Chapter 687: Dust Release That Decomposes Everything vs. Infinity That Cannot Be Reached
The two stared at each other for half a minute before nodding in mutual understanding and moving at the same time.
Whoosh!
Chakra burst from beneath Ōnoki's feet, propelling his entire body upward.
"Earth Release: Super Light Weight Rock Technique!"
Immediately afterward, Ōnoki transformed the chakra within his body into Earth Release chakra, greatly reducing his own weight and allowing himself to float in the air.
Seeing Ōnoki take flight, Mugetsu temporarily stopped moving and silently watched him from the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spikes!"
While hovering in the air, Ōnoki rapidly formed hand seals.
Boom!
Numerous stone spikes erupted from beneath Mugetsu's feet, instantly transforming the ground around him into a dense forest of jagged rock, as though intending to pierce his body a hundred times over.
However, under the effect of Limitless, every stone spike stopped three centimeters away from Mugetsu.
Although it appeared as if the spikes had completely surrounded him, not a single one managed to touch even the edge of his clothes.
Bang! Bang!
Mugetsu casually swept out his hand.
The stone spikes surrounding him shattered instantly, as fragile as thin sheets of paper.
"Hmm?"
Ōnoki narrowed his eyes, realizing that things were not so simple.
He had never expected Earth Rising Spikes to defeat Sōsuke in a single attack, but the result of the technique was still unusually strange.
"Earth Release: Golem Technique!"
Ōnoki increased his altitude and formed another series of hand seals. A large amount of Earth Release chakra gathered in his throat before he spat out several enormous masses of rock.
Rumble!
The rocks rapidly combined in midair, forming a stone giant more than ten meters tall in the blink of an eye.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Dance!"
Mugetsu concentrated his breathing, converting an enormous amount of chakra into Fire Release chakra in a single breath.
He clasped his hands together and exhaled a vast torrent of flames, creating a raging sea of fire.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The ferocious flames swept across the ground, burning with such intense heat that they seemed intent on reducing everything combustible within their range to ashes.
The surrounding temperature rose sharply.
Even spectators such as Kitsuchi and Yahiko felt sweat form on their foreheads as their bodies were overwhelmed by the heat.
If the nearby ninja were already affected to such an extent, the stone giant standing at the center of the inferno had it far worse.
The moment the sea of fire engulfed it, the stone giant transformed into a blazing monster.
Before Ōnoki could control it and extinguish the flames, the golem lost stability and violently exploded.
Fragments of superheated stone shot in every direction.
"As expected of the Ninjutsu known as the strongest Fire Release. It's truly terrifying," Kitsuchi exclaimed while dodging the burning debris.
The Golem Technique was already one of the stronger defensive Earth Release Ninjutsu, yet even it had failed to withstand Sōsuke's flames.
The power of Sōsuke's Fire Release was obvious.
If someone attempted to block such flames with an ordinary defensive technique like Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, Kitsuchi could only say they were courting death.
It simply could not be stopped.
"Even the Golem Technique was ineffective. Do I have no choice but to use Dust Release?" Ōnoki frowned.
He had originally intended to use the golem to test Sōsuke's mysterious defense against Earth Rising Spikes.
Since the golem possessed both offensive and defensive capabilities, it should also have prevented Sōsuke from casually countering with another Ninjutsu.
However, Ōnoki had not expected Sōsuke's Fire Release to destroy it so easily.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
Ōnoki no longer hesitated.
He brought his hands together and condensed a large amount of chakra between his palms, performing the complex chakra nature transformation required for Dust Release.
He had not come here to defeat Sōsuke.
He had come to gather intelligence.
Everything had to be considered from the perspective of obtaining information, not winning the battle.
Ōnoki suddenly accelerated through the air, rapidly closing the distance between himself and Mugetsu.
Mugetsu also ran directly toward him.
The distance between the two quickly shortened.
Whoosh!
When only ten meters remained between them, Ōnoki suddenly released the Dust Release technique from his hands.
A dazzling white cylinder shot toward Sōsuke, who continued charging straight ahead.
"He isn't dodging?"
Ōnoki stared in confusion as Sōsuke continued approaching the Dust Release without changing direction.
Dust Release was not some closely guarded secret.
As early as the era of the Second Hokage, the Ninja World had already learned to fear the terrifying power of this Kekkei Tōta.
Given Sōsuke's displayed knowledge, it was impossible for him not to understand the danger of Dust Release.
Boom!
The cylindrical beam struck Sōsuke directly.
A deafening explosion shook the sky, followed by an incredibly dazzling white light that engulfed the entire area around him, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
Rumble!
The explosion's force tore through the ground.
The earth cracked like fragile glass, rocks were pulverized into fine sand, and vast amounts of soil were thrown into the air, forming a curtain of dust that swallowed the battlefield in chaos.
Every Iwagakure ninja stared gravely at the center of the explosion.
Their greatest hope was that when the dust cleared, no one would remain inside and Sōsuke would have been completely disintegrated.
Otherwise, the situation would be extremely unfavorable for Ōnoki.
Many Iwagakure ninja believed that the only reason Ōnoki was merely one of the Ninja World's strongest rather than the undisputed strongest was because Dust Release was difficult to land against other top tier opponents.
If that accuracy problem could be resolved, then their Third Tsuchikage would undoubtedly become the strongest ninja of the new era.
However, if Sōsuke could withstand Dust Release head on, then Ōnoki truly had no method of defeating him, even if an elite squad assisted by creating openings.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind swept outward from the center of the explosion, dispersing the dense dust and revealing Mugetsu standing there completely unharmed.
"How is this possible?!"
Ōnoki's eyes widened sharply, his pupils expanding in disbelief.
His eyebrows rose so high that they nearly touched his receding hairline.
His mouth opened slightly, but no sound emerged for several moments. Only a faint gasp escaped him, revealing the shock surging through his heart.
At that moment, Ōnoki suspected that he had been caught in a Genjutsu.
"Genjutsu: Release!"
Drawing on his extensive experience, Ōnoki immediately stabilized his chakra and attempted to dispel the illusion.
Unfortunately, the scene before his eyes did not change at all.
Sōsuke still showed no sign of injury.
Even his white robe remained perfectly intact.
"Why is this happening?!"
Ōnoki could not understand it.
He felt as though his common sense as a ninja was being completely overturned.
Even if Sōsuke had somehow avoided being disintegrated by Dust Release, the massive explosion that followed should at least have damaged his clothes.
"He blocked Dust Release head on and remained completely unharmed."
A tremendous wave of shock surged through Kitsuchi's heart.
Ōnoki had once attempted to teach Dust Release to Kitsuchi, but Kitsuchi had failed to learn it.
Although he had not mastered Dust Release himself, that experience had given him a deep understanding of its power.
That was precisely why Kitsuchi found this scene even more unbelievable than the other Iwagakure jonin.
This was Dust Release.
A Kekkei Tōta that surpassed ordinary Kekkei Genkai.
It was not some common high powered Ninjutsu.
Compared to the Iwagakure ninja, the Ninshū spectators reacted far less dramatically.
They already knew that Sōsuke possessed a Ninjutsu with nearly invincible defensive capabilities.
"That's the expression. Hahaha."
Rōshi felt incredibly pleased as he watched Ōnoki's bewildered face.
You thought your Dust Release was invincible, didn't you?
Then why could it not even tear Sōsuke's clothes?
If he had not wanted to avoid causing trouble for Ninshū, Rōshi would have dispelled his Transformation Technique and flashed a brilliant smile directly at Ōnoki.
"He blocked it, just as expected," Nagato said without surprise.
In his opinion, Mugetsu's defensive Ninjutsu was even more powerful than the abilities of his Rinnegan.
His Preta Path could only absorb Ninjutsu.
Mugetsu's Limitless could block even Taijutsu.
"I still have Detachment of the Primitive World!"
Ōnoki forced himself to calm down.
He condensed a greater amount of chakra, intending to unleash an even stronger version of the technique.
Unfortunately, Mugetsu did not give him another chance to attack freely.
Under Ōnoki's shocked gaze, Sōsuke rapidly rose into the air.
Sōsuke also knew the Light Weight Rock Technique?
Before Ōnoki could think any further, Mugetsu had already rushed toward him.
Ōnoki had no choice but to abandon the Detachment of the Primitive World Technique.
He converted the large amount of chakra gathered in his arm into Earth Release chakra.
A thick layer of rock rapidly covered his right arm, transforming it into a massive stone fist.
Bang!
Ōnoki swung his fist with all his strength toward the approaching Sōsuke.
The enormous rock arm collided with Sōsuke's ordinary fist.
Boom!
Ōnoki immediately felt a force capable of overturning mountains and seas crash into him.
Spiderweb cracks rapidly spread across the stone surrounding his arm before the entire rock fist violently exploded.
Ōnoki was hurled backward like a kite with its string severed, crashing heavily into the ground.
"What terrifying strength!"
Ōnoki stared at his right arm, which was already soaked in blood, and could not help gasping.
The world only knew that Iwa Fist Kitsuchi was skilled in the Iwa Fist Technique.
In truth, Kitsuchi had learned that technique from Ōnoki.
Ōnoki simply used it less often because of his aging body.
In terms of mastery of the Iwa Fist alone, Ōnoki was still superior to Kitsuchi.
Yet Sōsuke had shattered his Iwa Fist and severely injured his arm through physical strength and chakra enhancement alone.
How could Ōnoki not be shocked?
Ōnoki quickly rose and took flight again.
He formed hand seals and created three Rock Clones, sending them forward to restrain Sōsuke while his main body gathered chakra for another Detachment of the Primitive World Technique.
In truth, Ōnoki already suspected that even if the technique landed, it would not kill Sōsuke.
After all, Sōsuke had already endured the previous Dust Release attack without suffering any injury.
But Ōnoki still had to try.
If Sōsuke could withstand his full strength Dust Release without injury, then it would mean that Sōsuke's power surpassed even Ōnoki's imagination.
The three Rock Clones landed and almost simultaneously charged forward, launching a fierce assault on Sōsuke with a momentum that belied their short stature.
Although there were three of them, their movements appeared as clear as slow motion to Mugetsu while he was using Transparent World.
The Rock Clone attacking from the front swung its fist like a war hammer, aiming directly for Mugetsu's face with a powerful whistle of wind.
Mugetsu merely turned his body slightly, allowing the stone fist capable of shattering rock to pass within mere millimeters of him.
At the same time, he casually swatted the arm aside and lightly tapped the clone's wrist with his fingertips.
Bang!
Cracks immediately spread across the Rock Clone's body.
It collapsed with a loud crash, turning into a pile of shattered stone.
The second Rock Clone instantly attacked from behind.
However, Mugetsu seemed to possess eyes on the back of his head.
Without even moving his feet, he twisted smoothly at the waist and struck backward with his elbow, precisely hitting the clone's vital point.
The second Rock Clone shattered.
"Earth Release…"
The third Rock Clone attempted to unleash a midrange Earth Release Ninjutsu.
However, the instant the technique was released, Mugetsu disappeared from his original position.
Bang!
The third Rock Clone shattered as well.
At that moment, Ōnoki's Detachment of the Primitive World Technique was finally ready.
In truth, Ōnoki was already close to giving up.
Sōsuke had destroyed the Rock Clones far too quickly.
Ōnoki had only just finished preparing the technique, yet all three clones were already gone.
If he released the technique directly now, the probability of striking Sōsuke was nearly zero.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
In the end, Ōnoki still launched the technique toward Sōsuke.
Regardless of the final outcome, releasing it was better than not doing so at all.
Looking at the massive white cube approaching him, Mugetsu did not dodge.
He merely raised his head slightly and looked toward Ōnoki.
Even when the Detachment of the Primitive World Technique was only one meter from his body, Mugetsu remained completely motionless.
Ōnoki's expression became incredibly grave.
Sōsuke's strange behavior had only two possible explanations.
The first was that Sōsuke did not understand the power of Ōnoki's full strength Dust Release.
The second was that Sōsuke possessed absolute confidence in his defense.
Which one would it be?
Ōnoki's breathing grew heavier as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
In truth, he already vaguely knew the answer.
Rumble!
The massive white cube swallowed Mugetsu's body, along with the surrounding ground and trees.
Almost instantly, the lush forest vanished.
The rocky earth disappeared.
The white cube was like an eraser passing over a pencil drawing, disintegrating everything it touched into nothingness.
Within only a few seconds, an entire section of the forest appeared to have been cleanly carved away, leaving behind a perfectly shaped pit.
Only one figure remained inside.
The white robed Sōsuke stood silently within the crater, calmly watching Ōnoki, whose injured arm continued dripping blood.
"My Dust Release…"
Ōnoki stared at the completely intact white robe.
Even though he had already anticipated this result, he still could not remain calm.
This was his strongest Dust Release Ninjutsu.
A technique so powerful that even Uchiha Madara could not withstand it head on.
Whoosh!
Having consumed too much chakra while his blood surged violently through his body, Ōnoki momentarily lost control of the Light Weight Rock Technique and rapidly fell from the sky.
"Lord Tsuchikage!"
Seeing his father in danger, Kitsuchi ignored everything else and rushed directly onto the battlefield, catching Ōnoki before he struck the ground.
The other Iwagakure jonin immediately followed, surrounding and shielding Ōnoki and Kitsuchi.
Mugetsu did not stop them.
He silently allowed the Iwagakure ninja to intervene.
....
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