colossal tree and inflicted not the slightest injury on Hatoha.
Moreover, he used the opening to break free from Shikaku Nara's Shadow Imitation Technique.
"Careful, my Shadow Imitation's been broken!"
Shikaku shouted loudly.
His face had gone pale.
To restrain this unidentified Uchiha, he had swallowed a chakra-enhancing secret pill. But such medicine ultimately came at the cost of harming one's body and overdrawing the future for a brief surge of power. Once the effect ended, backlash was inevitable.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!!!"
The very next second—
A gigantic wooden golem, not inferior in size to Chōza Akimichi's giant form, rose up on the mountain path before Kogaku Temple. It swung its massive fist and smashed it straight toward Chōza.
Chōza reacted instantly, unshaken by the golem's appearance. He raised his left arm to block the punch, then swung his right fist toward the golem's head—
Because Uchiha Hatoha stood atop it.
But then—
Violet-black chakra surged around Hatoha once more. In less than a blink, translucent spectral ribs took shape, followed by a gigantic semi-transparent skeletal hand extending outward. It caught Chōza's right fist and clamped down on it tightly.
Seizing the opportunity, the wooden golem swung its left fist and slammed it hard into Chōza's abdomen.
"Urgh—!"
Chōza doubled over like a cooked shrimp, retching uncontrollably as saliva spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Yet his right fist remained firmly locked in Susanoo's grip. He couldn't release the force of his blow, retreat to widen the distance, or even shrink to dodge the golem's punches. At this moment, he didn't dare cancel Partial Expansion Technique.
The Akimichi clan's expansion techniques weren't mere size changes like an inflated balloon. Mass changed along with volume. In the Partial Expansion state, Chōza possessed weight, strength, and durability fully proportional to his size.
Which meant—
In giant form, a punch from the wooden golem merely made him retch.
But if he dared to cancel the technique and shrink, then taking a single direct hit from the golem would likely turn him into a puddle of flesh on the spot.
And so Chōza could only grit his teeth, forcing himself to maintain Partial Expansion, enduring the golem's crushing blows head-on.
Just as the wooden golem drew back its fist to strike Chōza's abdomen again—
At that moment—
Koeda Kyoichi rushed beneath the golem's feet.
"Sage Art: Earth Release—Adamant Subjugation Technique!"
Sage chakra surged violently into the ground.
Amid thunderous tremors that shook the mountains, a towering rock behemoth burst forth from beneath the golem. It wrapped both arms around the golem's legs, braced its shoulder against its abdomen, and hoisted it high into the air before hurling it violently into the distance.
The wooden golem tumbled down the hillside,
Flattening swathes of forest in its wake.
Standing atop the golem, Hatoha sensed danger the instant it was lifted. He leapt away at once, distancing himself from the golem and avoiding being thrown along with it by the stone giant. In doing so, however, Chōza seized the moment to break free from Susanoo's grip.
Immediately after,
His body shrank rapidly.
Chōza returned to normal size, his face deathly pale. Staggering, he retreated to Shikaku and Inoichi's side. Before the golem had been thrown away, he had taken a full five punches head-on—three ribs shattered, his condition deteriorating rapidly.
"Shikaku… Inoichi… that guy is too strong…"
Chōza said with difficulty.
Shikaku, face equally pale, said nothing.
He was now suffering the backlash from the secret medicine himself, his condition scarcely better than Chōza's.
Among the three, Inoichi was in the best shape—but with Shikaku and Chōza severely weakened, the Ino–Shika–Cho formation had been broken. No matter how well he fared individually, it meant little. Their combined combat power had dropped to almost nothing.
"Shikaku, what do we do now?"
Inoichi had already released the Mind Transmission Link, supporting the barely standing Chōza while instinctively turning to the strategist of their trio.
"…We wait."
Shikaku took a breath and answered with effort.
If it had only been the three of them facing this unidentified Uchiha, they would likely already be thinking about final words, just like the late Sarutobi Takeo.
Fortunately, the Kiri ninja were still fighting alongside them—
And among them was Koeda Kyoichi, a top-tier powerhouse.