Chapter 173: The Troublesome "Extreme Speed"
Hyuga Ritsu quite admired A's decisiveness—not hesitating to damage his own body to forcibly eliminate the Gentle Fist's special chakra. This judgment was extremely correct. If he didn't promptly clear away that chakra blocking his meridians, the chakra flow within A's body would quickly become obstructed, his combat power would inevitably decline. If he took two more palms, he might even have all his chakra pathways sealed.
Unfortunately, A didn't let the situation develop to that point.
Ritsu felt no regret. After all, this was a genuine Kage—naturally not so easily taken down with a few strikes. However, this brief exchange confirmed once again that his Gentle Fist indeed had tremendous restraining power over taijutsu experts. Even flesh harder than steel couldn't stop the Gentle Fist, which embodied the essence of overcoming hardness with softness.
In this case, the one who should be troubled was the Fourth Raikage.
Indeed, this was the case. A had originally planned to coordinate with Killer B—even if they couldn't directly eliminate Konoha's White Yaksha in one wave, he at least wanted to severely injure his opponent.
But after trying, he'd suffered a small loss himself.
Hyuga Ritsu's Gentle Fist was far more formidable than all the Hyuga clan experts he'd encountered before. His thousand-times-tempered muscles seemed completely undefended before Ritsu's Gentle Fist.
This meant he couldn't employ his usual aggressive assault tactics. He had to deal with this White Yaksha while avoiding being struck by Ritsu's Gentle Fist as much as possible.
Fortunately, he had methods.
Though he wasn't skilled at using ninjutsu or genjutsu, his Lightning Release Chakra Mode followed a different path than his father the Third Raikage. He didn't pursue that virtually indestructible defensive power, but instead chased speed swift as lightning and wind.
The next instant, A mobilized the chakra within his body. Lightning flickered across his entire form, all his hair standing on end. In a single moment, he crossed the dozen-plus meters between himself and Ritsu, arriving at Ritsu's side. His raised right elbow struck viciously toward Ritsu's face like a heavy hammer.
A dull thud.
Ritsu's blocking arm was forcibly struck until the bone fractured, the bone cracking with several fissures. Large patches of flesh on his forearm rotted away. His entire body was thrown backward like a kite with its string cut.
"Tch! That really hurts!"
Ritsu, flying through the air, couldn't help clicking his tongue.
Even though his superpower Physical Regeneration had already advanced to Level 4 and his physical durability had improved dramatically, ultimately this superpower focused on regeneration rather than physical strength. Compared to A's body tempered thousands of times using Lightning Release chakra, he was still considerably lacking.
However, the most troublesome aspect was still the Fourth Raikage's speed.
This big guy was too fast!
Simply comparable to Minato-senpai's Flying Thunder God Technique.
Though his Byakugan could clearly see A's movement trajectory, his own speed couldn't quite keep up. In the rush, he could only raise his arm to block while simultaneously using Shikotsumyaku's power to generate bone defenses. He had no time to deploy other defensive measures.
Fortunately, his regeneration ability made him fearless of injury. The fractured bone had already mended and restored. The rotted flesh had already shed the old and generated new. All this completed within just a few breaths.
At the same moment, Ritsu's regenerated hands completed hand seals.
Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique.
Since his own speed couldn't match the Fourth Raikage's, he'd switch tactics. He'd use the Hiding in Mist Technique to confuse the Fourth Raikage's perception. This one wasn't a sensory ninja. Once his perception was obscured by the Hiding in Mist Technique, unable to determine Ritsu's location, his speed would be meaningless no matter how fast—unless he could instantly cover every corner filled with dense fog.
Unfortunately, the Fourth Raikage's speed hadn't reached that level. The Wood Human's head and shoulders were also spacious enough for Ritsu to maneuver against the Fourth Raikage without any problem.
"Hiding in Mist Technique?"
After injuring and launching Ritsu, A also needed a moment to catch his breath. But in just these brief two breaths, the arm he'd injured had already recovered, and furthermore had deployed the Hiding in Mist Technique to obstruct him.
This darkened his expression. He couldn't help grinding his teeth, thinking that this White Yaksha truly deserved his reputation as Konoha's newly risen formidable figure. Byakugan, Wood Release, and Shikotsumyaku—possessing a full three Kekkei Genkai. This was simply inconceivable. Beyond that, he also possessed terrifying recovery ability comparable to or even surpassing a jinchuriki's.
This guy was absolutely Hidden Cloud Village's great enemy!
Intense killing intent therefore filled his heart. He considered seizing this rare opportunity to slay Ritsu here, eliminating a great enemy for Hidden Cloud Village.
A looked at the dense fog spreading around him and laughed coldly. "You think hiding in fog means I can't deal with you? Too naive. I'm not fighting alone."
The next second, waves of violent wind struck.
The wind also carried intense ocean brine smell, powerful enough to blow away anyone weighing under a hundred pounds. This spreading fog naturally couldn't withstand such strong wind. In the blink of an eye, it was blown completely clean.
Now one could see the Eight-Tails grappling with the Wood Human, its mouth puckered. Clearly this wind carrying intense ocean smell was breath blown by the Eight-Tails.
While Ritsu and the Fourth Raikage fought and exchanged blows, Ritsu was still dividing his attention to control the Wood Human wrestling with the Eight-Tails. Facing the Eight-Tails' assault formed by both arms plus eight tails, the Wood Human similarly grew eight additional arms, stubbornly withstanding the Eight-Tails' fierce attack without falling behind in this melee combat.
The advancement of his superpower Physical Regeneration had made his Yang Release mastery advance by leaps and bounds, bringing a dramatic enhancement to his Wood Release techniques' power. Though he still couldn't reach the First Hokage's Thousand-Armed Buddha level, a Wood Human with ten arms was achievable.
But even so, facing two opponents at once was somewhat strenuous.
After all, these two opponents were both top-tier elites of the shinobi world. Hidden Cloud Village's "AB Brothers" carried a name with tremendous weight. Not only were their individual combat abilities formidably powerful, their coordination had reached a level of tacit understanding.
Just now had been exactly this—without A issuing any instructions or orders, Killer B transformed into the Eight-Tails had exhaled wind, dispersing the dense fog Ritsu had summoned.
Ritsu pulled at the corners of his mouth, his face still smiling. Standing on the Wood Human's left shoulder, he looked up at the Fourth Raikage standing atop the Wood Human's head, smiling as he said, "Raikage, you think breaking my Hiding in Mist Technique means I can't deal with you?"
The instant his words fell, sharp white bones grew from Ritsu's shoulders, back, elbows, knees, and other joints. He looked like a hedgehog.
Methods for dealing with the Fourth Raikage whose speed far exceeded his own weren't limited to one. If the Hiding in Mist Technique was broken, he'd simply switch approaches.
A raised an eyebrow. "The Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku? Though I don't know how you obtained so many Kekkei Genkai, mere bones can't stop my thousand-times-tempered body."
"And once I capture you, naturally I'll be able to figure out how you wield so many Kekkei Genkai—"
By the end of his words, his figure had already shot forth like lightning, leaping down from the Wood Human's head. Truly like heavenly thunder, he arrived above Ritsu's head in an instant. His raised right leg chopped down toward Ritsu's head like a battle axe.
Liger Bomb!
One of Hidden Cloud Village's Lightning Release taijutsu ultimate techniques, it brought leg power to its extreme. Its destructive power also ranked among the most formidable.
But what truly made Ritsu find it difficult to handle was still the speed. The Fourth Raikage's speed was still so fast that Ritsu had difficulty executing complex defensive maneuvers. Fortunately, Ritsu's current form didn't require complex maneuvers.
His Byakugan could keep up with A's movements.
His body simply couldn't keep up with A's extreme speed, so he simply used Shikotsumyaku to strengthen his defensive capability. He didn't need large defensive movements—he only needed to slightly shift his body and limbs to utilize the white bones growing from different parts of his body for defense.
Right now was exactly such a moment.
Ritsu merely shifted his body slightly. The sharp bone shooting skyward from his left shoulder met A's right leg chopping down like a giant axe. The instant they collided, violent impact sounds erupted. The powerful impact force made Ritsu's body sway, but unlike the previous instant collapse, this time the bone wasn't broken. Ritsu stubbornly held firm. Only the Wood Human's shoulder beneath his feet cracked with spiderweb-like fissures.
Of course, A's physical durability was truly astonishing as well. Such sharp bone under such fierce impact failed to pierce A's right leg. One could only say this Raikage's physical durability was somewhat monstrous.
"He actually blocked it?"
In the distance, Xi holding binoculars observing the battle situation atop the Wood Human's head cried out in shock. "How is this possible? He was easily having bones broken by Raikage-sama before. How did he block it now?"
Xi couldn't understand it, couldn't comprehend it.
A was equally puzzled, but after one strike failed, he immediately withdrew and retreated, leaping back to the Wood Human's head without giving Ritsu a chance to counterattack. Standing atop the Wood Human's head, he vigilantly examined Ritsu, trying to understand what Ritsu had relied on to block his kick.
Ritsu moved his somewhat numb left shoulder and smiled. "Raikage, don't underestimate Shikotsumyaku! The shinobi world has no trash Kekkei Genkai, only trash Kekkei Genkai inheritors."
Shikotsumyaku as a Kekkei Genkai's ability wasn't just creating and controlling bones—it could also alter bone hardness by changing calcium concentration. Ritsu simply hadn't encountered an enemy as hard as the Fourth Raikage before, so he hadn't much tried making his bones as hard as diamond.
Just now in the rush, he hadn't had time to enhance the white bone's calcium concentration, which was why A easily broke his bones.
After all, ordinary iron could kill people—why bother using divine weapons?
But now the situation was different. The Fourth Raikage's offense and defense were both ridiculously hard. He could use Gentle Fist to break through the Fourth Raikage's defense, but facing the Fourth Raikage's attacks, trying to rely on Gentle Fist to block couldn't keep up with the speed.
Wanting to use Hiding in Mist Technique to restrict the Fourth Raikage, he was obstructed by the Eight-Tails jinchuriki interfering. Left with no choice, he could only utilize Shikotsumyaku to create diamond-hard bones to forcibly withstand the Fourth Raikage's attacks.
Facts proved this method, though somewhat clumsy, was genuinely effective, definitely helping him block A's attack.
Ritsu and A exchanged dozens more moves. He steadily defended against A's wave after wave of fierce attacks. No matter what formidable Lightning Release taijutsu A employed, he had no way to deal with Ritsu's impenetrable defense.
However—
Ritsu's mood wasn't particularly good either.
Because he was now somewhat helpless. These AB Brothers' strength was even more formidable than Ritsu had estimated. The Eight-Tails jinchuriki restrained his Wood Human. The Fourth Raikage's extreme speed forced him into a defensive posture. He no longer had any way to continue pursuing and killing the Cloud ninja below.
His Byakugan saw clearly. After the Fourth Raikage and Eight-Tails jinchuriki descended onto the battlefield, the Cloud ninja's morale surged greatly. Under Dodai's command, they completely stabilized their position and engaged Aburame Shikuro and others who'd rushed to support Ritsu, attempting to rescue over a hundred Cloud ninja captured by Aburame Shikuro's group.
Can't continue this stalemate!
This thought emerged in Ritsu's mind. Maintaining the current advantageous situation was good enough. Continuing to fight to the bitter end—though Ritsu himself could hold out, the Konoha ninja below would certainly suffer uncontrollable casualties.
Just then, Hiruko and others who'd departed a step later also arrived at the battlefield, giving Dodai considerable pressure and immediately causing him to pause his counterattack posture, transforming back to a conservative defensive stance.
Ritsu shouted loudly, "Raikage, stop! Continuing to fight benefits neither of us. Tonight's chaos very likely had third-party intervention—they're deliberately provoking conflict between us Konoha and you Cloud ninja!"
When he spoke these words, his face didn't flush and his heart didn't race. He was completely righteous.
A indeed stopped his attack.
Not that he believed Ritsu's nonsense, but he realized that relying solely on his Lightning Release taijutsu couldn't break through Ritsu's defense. Killer B was entangled by Ritsu's Wood Human. Winning this battle would require grinding it out over time.
But the problem was they didn't have that kind of time now.
Because Ritsu's reinforcements had already arrived. Numerous Konoha ninja were in perfect condition with soaring morale. Though their Cloud ninja's morale wasn't low, their condition was obviously poor. With him and Killer B unable to intervene, the Cloud ninja would only face one-sided crushing defeat. Yet the two brothers might not be able to do anything to the now-supported Ritsu.
Furthermore, he indeed had many doubts in his heart.
So even though he was extremely unwilling, when Ritsu showed intention to stop fighting, he still chose to cease attacking. He simply stared intently at Ritsu and asked sternly, "What do you mean by saying tonight's chaos had third-party intervention?"