"Ha ha! As expected of Sōtō: Hiramekarei (Twin Swords: Hiramekarei)! I want it more and more!"
Suigetsu even had the leisure to watch Chojuro's fight. Seeing the power of Sōtō: Hiramekarei (Twin Swords: Hiramekarei), he became even more covetous. Unfortunately, he was currently being dogged by this hot-blooded big guy and couldn't get away for the moment.
He cursed, "Oi! Fire-sword guy! I'm not fighting you, I wanna fight that glasses kid!"
"So hot."
What answered him was Atsui's catchphrase, followed by an even more ferocious Unryū Kaen Zan (Cloud-Style Flame Slash). Each swing of the blade was faster than the last, driving Suigetsu back step by step.
Catching Suigetsu in an opening, Atsui whipped his sword down at Suigetsu's head in a vicious arc.
But—splash!
It was the sound of water.
Suigetsu's head exploded into spray and then quickly reformed, as if he hadn't taken any damage at all.
"The Hōzuki clan's Suika no Jutsu (Hydrification Technique)?"
Atsui wasn't surprised. In fact, he got even more fired up and ramped up his assault.
On Kurotsuchi and Guren's side, their battle was intense enough to shake the rafters. Both women were strong at taijutsu, and after exchanging dozens of blows they were still deadlocked. Kurotsuchi's close combat might be superior, but Guren's Shōton (Crystal Release) was too dangerous, forcing Kurotsuchi to constantly stay on guard. That was the only reason their fight was at an even fifty–fifty.
Meanwhile, Neji and Kabuto were locked in a clash of two different Sage eyes.
The Tenseigan's (Reincarnation Eye) gravity and the Rinnegan's (Samsara Eye) Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull) were locked in a tug-of-war, the space between them twisting more and more.
"Heh, as expected. Another Sennin-gan (Sage Eye) like the Rinnegan… I really do want your eyes too."
Kabuto stared greedily at Neji's blue eyes, then suddenly unleashed Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), sending a powerful surge of repulsive force crashing toward Neji. But Neji was no longer the same as before. His reactions were sharper, his mastery far higher.
He released his own repulsive force in response, blocking Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push) head-on.
And Kabuto clearly wasn't used to this power yet. His Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push) came out as an instant burst, not a sustained push—like tapping a skill button in a game instead of holding it down. Because of that, the jutsu didn't last, and immediately entered cooldown.
Neji's repulsive force, however, continued past the point of collision. After neutralizing Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), it kept going and slammed straight into Kabuto.
Boom!
Kabuto's body smashed through the lab wall, blasting open a huge hole.
Fortunately, his heavily modified body was tough, so he only took minor injuries. But he understood clearly that Neji's mastery of the Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye) was far beyond his own grasp of the Rinnegan.
He'd obtained the Rinnegan not long ago. Not only was he nowhere near proficient with its abilities, but its chakra consumption was also huge.
As for his other techniques… against the Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye), they probably wouldn't do much.
If this kept up, he would definitely lose.
"This won't do. I need a helper. Right, I haven't tried the Rinnegan's Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) yet. If I summon that monster out, things should get interesting."
Once the idea occurred to him, Kabuto became visibly manic.
He activated the Rinnegan, and in the next instant, a huge, tree-stump-like monster appeared behind him. Without so much as a word, it thrust a bunch of black rods straight into Kabuto's back.
"Oi! What the hell?! I called you out to fight the enemy, not to stab me!" Kabuto snapped.
"Raaagh!"
The answer was the Gedō Mazō's (Outer Path Demonic Statue) enraged roar.
Just moments ago at the main base, it had been burned painfully by Amaterasu (Heavenly Illumination Black Flames) and was already in a fury. Now, having been abruptly summoned here, how could it not be angry?
On top of that, the one who'd summoned it clearly couldn't truly control the Rinnegan's power. That meant there was no need to be polite.
First things first—plug in the charger.
It started a fierce drain, almost instantly sucking Kabuto's chakra dry.
Kabuto visibly shrank, his whole body thinning out. His chakra reserves were never huge to begin with, and the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue) was draining both fast and hard—there was no way he could endure that.
He quickly realized what was going on. "So that's how it is. Of course that bastard Obito would do this, no wonder he was so eager to trade. Just you wait. I'll make you pay big someday. Your sun and moon are called Nohara Rin, right? You'll definitely get to see her."
The Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue), feeling like its "one sip and it's gone" was a raw deal, was full of disdain.
Still, it would do the work it was brought here for.
It pulled out the black rods, then turned toward Neji and spat out a torrent of chakra dragons, trying to strip Neji's chakra away as well.
Neji immediately unleashed repulsive force and blasted the chakra dragons aside. He and his teammates all stared at the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue) with grim expressions.
Except for Atsui, everyone else had seen the truth scrolls at the Five Kage Summit. They instantly guessed what they were looking at and were both shocked and elated, their emotions too tangled to describe.
"That's the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue), right? It is the Gedō Mazō, isn't it?"
"No doubt. That's definitely the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue)!"
"Talk about being gift-wrapped and delivered to us."
Back when Jiraiya was picking members for the sealing squad, the main target had been the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue). The ones who didn't get selected for that mission had sulked for quite a while. Their mood had only improved after they got the assignment to go after Kabuto.
They never imagined that everything would turn around like this—and Kabuto himself would summon the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue) right to them.
What were they waiting for? Time to take everything down in one go.
There was no way they were going to pass up a windfall like this.
"Sōtō: Hiramekarei Kaihō (Twin Swords: Hiramekarei Unleashed)!"
Catching Jūgo before he could get fully back on his feet, Chojuro immediately fired off a chakra blast from Sōtō: Hiramekarei Kaihō (Twin Swords: Hiramekarei Unleashed) toward the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue). With a thunderous boom, the statue only staggered back a few steps.
You had to understand—this was the kind of chakra blast that could blow away Sasuke's Susanoo. And yet it had only managed to make the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue) retreat a little.
The Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue) was far from weak.
First of all, its outer shell was unbelievably tough. If your attack power wasn't high enough, you could forget about breaking through its defenses.
Kankuro was even more surprised.
This shy, hesitant-looking Chojuro really did jump at the chance to earn credit.
In that case, he would…
Before Kankuro could jump in, Jūgo had already recovered and come charging back, leaving Kankuro feeling extremely put out.
Still, he didn't dwell on it too much. Chojuro's attacks hadn't even managed to breach the Gedō Mazō's (Outer Path Demonic Statue) armor; his puppets wouldn't be able to do much either. He'd be better off just focusing on fighting this berserk weirdo in front of him.
On the other side, Temari swung her fan in a wide arc, unleashing a powerful blast of cutting wind.
The Wind Release jutsu slammed into the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue), but it didn't even make the statue sway, let alone damage it.
At that, everyone's eyes grew even more serious.
Even Kurotsuchi, who had initially wanted to try something, didn't act rashly anymore.
Kabuto slowly recovered, then laughed. "This guy's not easy to deal with. You might as well sit tight and wait to die. Your Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye) will be mine, and you'll all become Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) puppets. Then I'll send you to fight the Allied Forces. Ha ha ha ha!"
Atsui, Kurotsuchi, Temari, Kankuro, and Chojuro all narrowed their eyes dangerously.
They wished they could kill Kabuto on the spot.
Only Neji remained perfectly calm. He silently took up the stance of the Eight Trigrams, his Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye) glowing an even deeper, eerie blue.
"Jūken: Hakke Rokujūyon Shinkūshō (Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Divine Vacuum Palms)!"
In the next second, his hands flew, palms striking out at extreme speed. But instead of simple air-pressure strikes, what blasted forth was the Tenseigan's (Reincarnation Eye) repulsive force.
That violent power slammed into the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demonic Statue), sending the massive statue flying backward.
(End of Chapter)[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"][Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop][Thanks for Reading!]