Chapter 172: Overmatched: The Terror of Dust Release

The "performance" Yagyu was putting on looked nothing like the near-instant victory he scored against the Six Paths of Pain earlier, but more like the protracted battle in which the "Elite Jōnin Yagyu" had once first faced them.

By rights, with Yagyu's power, he could effortlessly mow down a hundred thousand White Zetsu and the Edo Tensei army. He wouldn't need long to press on straight to Amegakure, maybe even wipe out the entire joint force of Akatsuki.

Yet if he did so, his plan would disintegrate completely.

After all, nobody here was stupid. Seeing Yagyu with such power, Nagato—no matter how arrogant—would flee without a second thought.

Unless Yagyu could seize Kakashi's left Mangekyō (Kamui), he'd have no way to stop Obito and others from escaping. Moreover, no one had yet played the "Uchiha Madara" trump card, and Orochimaru—lurking in the shadows—remained reluctant to deploy it.

That card was absolutely pivotal in Yagyu's scheme.

Hence, Yagyu could only go on acting. He'd wait for Akatsuki to finish sealing the remaining Tailed Beasts, letting them decimate the other Four Great Nations, and finally stage his endgame.

So Yagyu now feigned a fierce fight with the reanimated Hashirama using only taijutsu, refraining from any Wood Release.

Stripped of his own mind, Hashirama was being controlled by a Wood Clone, meaning Yagyu was effectively fighting a version of himself—just for show.

Were it not to fool those White Zetsu and Orochimaru hidden in the darkness, Yagyu wouldn't bother. Such a charade was dull.

Far more appealing to him was observing the battles between Minato and Naruto, father and son, and that evil duo: Sasuke vs. Tobirama.

After a while, the Wood Clone controlling Minato in his fight with Naruto eased off, letting Minato's self-guided body continue on autopilot—just as Orochimaru once let the First and Second Hokage act on their own, or as Kabuto's Edo Tensei thralls fought the Shinobi Alliance.

Though Naruto had achieved both Sage Mode and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode—situating his strength somewhere between Five Kage–level and "pseudo-Six Paths" tier—he remained far behind Yagyu.

Even if Jiraiya had helped him hone his fundamentals these past years, and Naruto's "fighting IQ" inherited from Minato surpassed the great clans' scions such as Shikamaru or Shino, so he might even overcome the compromised Byakugan of Neji, he still lagged behind Yagyu and Sasuke.

The original story's Final Valley battles already demonstrated that. Whether age 12 or 16, Naruto's fundamentals would get "hung out to dry" by Sasuke's. Indeed, whenever facing Naruto, the otherwise "emotional type" Sasuke fought with an Itachi-like rational precision.

He had ample real combat experience from the countless kills under Orochimaru's tutelage, perfect training for an eventual ANBU leader—none surpassed Sasuke for that role.

Likewise, Yagyu overshadowed Sasuke's fundamentals the way Sasuke overshadowed Naruto's.

In nin, tai, and gen, few truly reached the summit. Though Hashirama and Madara soared to top-tier, neither perfected all aspects. Their own Bloodline Limits took precedence.

Yet Yagyu differed, mastering nin, tai, and gen to the highest level for his current tier:

Ninjutsu: He was an expert in Yin–Yang plus all five elemental transformations, all at "master" rank.

Taijutsu: Only Maito Gai opening the Eighth Gate might surpass him. The Seventh Gate wouldn't match Sage Yagyu.

Genjutsu: He stood unrivaled.

Further, with several Bloodline Limits, Yagyu's power was all-around, leaving no glaring weaknesses.

At this point, Yagyu was indeed the new God of Shinobi, close to threatening even "Six Paths–level" foes.

So if the Wood Clone controlling Minato had fought Naruto seriously, Naruto would be helpless—especially since the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage was basically at his prime with infinite chakra, plus sealing arts and Flying Thunder God.

But the Clone simply let Minato's autopilot instincts handle Naruto. Even so, the father's muscle memory gave Naruto tremendous pressure.

That muscle memory allowed the soul's "combat style" to manifest, akin to Edo Tensei replicating a ninja's weapons. Minato's living style was an extreme technical approach, akin to Sasuke's.

Hence the father's Flying Thunder God prowess kept Naruto fully on the defensive. Without his golden aura (for both offense and defense), plus Sage Chakra–enhanced reaction, Naruto would be pinned to the mat.

Even so, Naruto fell at a disadvantage.

Sasuke likewise. The Wood Clone controlling Tobirama's body stepped back and let Tobirama move freely. The reanimated Second Hokage's style abruptly turned cunning and sinister—he even recognized himself as Edo Tensei, unafraid of death, so he sprang surprise attacks:

Whoosh—Tobirama instantly used Flying Thunder God to close in, using himself as a medium for "Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags," forcing Sasuke to hastily bring out Susano'o.

Had Sasuke not possessed eternal Mangekyō with nearly boundless ocular energy enabling swift Susano'o, he'd be left in dire straits. Even so, that "Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tag" trick frightened him, showing just how formidable the Second Hokage was.

Despite his Eternal Mangekyō, Sasuke found no advantage. Next, Tobirama formed seals:

"Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness."

The bright world turned pitch-black. Even Sasuke's "eternal Mangekyō" took time to pierce that shroud. During the interim, Tobirama unleashed a barrage of water ninjutsu—like Hard Whirlpool Cutter or ultra high-pressure Water Walls—some slicing mountains, enough to threaten even the God-Tree.

He also exploited "Mutual Explosive Tags," so Sasuke was forced to rely on his Susano'o's fourth form. He had no chance to relax.

...

"Dust Release: Realm Disassembly Technique!"

"Aaargh… Lord Mu, spare us!!"

"Curse that Akatsuki for defiling the Second Tsuchikage's soul!!"

" … … …"

While Yagyu's trio duels with the reanimated Hokage raged on, the Konoha ninja pressed forward, encountering minimal White Zetsu or Edo Tensei forces in their path.

But other battlefields fared worse.

The Iwa-nin—lightest casualties in the opening skirmish—now cried out in misery. Blinding white flashes and deafening blasts erupted in the Iwa sector, disintegrating everything into dust.

A reanimated Second Tsuchikage, "Mu," controlled by a Wood Clone, rampaged with unstoppable carnage. Onoki soared overhead via Super Light-Weight Rock, sweating buckets as he tried to intercept. But the Clone refused to let him engage Mu properly.

Instead, Mu used that unmatched invisibility, emerging randomly to blast hordes of White Zetsu or Edo Tensei thralls, or even Iwa-nin and Naruto's supporting clones, all with Dust Release. Then Mu vanished again, or used his Splitting technique to spawn a near-perfect "clone," diverting Onoki's attention as a decoy, abruptly re-merging to snipe from stealth.

Possessing both invisibility and cunning, Mu was the world's top assassin. Now playing "dirty," not even Onoki could handle him.

Moreover, since controlling Mu was one of Yagyu's Wood Clones, it combined the Tsuchikage's body with Mayfly—true stealth synergy—beyond all detection. Even Perfect Sage Naruto couldn't track that.

"All forces retreat—leave the Land of Rain at once!"

Incapable of stopping Mu, Onoki instantly commanded a withdrawal. Like how he once hired Akatsuki for high-level missions rather than let his men risk it, he again made a selfish choice. Each fallen Iwa-nin stung him.

At least if they died trading kills, Onoki might accept it, but here they fell to reanimated corpses or White Zetsu clones, while the unstoppable Mu thrived. Further fighting was pointless.

Better to "fail" in the siege; after all, everyone's results were "fair." Anyway, Konoha would be desperate to stop Akatsuki from finishing the Tailed Beast Seals. And if Akatsuki fell, they'd still face Yagyu afterward. That might be worse.

"The old man's not playing anymore!"

Truly, Onoki's quick retreat showed a canny old fox.

Thus Iwa-nin retreated in disarray, with Mu still emerging unpredictably, unleashing Dust Release in either column or barrier form. Each shot down dozens more Iwa-nin.

By the end, Mu had killed 2,000 Iwa-nin personally—plus White Zetsu and Edo Tensei thralls, exceeding 5,000 kills total.

This is the dread power of a Bloodline Selection surpassing "Bloodline Limits," the ultimate "Dust Release."

Below Six Paths–level, few moves can directly shatter a Sage Art Wooden Golem or Perfect Susano'o, but Dust Release is one of those.

No wonder Yagyu himself coveted it. Even if he could seamlessly combine five-element nature transformations into advanced ninjutsu, forging "Bloodline Limits" was a different matter. Were he able, he'd have started fusing Dust Release long ago.

Yagyu already gleaned its secrets via Ino's mind reading—he'd have turned it into a hidden ace had the Fourth Great War not begun so soon.

While Iwa's side hemorrhaged lives, other battlefronts fared little better.

The difference was that, in those other areas, the fallen didn't turn to dust but left gruesome corpses. The spectacle was far more harrowing.

...

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