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IUTT: Ch. 84
🕑 Added 2025-05-21 21:11:45 +0000 UTCOver the years, Tsunade's strength had been advancing by leaps and bounds. In the past two years, not only had her strength not stagnated, it had skyrocketed, especially with Shin's help, as if she were riding a rocket.
Particularly in the past year, she had been intensely training under a regimen specifically designed for her by Shin.
Learning the Eight Gates was generally extremely difficult for ordinary ninja. However, first of all, she was already a taijutsu-type kunoichi with physical strength far surpassing that of a typical jonin.
Secondly, the reason few people could master the Eight Gates was that using it placed immense, extraordinary, and limit-surpassing strain on the body. Only someone who had honed every part of their body, down to each and every organ, could minimize the physical destruction caused by the immense energy unleashed when opening the Eight Gates.
If an average person tried to forcefully use the technique, they'd likely die from the strain before they could even harm their opponent.
Not everyone was named Guy.
However, Tsunade's physical resilience and healing speed were unrivaled in the ninja world. For her, there was no question of not being able to withstand the technique.
What's more, over the past year, her training had been focused specifically on the Eight Gates. As of now, she stated that as long as she didn't open the Seventh Gate, it posed no pressure at all. Even if she did open the Seventh Gate, for her, it would only be more tiring, nothing more.
In her normal state, she was already far stronger than Fuguki. Now, with her Chakra Enhanced Strength: Ultra Precision Mode and the opening of the Sixth Gate, her power soared even higher.
Moreover, due to Fuguki's underestimation of the Uzushio ninjas and the distance between them, he didn't use any ninjutsu in time. As a result, he was completely overwhelmed by Tsunade and defeated in a single move, without any chance to fight back.
The others were stunned. But Ashina and the dozen or so ninjas following closely behind Tsunade were not surprised. Taking advantage of the moment, they completed the encirclement of the Kiri ninjas and activated a sealing technique as planned.
In the next instant, a barrier suddenly rose from the ground, trapping over a hundred people inside.
Within the barrier, she was like a wolf among sheep, weaving through the Kiri ninjas. Wherever she went, one or more enemies dropped dead on the spot.
Naturally, the Kiri ninjas didn't just sit there waiting to die. But the jutsu they used, along with the kunai and shuriken they threw, couldn't touch her, who moved like lightning, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.
In the face of such speed, if one were attacked, they wouldn't even have time to form hand signs. Some ninjas who hadn't yet been attacked barely managed to finish forming hand signs, only to discover they couldn't even locate her position.
Others flung ninjutsu in all directions out of desperation, only to end up injuring their own comrades.
Once the barrier was in place, Ashina led his team into the fray. Sealing chains formed from chakra danced through the air.
Any enemy touched by the Adamantine Sealing Chains instantly lost all strength and was unable to use any chakra, becoming a helpless lamb awaiting slaughter. Then, the sharp tips at the ends of the chains pierced through their bodies, killing them instantly.
Almost simultaneously, reinforcements from Uzushio who had traveled with Tsunade arrived on the battlefield.
Not only that, over 200 more Uzushio ninjas suddenly appeared behind the Kiri forces, forming a pincer attack. All of them charged into the one-way barrier, engaging the enemy directly.
The reason these ninjas weren't detected by anyone besides Suiten, and perhaps other sensory types, was because they had long since set up a barrier to mask their presence, lying in wait.
Now that the enemy had fallen into their trap, they all burst forth from the concealment barrier at once. As the battle erupted, the longstanding flaw of ninjas, strong individual combat skills but weak coordination in group battles, was laid bare for all to see.
Aside from small squads who usually carried out missions together and had some coordination, the rest fought completely independently with no teamwork whatsoever.
In such a densely packed melee, even being too close to an ally could lead to accidental injuries. After all, ninjutsu didn't discriminate, it hit everyone equally, friend or foe.
So, the Kiri ninjas instinctively tried to spread out and fight in small teams, as was their usual combat method.
However, the confined space within the barrier meant they couldn't spread out much, and as a result, their movements were restricted.
Worse still, once they did split up, the Uzushio ninjas immediately launched attacks using their overwhelming numbers, engaging them in two-on-one and three-on-one fights. Within just a minute, Kiri had already lost more than fifty ninjas, half of them killed by Tsunade, Ashina, and several other powerful elders of the Uzumaki clan.
They even deliberately targeted the strongest ones first. The first to be taken out were the Kiri.
The selection process was simple: whoever had the fastest reaction time or the most chakra in their body became the target, and they never missed.
In any village, jonin were elite, and their numbers were limited.
Once the jonin were eliminated, the remaining ninjas no longer posed much resistance. With morale shattered and the enemy force overwhelmingly superior in numbers and strength, all they could do was await their deaths.
Seeing this, Tsunade and Ashina quickly shifted to another part of the battlefield.
The situation in all four directions was about the same, Kiri's forces had fallen completely into the trap. Once their ranks were split, they were surrounded on all sides and trapped within the barrier.
Uzushio had deployed nearly 2,000 ninjas in this area, completely overwhelming Kiri with sheer numbers. The typical scenario was three Uzushio ninjas attacking one Kiri ninja.
On the northern battlefield, once Tsunade and Ashina arrived, the already one-sided fight became utterly hopeless for Kiri. The few who resisted fiercely were killed almost instantly.
Against forces without any Kage-level ninjas, Tsunade's attacks were like Madara's future assault on the allied shinobi forces, she could crush an entire group single-handedly.
After killing over twenty enemies in the north, Tsunade once again moved to the next battlefield. Having rushed between four battle zones, Tsunade finally sat down by a small stream. With the time limit of the Eight Gates having expired, she looked visibly drained.
Although opening the first six gates wasn't much of a burden for her, fatigue still inevitably followed.
"You've worked hard." A voice echoed from the stream with a hint of concern. "When we get back, you need to rest properly for a while."
Hearing that familiar voice, Tsunade relaxed completely. She leaned lazily against a rock, stretching as she watched the battle near its end. "Those three... You anticipated they'd cause trouble, didn't you?"
"Let's say I recognized the type," Shin replied with a subtle smile. "People who prioritize their grievances over survival rarely change, even in crisis."
"They're being held under chakra-suppressing seals now. Was that your intention all along?" Tsunade asked.
"I simply created an opportunity for Ashina to demonstrate where his loyalties lie," Shin explained. "Had he wavered or tried to placate them, we'd have known he wasn't fully committed. Instead, he made his position clear to everyone."
"They weren't entirely wrong, you know," Tsunade admitted quietly. "About me being an outsider given too much authority too quickly."
"I don't care. Their timing was wrong. Oh, right. From now on, Ashina will stay by your side to assist you. With him there, plus today's great victory, things will be much easier for you moving forward."
"He really left the entire war in your hands?" Tsunade asked, surprised.
"Yep. He's even more decisive than we thought," Shin replied with admiration.
