Without the obstruction of the parasitic insects, Shinno once again had the ability to open the Gate of Death.
However, this time, he wasn't in a rush to do so.
Jiraiya alone had already proven troublesome enough—Takeshi, being the Hokage, would certainly be even harder to handle.
Both sides needed to rely on feints to gather information about each other's abilities.
Takeshi was the first to act.
Crystals of ice suddenly emerged from the ground, sprouting rapidly like wild grass.
In the blink of an eye, at a speed visible to the naked eye, the entire ground was covered in glittering frost.
Then, countless ice crystals began to grow upward toward the sky.
"Interesting."
Forcing his legs free from the ice that bound him, Shinno looked up.
Everywhere within sight was covered in reflective ice, and in every mirrored surface, he could see Takeshi's image staring back.
"Ice Release: Piercing Duke."
The moment Shinno broke free, his legs were pierced by slender, razor-sharp ice spikes.
If it had been an ordinary ninja, they would have already been screaming from the agony.
But to Shinno, whose body had undergone extensive modification, that pain was nothing—far weaker than the torment brought by the Gate of Death.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"
From somewhere unseen, Takeshi spat out compressed bullets of air.
A dense barrage of wind projectiles rained down, sealing off every possible escape route Shinno could take.
"Sixth Gate—Gate of View, open!"
A surge of green vapor burst from Shinno's body, scattering part of the incoming wind bullets and shattering the ice spikes that had pierced his feet.
Leaping into the air, he unleashed Reverse Lotus.
Takeshi instantly slipped into the ice, reappearing behind Shinno and flicking several senbon at him—one of them a marked Flying Thunder God kunai.
"Rasengan!"
Teleporting beside the kunai, Takeshi pressed his already-prepared Rasengan into Shinno's torso.
The spinning sphere tore through his flesh, shredding skin and muscle, revealing the mangled red and white tissue beneath.
Seeing this, Shinno ignored the pain, his hands elongating into tendrils as he tried to ensnare Takeshi into his arms.
But with a flash of light, the Flying Thunder God technique activated again—Takeshi vanished, escaping the impending trap.
"Is that all you've got?"
Shinno looked down at his wound, sounding almost disappointed.
The injury inflicted by the Rasengan was healing rapidly—much faster than it did when he opened the Gate of Death.
While Shinno felt let down, Takeshi was quite the opposite.
He had already noticed the weakness in Shinno's regeneration—there was a fixed upper limit to the recovery.
If he could slice Shinno's body finely enough, the regeneration technique wouldn't be able to keep up.
Of course, that was easier said than done.
Against someone capable of opening the Gate of Death, achieving that would be extremely difficult.
At least, for this shadow clone of his—it would be.
But there was no harm in trying.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Slipping back into the ice once again, Takeshi reappeared at a safer distance from Shinno and began performing hand signs.
A summoning seal spread beneath him.
"Ah, little Takeshi—it's been a while. You're still as adorable as ever."
Upon seeing who had summoned her, Katsuyu's antennae wiggled rapidly in delight.
"Katsuyu-sama, now's not really the time for that."
Watching the giant slug immediately snuggle into his arms, Takeshi gave a wry smile before quickly explaining the situation.
"Even though this is just a shadow clone, I'd like to take this chance to stop that guy here once and for all."
After hearing Takeshi's account, Katsuyu's antennae swayed up and down.
"Then allow me to lend you a hand."
Meanwhile, Shinno was analyzing Takeshi's abilities in the brief pause when he wasn't attacking.
That technique called Rasengan packed considerable power—but not enough to be fatal to him.
What truly irritated him were the Flying Thunder God technique and Takeshi's ability to hide within ice.
To deal with him, he first needed to eliminate every single Flying Thunder God kunai, and then destroy all the ice crystals in the area.
It seemed he had no choice—he would have to open the Gate of Death.
After assessing the condition of his body, Shinno wasn't even sure how long he could last.
He regretted agreeing to Yomi's request for help.
But it was far too late for regrets now.
Shoving his fear deep down, Shinno began to wildly channel chakra throughout his body.
"Sage Mode!"
On the other side, Takeshi had already entered Sage Mode as well.
"Little Takeshi, something's wrong!"
Katsuyu's voice came sharply.
"Daytime Tiger!"
A storm of Daytime Tiger strikes exploded in every direction, smashing all the surrounding ice into fragments.
"He's trying to restrict my movement range."
Seeing the pattern in Shinno's attack, Takeshi immediately grasped his opponent's intent.
"Sage Art: Acid Bomb!"
Leaping out from hiding, Takeshi unleashed a new technique.
Several massive ice crystals roared toward Shinno like meteorites.
Seeing them coming, Shinno only sneered—launching a few more Daytime Tiger punches in response.
The ice crystals shattered instantly—but within them burst out torrents of acidic liquid that splashed in every direction.
Some of it landed directly on Shinno.
This acid, created by Katsuyu, contained dense natural energy—its corrosive power far exceeded that of ordinary chakra-based damage.
"What… is this?!"
For the first time, Shinno felt real pain. His movements faltered for a split second.
Takeshi caught the brief opening immediately.
The shattered ice shards began to grow again, surging up and wrapping around Shinno's legs, freezing him in place.
"Sage Art: Super Eightfold Light Wheel!"
A colossal Eightfold Light Wheel spun into existence, roaring toward Shinno with unstoppable force.