Chapter 374: Magnetic Star
"Charge with me!"
In his "Thunder God" form—three heads, six arms, and nearly ten meters tall—Yotsuki Dana streaked through the air at a horrific velocity toward Madara's Perfect Susanoo.
Accompanied by a sonic boom and a localized gale, Dana slammed directly into the chest of the Susanoo, which stood ten times his height.
The Thunder God and the hundred-meter spectral giant locked in a mid-air struggle of pure physical might.
Madara Uchiha's hair bristled! "Brat, who do you think you're looking down on? This is the ultimate power of the Uchiha!"
The hundred-meter Susanoo held the advantage in raw mass, beginning to force Yotsuki Dana backward through the clouds.
Dana's veins bulged as he braced his hands against the Susanoo's breastplate.
"Yin Seal: RELEASE!!!"
An even more terrifying eruption of chakra followed. His aura flared like a torch set to incinerate the heavens!
Eight Inner Gates × Yin Seal × Thunder God Form.
"I said... GET BACK!!"
The Susanoo was caught by the sudden surge of power and was hurled through the sky like a broken sack, smashing heavily into the earth below.
The impact felt like the world was splitting apart.
Dana didn't pause for a second. He accelerated his descent, dropping from the sky like a hammer.
"Lightning Leap Strike!!"
The Susanoo's chest armor spider-webbed with cracks. The force of the impact made the very bedrock groan. Even sheltered within the core, Madara Uchiha let out a muffled grunt from the sheer shockwave.
On the ground nearby, the Third Raikage watched the terrifying display and grinned. "Good power, but your naming sense still sucks. That should be called the 'Legendary Thunder-Plummeting Wrath Axe'!"
He then turned his attention to his own sector of the battlefield.
"My son picked the big one, so I guess I'll take a small one!"
The Third Raikage broke into a sprint, launching himself like a ballistic missile. He raised his Storm Axe high.
"SUPER-EXTREME WILD-BEARD WIND-HOWL BATTLE-SOUL WRATH AXE!"
Izuna Uchiha hurriedly manipulated his Susanoo, raising an arm to block.
CLANG!!
The sound of the collision rang across the entire battlefield.
The Storm Axe bit deep into the spectral armor, nearly shattering the Susanoo's arm entirely.
The Third Raikage bared his teeth in a savage grin. "Not as tough as you look! I haven't even gotten serious yet!"
Izuna gritted his teeth, his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning with a bloody hue. He locked eyes with the Raikage, preparing to cast a Genjutsu.
But before the illusion could take hold, a kunai flew into his peripheral vision.
Minato Namikaze arrived with the blade!
"Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three!"
An intense flash of light, sharp as needles, stung Izuna's eyes, forcing him to turn his head away instinctively.
Minato and the Third Raikage exchanged a glance of mutual respect.
"Kid! Nice jutsu!"
"You too, Raikage-sama! What a badass name!"
"Hahaha! I was going to hog this opponent for myself, but I guess I don't mind sharing! Let's go together!"
"Lightning Oppression: Horizontal Thousandfold Dance!"
"Searing Light: Great Wheel Gale Rasengan!"
On another part of the field, the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage stood—one in the air, one on the ground.
"To think we two rivals would stand as allies one day!"
"Indeed. Though your little mustache is still as weird as ever."
"For Madara-sama!"
"For Madara-sama!"
Mū flew high into the sky, steepling his hands toward the charging Federation ninja.
"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
The white beam shot forth, intending to turn everything in its path to dust. Yotsuki Arashi, leading the charge, looked up but didn't flinch or dodge. He continued his full-speed sprint!
Just as the beam was about to touch Arashi, Tobirama Senju flickered into existence, grabbing Arashi and disappearing instantly to reappear in another direction. Arashi didn't even blink.
Moving at high speed, Tobirama said gravely, "My actual combat power is limited in this state. Just keep attacking! I will provide the support!"
He threw several kunai forward.
"Got it!" Arashi leaped high. "Lariat!"
Arashi was still dozens of meters away from the Second Tsuchikage in the air.
Tobirama placed a hand on Arashi's shoulder, and the two vanished.
In the next heartbeat, Arashi's massive arm slammed into Mū's face.
"Nani!"
The Second Tsuchikage was sent tumbling. Tobirama, however, wasn't done. He vanished again, and when he reappeared, he had swapped Arashi for Blue Bee.
Blue Bee already had a Tailed Beast Bomb formed in his mouth. He fired it the moment he appeared.
A point-blank Tailed Beast Bomb.
Mū's body was shattered for the fourth time today.
On the ground, Gengetsu Hozuki sneered. It seemed his rival's strength had truly dropped.
"Though as an Edo Tensei, an injury of that level shouldn't be a problem..."
Gengetsu began to form seals rapidly. "Water Release: Steaming Danger Tyranny..."
A flash of cold steel slashed across his hands, interrupting the seals.
Sakumo Hatake arrived via Flying Thunder God, his short sword striking like a scorpion's tail, never stopping.
One second, the blade was in front; the next, it was behind. In an instant, it felt as if there were three Sakumo Hatakes attacking at once, giving the enemy zero room to breathe.
"Fourth-sama! I'm here to help! Eight Inner Gates: Seventh Gate of Wonder, OPEN!"
Might Duy, burning with blue chakra steam, descended from the sky. His Adamantine Staff slammed down like a pillar of heaven, cracking the earth.
Further away, Hanzo the Salamander and Yagura Karatachi teamed up against Ginkaku, their combined Water Release jutsu literally altering the terrain of the battlefield.
At the very rear of the formation, Kushina, glowing like a miniature sun in her golden cloak, looked around indecisively, unsure which battlefield to join. Her hesitation had left her slightly behind.
The Nine-Tails inside her spoke urgently: "Don't charge! Stay steady, Kushina! We hide in the back!"
"Is that okay...?" Kushina worried. "Everyone else is fighting so hard."
Just then, several more pods landed, and members of the Sealing Corps emerged. Their job was to seal the Edo Tensei bodies. To avoid the crossfire, they landed on the periphery.
The Nine-Tails' eyes lit up. "Kushina, you know Sealing Jutsu, right? Go to them! It's safe there!"
Seeing her still wavering, the Nine-Tails poked half its head out of her chakra cloak. "Don't be fooled by the intensity! The two most dangerous ones haven't even started yet!"
He looked toward the sky, where Madara and his Susanoo were being battered by Dana's Thunder God form.
"...And look at the one on the ground! That's the First Hokage! He alone is enough to handle all of us!"
On the edge of the field, Hashirama Senju had not moved like the other summons. He was rooted to the spot, looking as if he were severely constipated, struggling with all his might against the control.
The cells in the sacrifice, the Rinnegan Genjutsu, and the caster's strength made it impossible for him to break free completely.
"At least I must stay neutral! I won't cause trouble for Tobirama and the others!"
Suddenly, a red-haired boy charged toward him. Without warning, a heavy punch landed square on Hashirama's face!
WHAM!
Nagato, with his muscles bulging in the Eight Inner Gates state, looked triumphant.
Hashirama stabilized himself. "Wait! Don't hit me! If you keep hitting me, I'm going to lose control of myself!"
Nagato assumed it was just trash talk. Infected by the "Will of Lightning" on the battlefield, he wasn't about to back down.
Vibrating with adrenaline, Nagato raised his fist arrogantly. "Come on then! Bansho Ten'in Punch!"
Hashirama yelled, "I'm serious! Stop hitting me!"
His body, forced by the contract, flew toward Nagato's incoming fist.
After taking another blow to the face, Hashirama's self-restraint finally snapped. The purple in his Rinnegan-patterned eyes deepened.
"Damn it! Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!!"
A colossal entity, no smaller than a Susanoo, grabbed the mid-air Nagato and squeezed him in its palm.
A deep, resonant voice boomed from the top of the giant:
"Brat! You asked for this!! Sage Mode: ACTIVATE!"
In the distance, the Nine-Tails' soul nearly left its body in terror.
Kushina: "Let's go! We have to save Nagato!"
In the sky, the Thunder God Dana withdrew his gaze from the ground war and looked at the snarling Madara Uchiha.
He knew this was the real stage.
"Madara-senpai! It seems I wasn't born with the luck to pilot a... to pilot a giant construct. No matter how hard I try, I can't manifest a hundred-meter avatar like yours. Ten meters is my current limit."
Facing the towering Perfect Susanoo, which looked like a god among men, Madara sneered from within his crystal core. "This is the exclusive power of the Uchiha. It is not something a commoner can covet."
Dana nodded. "True. But behind me, I have the support of an entire Federation. The Federation is my Susanoo!"
On the horizon, streaks of rainbow light—denser, faster, and more numerous than ever before—were approaching.
There weren't hundreds. There were thousands.
Madara scoffed. "With those numbers... are you bringing an army of cannonfodder? A battle of the strong is not something the weak can join, no matter how many lives they throw away."
Thunder God Dana replied calmly, "No..."
The rainbow lights drew near, row upon row of them illuminating the sky.
As the thousands of delivery pods reached the airspace, they were captured by Dana's magnetic field.
Their straight trajectories bent and curved, slowing down.
Dana slowly extended an arm.
The lights converged from all directions, gathering behind Dana and suspending silently in the air.
Within breaths, thousands of diamond-shaped pods formed a massive "Iron Curtain" behind him.
The curtain was hundreds of meters wide, far larger than the Perfect Susanoo.
Dana had been thinking about how to integrate his Magnetic Field Control into actual combat. He didn't want to play with sand like Magnet Release, or iron filings like a Magnet Style user.
He couldn't pull as well as the Rinnegan; he couldn't push as well as the Rinnegan.
But...
Thousands of metallic surfaces glinted behind him, blotting out the sun.
The three-headed, six-armed Thunder God Dana smiled and pointed forward.
Thousands of diamond-shaped projectiles rotated, their sharp tips aiming directly at the Susanoo.
"This technique is called... 'Magnetic Star.'"