Chapter 83: Powerful Formation Breaking

Although Sasuke struck Gaara multiple times with Chidori, the overwhelming piercing damage was greatly weakened by Gaara's thick layers of sand defense. While it did cause Gaara considerable trouble, the actual harm to his main body remained limited.

Moreover, as Gaara's transformation increasingly resembled a raccoon dog and his power became more terrifying, the Binding Seal Formation could no longer contain him. The shockwaves generated by his swinging arms made approaching difficult, let alone attacking—completely ineffective.

Sakura Haruno leaned against a nearby tree trunk, quietly treating her wounds. During the earlier attack, when Gaara broke free, his wildly thrashing sand arms slashed through the air—nearly striking Sakura directly with their sharp edges. Fortunately, Sasuke Uchiha quickly noticed the danger and rescued her, though his left arm still sustained some injury. Even this small wound drained her completely, instantly leaving Sakura unable to fight.

Fortunately for Sakura, Gaara didn't pursue her. To the enraged Gaara, someone as insignificant as Sakura wasn't worth his attention—he only had eyes for Sasuke Uchiha, the one who had wounded him.

As Sasuke helplessly faced this dilemma, Naruto Uzumaki finally arrived to provide backup.

[Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu] Naruto shouted while forming hand seals, creating an overwhelming number of shadow clones that immediately charged forward to pressure Gaara.

Naruto's original body approached Sakura and asked with concern, "Are you okay, Sakura?"

"I'm fine. Why don't you check on Sasuke?" Just moments ago, Sakura had helplessly watched Sasuke get swept away by a huge shockwave without knowing how severely he was injured.

"Don't bother. I'm alright," Sasuke said as he walked out from behind a nearby tree.

Seeing that Sasuke was unharmed, Naruto and Sakura felt relieved.

"Great! We can team up now. There's absolutely no way we'll lose to Gaara!" Naruto happily declared.

After hearing Naruto's words and proudly smiling, Sasuke suddenly felt a wave of weakness throughout his body. Unable to maintain his balance, he knelt forward and weakly supported himself on the ground with both hands. His cursed seal flared up suddenly, sending sharp waves of pain through his neck and forcing him to cry out in agony.

"Damn it, why now?"

This physical collapse was actually expected. He had used Chidori far more times than Kakashi's strict limits allowed, and had eventually even activated his Sharingan to counter Gaara's increasingly fierce attacks. Complete exhaustion of his body was inevitable.

Seeing Sasuke fall, both Sakura and Naruto hurried over.

"How are you doing, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura worriedly asked. If he was injured, her medical ninjutsu could help—but if his collapse was due solely to chakra overuse, there was nothing she could do.

Sasuke's cursed seal was becoming increasingly active, causing sharp pains with even minimal chakra circulation. He couldn't even focus on answering their questions.

Even when helped upright, he still couldn't stand steadily and collapsed back down onto the ground.

"Looks like I'll need some time to recover," Sasuke muttered bitterly.

Damn it! So many powerful ninja out there, and I can't even get past this one challenge. When will I ever be strong enough to kill that man?

Suddenly, Sasuke noticed Gaara rapidly approaching from a distance.

"Watch out, an enemy is coming," Sasuke urgently warned.

Naruto Uzumaki turned around and said in shock, "How is that possible? So many Shadow Clones destroyed so fast?"

Without delay, he turned to Sakura and said, "Sakura, you stay here and protect Sasuke. I'll deal with this guy."

Countless *Shadow Clones* charged at Gaara again.

...

Inside the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier, The Third panted heavily while watching the two former Hokage reform their bodies despite being destroyed again and again. Even with his strength temporarily restored by life-saving pills, Hiruzen barely managed to overpower his two reincarnated teachers. Their abilities were restricted by the Impure World Reincarnation.

But possessing the partial Immortal Body made things extremely troublesome. Although it blocked his path forward and couldn't deal him serious harm, it also prevented him from getting close to Orochimaru.

"If this keeps up, things will turn bad."

Even if he eventually broke through the defense line, whether he could still defeat Orochimaru—who was well-rested—was questionable.

"Hiruzen, we can't keep this up," Enma said with growing concern. "Taking on three enemies at once is just too much for one person."

"Yes," Hiruzen gasped. "I originally thought I could handle this alone, but it seems I'm finally showing my age. In that case, there's no other way. This ultimate technique will cause a massive disturbance. Enma, assist me."

After saying that, The Third summoned several Shadow Clones, then quickly formed hand seals, unleashing his elemental Ninjutsu techniques to their maximum potential.

[Five Elements — Great Blast Jutsu]

Instantly, earth, water, fire, lightning, and wind—five different types of chakra surged into the sky, advancing forward and flattening everything in their path before crashing powerfully against the barrier of the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier. Despite its massive and seemingly indestructible appearance, the barrier didn't last long under such overwhelming force before shattering amidst a loud explosion.

The powerful energy, slightly weakened after breaking through the barrier, continued onward, obliterating a nearby small building into rubble before finally dispersing into the air as fading waves of energy.

Orochimaru, who had sensed danger and narrowly escaped the blast by dodging instantly, stared in disbelief at The Third: "Impossible! How do you still have this much strength left?"

Such an ultimate power, which even The Third at his peak couldn't use more than a few times, shouldn't be possible under these circumstances!

Orochimaru's expression grew grim as he looked at The Third. If someone could unleash such a powerful technique, with all of Orochimaru's vast experience researching various Kinjutsu, he could easily tell that this wasn't simple chakra overuse—it meant The Third was likely giving his all. Once the effects wore off, he would most likely die.

"It seems I underestimated your resolve after all, Professor Sarutobi."

Outside the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier, the artificial jinchuriki felt the immense surge of chakra within and glanced at the ruined remains of the small pavilion nearby before turning to the Anbu and suggesting, "Use Ninjutsu attacks on that heavyset boy and the kunoichi over there."

The heavyset one is Jirobo, the weakest among the Sound Four. Tayuya, as the only kunoichi in the group, is very likely the one with the weakest chakra among the five.

Even a complete barrier can have weaknesses due to uneven distribution of power. These flaws won't appear without pressure, but under strong attacks, they give me a chance to strike.

As several Anbu members regrouped and launched attacks from different directions as Mizuki had ordered, another [Great Gluttony Bullet Jutsu] swept across. It pierced through the barrier once again, even as Mizuki was still looking for a way to break it.

After enduring repeated heavy blows, the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier finally collapsed and started to fade away.

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