Chapter 327: Undersea Nuclear Blast! Six-Element Wooden Golem!
"What is that!?"
As the seabed grew increasingly bright, Bailan suddenly froze mid-step. His gaze flickered uncertainly, filled with disbelief.
It was as if the ocean beneath his feet had become the resting place of the sun itself,
And at this moment—
It was the dawn of a new sun rising from the abyss!
The sun below the sea and the moon in the sky were now split by the sea surface into two distinct realms.
Then—
Amidst the anxious cries of seagulls flapping in distress and the sudden suffocating pressure that seized the air—
Suddenly,
Bailan realized the sea beneath his feet was rising.
In less than two seconds, the surface of the ocean surged straight up nearly 200 meters into the air.
The entire sea swelled like a colossal white mountain,
Bathed in the light of the moon—
"Gulp—!!" Bailan involuntarily swallowed hard, then sharply turned his head and barked at White Zetsu on his shoulder,
"Something's coming up!"
"Hurry up—merge with me! We need to get out of here!"
All he could feel was the sea beneath his feet violently and chaotically quaking as his body was lifted into the sky.
The turbulent current made it nearly impossible for him to maintain his footing in the water.
As he skimmed backward, his toes barely brushing the white wave crests, he turned to see that White Zetsu was still motionless on his shoulder.
"Seriously!?"
Bailan couldn't help but glare at him again.
"So magnificent~"
White Zetsu was staring intently at the mountain of white water, completely entranced by the sight.
"What the hell are you dazing off for?!"
Bailan roared, furious at his lack of urgency.
"Oh! Right." White Zetsu snapped back to his senses. After one last glance at the scene before him, his body dissolved into branch-like tendrils that wrapped around Bailan, forming a pale-white armor over him.
An enormous surge of chakra poured into his body, and the Third Mizukage suddenly moved with the agility and vigor of his youth.
"Haaah…"
Bailan let out a deep breath, barely suppressing a groan of exhilaration.
But there was no time to savor the sudden surge in power—his expression quickly turned grim as he sprang backward from the sea's surface in a flash.
At that moment,
The towering white "mountain" before him suddenly ballooned out like a giant cauliflower, expanding violently in all directions as if detonating!
It exploded from the center—
And then, as if something had detonated deep beneath the sea, a shockwave blasted nearly a million tons of seawater straight into the sky. The resulting column of water soared 1000 meters into the air!
"BOOOOM!!!"
With a deafening blast, a figure burst out, using the explosion's force to leap nearly 800 meters across the sea—
Like a seabird gliding through the air, heading straight for Bailan!
It was Uchiha Ci!
His partially-formed Sage Heart couldn't contain all the natural energy in a ten-kilometer radius. Once he reached his heart's limit, he funneled the excess into a regenerative barrier 100 meters underwater—and detonated it. He used the blast's propulsion to pursue the Third Mizukage across the surface of the sea.
At this moment—
The distance between them was closing fast!
"Damn it… How the hell is this brat pulling this off!?"
Bailan cast a sidelong glance at the terrifying scene behind him, his scalp tingling.
Forget creating something like this—he wouldn't even survive an explosion of that scale, let alone harness it to perform some high-flying acrobatic stunt like this lunatic!
Now realizing escape was impossible—
Bailan abruptly pivoted, digging his heel into the surging sea to stop his momentum. Then he gritted his teeth, spun around, and brought his hands together in a seal.
"If you're in such a hurry to die…"
"Then I'll show you a power beyond some ordinary Uchiha—"
His expression twisted, eyes flashing with a cold glint.
"…the forbidden force of the world!"
With White Zetsu supplying vast amounts of chakra, combined with Bailan's own Ice Release bloodline limit, and further enhanced by White Zetsu's five elemental releases and a slew of forbidden techniques—
"Wood Style: Wooden Golem Technique!"
Bailan's hands slammed together in a seal, his pale-white palms—now fused with White Zetsu—struck the surface of the sea with a loud slap!
In an instant,
Countless thick vines burst forth from the ocean, surging, twisting, and weaving together—
A towering wooden golem over 40 meters tall erupted from the sea, seated cross-legged, bracing against the oncoming tsunami, the crashing waves, and the diving Uchiha Ci!
From the forehead of the Buddha-like statue sprouted six heads, all baring massive jaws that simultaneously unleashed six icy dragons!
"Six-Element Ice Dragon Burst!"
The six colossal ice dragons opened their maws once more, each charged with the immense power of the five elemental releases—Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning—hurtling straight toward Uchiha Ci!
Unlike the miniature wooden golem created when White Zetsu had fused with Yamato—complete with the True Several Thousand Hands—
This current wooden giant, summoned by Bailan, had no such forest of limbs behind it.
Only a radiant halo like a Buddha's backlight adorned it, and it sat motionless upon the sea.
Its reach was limited solely to the span of its two wooden hands.
However—
Even if this was nothing more than a diluted, recycled, and butchered version of the legendary technique,
Bailan was certain:
In the face of this long-lost power, once wielded by the mythical God of Shinobi—
Uchiha Ci didn't stand a chance!
Right then, Uchiha Ci's rapidly approaching figure suddenly tensed!
Staring at the massive wooden golem, the six elemental dragons, and Bailan standing atop the golem's head—his hands forming seals, his robes shredded, his entire body wrapped in pale-white material—
His pupils contracted sharply!
Though he had anticipated that the Land of Water might have fallen under Uchiha Madara's control, and that the Third Mizukage could be tied to that true Demon of the Shinobi World—
Now, seeing that wooden golem, and the thing on Bailan called "Vortex White Zetsu"—
There was no mistaking it.
It was the very same White Zetsu body that would one day bind itself to Uchiha Obito, steering countless tragedies to come!
Uchiha Ci's heart sank as his face darkened.
This meant—
Uchiha Madara had truly taken notice of him.
The ambush by the Kirigakure forces hadn't been a coincidence.
Moreover—
His actions might have already interfered with Madara's "Eye of the Moon" plan.
Which meant—
Madara wanted him dead!
Therefore,
Uchiha Ci had little time left!
He had to kill Uchiha Madara before the man deemed him a serious enough threat to retrieve the Rinnegan and act personally.
At this thought, an intense urgency flared in Ci's eyes.
The sheer power of Uchiha Madara was beyond question. Even in his aged form, Once he reclaimed the Rinnegan from Nagato and unleashed the jutsu known as Limbo: Border Jail, There would be no one left in the Shinobi World capable of stopping him.
That, precisely, was the threshold of the so-called "Six Paths" level.
But—
Since the Rinnegan was still with Nagato, there was still a chance.
In his current aged state and without the Rinnegan, Madara remained terrifyingly powerful—but not yet invincible.
With this in mind, Uchiha Ci refocused, his wandering thoughts narrowing as his gaze locked onto the nearby Third Mizukage, Bailan. His eyes narrowed.