Chapter 574: The Ice Age That Freezes Everything
Although the Jinchuriki who had fully transformed into a Tailed Beast had an overwhelming presence, Roshi and Jiraiya had already left the main battlefield, so it did not have any direct impact there.
Both the Iwagakure Ninja and the Konoha Ninja continued fighting as before.
Mugetsu wanted to press his advantage, but many Iwagakure Ninja saw that Roshi had been injured and immediately turned their attacks toward him, trying to stop him from dealing any further damage.
Most of the Iwagakure Ninja did not like Roshi. He was a Jinchuriki, and his temper was terrible.
But this was the battlefield, and they were already at a disadvantage because of Konoha's scheme. They needed Roshi's strength.
When the Iwagakure Ninja Force had first been formed, Onoki had not arranged for any other top-tier Iwagakure experts to accompany them precisely because two Jinchuriki were already overseeing the force.
If Roshi were directly killed by Mugetsu's combination attacks, the Iwagakure Ninja Force would be in serious trouble.
"Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!"
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!"
All kinds of Earth Release Ninjutsu rained down on Mugetsu.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Mugetsu calmly drew three Flying Thunder God Kunai from his ninja pouch and threw out two of them.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Some Iwagakure Ninja quickly raised an Earth Flow Wall to block the Kunai, preventing them from getting any closer to the range of their Earth Release attacks.
Whoosh!
Mugetsu activated the Flying Thunder God Technique. His figure disappeared from his original position and reappeared beside several Iwagakure Ninja.
He and Minato had already made thorough preparations. Flying Thunder God formulas had been placed at many points beforehand. The two thrown Kunai had only been meant to draw attention.
Slash!
Blood splattered as Mugetsu's Kunai sliced cleanly across their throats, taking the lives of several Iwagakure Ninja in an instant.
The other Iwagakure Ninja who saw this frowned, inwardly cursing the Flying Thunder God Technique as a disgusting jutsu.
Being able to teleport by throwing a Kunai was already troublesome enough. Now that they had stepped straight into a carefully prepared trap, they had no idea where the enemy might appear next.
"Cough, cough."
Roshi coughed twice and gathered chakra to stand on the surface of the shallow pond.
"Huff, huff."
He was breathing heavily, using Tailed Beast Chakra to force his body back into shape, but he was in terrible pain.
Although only four of Mugetsu's Ten Thousand Water Dragons had struck him, the damage they dealt was substantial.
His lava armor, which had been strong enough to endure Minato's Rasengan, was completely ineffective against the water dragons because Water Release naturally countered Lava Release. Other than the first dragon, which his armor had slightly resisted, the following three had hit his body directly.
If he had not activated Tailed Beast Chakra in time to absorb part of the force, his condition would have been even worse.
"Hayate Mugetsu!"
Roshi stared at Mugetsu's flickering figure in the middle of the crowd, his expression grave.
Ever since he had trained himself to master complete Tailed Beast transformation, this was the first time he had suffered such a crushing setback at the hands of a single person.
If the surrounding Iwagakure Ninja had not stepped in to help, he might already have been defeated by Mugetsu.
"We will go all out with full Tailed Beast transformation. Make Hayate Mugetsu think you're going to fight him head-on, and I'll lead a squad to take the chance to kill him!" Iwakura quietly said as he appeared beside Roshi.
In truth, Iwakura desperately wanted to retreat, but with the situation already like this, a direct withdrawal would almost certainly fail.
They needed to eliminate one of Konoha's core figures, either Jiraiya or Hayate Mugetsu.
Even Minato would not do. His role on the battlefield was important, but it still fell short compared to the other two.
Roshi frowned deeply. "Use full Tailed Beast transformation here?"
Their current location was the center of the Iwagakure Ninja Force. That was exactly why Roshi had only been using Lava Release Chakra Mode up until now.
"Most of the Ninja will have enough time to withdraw to a safe distance. As for the small number who might get caught by accident, that is a necessary sacrifice for victory," Iwakura replied quickly.
This was the best plan he could think of.
Even if Roshi lured Mugetsu over to the Fifth's side, it still would not help much. Jiraiya was also a dangerous opponent, and with Roshi already injured, even if he joined forces with the Five Tails, they might still fail to defeat Mugetsu and Jiraiya together.
But here, it was different.
With the Four Tails in full Tailed Beast transformation, plus the five Iwagakure Jonin of the Explosion Corps under his command, along with the many surrounding Iwagakure Ninja, killing Mugetsu was not impossible.
A trace of hesitation appeared in Roshi's eyes.
Even though his status as a Jinchuriki had earned him all kinds of discrimination and criticism, he still instinctively rejected Iwakura's reasoning.
"If we do not kill Hayate Mugetsu and force open a path, even more people will die in the end," Iwakura pressed.
If Roshi agreed, then even if things went badly, Iwakura would not have to shoulder all the blame himself.
After all, Onoki had never been on good terms with Roshi because of Roshi's stubborn nature. When the time came to report, if he only needed to add a line or two about how Roshi had disregarded the lives of fellow village Ninja to force a full Tailed Beast transformation, then the responsibility for the defeat would be much easier to shift away.
"You'd better really be able to kill Hayate Mugetsu." Roshi let out a long breath and closed his eyes for a moment.
Iwakura was overjoyed, though he kept his expression solemn. "Of course. I will do everything in my power."
Dark red chakra surged continuously out of Roshi's body, wrapping around him completely.
With that brutal chakra aura rising higher and higher, another enormous beast appeared on the battlefield, right at its very center.
"Targeting me?"
Mugetsu's Byakugan gave him a full three-hundred-sixty-degree view without blind spots, and he immediately noticed that after Roshi transformed, several Ninja with considerable chakra had begun approaching his position.
Although the Byakugan had already let him see through their chakra, Mugetsu still used the Appraisal Technique on them to be safe.
["Name: Iwakura"]
["Chakra: 71000"]
["Skills: Explosion Release (Mastery: 3100/15000), Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 3500), Explosion Release: Meteor Blast (Mastery), Explosion Release: Explosive Flying Stones (Mastery)..."]
["Name: Sasame"]
["Chakra: 41000"]
["Skills: Explosion Release (Mastery), Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery), Explosion Release: Explosive Stone (Mastery)..."]
["Name: Tsuchi Koku"]
["Chakra: 35000"]
["Skills: Explosion Release (Mastery), Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery), Earth Release: Hardening Technique (Mastery)..."]
"It's the Explosion Corps."
The moment Mugetsu saw that all six appraisal panels showed Explosion Release, he immediately recognized them as the elite unit of Iwagakure, the Explosion Corps.
Still, he did not panic.
Now that he had already seen through their plan, the danger had dropped considerably. And with Flying Thunder God available to let him retreat at any moment, along with Armament Haki to perfectly defend his body, there was even less to worry about.
Seeing Roshi's giant ape form appear, the surrounding Iwagakure Ninja, afraid of being caught in friendly fire, quickly retreated.
Mugetsu, however, moved even faster. He continued cutting down Iwagakure Ninja while shifting toward the areas where more of them were gathered, clearly intending to make Roshi's transformation cost Iwagakure even more casualties.
Now that Roshi had made up his mind, he no longer hesitated. He sprang upward and hurled his enormous fist toward Mugetsu.
Once fully transformed, even simple taijutsu strikes backed by Tailed Beast Chakra possessed terrifying destructive power.
Boom!
Roshi smashed a huge crater into the earth, and inside that crater lay the bodies of two unlucky Iwagakure Ninja.
As for Mugetsu, the actual target, he had already used Body Flicker at the last moment to create distance, rushing instead toward the shallow pond where most of the Explosion Release Ninja were waiting.
"Just as expected. A genius like him would never be afraid of an injured Jinchuriki." Iwakura could not help revealing the slightest smile.
Ordinarily, trying to surround and kill a Ninja who possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique would have been irrational in a battlefield this chaotic.
After all, Mugetsu could leave at any moment with Flying Thunder God. They had no way to truly pin him down.
But Iwakura had already guessed how Mugetsu would think. He did not believe that Mugetsu would retreat simply because Roshi had fully transformed.
On the contrary, he believed Mugetsu would try to use this opportunity to finish Roshi once and for all.
Mugetsu was not only a young prodigy. He was also a famous genius who had once personally killed a Jinchuriki on the battlefield. In Iwakura's eyes, someone like that would never back down easily.
"Explosion Release: Explosive Flying Stones!"
Seizing the moment, Iwakura quickly condensed several stone projectiles whose explosive force far exceeded that of ordinary paper bombs and fired them straight at Mugetsu.
Before acting, he had already given the order to the other members of the Explosion Corps. The instant Iwakura made his move, the other five Explosion Release Ninja also unleashed their most proficient jutsu.
"Explosion Release: Explosive Stone!"
"Explosion Release: Explosion Technique!"
All kinds of explosion-based jutsu flew toward Mugetsu at once.
Seeing Mugetsu about to be swallowed by the chain of detonations, Iwakura felt no sense of relief.
He already knew Mugetsu could use Flying Thunder God to evade this kind of attack with ease.
Even as those attacks were flying, Iwakura was already condensing chakra for his strongest Explosion Release technique, Meteor Blast.
He judged that Mugetsu would not teleport far. He would most likely reposition somewhere nearby and launch a counterattack immediately.
The moment Mugetsu appeared, no matter who stood beside him, no matter how many Iwagakure Ninja were nearby, Iwakura had already decided he would activate his strongest jutsu without hesitation.
If he could kill Mugetsu with his own hands, then even if Iwagakure lost this battle, it would become an honorable defeat rather than a disgraceful one.
But what shocked Iwakura was that Mugetsu did not use Flying Thunder God at all.
Instead, he activated another jutsu.
"Ice Release: Ice Age!"
The massive amount of chakra condensing inside Mugetsu erupted in that instant, and a terrifying icy blue wave of cold spread outward with him at the center.
Crack! Crack!
Boom!
The shallow pond instantly turned into a frozen field, and the stone projectiles filled with explosive power turned into frozen chunks that dropped onto the ground and exploded uselessly.
The cold spread with frightening speed, and because Iwakura had never expected Mugetsu to use Ice Release instead of Flying Thunder God, the freezing aura reached him before he could respond.
In his shocked expression, the cold rapidly consumed his body and sealed him inside a giant block of ice.
The other Explosion Release Ninja were even closer to Mugetsu than Iwakura had been, and naturally, none of them escaped. One after another, they too were frozen solid.
Roshi had originally intended to take the chance to crush Mugetsu with a punch, but before his fist could even descend, the cold had already touched his body.
The piercing chill made Roshi's pupils contract instantly. Before he could make another move, he too was transformed into a colossal ice sculpture.
Mugetsu had not held back at all in the amount of chakra he poured into the technique, and the S-rank Ice Age displayed truly terrifying power.
Aside from the Explosion Release Ninja and Roshi, who were closest to him, a number of nearby Iwagakure Ninja also failed to escape the cold and were frozen into blocks of ice.
The Iwagakure Ninja outside the freezing range stared at the gigantic ice sculpture, dozens of meters tall, with horror in their eyes as they retreated in panic.
Even the nearby Konoha Ninja abandoned what they were doing and quickly pulled back as well.
For a brief moment, a silent, ice-blue zone appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
"As expected of Mugetsu sensei!" Obito cried out in excitement when he saw Mugetsu resolve the crisis so cleanly and then launch such a powerful counterattack.
Just a moment ago, the disciples had been fighting together to cut down many Iwagakure Ninja while leading a squad of Konoha Ninja over to relieve Mugetsu's pressure.
Yet before they could even reach him, Mugetsu had already solved everything by himself.
"So this time really wasn't it." Kakashi quietly let out a breath in relief.
At this point, the battle had already progressed far enough that Konoha's plan to lure and destroy the Iwagakure force could be considered a major success.
Both Mugetsu and the Konoha Ninja Force were still in excellent condition. No matter how one looked at it, this was not going to become the battle where Mugetsu died.
Now all that remained was to reduce Iwagakure's fighting strength as much as possible. If they could do that, it would become Konoha's greatest victory since the war began.
"We need to pay even more attention to what's around us now." Shisui's Sharingan rapidly swept the battlefield.
Mugetsu's side was already stable. That meant they needed to protect themselves well and make sure they did not become a burden.
"So he really trained Ice Release to this level without anyone realizing it." Jiraiya, who was currently fighting the Five Tails, could not help feeling surprised.
Ordinarily, someone locked in battle against a Jinchuriki should not have had room to pay attention elsewhere. But the frozen Four Tails was simply too massive and too eye-catching to ignore.
And at that very time, the sun was beginning to rise. The dawn light struck the ice and reflected countless colors. Together with the Four Tails' bright red fur trapped beneath the ice, the sight was dazzling beyond words.
"If it's him, he might really surpass Sarutobi sensei when it comes to teaching ninjutsu." Jiraiya could not help but feel a surge of emotion.
Mugetsu had already displayed Water Release and Fire Release that exceeded ordinary standards by far. Now even his Bloodline Limit, Ice Release, had been trained to such a high level.
And Mugetsu was only twenty one years old.
He still had far too much time left to continue researching and refining his ninjutsu. His future was almost impossible to measure.
The Five Tails had naturally noticed what had happened on the main battlefield, and even with its usually calm disposition, it could not help becoming anxious, which in turn made its attacks more disordered.
Yet Jiraiya in Sage Mode was no weakling. The Five Tails' anxiety did not help it gain any advantage. Instead, Jiraiya seized an opening and struck back.
Not only was the Five Tails injured, but all the Iwagakure Jonin assigned to protect it were killed by Jiraiya and the two Great Sages.
"With those troublesome distractions gone, this battle just became much easier." Jiraiya let out a breath.
A Jinchuriki capable of full Tailed Beast transformation was not something any powerful Ninja could afford to underestimate.
And if such a Jinchuriki also had the support of a specialized Jonin squad, the threat level rose dramatically.
But for someone like Jiraiya, who had mastered all kinds of techniques, fighting a single Jinchuriki alone was not impossible at all. It was dangerous, yes, but the odds of victory were still very high.
The sight of the frozen Four Tails and the frozen Iwagakure Ninja greatly raised Konoha's morale.
But for the Iwagakure Ninja, it was a devastating blow.
All of their strongest fighters were struggling and being pushed back. In that kind of situation, not only was defeating Konoha impossible, even breaking out of the encirclement had become incredibly difficult.
.....
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