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Chapter 146: The Black Death God Hunting the Battlefield!
🕑 Added 2025-08-22 14:12:11 +0000 UTCChapter 146: The Black Death God Hunting the Battlefield!
"A hundred kills!"
"Konoha's monster!"
"He's still on a killing spree!"
The cries of alarm and miserable howls of the Iwagakure ninja were endless.
Nara Keisuke, flying in from the distant horizon, was like a merciless god of death descending upon the battlefield. Every time the [Shadow Creature] flew over an area, the Iwa ninja in that area would fall to the ground like wild grass in a wheat field, completely losing their signs of life.
The total number of ninja that Iwagakure had dispatched to break into the Land of Grass and attack Konoha's border was no more than a thousand. In just a short moment, Keisuke had slaughtered nearly a hundred of them.
Even if most ninja were cold and emotionless tools of the mission, under such heavy casualties, the morale of the Iwa ninja immediately plummeted, and they couldn't even maintain their offensive momentum.
Ōnoki, hidden in the crowd, watched Keisuke's grim reaper-like slaughter, which resembled a musou game, and was so angry that his eyes were about to split, his hair and beard standing on end. But he knew even better that his most important task at the moment was not to fly into the sky to snipe Keisuke, but to preserve the living forces of Iwagakure on the ground as much as possible!
"Earth Release: Earth Corridor!"
Ōnoki's hands moved so fast they created afterimages. After forming the hand signs at extremely high speed, he infused his molded earth-style chakra into the ground below.
Rumble—
A dull sound erupted from within the earth where the Iwa ninja were standing. Under the Third Tsuchikage's unsparing expenditure of chakra, one after another, earth walls shot out from the depths of the earth to the surface, forming a wide corridor that resembled a rock maze.
This rock corridor not only provided a temporary protective barrier for the Iwa ninja who had not yet been attacked, but it also almost completely blocked the vision of the [Shadow Doppelgangers] mixed in with the Iwa ninja group. Even if a few Iwa ninja were separated together with these doppelgangers, Ōnoki could still bear this level of personnel loss.
After creating the "Earth Corridor," Ōnoki had no intention of stopping. "Earth Release: Super Light-Weight Rock Technique!"
He formed hand signs again, and his entire person shot into the air at high speed, at the same time shouting, "In the name of the Third Tsuchikage, all Iwagakure ninja, lis—"
Bang!
A [Spiraling Shadow Killing Cannon] descending from the sky shot towards Ōnoki's position with the momentum of a thunderbolt, directly cutting off his words and at the same time, intending to blow his head off.
Ōnoki's pupils contracted slightly. After the battles of the past two days, he was very clear on the attack power of that kid's strange cannonball. At this moment, he was flying in the sky and had no way to quickly summon an earth-style defense, so he could only dodge to the side. He controlled his extremely light body and dodged to the side, avoiding the frontal impact of the cannonball. The lacquer-black, shuttle-shaped chakra projectile continued to fly backward, crashing into a gathering point of Iwa ninja and once again killing several of them.
"As expected of the Third Tsuchikage!" Nara Keisuke raised his hands, forming a gun shape, and one after another, balls of Yin Release chakra condensed at his fingertips. Lacquer-black bullets were continuously fired in Ōnoki's direction. "To so decisively sacrifice the lives of so many of your subordinates!"
Ōnoki's refuting words were interrupted by the sky-filling [Spiraling Shadow Piercing Bullets]. He knew very well that he absolutely could not be hit by these black projectiles, otherwise Iwagakure would very likely face an even greater defeat!
Relying on the powerful mobility granted by the "Super Light-Weight Rock Technique," Ōnoki continuously flew through the sky, avoiding Keisuke's attacks. And taking this opportunity, the many [Shadow Doppelgangers] that had been restricted by the "Earth Corridor" also used their own means to leap out of the rock maze and begin to hunt down the surrounding Iwa ninja.
Although the [Shadow Doppelgangers] could only use the many Yin Release secret techniques that Keisuke possessed, they themselves were still "solid clones" with strength nearly identical to his. And even without using ninjutsu, Keisuke himself was an elite taijutsu-style Jonin with [Strength] and [Speed] approaching A-rank!
One after another, the doppelgangers passed through the rock maze formed by the "Earth Corridor," calmly reaping the lives of the Iwa ninja who were temporarily trapped. As mentioned more than once before, the average quality of Iwagakure's large-scale units was very worrying. For these grassroots ninja, it was not difficult to climb over the rock corridor, but it required a certain amount of time. And this time was enough for Keisuke's doppelgangers to deal with them!
And the doppelgangers were also rational enough. Their targets were not those Jonin with superior strength. It wasn't difficult to deal with Jonin-level enemies, but it also took time. But the Chunin and Genin of Iwagakure were a different story! The speed at which the doppelgangers could deal with them could only be described with one word—mowing grass!
Keisuke's main body was tying down the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki; and his [Shadow Doppelgangers] were suppressing the Iwa troops. This surprise soldier who seemed to have descended from the sky gave the Konoha ninja side a great boost in morale.
Orochimaru was also filled with surprise. He had a certain grasp of Keisuke's various intelligence and abilities. In his view, a ninja like Keisuke, who possessed both flight ability and long-range attack means, was definitely a top-tier "killing weapon" on the battlefield. But he had never expected... this was not just a "killing weapon"...
The Iwagakure ninja force, which had always been known for its large numbers and stubborn toughness, under Keisuke's attack, was as fragile as an egg that could be broken with a single knock. Almost single-handedly, he had held back a thousand-man Iwa force, and at the same time, had frontally suppressed the Third Tsuchikage, not even giving this famous "Ōnoki of Both Scales" time to form hand signs... This skill level was simply too exaggerated!
It's a good thing he's an ally...
Orochimaru suppressed the surprise in his heart. He knew what he had to do now. Ōnoki had already appeared on the battlefield, which meant that the one who had pincered him with the Five-Tails Jinchuriki before was not the Third Tsuchikage; and the number of elite ninja in Iwagakure who had mastered an earth jutsu of the level of "Earth and Sand Shovel" could be counted on one hand...
Considering the disadvantageous situation of the Iwa troops now, the most appropriate thing for Orochimaru to do was undoubtedly to continue to tie down the Five-Tails Jinchuriki and that earth-style ninja hiding in the dark!
"Summoning Technique!" Orochimaru bit his finger and pressed it to the ground. An incomparably complex summoning formula array appeared in his palm and spread to the surroundings. With a huge puff of smoke, a giant python appeared on the battlefield. Each of the giant snake's scales was larger than an ordinary ninja's body. It sat coiled on the battlefield, and its mere presence gave the enemy extreme visual pressure.
Orochimaru's signature summoning beast—Manda!
"War again." Manda and Orochimaru had cooperated for many years. With just a glance, he judged the current situation. "Orochimaru, don't forget this time's sacrifice..."
"Don't worry." Orochimaru didn't waste many words, commanding Manda to entangle the Five-Tails Jinchuriki. "Your target is that guy!"
"This chakra..." Manda moved his body, his incomparably thick snake body dragging a rumbling sound across the earth. "It's actually a Tailed Beast. Orochimaru, the number of sacrifices this time needs to go up—"
Before Manda could finish his words, Kitsuchi, who had been ignored by everyone, finally made his move. "Han! Go back!" The rough voice came from the stout man's mouth, accompanied by a loud shout. "Earth Release: Mountain Sand Technique!"
BOOM!
The commotion was even greater than that caused by the "Earth Corridor" from before. Kitsuchi pressed both hands into the earth, continuously injecting his earth-style chakra into it. The earth responded to his call, and two huge, incomparably large rock hemispheres rose from underground, clamping down on the giant summoning beast that was surrounded in the middle.
Orochimaru's purpose in summoning Manda was to use this giant snake to tie down the Five-Tails. But he had not expected that the hidden Kitsuchi happened to have mastered the means to suppress and deal with such a behemoth!
Tightly clamped together by the two rock hemispheres, even the thick-skinned Manda couldn't help but let out a fierce, painful hiss. Under Kitsuchi's sustained suppression, the giant snake's hissing became more and more intense, but no matter how it twisted its body, it could not break free from the suppression of the "Mountain Sand Technique."
A moment later, Manda directly exploded into a puff of smoke and disappeared into the air, having proactively returned to Ryūchi Cave.
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth twitched slightly. If he had known that the hidden ninja knew the "Mountain Sand Technique," he would not have wasted chakra summoning Manda. He had achieved nothing and had instead taken a beating. But taking this opportunity, Orochimaru had at least managed to locate Kitsuchi.
After hearing Kitsuchi's signal, Han, after a brief hesitation, decisively retreated into the Iwagakure front lines to hunt down and kill Nara Keisuke's [Shadow Doppelgangers]. At this time, only Kitsuchi remained near the Konoha defense line.
Orochimaru opened his mouth and activated the fastest ninjutsu he had mastered—the Sword of Kusanagi! The silvery-white longsword pierced the air like a meteor, swiftly stabbing towards Kitsuchi, who was in the middle of forming hand signs.
Kitsuchi was one of Iwagakure's few elite ninja. But in the state of forming hand signs, he was completely unable to dodge Orochimaru's attack, and his entire body was immediately pierced by the sword. However, Orochimaru, who had clearly caused effective damage, showed no surprise. The feeling transmitted back from the sword was not that of piercing a human body, but rather like piercing a layer of rock.
Orochimaru fixed his gaze on Kitsuchi's position. The tall Iwa ninja, under his gaze, gradually returned to his original form—rock. "Iwagakure's Rock Clone?"
Orochimaru retracted the Sword of Kusanagi and turned to look in the direction of the Iwagakure front. If there were no accidents, Kitsuchi should have already returned to the Iwa lines by now. The actual situation was more or less as Orochimaru had deduced. As early as before he had reminded Han to retreat, Kitsuchi had already formed hand signs and created a rock clone. His main body had then used an earth jutsu to burrow back into the Iwa defense line and, together with the other Iwa Jonin, began to encircle and annihilate Keisuke's [Shadow Doppelgangers].
'They've all come back...'
Nara Keisuke was still maintaining his suppression of Ōnoki. The flexibility of the "Super Light-Weight Rock Technique" was more or less the same as that of the [Shadow Creature]. The real gap between them was still in the long-range attack means like the [Spiraling Shadow Piercing Bullet]! Keisuke, flying in the sky, could release ninjutsu. Ōnoki, flying in the sky, couldn't find a chance to form hand signs and could only passively dodge.
After thinking for a moment, Keisuke looked down at the Iwagakure front line. The Five-Tails Jinchuriki, who was rampaging through the rock corridor, and the wide-swinging Kitsuchi at his side, were both revealed in his sight.
[Shadow Invisibility Technique]!
Keisuke quietly separated out a [Shadow Doppelganger]. It stood silently behind him, waiting for a combat opportunity to arise.
Without any warning, Keisuke stopped releasing the [Spiraling Shadow Piercing Bullet] and launched a diving attack towards the Iwa ninja below. Although many of them were startled by this "Black Death God" who had been hunting on the battlefield and reaping lives at will, some Jonin still seized the opportunity and launched earth-style attacks towards the falling enemy.
Keisuke controlled the [Shadow Creature], repeatedly dodging the attacks from below, and finally retreated as if he had no other choice. But in this process, his [Shadow Doppelganger] had already silently merged into the Iwa ninja ranks. The transparent clone, in the chaotic Iwa ninja unit, was like entering an unmanned territory, its movements not hindered in the slightest.
In no time at all, the [Shadow Doppelganger] had found its target.
[Shadow Manipulation Technique]!
A shadow thread, so thin it was almost formless, connected to a certain Iwa ninja's shadow. Through various transformations, it directly interfered with and controlled his central nervous system, at the same time causing his own consciousness to fall into a sealed state.
The [Shadow Doppelganger] lay down flat, merging into the shadow of this Iwa ninja.
Among the Iwagakure ninja unit.
Kitsuchi closed his eyes. A slyness that was completely different from his usual image appeared in his expression.
(End of Chapter)
