Chapter 164: Mission Complete—The Evil Sealing Method!
THUD!
An old, battle-worn body collapsed into the sea of flames.
The shinobi's characteristic—high offense, low defense—was on full display at this moment. Half his neck had been severed by Minato. Even a Kage-level shinobi had finally reached the end of his life.
Ebizō stared at the cracked, seemingly fragile pale crimson barrier before him, and at the Fourth Kazekage Rasa standing motionless beyond it.
He died without understanding why Rasa hadn't intervened.
As Kazekage, why had he stood by and watched a comrade in distress?
Was he under a genjutsu? Or was everything before him merely a mirage floating on the desert? Was it just his own desperate fantasy?
"Haha."
Ebizō gasped for breath, his head tilted back, staring intently in Rasa's direction, his eyes bloodshot. He futilely clutched his bleeding neck, then scrambled to his feet again, dragging himself forward.
His vision blurred, and he seemed to see his young and beautiful sister Chiyo, like a desert rose, standing at the village gate with her arms outstretched, saying:
"Little brother, come to your sister!"
"Pfft! Ugh!"
Ebizō suddenly vomited another mouthful of blood, his vision blurring further, his steps becoming increasingly unsteady.
"Yes, sister, I finally understand."
"Someone like me doesn't need a final resting place!"
"Just keep moving forward."
Ebizō staggered forward, his eyes seemingly seeing everyone in the village standing before him, awaiting his triumphant return.
"Yes, I finally understand. My vision, Sunagakure's vision, everything, everything."
"As long as we don't stop, the path will continue forward!"
In his final moments, Ebizō struggled to the edge of the barrier, staring intently at Rasa outside. His eyes held no resentment, only hope.
"Rasa, can you understand this?"
"That's why..."
"Don't let the war stop. Don't stop moving forward."
Ebizō's raised finger, stained with blood, finally traced a line across the barrier—
Then fell silent.
Thus, the legend of this elite member of Sunagakure—the supreme commander of Sunagakure forces on the Land of Rain battlefield, a Kage-level shinobi skilled in Wind Release and Puppet Arts—came to an end in this shinobi world.
Two pieces of discarded body fell into the sea of fire.
Tsukasa, panting heavily, used Orochimaru Style: Oral Rebirth for the third and final time, expelling a completely renewed version of himself.
He stood up again, raising his crimson serpent eyes to stare coldly outside the barrier—watching until Ebizō was completely dead. Only then did Rasa begin walking toward them!
With Rasa's step, a platform of Magnet Release: Gold Dust rose beneath his feet, lifting him high into the sky.
Immediately afterward, a tsunami of gold sand surged upward, layer upon layer, exploding higher and higher until it blotted out the sky!
It crashed down upon the barrier!
Looking at this scene resembling the apocalypse, Tsukasa's gaze narrowed slightly. He asked the young man beside him:
"Minato, can you still fight?"
Minato, watching Tsukasa's actions, couldn't help but feel astonished.
Although he knew Tsukasa was Orochimaru's student—one of the Legendary Sannin—he never expected that in such a short time, this young Uchiha would have already received Orochimaru's true teachings and mastered this ability to such a degree.
"Ah, the opponent is the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa!"
Minato nodded, took a deep breath, and showed no fear in his eyes.
Tsukasa frowned and asked in a deep voice:
"Why is he here? Didn't Orochimaru go to assassinate him?"
Minato was silent for a moment, then said:
"The plan changed. We intercepted Pakura and Chiyo. Rasa didn't appear at the location mentioned in the intelligence. That place has become a main battlefield now, and both Lord Orochimaru and Master Jiraiya are fighting there."
Upon hearing this, Tsukasa's expression immediately brightened. His gaze fell on Rasa, who was slowly flying toward them. He couldn't help but lick his dry lips.
Even Ebizō—the supreme commander of Sunagakure—had been killed. The plot had completely derailed.
Tsukasa was showing a fearless attitude now, so he simply decided to go all out.
"That means right now, the assassination target is right in front of us!"
"We might be able to kill him here."
Minato couldn't help but look at Tsukasa with a peculiar expression and shook his head.
"No, you've done enough."
With that, he took a scroll from his vest and tossed it to Tsukasa.
"This is from Lord Orochimaru."
Catching the scroll, Tsukasa discovered it was a summoning scroll. Unfolding it revealed a large character for 'snake.'
"Orochimaru gave this to me?"
He frowned slightly and formed a hand seal.
POOF!
A puff of summoning smoke rose from the scroll, revealing a small white snake with its head and tail tucked in.
"A messenger snake?"
Tsukasa was familiar with this little white snake—he'd seen it once on the night he mastered summoning jutsu.
This type of snake was an advanced application of summoning and reverse summoning techniques, designed to transmit information securely.
Not only was its information transmission more covert and proactive, but if intercepted, the snake could destroy the information itself. Furthermore, due to the snake's unique abilities, it could transmit not only messages but also transport supplies.
It was a top-tier intelligence transmission technique.
However, it was extremely expensive to create and difficult to cultivate. There weren't many snakes in all of Ryūchi Cave that met the requirements for modification.
Looking at the snake, Tsukasa frowned slightly.
"Does Orochimaru have information to tell me? Or does he want me to send something back?"
Minato stepped forward, picked up Ebizō's corpse, and placed it before Tsukasa. Although his expression showed reluctance, he still spoke solemnly:
"A shinobi's corpse is a natural intelligence repository, and Ebizō was Sunagakure's supreme commander."
"If we can extract information from his mind, we've won half the battle."
"So—"
Just then—
BOOM! CRACK!
A massive avalanche of gold dust came crashing down, slamming onto the pale crimson barrier and crushing the entire death-match barrier with thunderous cracks!
Spiderweb fractures climbed, squeezed, and exploded across the barrier's surface!
At this moment, in the sky, Rasa stood on a cloud of gold dust, raising one hand and coldly staring at the two figures in the barrier below.
He shouted in a deep voice:
"Leave Ebizō's corpse behind, and I'll let you go!"
"Otherwise—"
"Die!"
At this moment, Rasa had finally closed in.
The moment he spoke, he demanded Ebizō's corpse.
To him, a living Ebizō meant uncertainty and could bring numerous troubles.
But a dead Ebizō was invaluable!
Not only could he return with the body to manipulate Elder Chiyo's emotions, but he could also suppress political enemies, overturn Sunagakure's front-line strategy, and give himself an opportunity to seize control—multiple benefits at once!
Rasa naturally wouldn't let such an opportunity slip away.
However, neither of the two inside the barrier took Rasa's words seriously.
Minato was skilled in sealing techniques and the Flying Thunder God—unless it was a fight to the death with no escape, Rasa wouldn't even touch the hem of his clothing.
As for Tsukasa—he was simply fearless and even wanted a proper showdown with Rasa!
Hearing Rasa showing off in the sky, Tsukasa frowned immediately.
"I haven't even come out to deal with you yet, and you're already posturing."
He impatiently snapped at the figure flying above:
"Shut up!"
"I'll come out and kill you in a moment!"
"You—!" Rasa felt frustration surge, glaring down at Tsukasa with increasingly hostile eyes!
Instantly, the surging gold dust became even more violent!
The gold dust began solidifying into various shapes in Rasa's hands, fiercely hammering at the barrier!
Meanwhile, inside the barrier—
The little white snake, at Tsukasa's prompting, tried for a long time but failed to produce any scroll containing information.
This puzzled Tsukasa. He took two steps forward, crouched down, grabbed the little white snake, and tried to make it regurgitate.
"Did you swallow the information scroll and digest it?"
"Spit it out!"
Just as Tsukasa wondered what was happening, the little white snake he was holding suddenly sprang up, broke free of his grasp, and slithered up his arm to his neck.
It bit down hard on the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
Hiss!
The next moment, Tsukasa's pale skin visibly transformed into black patterns, which then contracted back into the Cursed Seal. A black ring of sealing marks suddenly appeared around the curse mark, forcibly interrupting the seal's continuous absorption of natural energy and locking it firmly in place.
Sealing Technique: Evil Sealing Method!
The little white snake continued its work, ensuring all natural energy in Tsukasa's body was completely drained. Then it exchanged venom through its fangs, injecting a powerful paralyzing toxin into Tsukasa's body.
THUD!
Tsukasa's eyes rolled back immediately. He collapsed weakly to the ground, his head slamming into the sand.
Then the little white snake opened its massive jaws and used the Snake Mouth Binding technique, swallowing him whole. After a few more gulps, it consumed Ebizō's corpse as well.
Finally, under Minato's calm gaze, the little white snake transformed into a wisp of smoke, accepting Orochimaru's reverse summons from a hundred miles away, and vanished without a trace.
Only then did Minato raise his head, looking at the dazzling gold dust pouring down from the sky after the barrier shattered!
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
"I'm sorry, Tsukasa. You've done enough."
"From now on, leave this to me!"
His gaze sharpened as he raised his hand, revealing a Flying Thunder God kunai at his fingertips.
In the next instant, Minato transformed into a blinding yellow flash, charging straight toward the Gold Dust Burial technique!
End of Chapter 164
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