The battlefield trembled under the weight of four colossal forces colliding. Shinobi from both sides had retreated to safe distances, leaving nothing but scorched earth and the roar of titans locked in desperate combat. Mushroom clouds bloomed across the sky. The very air crackled with lethal energy.
Ōnoki's chest heaved as he gasped for breath, sweat streaming down his weathered face. That technique again? His eyes remained locked on Seiran, but his concentration fractured as a sharp pain lanced through his heart. He clenched his teeth, pouring chakra inward to suppress the agony. In a battle between masters, a single moment of distraction meant death.
Seiran's eyes glinted with cold precision. "You're tougher than you look, old man."
And he was right. Ōnoki's combat experience was vast—every strike calculated, every technique executed with perfect timing. But Seiran had been methodical. He'd subtly manipulated the iron within Ōnoki's body, drawing it toward the heart, strangling blood vessels from within. The Tsuchikage's stamina was bleeding away despite his iron will.
Yet Seiran's time was running out too. His Tyrant Mode wouldn't last much longer.
If that's the case…
His eyes turned to ice. Godzilla's assault intensified. The massive metal tail whipped through the air, hurling the two tailed beasts backward. Then its forearms—resting on the rock giant's shoulders—dissolved into liquid metal, transforming into thick serpentine coils that locked around the stone colossus's upper body.
"Impossible!" Ōnoki's pupils contracted. The beast was supposed to maintain a fixed form.
He has no idea what I'm capable of, Seiran thought coldly. If I wanted, I could become Ghidorah itself.
Terrifying energy surged within Godzilla's maw. Its regenerated claws tore open the rock giant's mouth, and blazing white light erupted from deep within its throat, pouring directly into the beast's abdominal cavity.
Atomic Breath.
An application of atomic-level electromagnetic manipulation, far more devastating than ordinary atomic breath. It didn't merely burn—it reduced matter to its constituent atoms.
Mechanical Godzilla's laser swept across the plains. Iwa shinobi caught in its path didn't even have time to scream before they disintegrated into ash, scattering on the wind like forgotten dust.
"That's… similar to Dust Release," Ōnoki breathed, shock flooding his features. "Can it decompose matter at the molecular level?"
He didn't wait for an answer. Pushing both his Earth-style light and heavy rock techniques to their absolute limits, Ōnoki barely dove clear. The atomic breath carved through the stone giant's body, erasing massive sections from existence. The beast's regeneration sputtered—it couldn't recover from this.
Godzilla inhaled.
A second volley came.
The laser swept sideways across the battlefield. Ōnoki, still reeling from the first attack, saw death rushing toward him. His hands blurred through seals. "Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
A white cube erupted, holding the atomic breath at bay.
But Seiran wasn't done playing defense. Kokuo charged forward with a sliding tackle, attempting to exploit the stalemate.
Godzilla's head turned lazily. Its mouth opened.
The atomic breath bisected the tailed beast mid-motion. Kokuo's scream of agony echoed across the plain as his form began to dissipate, the severed halves unable to maintain cohesion.
Seiran didn't spare him a glance.
Ōnoki gasped, fighting to catch his breath.
Godzilla rotated back toward him. Its jaws opened wide.
Third volley.
"Aaaah!"
The atomic breath collided head-on with Ōnoki's Dust Release. Two blazing lasers locked in a terrifying embrace, neither willing to yield. From kilometers away, Uchiha shinobi could see the confrontation clearly—a massive metal beast's breath meeting the insignificant figure of an old man, the earth convulsing beneath their struggle, the sky darkening with the violence of their clash.
My chakra is critical, Seiran realized, feeling his reserves plummeting. But he'd prepared for this.
Reverse Hidden Energy—activate!
---
Dozens of kilometers away, Zero—Seiran's Akatsuki alias—suddenly clutched his chest, gasping. His body rippled, transforming into the sleek form of a combat aircraft before shooting skyward. Within moments, he'd reached the highest peak in the region.
The noon sun blazed relentlessly, bathing the summit in brilliant light. Zero moved with purpose, extracting metallic particles from the stone itself, condensing them into solar panels. Within heartbeats, the peak transformed into a sprawling array of nano-metal collectors, drinking in the sunlight and converting it into pure energy. That power flowed through his core, transmuting into chakra, and channeling it across the distance to Seiran's body on the battlefield below.
---
Here it comes.
Seiran felt the surge of massive chakra flooding back into him. Joy sparked in his chest. His atomic breath intensified, growing stronger with each passing second. It suppressed Ōnoki's Dust Release effortlessly, closing the distance with relentless momentum.
Sorry, Ōnoki. The advantage is mine now.
Ōnoki roared, channeling nearly every ounce of remaining chakra into his defense. It wasn't enough. The atomic breath crept closer, ever closer—
A Tailed Beast Ball screamed through the air toward him.
Son Goku.
At this distance, there was no time to dodge or redirect. Seiran had only one choice: absorb the impact head-on.
Godzilla's body dissolved into liquid metal, enveloping him in a protective cocoon.
The explosion was cataclysmic.
Godzilla vanished into the inferno. The atomic breath, released from Seiran's mouth at the last instant, obliterated Ōnoki's Dust Release and continued forward. The Tsuchikage dodged desperately, but the laser still caught his right arm. The sensation of his flesh being unmade nearly drove him to unconsciousness.
When the smoke finally cleared…
The battlefield was a graveyard.
Kokuo had withdrawn from his tailed beast form. Han struggled to his feet, battered and broken. Only Son Goku remained relatively intact, his eyes trembling as they fixed on the gasping, one-armed Ōnoki.
"You old bastard…" Han rasped.
Ōnoki held his left shoulder with his remaining hand, each breath a labor. His right arm was simply… gone. Erased.
"I'm still standing," he said weakly, looking up.
Seiran hovered overhead, panting heavily, his forehead slick with sweat. The thunderous aura surrounding him had dimmed significantly.
A slight smile crossed Ōnoki's weathered face—almost a laugh. "So your forbidden time limit is almost up, isn't it?"
---
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