LRAB Chapter 538 The Arrival of the Otsutsuki Trio
Chapter 538 The Arrival of the Otsutsuki Trio
Chapter 538 The Arrival of the Otsutsuki Trio
Yu-no-Kuni, a tourist country once known for its hot springs and peaceful atmosphere.
Since the underground palace appeared, it has become the center of conflict in the ninja world, and has been completely dragged into the quagmire and shadow of war.
The once clear blue sky is now shrouded in thick, dark clouds.
The earth was scarred and ravaged, like an ugly scar, the land stained with blood.
At the heart of all the chaos, a fissure stretches across the earth for kilometers, its edges jagged and jagged, and looking into it reveals only unfathomable darkness.
At this moment, on the edge above this rift, three forces are in a tripartite balance.
The first side, naturally, was the Allied Shinobi Forces led by Tsunade and Jiraiya. They had the largest number of members, but they looked rather disheveled.
Many ninjas were wounded, and dozens of Allied ninja corpses lay scattered on the ground, their deaths varied, clearly indicating that they had just experienced a brief but brutal battle.
"Jiraiya, where's Hyuga Kumokawa? Why isn't he with you?"
Jiraiya stood at the very front, with Fukasaku and Shima perched on his shoulders. Fukasaku clasped his hands together, his expression unusually solemn, and asked a question.
"Yunkawa guessed that someone would try to take advantage of our battle to attack the underground palace, so he asked Tsunade and me to set up a defense here in advance. And it turned out exactly as he predicted."
Jiraiya replied with a serious expression, "That's not important. What's important is—"
"We must not let anyone into the underground palace before Yun Chuan arrives with the main force, no matter what strange shape their eyes are."
As he said this, Jiraiya stared intently at the two figures in the distance, looking at the only remaining Rinnegan and then at the only remaining Tenseigan.
The second party confronting him was naturally the three members of the Akatsuki organization: Nagato, Konan, and Hanzo. The third party was Hyuga Neji, who stood alone in the distance.
Deep within those pupils, a faint, starlike light seemed to shimmer, radiating a sense of oppression completely different from that of a white eye.
At his feet lay the bodies of several Allied ninjas, all killed with a single blow.
Neji Hyuga showed no mercy to the ninjas from his former village.
"Nagato, why are you here?"
Jiraiya broke the silence first, saying in a deep voice, "According to the intelligence, you should be on Orochimaru's main battlefield."
Nagato glanced at Jiraiya indifferently, as if he were looking at a rock blocking his way.
"Jiraiya-sensei," he said calmly, "my goal has always been clear."
"The Tailed Beasts and the Gedo Mazo are merely part of achieving our goal, and here—"
His gaze passed over the allied ninjas and landed on the bottomless rift behind them, a barely perceptible glint of determination flashing in his eyes.
"What I truly need is what's inside the underground palace," Nagato said coldly. "Get out of my way, or die."
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Upon hearing this, Hanzo behind him narrowed his eyes slightly, and Konan, flying in the air, also became restless.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Tsunade clenched her fists so tightly that they cracked, and the patterns of the Yin Seal spread across her body after its release.
"Hyuga Neji, do you know what you're doing?"
She stared intently at Hyuga Neji, who stood alone in the distance, and said coldly, "Betraying the village, attacking your own people—how many more stains will you tarnish the Hyuga clan's reputation?"
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Neji's indifferent face suddenly turned frosty, and his blue and white eyes looked at Tsunade, with a faint blue light flickering in his pupils.
"Only you Konoha's high-ranking officials have no right to say this to me."
He raised one hand, palm facing Tsunade and the Allied Shinobi Forces, the air humming under the weight of the pressure.
"I'm walking my own path," Hyuga Neji said. "I can sense that what I need is there."
"Hmph, arrogant brat." Tsunade's expression darkened slightly, and her chakra surged.
The atmosphere was extremely tense, and the killing intent was as strong as boiling water.
But at that moment—
Within the allied forces, a sensory ninja seemed to sense something, instinctively raising his head and looking towards a certain direction in the gloomy sky of the Land of Hot Springs.
Immediately, an expression of disbelief and horror crossed his face, and he exclaimed in shock, "What...what is that?"
The exclamation sounded particularly jarring on the edge of the deathly silent battlefield, instantly attracting the attention of some people.
Immediately afterwards, more people seemed to hear it as well, the deep rumble growing clearer and clearer, like rolling thunder approaching.
"What?"
Neji Hyuga's previously indifferent expression cracked, and he abruptly looked up. His Tenseigan, which seemed to contain a sea of stars, instantly locked onto a rapidly growing point of light in the sky, and his pupils contracted.
Almost simultaneously, Jiraiya, whose senses were enhanced by Sage Mode, suddenly looked up and exclaimed incredulously, "That is—!"
Tsunade, Nagato, Konan, Hanzo, and all the ninjas whose strength reached a certain level also noticed and looked up one after another.
In the distance, a blinding streak of light was tearing through the sky at an alarming speed, falling toward the rift where they were, leaving a long trail behind it.
One second it was still in the sky, the next second, the dull, thunderous roar slammed into everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer, shaking the ground and causing the eardrums to ache.
There was no time to react at all; the streak of light was already within reach!
"Get out of the way!" Tsunade shouted.
But it was too late.
Boom!
The earth shook violently, and a streak of light fell upon the center of the three-way standoff area, slamming heavily onto the open ground on the side of the allied forces.
The shockwave spread outwards, instantly creating giant waves several meters high that crushed and blew everything in its path.
"Shinra Tensei"
Nagato raised his hand, and a powerful repulsive force erupted from him, shielding Konan and Hanzo behind him from the impact.
Further away, Hyuga Neji also raised his hand and used a repulsive force similar to "Shinra Tensei" to deflect the incoming impact and debris, allowing Nagato to take another look.
However, compared to Nagato's ease, Hyuga Neji was pushed backward and slid several meters, creating two deep ruts in the ground.
In just a moment of impact, the three groups that were originally in a tense standoff were thrown into chaos, with the exception of a few ninjas falling to the ground and their formations thrown into disarray.
Many unfortunate people who were nearby were blown away, their fate unknown. The corpses that were originally lying on the ground were blown into pieces.
Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, and pebbles rained down, hitting the ground and the surrounding ninjas with a crackling sound.
"What's going on?"
"What is that?"
"Was it an enemy attack? Or a meteorite?!"
"It's a person!"
The dust settled slowly between the three groups of people. Everyone stared intently at the deep pit, still shaken, gripping their weapons tightly, as if facing a formidable enemy.
The kunai, ninja sword, explosive tags, and ninjutsu in his hands were almost ready to be unleashed into the unknown smoke and dust.
However, in the very next moment—
"Wait! Don't do it!" Jiraiya shouted to stop him as he recognized the figure.
However, on the other side, Nagato, who also saw the figure in the smoke and dust, reacted even faster and made the most direct judgment in an instant.
puff!
Without the slightest hesitation, Nagato's robe suddenly ripped open at the shoulder, and a muscular arm burst forth from his shoulder blade.
The forearm section at the front of the arm instantly deformed and reassembled, transforming into a cold, menacing cannon barrel, its muzzle locked onto the center of the smoke and dust.
laugh!
A blinding chakra condensed at the muzzle, transforming into a chakra cannon that roared out.
"Nagato!"
Jiraiya was both shocked and furious. He gripped the blunt, broad-bladed stone sword tightly in his hand, his arm muscles bulging, and he slammed the heavy blade into the ground beneath his feet.
Lazy.
hum! !
An invisible wave emanated from the "Sloth" sword, which was embedded in the ground, and spread outwards, distorting time.
The dust particles drifting in the air suddenly slowed their descent, hovering almost motionless.
The sound of the wind blowing from the distant crevice also became drawn out and distorted, turning into a low, twisted wail.
Even the breathing, heartbeats, and exclamations of the surrounding ninjas were perceived as being lengthened and slowed down, as if the whole world had been put on slow motion by a hand.
The chakra cannon fired from Nagato's shoulder cannon was not spared either, its trajectory clearly visible in the air.
The "time slow" effect lasted for less than two seconds.
The next moment, the invisible wave that had enveloped the entire area receded like a tide, the flow of time returned to normal, and Jiraiya had already disappeared from the spot.
The chakra cannon, which had been slowed down, regained its original speed and, with a piercing shriek, slammed into the center of the still-lingering smoke and dust.
Boom!!
A violent explosion rang out, with flames and shockwaves surging out, completely dispersing the smoke and dust.
As the smoke and dust cleared, the scene at the center of the deep pit was revealed to everyone.
Jiraiya stood still, holding "Sloth" horizontally in front of him, creating two deep trenches in the ground, clearly having blocked Nagato's chakra cannon head-on.
His arms, gripping the sword, trembled slightly, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Even in Sage Mode, it was not easy to withstand this attack head-on.
But he had to do it because—
"Cough! Cough cough!"
Not far behind Jiraiya, a figure knelt on one knee, his face pale, clutching his chest and coughing. Each cough brought out a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the ground.
"The Fifth Hokage?!"
The Allied ninjas who recognized Hyuga Kumokawa were shocked, their faces showing disbelief.
Swish!
Tsunade and the other Jonin, unable to continue their standoff with Hyuga Neji and Nagato, instantly appeared beside Hyuga Kumokawa using a Body Flicker Technique.
Together with Jiraiya, they shielded Hyuga Kumokawa in the middle, keeping a watchful eye on the Akatsuki organization opposite them and Hyuga Neji on the other side.
"Fifth Hokage, what's going on?" Tsunade tilted her head slightly and asked in a deep voice, "Weren't you supposed to be dealing with Orochimaru? What are you doing here?"
Hinata Kumokawa raised his head with some difficulty, his hair sticking to his face with sweat. He took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I couldn't stop Orochimaru—"
"He somehow managed to gather all the bloodline limits, then devoured the Ten-Tails, and is now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki."
"Furthermore, he used the Impure World Reincarnation technique and some other method to control the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha—cough cough!"
Before he could finish speaking, he coughed again, blood gushing from between his fingers, looking like a candle flickering in the wind.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the other Jonin's expressions changed.
"How could this be—" Tsunade opened her mouth, as if to say something.
But the next moment—
Hinata Kumokawa, who had been forcibly maintaining a clear gaze, suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly and hissed, "Watch your step!"
But it was too late.
hum!
With a buzzing sound like countless sharp needles rubbing together, countless black spikes with cold light and sharp tips suddenly pierced out from the ground beneath their feet.
It was as if these spikes had always been there, only suddenly bursting forth at this moment.
puff!puff!
The dull thuds of sharp weapons piercing flesh instantly filled the air.
Tsunade and Jiraiya reacted instinctively the moment Hyuga Kumokawa warned them, but there were just too many Black Thorns.
Several black thorns grazed her body, leaving a trail of blood. One of them even pierced her chest diagonally from bottom to top, lifting her feet off the ground.
Jiraiya was the same; several black thorns pierced his body from different angles, leaving deep, bone-revealing blood grooves. He was also pierced through the side of his abdomen and hung in the air.
Hinata Kumokawa, who was already "severely injured," was naturally unable to dodge. He could only use his last bit of strength to barely twist his body to avoid a vital spot, and his left scapula was pierced by the black spike.
"puff!"
The three of them coughed up a mouthful of blood, their chakra disrupted by the black spikes made of the same material as the black rod, making it impossible to mobilize.
As for the other Jonin, they didn't even have time to react before their bodies were pierced by a dense forest of spikes coming from all directions.
Chest, neck, head, limbs —
Blood gushed out like a fountain, and before he could even scream, he lost his life, hanging on the suddenly rising black thorns like a doll with cotton spilling out.
In a mere instant, the Allied Shinobi Forces' strongest fighting force, centered around Hyuga Kumokawa, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, was wiped out by the attack coming from beneath their feet.
Tick-tock—tick-tock—
For a moment, all around was deathly silent, with only the sound of blood flowing down the spikes and dripping onto the ground, making a soft, jarring sound.
What's going on?
The sudden turn of events left almost everyone present in a state of shock, doubt, and bewilderment.
However, unlike the shock and bewilderment of the allied ninjas, Nagato, Konan, and Hanzo's expressions changed drastically the moment they saw the spikes.
Oops!
That guy is back!
The thought had just arisen in the minds of all three of them simultaneously.
call!
A profound and terrifying pressure descended from above, as if an invisible mountain had suddenly descended, causing everyone's hearts to sink and their breath to catch in their throats.
They instinctively raised their heads and looked in the direction from which the oppressive aura was coming from.
Suddenly, dozens of meters above their heads, a figure was seen silently floating in the air.
Wearing an elegantly tailored, fitted white long-sleeved tuxedo, spotless and out of place amidst the bloody and chaotic battlefield below.
He hovered there quietly, head slightly bowed, looking down at everything below.
"Otsutsuki Isshiki." Nagato's face darkened.
Damn it, I still couldn't get the things in the underground palace before he came back.
"You did a great job."
Otsutsuki Isshiki glanced indifferently at Nagato and the other two, as if they were three tools, and said calmly, "From now on, just stand aside and watch."
hum!
The moment Isshiki finished speaking, on the other side, behind Hyuga Neji, space seemed to be torn open, and a door with uneven edges suddenly opened.
A red line, resembling a fishhook and fishing line, shot out from it and pierced into the unsuspecting Hyuga Neji's body.
puff!
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