Chapter 348: Caught the First One? Then What About the Remaining Two Through Nine?
Atop the mountain peak to the left of the Tenshukaku—
"—Boom!"
A massive cannon thundered!
A blazing yellow chakra beam blasted forth from a monstrous steel weapon, shooting straight toward the eastern part of the city!
The moment the beam struck the ground—
A small mushroom cloud erupted instantly.
Rocks, mist, dust, and scattered severed limbs were hurled into the air by the intense heat and shockwave!
However, despite the certainty of this shot, it missed.
"Damn it! I should've adjusted three units to the right. That damn mist can even interfere with my flawless Byakugan!"
Hyūga Shota widened his eyes in fury as he tried to observe the eastern front, gritting his teeth.
"And what the hell is that water monster? It actually managed to withstand a direct blast?!"
The first shot, loaded with a specially designed armor-piercing shell, had blown off half of Uchiha Ci's body.
This strike cemented the success of Kumogakure's northern gate battle plan.
Immediately after, Killer B and Hyūga Shota—under the coordination of the intelligence unit—continued manning the chakra cannon, bombarding the Akatsuki members who had breached the city walls from the east and were caught between the first and second defensive rings!
Even the breakdown of the sensory barrier didn't significantly hinder Kumogakure's intel flow.
With the aid of the Hyūga clan from Konoha and the Mizunagare clan from Iwagakure—both present by invitation of the daimyō—and their advantage of terrain, forces to encircle Akatsuki gathered rapidly.
However, just when the chakra cannon should have been at its most devastating,
Mei Terumi unleashed her Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique, while Hōzuki Mangetsu used Water Style: Shielded Eboshi Technique, throwing the entire battle into disarray.
Under the cover of the dense mist, two Akatsuki squads used the visual superiority of their Mangekyō Sharingan and the even more powerful Rinnegan to continually pierce through Kumogakure's defensive lines.
Kumogakure had clearly underestimated their strength. Even with the deployment of their largest force yet, they still couldn't halt the enemy's advance—
And now, they were approaching the fifty-meter-high inner wall manned by Kumogakure's elite troops.
"Lord B, hurry! The defenders can't hold much longer!"
Below the mountain, the intelligence unit members cried out with urgency.
"I got it!"
Killer B took a deep breath, borrowing more chakra from the Eight-Tails Gyūki. He turned to Hyūga Shota with furrowed brows.
"Hyūga brat, can you be more accurate this time?"
"No need for your nagging!" Hyūga Shota snapped coldly. "Just follow my lead this time, and I guarantee a hit!"
"A bunch of rogue ninja? You think they can escape these eyes of mine?!"
But just then—
Sudden chaos erupted!
From the direction of the Tenshukaku, a bolt of lightning flared, followed by a shout that ripped through the air—
"B—!!!"
Killer B turned his head sharply and saw his older brother, the young A, sprinting over with a look of urgency, yelling:
"Watch the north!"
B was shocked. He quickly turned to the northern gate—
And saw it.
From atop the twenty-meter-high northern wall, the thirty-meter-tall skeletal Susanoo raised an arm and hurled something—
A meteor-like projectile came hurtling straight toward Killer B's position!
The blinding light filled his entire field of vision.
It was like a second sun rising.
Only upon its approach did its form become clear—
A ten-meter-wide, crimson spinning tomoe!
Slicing through the wind, shredding the air, shrieking as it flew at high speed!
If this struck, with the chakra cannon's slow mobility, destruction was certain.
Killer B immediately moved to pivot the cannon's barrel, hoping to intercept the Yasaka Magatama.
But fate was rarely so kind—
Hyūga Shota's face suddenly paled beside him. His eyes widened in shock as he tugged on B's sleeve.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA—no way…"
"Kumogakure guy! Look east!"
"Something's flying at us from there too!!"
B's face instantly tensed. He whipped his head toward the east—
There, standing just beyond the breached fifty-meter wall, a red-haired youth watched events unfold with cold indifference.
He had precisely grasped the moment when Uchiha Ci retaliated by throwing the Yasaka Magatama toward the chakra cannon—
Without hesitation,
He unfurled a summoning scroll, pulled out a massive cannon barrel over two meters long from the smoke,
And aimed it directly at the pair behind the chakra cannon.
Then—
Sasori revealed a faint, eerie smile, slammed a fist into the cannon's chakra core—
"—BOOM!!"
A beam of bright yellow light, no weaker than that of the chakra cannon, blasted toward them!
As if signaling the start of a counterattack—
From east and north, two attacks came in a pincer strike!
The chakra cannon could only defend against one side!
And although young A had rushed from the opposite side of the Tenshukaku and reacted swiftly, the two mountain peaks were separated by nearly a hundred meters—
Unlike Uchiha Ci in his Sage Mode, A couldn't leap that distance in an instant.
"Damn it!" Killer B clenched his teeth, sweat pouring down his forehead, his heart pounding like thunder.
"We can't let them destroy the chakra cannon!"
"Without it, our plan to pressure Uchiha Ci into using Sage Mode at the second defense ring will fall apart—"
At that thought, a savage glint appeared on Killer B's face.
He raised his hand.
"Gyūki!!"
With a roar, eight massive octopus tails erupted behind him as the seventy-meter-tall Eight-Tails Gyūki rose from the mountaintop!
It raised its head and shot a black ink bullet straight at Sasori's incoming beam!
Then, its eight tails and head coiled tightly together, wrapping the entire mountain within.
The Yasaka Magatama smashed down upon the Eight-Tails' body!
"—BOOM!!"
Violent winds and blazing sparks exploded in a furious storm!
The mountaintop erupted in a miniature mushroom cloud from the explosion!
Meanwhile—
At the northern gate.
Standing atop a twenty-meter-high wall and the thirty-meter-tall skeletal Susanoo,
Uchiha Ci narrowed his eyes at the impact site, a flicker of surprise on his face.
"Huh? That was Sasori's chakra cannon?"
"They actually blocked both shots?"
After all, what he had thrown wasn't an ordinary Yasaka Magatama—
It was the true version, summoned using the divine artifact Yasakani Magatama and Uchiha bloodline—a strike capable of rivaling Madara Uchiha's complete-body Susanoo.
A single hit could shake the earth.
"Well… whatever."
Uchiha Ci sneered, gazing coldly toward Kumogakure's cannon emplacement.
He had to admit—Kumogakure's bizarre tech tree, culminating in that armor-piercing shell, was troublesome.
The skeletal stage of Susanoo couldn't withstand its attacks. If they kept firing unchecked, it would cause quite a bit of trouble down the line.
At that thought—
Uchiha Ci raised his hand slightly. The divine artifact hanging around his neck, Yasakani Magatama, glowed faintly in response.
And then—
The massive Susanoo giant swung its arm and summoned in midair—
Eight blazing orbs, as radiant as miniature suns!
Eight more Yasaka Magatama, identical to the last!
"Well then,"
"A—caught the first one, did you?"
"Then how will you deal with two through nine?"