Chapter 316: Fear
As long as one of the two conditions was met, the Tailed Beast Bomb would explode.
Yet now, not only was the Tailed Beast Bomb stopped—it had been cut clean in half and still didn't explode until it had flown far beyond the impact point.
There was only one possible explanation for this.
The Fourth Kazekage's attack was razor-thin and incredibly sharp—sharp enough that even after slicing through the Tailed Beast Bomb, it didn't destabilize its internal chakra composition.
It was like a high-speed ninja being decapitated by a nearly invisible wire. The body continues forward, maybe even talks, completely unaware that its neck has been severed.
That was the terrifying nature of the Fourth Kazekage's slash: so thin, it could cut a Tailed Beast Bomb without triggering its instability.
But that alone wasn't what truly terrified Ōnoki.
What chilled him to his core was that the Tailed Beast Bomb wasn't just cut—it was split and knocked to either side of the mountain peak.
That was the truly horrifying part.
It meant the Fourth Kazekage's attack wasn't just sharp—it was fast and powerful.
Only a technique that was sharp enough, fast enough, and strong enough could slice a Tailed Beast Bomb and immediately separate its halves without disrupting their stability.
A terrifying jutsu, with terrifying speed and terrifying destructive power.
"This isn't just Wind Release: Slash, as the intel claims."
If Ōnoki's guess was correct, then the Fourth Kazekage had elevated the Wind Release—a single-element chakra nature—to the level of Kekkei Tōta.
Only then could his Wind Release Slashes possess such overwhelming power. Otherwise, cutting a Tailed Beast Bomb would be impossible.
"This is bad...!"
Hovering mid-air, Ōnoki frowned deeply, hesitating to issue an attack order.
Logically, now that both sides had been exposed, there was no need to keep hiding—just launch a full assault.
And his son, Huangtu, was already dead.
He could finally go all out with Dust Release and annihilate them all.
But... he didn't dare approach the mountain.
Ōnoki had witnessed firsthand how terrifying Kekkei Tōta could be. His own disciple, Shiyan, had elevated Earth Release to that level with the Technique of Mass.
His defense had withstood the Third Raikage's legendary Hell Stab, turning the so-called strongest spear into a crippled finger.
His offense had broken through the Raikage's Lightning Armor and destroyed his body in one punch, rendering him helpless.
Keep in mind: the Third Raikage had gone toe-to-toe with the Eight-Tails in melee combat and was considered one of the strongest shinobi in history.
Yet even that monster couldn't last more than a few moves against Shiyan's Kekkei Tōta-level Earth Release.
Ōnoki already knew how terrifying a single-element jutsu could become once elevated to Kekkei Tōta.
And that was Earth Release—the least aggressive of the five basic elements.
The Fourth Kazekage had elevated Wind Release—arguably the most offensively oriented element—to Kekkei Tōta.
Cutting a Tailed Beast Bomb had already proven the Fourth's Wind Release Slash was horrifyingly strong.
Ōnoki had no idea if there were other abilities hidden in that technique.
But what had already been shown was more than enough.
The attack speed and range were absurd.
That last Tailed Beast Bomb wasn't cut at point-blank range—it was sliced from hundreds of meters away.
Terrifying power, terrifying speed, terrifying range, and possibly unknown effects.
That was why the Third Tsuchikage didn't dare launch an assault—he didn't even dare get close. He wasn't confident his Dust Release could block the Wind Slash, and he feared being cut down like the Tailed Beast Bomb.
If even he felt that way, then sending other Iwa shinobi in would just be suicide. The only thing they'd achieve was draining the Fourth Kazekage's chakra.
But the Fourth had more allies than they did. He had more Sand shinobi with him than Iwa shinobi on Ōnoki's side. The only ones capable of potentially exhausting the Kazekage were Ōnoki himself, Roshi, and Han.
Yet if they were forced to fight from long range, even their own chakra reserves would drain quickly.
And they didn't know how much chakra the Fourth Kazekage had—or how much his Wind Slash even consumed.
A mess.
A huge mess!
Ōnoki wracked his brain, sweat beading on his forehead, but still couldn't think of a way to deal with the Fourth Kazekage.
But time—and the enemy—wouldn't wait.
"You won't come to us? Then we'll come to you."
"Attack!"
Li Yao's Wind Clone gave a cold smile and ordered the assault.
"Attack!!"
Rasa led the Sand shinobi down the mountain, charging toward Ōnoki with fearless determination. None of them looked worried about Dust Release anymore.
The moment they saw Li Yao slice the Tailed Beast Bomb—they had been transformed. Their faith was absolute.
Whoosh!
Li Yao's Wind Clone activated his Wind Release Armor and flew at high speed from the mountain toward Ōnoki.
"He can fly too!!"
From a distance, Ōnoki's eyes twitched. His already cold body grew even colder.
Some in Kirigakure knew the Wind Clone could fly, but they hadn't spread that intelligence widely.
Ōnoki hadn't known.
He had assumed he could gain an advantage by flying—keeping his distance, dragging things out if he had to.
But now… that was no longer possible.
If the Fourth Kazekage could fly, there was nowhere to hide. And behind him was Iwagakure itself. If he didn't stop him here, the village might be doomed.
"Fine, we'll fight!"
Ōnoki steeled himself and gave the order. "The Fourth Kazekage is mine. You handle the rest!"
He took to the sky, trying to lead Li Yao away from the battlefield—buy time, wear him down.
Li Yao saw through him immediately.
He didn't change direction. He flew straight toward the Iwa shinobi below.
"You little bastard!"
Ōnoki cursed inwardly, frustrated, but helpless. He looked toward Roshi and shouted:
"Roshi! Attack the Sand shinobi!"
The transformed Four-Tails heard him and immediately understood. It leapt high into the air and fired a smaller Tailed Beast Bomb toward Rasa and his group.
"Getting clever, aren't you?"
Li Yao smirked. That kind of angled launch meant the bomb would detonate early—closer to the ground.
Even if it didn't land directly on Rasa's group, the shockwave from the explosion would still likely hit them hard enough to kill.
Shing!
Li Yao released another Wind Slash, splitting the bomb midair. The two halves veered off and exploded a few hundred meters to either side of Rasa's squad.
"Earth Release – Earth Formation Wall!"
"Earth Release...!"
The Sand shinobi who knew Earth Release responded quickly, raising walls to block the shockwaves.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997