novelraw Chapter 371 - 371 Overwhelming
Chapter 371 - 371 Overwhelming
The Hanzo of the Salamander, once seen as the protective deity of the Land of Rain and praised as the [Demigod of the Ninja World], had actually failed to withstand even a single move from his opponent. He was kicked aside like trash, his life and death unknown.
This extremely shocking scene, like a tsunami, instantly shattered the dam named 'awe' in the hearts of all the Amegakure's Ninja and Akatsuki's members who witnessed it.
The understanding they had built over a long time, and their worship of Hanzo, appeared so laughable and fragile at this moment.
And the one who caused all this had now landed steadily.
Jigen arrogantly looked around at those Amegakure's Anbu who had fallen into shock and panic after their leader's instant defeat, his eyes indifferent, as if looking down on a group of panicked ants.
The Amegakure's Anbu swept by his gaze felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads, fine beads of sweat instantly appearing on their foreheads, their hands gripping their weapons trembling involuntarily.
That was not a look a human should possess, without the slightest emotional fluctuation, just like looking at a pack of stray dogs.
However, loyalty and duty ultimately overcame fear.
"Avenge Hanzo-sama! Kill him!" Anbu Captain, forcefully suppressing the terror in his heart, issued a desperate order with a hoarse voice!
"Water Release: Water Trumpet!"
"Water Release: Water Blade!"
"Wind Release: Wind Cut Technique!"
"Earth Release: Earth Stone Dragon!"
The surviving dozen or so Amegakure's Anbu, suppressing their fear, formed hand seals one after another, exerting their full power to perform their strongest ninjutsu!
Instantly, surging water currents, sharp water blades, invisible wind blades, roaring earth dragons... all kinds of attacks bombarded Jigen, who stood still in his original spot, from all directions!
The light of chakra intertwined, the momentum immense, as if to completely drown him.
However, facing this dense Ninjutsu frenzy, Jigen's figure suddenly vanished into thin air just before the attacks were about to hit his body!
All the Ninjutsu missed, crashing violently into each other or striking empty ground, causing a series of explosions. Mud mixed with shattered stones flew everywhere, yet they hadn't even touched the hem of Jigen's clothes.
"Dis... disappeared?!"
"Where? Sensory team!"
The Anbu panicked. Even the sensory specialists in the team now showed expressions of shock. Within their sensory range, Jigen's trail had completely vanished, as if he had never existed.
Pfft!
A slight sound of a blade piercing flesh sounded particularly piercing amidst the lingering chaotic echoes of explosions.
An Amegakure's Anbu's body stiffened suddenly. He looked down in disbelief, seeing a pitch-black rod, like a bamboo shoot breaking through the soil, emerging without any warning from the ground beneath his feet, accurately piercing through his chest!
"Ugh..." He let out a short groan, the light in his eyes quickly dimming, his body going limp and collapsing.
"Careful, the ground!!" The other Anbu, seeing this, panicked and jumped back one after another, trying to distance themselves from that area.
But it was all futile.
Pfft pfft pfft pfft—!
The next moment, countless identical black rods appeared out of thin air in front of, behind, and even suddenly thrusting out from the shadows under the feet of every Anbu!
The speed was beyond their reaction limit!
These black Chakra Rods, containing the power of Yin-Yang Release, ignored their armor and defensive Ninjutsu, piercing through their bodies as easily as a hot knife through butter!
Heart, throat, head...
All were fatal spots!
The screams abruptly ceased.
In just two or three seconds, the dozen or so elite Amegakure's Anbu who had been so aggressive earlier had all turned into corpses nailed to the ground by black iron rods. Blood flowed along the cold iron rods, quickly dyeing the muddy ground red.
The entire process was like an efficient and ruthless collective execution, filled with suffocating despair.
Jigen's figure silently appeared at the center of this death zone.
He didn't even glance at the surrounding Anbu who had instantly lost their lives, just blandly spitting out a few words, filled with extreme disdain:
"A bunch of underlings."
Not far away, Yahiko and the others, who had personally witnessed this terrifying scene, instantly turned deathly pale.
Konan's cool eyes trembled slightly: "That guy... how exactly did he do it? Some unknown Space-Time Ninjutsu? Or... some never-before-seen Kekkei Genkai?"
This method of killing invisibly was simply unheard of, making her feel deep pressure.
Nagato's Rinnegan, hidden under his red hair, was now fixed intently on those black Chakra Rods piercing the corpses.
Unlike the others, his Rinnegan could 'see' more things.
The power contained on those black rods faintly resonated with the power of his Rinnegan, giving him some understanding, yet making him even more confused.
Yahiko, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in his heart, turned to look at Kanon beside him, who also showed a grave expression, and asked in a dry voice: "Kanon-san, is this the enemy Menma is looking for?"
Kanon nodded forcefully, her hands unconsciously clenching into tight fists, her eyes filled with concern for Menma: "Yes! I... I've never seen Menma-sama show such a serious, such a grave expression before."
In her heart, Menma had always been strong, composed, as if he held everything in his grasp. The terror of the enemy now highlighted the pressure Menma was facing even more.
Just then, Jigen's cold gaze crossed the intervening ruins and corpses, landing on this group of Akatsuki's members. It lingered for a moment especially on the fiery red-haired Kanon among the crowd.
He remembered that this red-haired girl seemed to have come with that troublesome mysterious boy.
A thought instantly flashed through his mind.
Swoosh—!
Jigen's figure appeared the next moment in the midst of the Akatsuki group!
His speed exceeded the dynamic visual capture ability of Yahiko, Konan, Nagato, and all the Akatsuki's members!
They only felt a blur before their eyes, a suffocating sense of oppression had already descended!
Jigen's target was clear: Kanon!
His hand, covered with black patterns, reached out like an eagle's claw, directly grabbing towards Kanon's shoulder as if she hadn't yet reacted!
His intent was to capture her as a bargaining chip or a tool to force information!
"Watch out!" Yahiko only had time to shout a warning.
At this critical moment.
Swoosh—!
A pitch-black Chakra Rod, with a sharp whistling sound, shot over from the distance like black lightning!
It accurately aimed at Jigen's wrist as he grabbed for Kanon!
Sensing the familiar and dangerous black Chakra Rod attacking, Jigen frowned slightly, having to forcibly interrupt his capture action, his body flipping to avoid the rod's edge.
Clang!
The black rod deeply embedded itself in the ground between Jigen and Kanon, its tail still trembling slightly, emitting a low hum.
"Retreat!" Yahiko reacted extremely quickly, grabbing the still somewhat dazed Kanon's arm and leaping back forcefully, while shouting a warning loudly.
Konan, Nagato, Kyusuke, Daibutsu, and the other Akatsuki's members also reacted instantly. Though horrified in their hearts, their well-trained nature kicked in. They immediately scattered in all directions, quickly creating distance between themselves and the suddenly appearing Jigen, forming a loose encirclement on the ruined open ground.
They drew kunai, Ninja Swords, or assumed hand seal starting postures. Cold sweat soaked their backs. Their eyes were fixed dead on the grim reaper-like figure in the center of the field, filled with unprecedented vigilance and fear.
The other party's method of killing a dozen Anbu, and the lightning-fast raid just now, made them clearly realize how enormous the gap in strength between the two sides was!
As for the other party's speed, they couldn't even capture an afterimage!
Jigen stood where he was, not paying attention to the Akatsuki's members around him who were treating him like a great enemy.
His attention was completely drawn to the black rod that had interrupted his action.
He slowly turned his head, his sharp gaze looking towards the direction from which the rod had been shot.
Yahiko and the others also instinctively followed his gaze.
Through the hazy curtain of rain, on the top of a half-collapsed high tower ruin in the distance, a figure hovered quietly in the air.
Menma, at some unknown time, had already taken off that black-and-red-edged robe, changing into a black outfit convenient for action. He wore fingerless black gloves, with striking red cloth strips wrapped around his forearms.
His spiky black short hair looked even more severe, dampened by the rain. At the center of his forehead, a faint seam was barely visible.
Most eye-catching were his eyes. The left eye was a deep crimson, the pupil showing a complex and mysterious spiral pattern, the Mangekyo Sharingan!
The right eye was distinct with a white sclera and pale blue pupil, the surrounding veins slightly raised, the Byakugan!
"That's... the Byakugan?! And... what kind of eye is that?" The well-informed Kyusuke couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, his slit pupils contracting in shock.
He paid more attention to these famous Kekkei Genkai clans when gathering intelligence on various Ninja Villages, so he recognized the Byakugan, but had never seen the higher evolution of the Sharingan.
Yahiko was also stunned, muttering subconsciously: "Byakugan? Isn't that the Kekkei Genkai of Konoha's Hyuga Clan? But Menma... isn't he from the Uzumaki Clan?"
This greatly confused him.
Konan, Nagato, Daibutsu, and the other Akatsuki's members also turned their doubtful and unsettled gazes towards Kanon, hoping to get an answer from her.
However, Kanon at this moment had all her heart and mind focused on Menma in the distance. Her hands were clasped tightly in front of her chest, her face full of worry, completely unaware of the questions from those around her.
At this moment, Jigen in the field slowly opened his palm. Thick black Chakra gathered and compressed in his palm, quickly forming a black rod one and a half meters long, more solid, emitting an even more dangerous aura.
He held the black rod like a scepter, pointing it at Menma hovering in the air in the distance, his voice filled with anger:
"You bastard... you truly are a backup left behind by that despicable woman Otsutsuki Kaguya!"
Jigen's gaze was grave, fixed dead on Menma hovering in the air.
The other's strange eye combination, Mangekyo Sharingan and Byakugan, along with the skilled use of Yin-Yang Release power, completely confirmed the guess in his heart.
The natives of this planet absolutely could not give birth to someone with such a pure bloodline that they could awaken these two Dojutsu on their own, let alone possess and perfectly utilize both of these powers originating from the Otsutsuki Clan at the same time.
"As expected..." The resentment accumulated over a thousand years by Jigen intertwined with wariness towards this new threat. "Attempting to use such a pawn to stop me from reclaiming my Chakra Fruit? Wishful thinking!"
However, Menma hovering in the air paid no mind to the conclusion Jigen had drawn on his own.
He currently tilted his head slightly, observing Jigen while his thoughts ran at high speed, contemplating how to appropriately 'cripple' Jigen.
He couldn't strike too lightly… otherwise, he wouldn't be able to provoke this guy who had already learned caution and forbearance. But even more, he couldn't strike too heavily. What if he directly scared him, making him abandon this Vessel and escape, changing to another Vessel to continue lurking in the shadows? That would be counterproductive.
The best result was to make Jigen feel sufficiently threatened and humiliated, prompting him to actively absorb the Ten-Tails' Chakra, forcibly unlocking a higher stage of the [Kama] to engage in a decisive battle with him.
Only then, through the Flying Thunder God Technique marks he had silently left on Jigen during their previous brief clashes, could he trace his way to find that hidden alternate dimension containing the Ten-Tails.
At that time, Kokyu within him, already starving, would have the opportunity to feast heartily, devouring that immature Ten-Tails to further enhance her power.
Just as Menma and Jigen confronted each other above the ruins of Amegakure, about to collide again, and the entire Amegakure trembled in the face of this sudden disaster...
Some unseen 'eyes' were quietly observing all of this.
In the shadows of Amegakure's not-yet-fully-collapsed walls, in the cracks of the damp ground, even in the flowing sewage, several bizarre, entirely pale, amoeba-like things silently extended their somewhat featureless 'heads'.
They silently 'recorded' everything happening in the village, especially the collision of those two terrifying Chakra Signatures.
After gathering enough information, these white beings swiftly retracted underground or into the walls, disappearing without a trace as if they had never appeared.