Chapter 188.1 : Roshi Defeated!!

Of course, this also came with conditions. After all, Jinchūriki naturally countered genjutsu.

To affect a Jinchūriki's mind and senses, the first step was to sever their chakra connection with the Tailed Beast. Alternatively, one could interfere with the beast's consciousness as well.

Ordinary genjutsu found this difficult, but the Mangekyō Sharingan had the power to hypnotize and even forcibly control a Tailed Beast.

With the combination of the Mangekyō and the Hōgyoku mode, Shisui's control over genjutsu had long surpassed the normal limits of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

The arrows fired at the Jinchūriki were certainly dangerous, but beyond piercing their target, the force released upon impact carried the power of the Mangekyō's Yin Release. 

Even a momentary disruption or severance of their chakra connection could determine the outcome of the battle.

The power of the Four-Tails rapidly dissipated, and its massive body shrank in an instant. Seizing the now-visible Rōshi, Shisui gripped him tightly and moved him away from the sea of lava.

The entire battlefield had been devastated by their clash. At least until the magma cooled, this place had become a wasteland.

…

"It looks like the Four-Tails has been defeated as well."

Orochimaru channeled chakra into the fan in his hand and swung it forcefully toward Ōnoki's position.

A storm of razor-sharp wind blades roared forward, slicing apart everything in their path.

However, Ōnoki had anticipated this overwhelming attack. Before Orochimaru even swung his fan, he and Kitsuchi had already raised a towering stone wall in front of them.

The wind blades clashed against the stone wall, instantly leaving its smooth surface riddled with craters, as if it had been bombarded by a relentless assault.

Chunks of rock broke off with loud cracks, crumbling and crashing to the ground.

Onoki, hidden behind the stone wall, looked even more grim. He had heard Orochimaru's words and sensed the rapid weakening of the Four-Tails' chakra before it completely disappeared.

However, the emerald-green giant was still standing.

This clearly indicated the final victor between the Jinchūriki and the Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan!

Thinking back to the earlier capture of the Five-Tails, even someone like Onoki, who had endured countless setbacks and had tempered both his spirit and will to an unshakable degree, still felt an indescribable sense of collapse at this moment.

Two Tailed Beasts!

Even Onoki found it impossible to accept that he had lost two Tailed Beasts under his watch.

Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!

Just as the transparent cube of Dust Release appeared in Onoki's hands, Orochimaru had already leaped down from the stone wall, swinging his war fan toward him.

Tsunade followed closely behind, raising her foot high before stomping down in an instant onto the stone giant's raised arm, which was being used as a shield.

Crash!

With a series of explosive sounds, the stone giant's arm was instantly shattered by an immense force. 

Not only did the shield-like arm crumble into scattered rubble, but the powerful impact traveled through its body, destroying half of its upper torso in an instant.

This forced Kitsuchi to hurriedly pull Onoki back as they retreated.

Without Kitsuchi's chakra and control, the stone giant lost its vitality. Its damaged body did not regenerate. 

The remaining half of its body collapsed, its legs—like two crumbling stone pillars—crashing to the ground and breaking into multiple fragments.

What an annoying jutsu!

Watching Onoki, who had retreated while pulling Kitsuchi with him and was now floating higher in the air, both Orochimaru and Tsunade, who had landed back on the ground, felt somewhat helpless.

A flying Onoki was as troublesome to deal with as the Flying Thunder God Technique when he wanted to escape the battlefield. 

Among the Five Kage, he was the only one who could freely move through the sky and coordinate his attacks for large-scale destruction.

However, Orochimaru wasn't worried that Onoki would flee toward the Iwagakure and Konoha battlefield.

If Onoki could slaughter Konoha's shinobi, then Orochimaru and Tsunade could do the same to Iwagakure's shinobi.

Until they dealt with each other, both Onoki and Orochimaru shared an unspoken agreement.

Before he got the fan, Orochimaru had always been at a disadvantage in his battle against Ōnoki. 

That one man alone was enough to keep both him and a few others like Akimichi Chodai distracted.

If it weren't for the fact that Orochimaru had multiple life-saving techniques and had modified his body several times, he would have died at Ōnoki's hands long ago.

Even Akimichi Chodai and the others could only interfere in the fight during the short time they activated their Hōgyoku Mode.

Ōnoki's combination of Light-Weight and Heavy-Weight Rock Techniques along with Dust Release was more than enough to threaten any opponent.

If Orochimaru hadn't managed to ambush Ōnoki once using the fan, injuring him, he wouldn't have gotten that sudden relief in pressure during the battle.

"Trying to take back the Four-Tails? Or planning to deal with Shisui?"

Seeing Ōnoki suddenly give up fighting them and head straight in Shisui's direction, Orochimaru instantly guessed his intentions.

He and Tsunade immediately started sprinting across the stone wall, and at the same time, a long sword extended rapidly from his open mouth, stabbing straight toward Ōnoki's position.

Ōnoki, floating in the air, kept a sharp eye on Orochimaru's movements. When he saw Orochimaru coming to intercept him—just as he had expected—he immediately figured out how Orochimaru planned to stop him.

His body froze mid-air, dodging the blade that had stabbed toward him. This Kusanagi Sword, which could extend indefinitely, had almost thrown out his back the last time it caught him off guard.

Orochimaru's attack didn't stop there. With a swing of his head, the sword made a wide arc through the air. Because of its extreme length, the blade even bent slightly under the force of the swing.

Ōnoki, still in mid-air and carrying Kitsuchi, quickly dropped in altitude to avoid it.

But just then, an arrow suddenly shot toward them from a distance—as if it knew exactly where Ōnoki would lower himself to.

Both Ōnoki and Kitsuchi broke into a cold sweat as the arrow brushed past them. The power it carried—if it had hit—would've taken them out of this war completely.

They were not Jinchūriki, so they couldn't rely on a Tailed Beast's chakra to help them recover from injuries during battle.

The second arrow followed immediately, then the third.

Ōnoki moved unpredictably through the air, dodging the arrows that whistled toward him. Without realizing it, they had been forced to descend even further.

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