Onoki did not mind and replied casually, "Fine. The rest of you come with me. We will find the one hiding behind the scenes controlling the stone statues, and that so called Moryo."
Darui opened his mouth, as if he also wanted to stay.
"Darui!" Ryoma said without turning around, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Do as the old Third Kazekage said."
Darui froze for a moment, then swept his gaze over those who stayed behind and instantly understood Lord Ryoma's intent. Aside from Mei Terumi, everyone remaining here possessed a Ninja Tool. They needed to kill these stone statues to advance their own Ninja Tool.
"Yes, Lord Ryoma!" Realizing this, Darui no longer hesitated and answered solemnly.
At that moment, a cold voice like a venomous snake flicking its tongue sounded without warning beside them. "Are you really taking us this lightly?"
Before the words even fell, a ghostlike figure appeared behind Darui. Naruto Uzumaki's pale hand shot out and slapped toward Darui's body.
Crackle. Wrapped in lightning, Ryoma struck later but arrived first, using his only remaining right arm in its armored sleeve to grab Naruto Uzumaki's wrist.
"Hmph!" As Ryoma snorted, the sound of breaking bone rang out, followed by the wet sound of flesh being pierced.
The wrist that Ryoma had crushed suddenly turned into sharp spikes of flesh, piercing through his palm and stabbing toward his eye before he could react. Ryoma's pupils tightened as he tilted his head, and the spike grazed his cheek, leaving a line of blood.
"Die!" Rage surged across his face as he tightened his grip and swung Naruto Uzumaki like a ragged sack, smashing him into the hard ground beside them.
Boom. The ground shook violently as Gravel flew everywhere and dust filled the air, a huge crater forming in an instant.
"Get out of here now!" Ryoma roared without looking back.
Whoosh. Third Kazekage formed hand seals without hesitation, golden sand surging beneath his feet and gathering into a sand cloud that lifted him, along with his guards Maki and Yura, into the sky.
Onoki flashed to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Mei Terumi, placed his hands on their shoulders, and used "Land of Earth Release·Light Weight Rock Technique." The three of them rose into the air as well.
"Hey, wait for me. These rocks cannot show my art!" In the air, Deidara controlled a massive clay owl that dove sharply, its claws grabbing the shoulders of the still-dazed Darui and Chakra with perfect accuracy.
"Wait…" Before Darui and Chakra could shout, the clay owl beat its wings and shot upward with a piercing howl, rapidly gaining height.
The nine followed the direction from which the stone soldiers had poured in, flying straight toward the sealing ground of "Moryo."
Obito raised his head to look at the nine figures, the Mangekyō Sharingan Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his left eye turning as he prepared to use "Kamui space" to kill them.
However, at the instant he was about to activate Kamui space, a shout rang out. "Land of Earth Release·Rock Axe Technique!"
Kurotsuchi's massive body charged in, a huge axe coated in extremely hard rock slamming down with terrifying power that could split mountains and shatter stone, aimed straight at Obito. At the same time, Mei Terumi gathered Chakra in her right palm and struck with "Coral Palm."
The two attacked from left and right, sealing all paths of evasion for Obito. Within that Mangekyō Sharingan Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Ti Ze Nv Ming Power surged wildly once more.
kacha! kacha! Dark blue Chakra condensed into the upper skeleton of a giant skull, its arms rising to meet the rock axe and the coral palm.
Boom, bang. Two extremely heavy impacts exploded almost at the same time.
Kurotsuchi's stone axe struck the Susanoo and produced a string of sharp cracking sounds, while Mei Terumi's coral palm hit the skeletal frame and failed to shake its defense at all.
Yet at the instant Obito blocked the pincer attack with Susanoo, the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded. A swift figure burst out of the earth without warning.
It was Kakashi, using "Land of Earth Release·Land of Earth Piercing Fang," while the distant Kakashi exploded into a cloud of smoke. No one knew when he had silently infiltrated directly beneath Obito, exploiting the only blind spot in Susanoo's defense.
Kakashi clenched the short blade in his hand, its edge flashing with cold light as violent blue Chakra leapt and crackled across it with a harsh hiss.
Slash. A dazzling streak of blue lightning shot upward, and the clear sound of steel biting into flesh reached the ears of the three attackers.
The blade tore through Obito's clothes and cut deeply into his chest, hot blood staining the weapon and splashing across Kakashi's face. Injured, Obito let out a muffled grunt, anger rising in his eyes as he raised his hand and slammed it into Kakashi's chest.
Puff. Kakashi spat out a large mouthful of blood and was sent flying uncontrollably, smashing through several stone soldiers before rolling over the ground multiple times and finally stopping.
Obito slowly lowered his head, glancing at the bleeding wound on his chest.
"Heh heh." A hoarse, cold laugh sounded beside Obito.
Naruto Uzumaki used Body Flicker Technique to appear at Obito's side, and the wrist that Ryoma had crushed and twisted now writhed violently before recovering in the blink of an eye. He shook that pale, long hand, icy light flashing in his golden slit pupils.
"It seems we really have been underestimated."
The ones left to face the two of them were only Ryoma, Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Kakashi, Kurotsuchi, and Mei Terumi. Clearly, their assessment of these two still rested on outdated impressions.
"Kakashi is yours?" Naruto Uzumaki asked.
Obito was silent for a moment, then thought of Kakashi's blade and felt a wave of disgust. He shook his head and said, "No. Kakashi is yours."
"Does not matter. Choose as you like." Beneath the mask, Naruto Uzumaki's mouth curled into a crazed grin. "I will not hold back on the others."
As the words fell, he suddenly opened his mouth, and a sword hilt slid out from deep within his throat. Naruto Uzumaki raised his hand and firmly grasped the slick hilt, slowly pulling an entire sword from his own mouth.
The blade was not straight but twisted like a snake, its surface a ghastly pale color covered in fine scale-like patterns. The tip was split like a venomous tongue, and the whole sword radiated a cold, sticky, nauseating aura of ill omen.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone present, Naruto Uzumaki gripped the hilt with both hands and, without hesitation, stabbed the twisted snake-like blade back into his own abdomen.
Slash. Scalding blood gushed out at once, soaking his robes and the blade.
"Hahahaha!" Naruto Uzumaki laughed hoarsely, his body trembling as he shouted, "Plunder it all. Shaji!"
With that roar, a vast, icy presence erupted from the blade. kacha! kacha!
The pale snake-like sword writhed as if alive, transforming into a living serpent that burrowed into his body. Even more horrifying, the hot blood pouring from his abdomen spread wildly, extending outward and turning into nerve-like bundles that glimmered with dark blue light.
These nerve bundles grew like crazed fungus, dense and overwhelming, stabbing into the surrounding stone debris and the ground itself. The earth rumbled violently, as if a sleeping beast had been jolted awake.
The stone fragments pierced by the blue nerves began to tremble, countless pieces of Gravel rolling upward and fusing together. kacha! kacha!