Right after finishing his last delaying remark, Mizuki's pupils shimmered with bright golden light. His elongated silver hair floated wildly in all directions, stirred by the surging chakra within his body.
"This is [Sage Mode]? How come it was activated so quickly?"
Although surprised at how fast Mizuki had entered [Sage Mode], Kabuto Yakushi had no intention of remaining passive. He wasn't ignorant of [Sage Mode]'s nature — he knew that in this state, Mizuki was far superior to him. Still, death wasn't inevitable. Though victory seemed unlikely, escape remained a possibility. All he needed was to buy some time — wait until the massive barrier technique "[Light-Absorbing Shadow Clone]" consumed enough chakra, and then he could make his escape.
"You may know your facts, but that still won't save you..."
As he spoke, Mizuki swiftly closed the distance and threw a punch straight toward Kabuto Yakushi. The space inside the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier wasn't large, and Mizuki didn't care about taking Kabuto Yakushi's life — his only concern was damaging whatever items Kabuto carried if he used Fire Release techniques.
Seeing that Mizuki showed absolutely no mercy and attacked without hesitation, Kabuto Yakushi gave up any hope of peaceful negotiation. [Sage Mode] greatly boosted his speed, but for Kabuto Yakushi, dealing with it was difficult yet not impossible. Using his excellent Taijutsu skills, he barely dodged Mizuki's iron fist. However, before Kabuto Yakushi could even catch his breath, an explosion of force smashed into his face. Instantly, Kabuto Yakushi was sent flying backward.
"What happened?" He had clearly avoided the attack, hadn't he? Dazed and confused from the powerful impact, Kabuto Yakushi staggered.
Unfortunately, Mizuki paid no heed to his enemy's confusion. Facing such a resourceful and intelligent opponent with strong survival instincts, Mizuki lacked confidence in outthinking him. Thus, making immediate use of his current power advantage to end things decisively seemed like a wise decision. Before Kabuto Yakushi even hit the ground, Mizuki charged forward once more. This time, his fist crashed heavily onto Kabuto Yakushi's spine. Feeling the vibration of bones breaking, accompanied by a deep, explosive boom upon impact, Kabuto's battered body slammed onto the ground, sliding continuously backward. Even the rock-solid ground couldn't withstand the blast of raw power. As Kabuto Yakushi slid along the surface, friction between his body and the earth carved out a half-person-deep trench.
"Dead? That looks brutal. Tsunade's monstrous strength must be even worse — no wonder she nearly killed Jiraiya."
Mizuki struck with full force — two crushing punches that shook Kabuto to his core. Exploiting Kabuto Yakushi's unfamiliarity with [Sage Mode], Mizuki struck first to disable him, then delivered a deadly follow-up blow. It was all thanks to [Sage Mode]'s insane physical enhancement that Kabuto was caught completely off guard.
But Mizuki may have been too confident. At the far end of the long trench, a figure suddenly leaped into the air before dropping to one knee and locking eyes with Mizuki, who was already coiling for another strike. It was none other than the battered Kabuto Yakushi.
"Still alive? Your survival skills are truly impressive."
"Yin Healing Wound Destruction really is an impressive technique," Mizuki said, eyeing Kabuto Yakushi's awkward stance. "Such severe injuries and yet you still survived. You shouldn't even be able to stand anymore, let alone keep your back straight..."
Before his words could finish echoing, an invisible hand shot out and grabbed Yakushi Kabuto by the neck, lifting him off the ground.
Choking as his neck cracked from the pressure, Kabuto struggled and rasped, "Do you really think it's that easy to get me?"
Hearing Kabuto's stubborn defiance right before death, Mizuki saw no reason to chat further with a corpse-to-be and prepared to twist his neck off.
At that moment, Kabuto made an unexpected move—swiftly pulling out a scroll with his right hand, he exerted his remaining strength to fling it backward in a decisive arc.
"Hmm? No good..."
Two consecutive heavy punches sent Kabuto flying backward quite a distance. However, the chakra of these four shadow clones was limited. To extend the duration of Four-Corner Sealing Barrier, the area had been greatly reduced. In this already cramped space, their aggressive movements brought Kabuto dangerously close to the barrier. If he actually hit the barrier with that scroll, it would burn to ashes—clearly trying to destroy Mizuki's trophy. Could Mizuki allow such destruction when he already considered all of Kabuto's belongings his own? The colossal Natural Energy hand released Kabuto and quickly snatched the flying scroll.
However, Kabuto provided Mizuki another "surprise" as he slammed forcefully onto the ground again. Seizing the fleeting chance, Kabuto yanked every scroll from his pack and triggered the pre-set explosive tags.
"No! Damn you..."
Unfortunately, distracted by previous actions, Mizuki couldn't stop Kabuto's plan in time. A loud explosion erupted, sending fireballs raging through everything in its path, consuming Kabuto and his possessions alike in roaring flames. That scorching fire turned Mizuki's would-be treasures into ash before they even touched his hands.
This sudden turn left Mizuki pale with rage. The burning inferno reflected in his eyes seemed to mirror the fury within his heart.
In an instant, a colossal Natural Energy hand descended from above, crushing Kabuto beneath the blazing wreckage.
Without air feeding the flames, they quickly extinguished like water without a source or a tree without roots. But it was already too late. Mizuki stepped forward bitterly, staring at the charred fragments drifting in the wind like ashes of his dreams. Those were supposed to be his stepping stones for advancement, but now they'd all turned to smoke.
Clutching what remained of his hope, Mizuki opened the scroll he had just retrieved from Kabuto.
[Flying Thunder God Technique]... Not a total loss, though what I really needed was [Cursed Seal Technique].
Mizuki pocketed the Flying Thunder God scroll with mixed feelings, having avoided complete failure.
Looking down at Kabuto Yakushi lying there with complex emotions, Mizuki raged inwardly.
"I failed. Was I simply rushing too much?"
No, there was nothing wrong with the strategy. The limited dialogue was meant to buy time to activate Sage Mode and launch a stealthy ambush. His assessment of both Kabuto Yakushi's abilities and his own was spot-on. The mistake lay solely in underestimating people's hearts outside of battle—this man was ruthless not only toward enemies but also equally ruthless toward himself.
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