Chapter 67: The Battle's End
"Rage!"
The terrifying black flames immediately spread, violently burning the lava shield. Suddenly, Uchiha Naoki seemed to sense something, and his chest was instantly sheathed in a layer of Armament Haki.
The next moment!
The Totsuka Blade 'stabbed' through the lava shield and struck Uchiha Naoki's chest.
CLANG!
The crisp sound of metal colliding echoed in all directions. But this was something Uchiha Itachi never expected. Shouldn't it have pierced straight through the flesh and sealed Uchiha Naoki? He looked at the black substance on Uchiha Naoki's chest with blurred vision, feeling inexplicably shocked. "What kind of Kekkei Genkai is this? It can even block the Totsuka Blade's thrust!"
But Amaterasu had spread along the momentum, so he had to retract this power. Simultaneously, the Yata Mirror blocked in front of him again.
The next moment!
"Too Slow!"
The giant lava fist, tearing through the air with explosive force, smashed heavily onto the Yata Mirror. Immediately, heaven and earth thundered; an extremely terrifying shockwave roared forth, capable of blasting the earth apart.
Gush!
Uchiha Itachi vomited another mouthful of blood, and Susano'o was forced back. The ground along the way exploded, leaving a mess of shattered rock.
"What terrifying power!" Uchiha Itachi coughed up blood. This was power capable of wrestling head-on with a Tailed Beast, yet he was actually overpowered by this giant lava fist. The strength was truly fearsome.
His eyes focused again. "Amaterasu—"
Gush!
But just as he gathered his strength, he covered his mouth and spat out another mouthful of blood. The Sharingan was backfiring! He had exceeded the maximum power he could currently handle. His body couldn't hold on any longer!
Huff!
Huff!
As he panted heavily, Susano'o also vanished due to his overdrawn strength. His vision blurred, his chakra nearly exhausted, he had no strength left to fight.
"Cough, it hurts!" On the distant lava field, Uchiha Naoki stood up from the lava, grinning as he clutched his sunken chest. When Uchiha Itachi was forced back, he too was sent flying by the Totsuka Blade's strike. His body bore extensive burns—injuries sustained earlier when facing Amaterasu. Combined with the serious chest wound, his condition wasn't too optimistic.
"Brother Sasori, Deidara, do you wish to continue?" Uchiha Naoki asked without opening his eyes. He wouldn't let his guard down until Uchiha Itachi left. The distance was so close—what if Uchiha Itachi, despite his severe injuries, hit him with a "Koto Amatsukami"?
"Although I know I'm definitely not your match..." The Scarlet Sand Scorpion was full of fighting spirit upon hearing this. "I still want to see just how big the gap in strength between us is now!" The Third Kazekage puppet condensed extremely sharp weapons around its body. "If I miss this chance, I don't know when we'll meet again!"
As he spoke, he tossed out a few soldier pills. "I won't make a move until you've recovered your strength!"
Seeing this, Deidara said excitedly, "There's still me, there's me!" He sat on the large clay bird. "Brother Naoki, don't forget about me! Even someone as strong as Itachi was defeated by you. If I can defeat you, then my art will be proven worthy!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Naoki laughed and took the Scarlet Sand Scorpion's soldier pills. "Then come!" He wasn't worried the Scarlet Sand Scorpion would poison him! A man of his caliber disdained such methods.
But the Scarlet Sand Scorpion's act of "aiding the enemy" made Uchiha Itachi sigh. This really wasn't a wise choice. Of course, he couldn't stop it!
Whoosh!
Deidara immediately flew away. "Brother Naoki, your lava elementalization is really tricky. But I wonder how long you can maintain it?" He spat out a large amount of clay bombs and threw them down. "Prove it to me!"
And as he acted, the Third Kazekage puppet controlled by the Scarlet Sand Scorpion also moved.
"Iron Sand Gathering: Storm!"
The Third Kazekage spread wings on its back, and the spikes floating around its body shot forth. Simultaneously, the wings stirred up a massive gust of wind and dust, scattering toward Uchiha Naoki. All were dense iron sand particles that could be inhaled into the human body.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Uchiha Naoki ignored the iron sand long spikes through elementalization. But facing the iron sand wind and dust rushing toward him, he became serious for a moment. "Other iron sand attacks are ignored by my elementalization, so you came up with this method? If I'm not careful, I'll inhale it into my body, and then I'll be directly obstructed internally, even with an elemental body. Because I'm breathing in this iron dust as long as I'm breathing."
Uchiha Naoki admired inwardly. "What a brilliant idea! This way, his poison can also take effect! In that case, let's eliminate Deidara in the sky first!" Although he was the weakest, holding aerial superiority and harassing him from time to time would still make Uchiha Naoki very uncomfortable. While elementalization was good, it consumed a lot of energy. Rather than constantly guarding against Deidara with elementalization, it was better to eliminate this unstable factor first.
Seeing Uchiha Naoki charge at Deidara first, and after the Scarlet Sand Scorpion created an iron sand barrier for the already collapsed Uchiha Itachi, he also manipulated the Third Kazekage to launch an attack and give chase. Aerial superiority—the Third Kazekage had it too!
But!
"Brother Sasori, aren't you underestimating me?" Uchiha Naoki's voice suddenly rang in the Scarlet Sand Scorpion's ears. "Chasing me in the air while ignoring my feet isn't a mistake!"
The moment the words fell, just as the Scarlet Sand Scorpion realized something was wrong, a pillar of red lava forced him to immediately use a Sand Clone. The Third Kazekage's forward momentum suddenly stalled.
BOOM!
The next moment, Uchiha Naoki mercilessly punched, shattering half of the Third Kazekage's body. But the Scarlet Sand Scorpion had been with Uchiha Naoki for so long and knew his combat style too well. The Third Kazekage immediately turned into a Sand Clone. Undoubtedly, the Scarlet Sand Scorpion had anticipated Uchiha Naoki's blow.
"Excellent!" Uchiha Naoki couldn't help but praise.
But at that moment, Deidara had already seized the opportunity to attack. A dense cluster of explosive clay bombs landed before Uchiha Naoki.
"Now!" Immediately, Uchiha Naoki was completely enveloped in the explosion.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Lava splattered everywhere, falling to the ground with an extremely scorching heat, instantly igniting the forest. The Scarlet Sand Scorpion was undoubtedly affected and immediately used the Third Kazekage to create a defensive block.
Swoosh!
But immediately, another stream of crimson lava shot out from the explosion's smoke and dust, heading straight for Deidara in the sky.
"Brother Naoki, if you want to catch me, I won't let you succeed!" Seeing this, Deidara quickly steered the bird higher into the sky.
"Is that so?" Uchiha Naoki's voice came from the lava. He immediately separated several lava arms, blasting forth like a large net predicting all of Deidara's flight paths, lunging toward Deidara. No matter where Deidara hid, he would inevitably be shot down.