Ōnoki breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw Minato Namikaze entangled with Kakuzu.
Clutching his waist, he flew towards the Five-Tails and Ichibi Jinchuriki.
Upon noticing Ōnoki's actions, Uchiha En immediately realized what he intended to do.
Now that Konoha had seized the initiative in this war, Ōnoki naturally wouldn't sit idly by. He would undoubtedly do whatever it took to turn the tide of battle.
And the Tailed Beasts were, without a doubt, the greatest weapon for disrupting the balance of the battlefield.
Uchiha En thought for a moment and decided to stop Ōnoki himself, but just as he was about to move, Kitsuchi, who was nearby, launched an attack.
Kitsuchi formed hand signs and directly used the Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld to restrict Uchiha En's movements.
Kitsuchi also clearly understood Ōnoki's intentions and certainly wouldn't let Uchiha En interfere.
After Uchiha En's feet were buried in the swamp, Kitsuchi slammed his hands on the ground, and two massive earth walls rose from the earth, slamming towards Uchiha En.
Seeing this, Uchiha En didn't have time to think. He instantly used Body Flicker Technique to dodge the attack, appearing behind Kitsuchi, and then kicked Kitsuchi in the back.
With a crisp 'crack,' Kitsuchi turned into a pile of dirt.
"It was an Earth Clone?" Uchiha En thought with some surprise.
His Minds Eye had been active the entire time, and his Sharingan was also activated. Yet Kitsuchi was still able to secretly form the hand signs for an Earth Clone. This guy's Earth Release was truly masterful.
However, Uchiha En didn't have time to waste on Kitsuchi now.
After Uchiha En used his Minds Eye to pinpoint Kitsuchi's true location, with a thought, his nodachi was immediately wreathed in Lightning Release Chakra, flashing with lightning.
Kitsuchi felt the astonishing Lightning Release emanating from the nodachi, and the hair on his body stood on end.
'I absolutely cannot be cut, or I will truly die.'
As a Kage-level Ninja, Kitsuchi's judgment was still very accurate.
The technique Uchiha En used was naturally the Chidori Blade.
However, Uchiha En had added a little'special effect' to the Chidori Blade, which could be understood as applying the Lightning Release Chakra Mode to the nodachi.
In a sense, the current nodachi was equivalent to the Chidori Blade + the Third Raikage's Hell Stab.
Coupled with the nodachi's inherently astonishing material and sharpness, the combination of Lightning Release Chakra Mode + Chidori Blade + nodachi resulted in astonishing offensive power.
Once the nodachi struck, the rampant Lightning Release Chakra would rapidly destroy the body's cells, completely obliterating that part of the body.
Uchiha En accidentally conceived and completed this technique while developing Chidori-derived Ninjutsu with Kakashi. It was currently his most powerful offensive Ninjutsu.
Originally, Uchiha En intended to save this technique as a trump card for the Night of the Nine-Tails, but now, to prevent Ōnoki from releasing the Tailed Beasts, Uchiha En revealed it prematurely.
And Kitsuchi, upon sensing Uchiha En's technique, had already prepared his defenses.
Uchiha En was a speed-type Ninja, but in their recent skirmish, Uchiha En's speed hadn't gained a significant advantage; Kitsuchi had largely defended against it.
Therefore, in Kitsuchi's view, this wave of Uchiha En's attack would be the same. The blade in his hand was indeed dangerous and absolutely could not be allowed to strike him.
But Kitsuchi was confident that Uchiha En couldn't hit him.
"Whoosh~" Uchiha En made the first move, choosing to directly use Body Flicker Technique to advance.
Although Uchiha En's Body Flicker Technique was already very, very fast under the enhancement of Lightning Release Chakra Mode, it was still somewhat inferior compared to instantaneous movement.
The difference between spatial teleportation and running there oneself was still significant.
Uchiha En teleported to a position behind Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi was constantly wary of Uchiha En's movements, and the moment Uchiha En disappeared from his sensory range, Kitsuchi activated the Earth Release Ninjutsu he had prepared in advance.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!" Kitsuchi's technique caused a large section of the ground to rise dramatically, changing the terrain, causing Uchiha En's first strike with the Chidori Blade to hit the raised ground.
"Hiss~" Kitsuchi glanced at the ground struck by the Chidori Blade and gasped.
Large sections of the ground were covered in Lightning Release, with sparks of electricity jumping across the surface, accompanied by a series of small explosions, and black smoke began to rise from the ground.
Kitsuchi had imagined the power of this move to the greatest extent, but now it seemed he had still underestimated it too much.
Just imagine, if that strike had hit him, what would the result be? How much better could it be than this piece of ground?
Looking at the scorched earth, Kitsuchi's expression grew increasingly serious. He knew very well that even a slight mistake, if caught by Uchiha En, would leave him severely injured if not dead.
Under normal circumstances, Kitsuchi would most likely choose to temporarily avoid the confrontation.
But now was a critical period of the war. If he didn't hold back Uchiha En, his father wouldn't be able to release the Tailed Beasts, and the battle would completely tip towards Konoha.
This outcome was unbearable for the Stone Ninja.
Thinking of this, Kitsuchi took a deep breath, formed hand signs, and Uchiha En immediately felt the ground begin to tremble.
The next second, two massive earth dragons burst from the ground. One earth dragon spewed mud onto the ground, covering the entire battlefield where they stood in mud, while the other earth dragon charged towards Uchiha En.
Seeing this, Uchiha En neither dodged nor retreated. He directly unleashed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and the lightning around Uchiha En's body became even more ferocious.
"Crack!" A flash of lightning streaked by, and the earth dragon was directly sliced in half.
Then Uchiha En instantly teleported behind Kitsuchi again, swinging his nodachi towards his neck.
Just as Uchiha En was about to succeed, the mud on the ground transformed into chains, wrapping around his hands.
Uchiha En was startled; he hadn't expected the mud to be used this way.
Kitsuchi suddenly turned around, his hands covered in rock, and punched Uchiha En in the chest.
Uchiha En was sent flying, crashing hard into a giant rock.
After sending Uchiha En flying, Kitsuchi didn't press his advantage. His goal was to hold back Uchiha En and prevent him from interfering with his father, not to defeat Uchiha En.
"Damn it! Why is this Kitsuchi so troublesome?!" Uchiha En said, getting up from the ground and clutching his chest.
And while Uchiha En and Kitsuchi were locked in combat, Ōnoki had already arrived at the battlefield of the Jinchuriki, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
After Ōnoki used Dust Release to force back Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and their Summoned Beasts, he directly said to the Ichibi Jinchuriki, Bunpuku, and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han: "Now is your chance, both of you quickly transform into your Tailed Beast forms!
If this continues, we will lose this war."
The two didn't hesitate upon hearing this and directly released the seals within their bodies.
The next second, accompanied by a piercing cackle, Ichibi Shukaku was the first to appear: "Hahaha! This great me is finally out again!"
Immediately after, the Five-Tails also appeared.
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