Chapter 261: Decisive Battle for Uzu III

‘Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave’ X5

A combination ninjutsu cast by five powerful Water Release specialists, including the Mizukage himself.

The result? A massive Tsunami one could hardly believe was man-made.

It was more akin to a full powered attack by the Three Tails than a result of shinobi jutsu.

Even the Second Hokage himself, possibly the greatest Water Release user in shinobi history would have to be impressed.

Quite amusing . . .

In the current era, the Second Hokage was widely regarded as the pinnacle of human Water Release.

The man was a master of all five elements along with Yin Release and Yang Release, genjutsu, fuinjutsu, kenjutsu, spacetime ninjutsu, not to mention all manner of forbidden jutsu . . .

And yet, the Third Mizukage, fully specializing in Water Release alone, was still considered inferior, be it in raw power, precision or creativity.

Truly amusing . . . and sad.

But back to the situation at hand.

The towering rampart of water rushed towards the retreating Uzumaki and they immediately realized that if this attack was not thwarted, or at the very least delayed, massive casualties were an inevitability.

Shiki and the First Elder exchanged gazes.

‘Delay.’ Their thoughts synchronized.

‘Nirvana Art: Elemental’

The secret of the boy’s ability to interfere with the elemental jutsu of others and a great safety net in his fight against the Mizukage before, once again showed its might.

The oncoming Tsunami lost a portion of its force and, most importantly, solidity, as it somewhat slipped the grasp of its controllers.

It being a combination jutsu under the command of multiple individuals made this easier.

But even with its force and impact significantly reduced, the water was still too much of a danger for the regular forces.

And so, the First Elder stepped in.

‘Adamantine Sealing Chains: Barrier Curtain’

Pulling off what three Elders backed by an entire army’s worth of chakra had but just by himself, almost strained the man beyond his limit but he had his own backing.

Shiki laid his hand on the Elder’s back and connected him to the massive stores of chakra and life energy within his Nirvana Seal.

Fully revitalized, even the strain from the First Elder’s previous clash against five Tailed Beast Bombs was gone.

“I could get used to this!” The man savagely grinned holding what felt like an entire ocean’s worth of water at bay.

“Well don’t. Being a battery is not really my thing.” Shiki jokingly replied but with his monotone voice, it was hard to tell, not that the other party really cared.

Seeing the tsunami momentarily held back, the Fourth Elder hurriedly shouted at his troops to expedite their retreat.

Kiri’s forces were advancing behind the water so the stalemate could only be held very briefly.

Thankfully though, that was enough.

Once the troops pulled back enough, Shiki made his move.

‘Nirvana Art: Underworld Shadow - Void’

The boy’s shadow turned pitch black, like a light swallowing abyss and then it expanded.

Devoured by a maw of darkness, both Shiki and the Fist Elder disappeared.

This was the only battlefield ready spacetime jutsu available to the boy, its main weakness was that it could not be deployed instantly but for situations where long distance travel was required and a few seconds of charge up did not matter, the performance was excellent.

But even though the Uzumaki rank and file were saved, the trapped terrain carefully prepared to wear down the enemy was completely demolished by the all consuming flood.

Even then, the Elders knew they could not retreat too easily, else they might tip off the enemy onto the fact that they knew their plans.

And so, even if it meant some casualties, a token effort to combat the advancing enemy had to be made.

“No worries old man. Dying so that our future might live is an honor to any true blooded Uzumaki. Just leave it to this Haruto-sama.” A spiky, bright red haired young man grinned at the Fourth Elder.

The Elder’s brows twitched with irritation.

“I’m still in my sixties! The prime of my life, you half-grown fetus!” A venomous retort was shouted by instinct alone.

“Screw you old fossil! Come on boys and girls! Let’s teach those Kiri fools the price of messing with the Uzumaki!” Uzumaki Haruto insulted, then promptly ignored the Fourth Elder, gathering some of the more eager younger generation with him to act as the rearguard.

The Elder internally sighed and sent a few more experienced veterans to help out but said nothing further.

Someone needed to take the role. Better it be someone fully willing.

‘Who knows? Maybe the luck of a bright youth will favor them . . . Or I’ll finally be rid of that noisy brat! Either way, I win!’ The Fourth Elder internally joked.

He was the overall commander of the Uzumaki forces, he could not afford to wallow in the sentiment of his favorite little nephew taking up the dangerous role of the rearguard.

Fortunately for Haruto though, the master of asymmetrical warfare was also going to be there with his little shadow for support, planning on engaging the enemy before they even reached the back of the retreating Uzumaki forces.

After dropping off the First Elder at the retreating army, Shiki took Beni who had just been accompanying the main forces and doubled back, leaving even the support range of the rearguard.

This time, there was no grand strategic intent, no specific target to occupy or delay, no special objectives at all.

No . . . This time around, the boy’s goal was purely stat padding.

In other words, he was going to increase his kill count by killing whoever he could get his hand on.

Benihime was there purely as support.

Shiki was intent on taking risks this time around so, if it ever seemed he was about to get trapped, by the enemy, the girl would provide some timely interference.

Waiting within the ground using the upgraded Kukuyoshin, the boy made the preparations for his initial strike.

Soon enough the rapidly advancing Kiri forces arrived, further behind them, saving their strength for the final push, was the Kumo army and even further behind them, a long distance a way, Iwa steadily advanced, focused on recovering from the massive chakra expenditure of their ultra long range ninjutsu bombardment.

Shiki perceived all of this with his Ryugan: Zenchi.

‘Consider yourselves lucky Kumo bastards.’ The boy thought to himself as he dismissed the slight temptation to let Kiri’s forces pass unimpeded just so he could strike the more personally detestable Kumo.

Alas, Kiri was the immediate danger and their aggressive, even slightly reckless advance made them more vulnerable to ambush as well.

They had sensors looking out for Uzumaki ambushers but Shiki was not someone that could be detected through such methods.

The boy felt the tremors on his body as the footsteps of the Kumo forces shook the ground he was hiding in as they passed.

Striking the alert front of the army would result in reduced casualties, the most powerful enemy combatants who could actually stop him were also concentrated there.

So Shiki let them pass, waiting for the vulnerable middle of the pack to reach the spot directly above him.

And then . . . The trap was sprung . . .

‘Dragon Gate Sealing Style: Coiling Dragon Seal’

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