But Shiki would definitely not stop here!
[Healing Gate! Open!!!]
[Life Gate! Open!!!]
After opening the third gate — the Dammation Gate — wild chakra surged violently all over Shiki's body as if it could no longer be contained.
The veins on his forehead slightly bulged. Though he lost a bit of his charm, he gained an even stronger masculine aura.
Just when Fu Yamanaka thought Shiki Uzumaki was about to launch an attack,
Suddenly — *whoosh!* — Shiki's figure vanished without a trace!
He went through all that effort opening three gates… just to run away???
Fu didn't know what words could properly describe his feelings at this moment, so he simply rushed forward in pursuit!
Meanwhile, the already long-gone Shiki couldn't help but praise himself for his own cleverness.
In such a situation, fighting one-on-one against a jonin? How utterly foolish?
If you lose, you face punishment: Danzo's corpse experiments.
And if you win, your reward is just a single compliment from Fu Yamanaka and permanent "residency" in Danzo's lab.
Compared to those two options, running away right then and there felt downright liberating.
P.S.
Ugh, today's update totally wiped me out... I had so much going on today, like locking in the contract for this novel. I'm totally beat. Next few days are gonna be crazy, so I'm taking a short break — which means from today onward for the next week, it's gonna be two chapters a day.
Then the week after that, back to daily 10K updates — how's that sound?
Got way too much going on. Please understand.
[Chapter 41: Temple of Nirvana Technique]
One by one, Root members arrived beside Kabuto Yakushi.
Among them were jonins with rich combat experience and sharp battlefield instincts.
"Tch! To actually fall for such a cheap trick!"
When the later-arriving ninja of Root heard that the Shiki Uzumaki standing before them wasn't the real one but an impostor, they couldn't help but angrily curse.
"It's fine," Kabuto said with a smile. "At least you all got deceived together. That way, you can just blame the intelligence department."
"Should we head back immediately?" someone suggested.
Yes, returning to Konoha right now might still give them time to stop Shiki Uzumaki from reaching the Third Hokage.
"No. We've already come this far. Even if we turn back now, it'll take over an hour. By then, we wouldn't make any difference to the situation." Hyūga Tanaka calmly judged, adding, "Also, defenses in Konoha have been significantly strengthened."
Indeed, thanks to Fu Yamanaka's wisdom, only half their forces had pursued Shiki, while the remaining forces stationed in Konoha weren't something a mere academy dropout could ever get through.
"Rather than heading back and doing nothing useful, I'd prefer to capture the person right here and now!"
Hyūga Tanaka glared deeply at Kabuto Yakushi as he spoke.
Throughout everything, Kabuto never dropped his disguise, continuing to fight them all while keeping Shiki's appearance intact.
Knowing that the person they pursued wasn't the real Shiki Uzumaki, they finally cleared up their doubts.
Even if that kid Shiki Uzumaki truly possessed talent comparable to Itachi, his lack of battlefield experience would certainly show. Yet this "Shiki" before them had fully displayed extreme cunning and calculation, as if everything were under his control.
"Who *are* you?!"
Hyūga Tanaka roared the question again as he charged toward Kabuto Yakushi.
In an instant, Hyūga Tanaka had already reached Kabuto's side.
[Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!]
"Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty-four palms!"
Exactly as Hyūga Tanaka declared, all sixty-four strikes landed simultaneously—this secret technique of the Hyūga Clan granted him extraordinary speed surpassing his natural limits.
Even an elite Jonin would avoid the deadly assault of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
But could anyone truly evade the Hyūga Clan's Eight Trigrams Palm techniques so easily?
He believed the opponent's strength must exceed ordinary Jonin level for him to hold such thoughts. Moreover, he was certain other Root ninjas had already prepared countermeasures against this unknown ninja.
Indeed, when he launched these sixty-four strikes, his right foot suddenly weakened, causing significant deviation in his focused attack.
Seizing the opening, Kabuto leapt back.
However, seeing his attack neutralized, Hyūga Tanaka smiled.
Because defeating this mysterious ninja was never his intention.
His plan was to force him into midair!
[Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!]
[Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!]
[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]
From nearly every direction, ninjutsu rained down upon Kabuto!
Even a Jonin couldn't maneuver freely in midair.
This time, there's no escape!
Not even The Third could withstand such an onslaught of jutsu from so many Jonin and Chunin.
Certainly, Mū himself wouldn't place himself in such a situation.
Under attacks of various chakra natures, the snow had already taken on different forms.
Each jutsu transformed it uniquely. Within the Wind Release techniques, swirling snowflakes became especially beautiful.
Melted snow from Fire Release techniques began drizzling below. As for Water Release, forming a thin layer of icy armor on the surface was inevitable.
Watching those incoming attacks converge overhead, Kabuto smiled inwardly, thinking, "Success!"
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