The two massive iron gates stood tall, their surfaces engraved with gilded demonic visages—eyes embedded with crimson chakra-metal orbs that flared to life the moment the gates slammed into the ground.
Sealing formulas crawled across the metal like living script, rust flaking away to reveal hidden steel veins beneath.
Though not as formidable as the Triple Rashōmon, these gates had their own unbreakable presence.
"You can… do that?!"
Hyūga Tobio's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
This fat Genin had just pulled off a defensive maneuver rivaling a summoning jutsu—using sealed scrolls to manifest gates akin to the legendary Rashōmon!
How the hell did he even come up with this?!
And those scrolls… they had to be insanely expensive. Was this kid some clan heir drowning in money?
WHOOSH—
The Wind Style attack arrived first, howling like a vengeful spirit.
The Vortex Pressure Ball tore through the air, ripping charred birch trees from the ground and shredding them into razor-edged shrapnel. Even the earth itself was peeled apart, the rock layers sliced like tofu and sucked into the storm.
For a moment, it almost resembled the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken in sheer devastation.
SCREEEECH—
The vortex slammed into the Iron Prison Gates, the sound of grinding metal so shrill it made teeth ache.
"Hah…"
Tekuno wiped sweat from his brow, heart pounding.
If I'd tried blocking that with my "steel pot wife," I'd bemincemeatright now.
But the Iron Prison Gates held.
"Incredible defense!" Tobio muttered.
Even he hadn't expected the gates to tank the vortex so effortlessly. The attack had only carved a half-meter dent—barely scratching the first layer.
The kunai and shuriken that followed might as well have been mosquito bites, and even the explosive tags just chipped off some flakes.
"Tekuno! Stay sharp—reinforce it!"
Yoru's voice was tense. His Sonic Radar told him the real threat wasn't the wind—it was the Earth Style technique charging behind it.
The gates excelled against elemental attacks, but physical force? That was a different story. They were tough, but not Rashōmon-tier.
"MY IRON WIFE'S DEFENSE ISABSOLUTE!"
Tekuno roared, pumping chakra into the gates. The sealing scripts flared brighter, bracing for impact.
BOOOOOOM—
The gigantic boulder crashed down like a meteor, carrying the weight of the earth itself.
The first gatebuckled instantly, steel twisting like paper, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
The boulder shattered through—only to meet the second gate, its seals writhing like living ink, dispersing the force in a shockwave that flattened the battlefield.
"IT HELD?!" Tobio gasped.
A Genin had just blocked what might as well have been an A-rank assault.
This wasimpossible.
"Hah… hah…"
Tekuno grinned, relief flooding him.
Thank theHokagefor Yoru's training. Without this tactic, he'd be a bloody pancake right now.
"We're… finished."
The Suna shinobi despaired. Their strongest attacks had been completely nullified.
Now, all that awaited them was the Water Style annihilation they'd been dreading.
Their captain's mangled hand couldn't even form seals anymore.
"Captain… what do we do?"
"Can we still run?!"
"My wife's waiting for me—I can't die here!"
Even their Jōnin, the spiky-haired leader, felt the same.
The Will of Wind had crumbled.
"Wait… what the hell?"
At the battlefield's edge, Gekkō Yoru stiffened, eyes widening.
The shockwave from the boulder's impact had disrupted the transformation jutsu—revealing the "Uchiha" for what he really was.
No…no way.
Yoru's blood ran cold.
He came from the Gekkō Clan—his perception was second only to Hyūga and Uchiha. Yet he hadn't noticed until now?
A frantic glance at Tobio confirmed it.
"It's really… just a transformation?"
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
Sarutobe Eijirō blurted out, face pale.
"The Sharingan—it can't be fake! That was a genjutsu, not—"
"EIJIRŌ!"
Tobio snapped, veins bulging.
Shut the hell up before yougive everything away!
Eijirō flinched, finally realizing his mistake.
"I-I didn't mean to—"
"EIJIRŌ!"
This time, Tobio's voice was pure fury.
Stopdigging the grave deeper, you idiot!
The stress worsened his poison, and Tobio collapsed, body giving out.
Behind the gates, Yoru facepalmed.
Unbelievable.
Accidental leaks were one thing, but arguing about it? That was just handing intel to the enemy on a silver platter.