Chapter 342: Prepare the Seal
In just a few breaths, the crumbling, paper-like debris fused back together. Hiruzen Sarutobi stood perfectly intact, his Edo Tensei body fully restored as if he had never taken a single hit.
"Wh... what!" Naruto pointed a trembling finger at the resurrected Hokage, his voice cracking into an incoherent shout. "Th... that's ridiculous! How can there be such a cheating ninjutsu!"
He grabbed fistfuls of his own blonde hair, his face twisting in frustration. "Then what the hell are we fighting for! We can't win this!"
"Calm down, Naruto."
Gaara's voice cut through the panic, steady and cold. The young Kazekage stepped forward, his sand gourd shifting slightly on his back. "Although his body can regenerate infinitely, it is not without weaknesses. We cannot kill him, but we can... seal him."
"Seal?" Naruto blinked, his hands dropping from his head.
"Exactly." Gaara gave a curt nod. "I have a sealing jutsu that can completely suppress him. But Naruto, I need your cooperation."
"No problem! Leave it to me!"
Naruto grinned, his previous dejection vanishing in an instant. The violent, bubbling red chakra of the Nine-Tails flared around him once more, radiating a blistering heat that distorted the air.
Gaara nodded, his sea-green eyes locked onto their target. "Listen carefully. I will first use my sand to restrict his movements. However, given his strength, this restraint will not hold him for long. What you need to do is smash his body apart again with your absolute strongest attack in the shortest time possible. The very second his form shatters and the debris begins to reorganize, that will be my window to activate the seal. Understood?"
Naruto nodded heavily, flashing Gaara a confident thumbs-up.
"Then..." Gaara's gaze sharpened into a deadly glare. "Begin!"
The moment the word left his lips, Gaara slammed both palms flat against the earth.
"Quicksand Waterfall Flow!"
The ground beneath their feet groaned. A violent tremor ripped through the battlefield. Centered entirely around Hiruzen Sarutobi, the solid earth within a hundred-meter radius instantly pulverized, transforming into a turbulent, roaring ocean of sand. The yellow grains moved like a living, raging tide, surging upward to form colossal waves tens of meters high. They crashed down mercilessly toward the Third Hokage from every conceivable angle, aiming to crush and bury him under thousands of tons of pressure.
Up on the distant hillside, Senju Tobirama observed the devastation. A flicker of genuine surprise crossed his cold, crimson eyes. 'This Sunagakure brat... he can manipulate sand to such a terrifying extent?'
Down in the epicenter of the golden sea, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood completely unfazed by the apocalyptic offensive bearing down on him.
"Naive!" he scoffed, his hands blurring into a sequence of hand seals far too fast for the naked eye to track.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
A monstrous surge of water erupted from his position, instantly matching the sheer scale of the encroaching sand tsunami. The raging currents twisted into ferocious, roaring water dragons that howled through the air, slamming head-on into the surging sea of sand.
The collision of heavy water and dense sand detonated with an ear-splitting boom. A massive shockwave tore through the clearing. Thick mist and heavy, wet mud sprayed into the air, completely obscuring the battlefield in a murky haze.
Water countered earth. Bound by the absolute laws of elemental advantage, Gaara's overwhelming sand offensive was forcibly suppressed. The golden waves grew heavy, turning into massive, sluggish patches of wet mud that rapidly slipped out of his control.
"Tch! He broke through it?" Naruto clicked his tongue, his fangs bared in annoyance as he stared at the muddy swamp.
"Do not worry," Gaara replied, his tone entirely unbothered. "The battle has just begun."
"Haha! You're right!"
Naruto threw his head back and laughed wildly. The demonic red chakra cloak surged, and four distinct tails of pure, boiling chakra lashed out wildly from his back, scorching the air.
He crossed his fingers in his signature seal. "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thick clouds of white smoke erupted across the muddy lake. Hundreds of Naruto clones, every single one cloaked in the same violent red chakra, materialized in every corner of the battlefield. They landed lightly on the murky water, their chakra holding them perfectly afloat.
In perfect unison, hundreds of voices let out an devastating roar. They launched themselves from all directions, a swarm of crimson streaks shooting straight toward Hiruzen Sarutobi in the center of the lake.
"Hmph. A human wave tactic?" Hiruzen stood firm on the rippling water, his dark eyes narrowing coldly. He gripped the Adamantine Staff tightly and slammed its base against the water's surface, sending out violent ripples.
"Taijutsu: Adamantine Staff Flurry!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The vanguard of Shadow Clones did not even have time to blink. Furious, blurring shadows of the extending staff swept through their ranks, violently blowing them apart into puffs of white smoke. In a single breath, over thirty clones were completely eradicated.
But the swarm was endless. More clones had already flanked him, attacking viciously from his blind spots.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
Dozens of Naruto clones simultaneously swung their arms, releasing highly condensed, razor-sharp arcs of green wind chakra. The blades shrieked through the air, slicing toward the old Hokage.
Hiruzen let out a deep roar, thrusting the Adamantine Staff vertically into the muddy depths beneath his feet.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A massive, thick rampart of solid mud and rock tore upward from the lakebed, rising high above the water to intercept the incoming barrage. The wind blades slammed into the earthen defense, gouging deep trenches into the rock but failing to pierce through.
Yet, the frontal assault was merely a distraction.
The very second the towering earth wall rose and obscured Hiruzen's line of sight, a lone Shadow Clone materialized silently directly above the Hokage's head.
"Rasengan!"
A violently spinning sphere of dense blue chakra roared to life in his palm. The clone thrust it downward, aiming squarely for Hiruzen's skull.
"You fell for it!" Hiruzen's voice was sharp. His decades of combat experience allowed him to anticipate the blind-spot ambush perfectly.
The dark shadow cast beneath his feet suddenly writhed and expanded, transforming into a massive, elongated arm that grabbed the top edge of the earth wall and violently yanked his body backward, pulling him out of the jutsu's path.
The Rasengan missed its target, slamming fiercely into the water below. The sheer rotational force detonated instantly, carving a massive, churning whirlpool into the center of the lake.
"It's not over yet!"
The remaining Shadow Clones roared, completely ignoring the blast as they rushed forward. They descended upon Hiruzen like a swarm of locusts, their fists and kicks raining down in a relentless storm of taijutsu.
Despite being completely encircled by dozens of enraged, chakra-cloaked clones, Hiruzen wielded the Adamantine Staff with flawless precision. He deflected, parried, and struck back, showing absolutely no signs of being overwhelmed.
"Damn it! This old man's taijutsu is too strong!" Naruto gritted his teeth, anxiety bubbling up as his clones failed to break through the ironclad defense.
Just then, Gaara, who had been standing motionlessly on the periphery, finally saw his opening.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention was entirely consumed by the endless swarm of Naruto's clones.
A sharp, dangerous gleam flashed through Gaara's pale eyes. He slammed his hands together with a resounding clap.
"Quicksand Waterfall Flow!"
The earth was violently overturned once again. A colossal wave of dry sand, so massive it blotted out the sky, poured down from the shoreline directly into the muddy lake.
In just three short seconds, the entire landscape shifted. The battlefield, which had just been a rippling body of water, was forcibly elevated by several meters. The moisture was instantly absorbed and buried, transforming the terrain back into a dry, scorching, boundless desert.
"What?!"
Hiruzen had just raised his staff to smash an incoming clone when the solid surface beneath his feet vanished, replaced by shifting, bottomless quicksand. His balance shattered instantly, and his body plunged downward into the golden depths.
"Got you!" Gaara's voice was ice.
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
The newly formed desert came alive. The scorching yellow sand surged upward with terrifying speed, morphing into a colossal, sky-obscuring hand. It clamped shut around the sinking Hiruzen from below, restraining the Hokage in an inescapable, crushing grip.
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