Swish—
Susanoo continued its pursuit, chasing the fifty or sixty Otsutsuki puppets carrying Hinata Hanabi.
Swish—
the Otsutsuki puppets ahead spotted Susanoo pursuing them again, and once again, one of them controlled its bird-like puppet to turn and actively approach Susanoo, blocking its path.
This time, there were only a little over thirty of them.
But these thirty or so Otsutsuki puppets were different from the previous fifty or sixty. They
were more exquisitely crafted, even possessing distinct facial features.
They dispersed, like a swarm of small flying insects, attacking Susanoo from multiple directions.
Some of their arms transformed into pinhole launchers, unleashing a barrage of poisonous needles.
Others, with weapons ejected from both arms, attacked Susanoo.
Still others fired the same yellow balls of light seen before, but each Otsutsuki puppet could fire several, significantly more powerful.
Puff—
let the poison needles and yellow light balls pelt Susanoo, their power unable to penetrate its defenses anyway.
Uchiha Fugaku controlled Susanoo, causing black giant swords to appear in both its hands.
Crack—
the black giant swords swept across simultaneously, severing several Otsutsuki puppets that attempted to approach Susanoo in two.
Then, the black giant swords returned, slicing several more Otsutsuki puppets in two.
Several Otsutsuki puppets circled behind Susanoo, attempting to climb onto its body.
Just then, Susanoo's wings suddenly flapped.
Snap—
the Otsutsuki puppets instantly exploded like insects struck by a high-speed airplane.
Sizzle—
an Otsutsuki puppet luckily climbed onto Susanoo's body. A chainsaw-like weapon emerged from its arm and slashed at Susanoo with it.
Sparks flew, but Susanoo failed to injure him.
Crack—
Susanoo made the black giant sword in his left hand vanish, and with his left hand, he grabbed the Otsutsuki puppet that had climbed onto his body.
With a slight exertion, the Otsutsuki puppet was crushed to pieces.
Taking a little longer than before, Susanoo destroyed the more than thirty stronger Otsutsuki puppets.
Then, Susanoo continued to pursue the remaining Otsutsuki puppets.
After pursuing them for a distance, but seeing no signs of Otsutsuki puppets ahead, Uchiha Fugaku was puzzled when Inuzuka Hana gave him a timely reminder.
"They've landed in the forest ahead,"
Uchiha Fugaku controlled Susanoo to descend, crushing a large number of trees before successfully landing.
After releasing Susanoo, Uchiha Fugaku and Inuzuka Hana used the Body Flicker Technique to continue tracking the Otsutsuki puppets.
Ahead, a cave appeared. Inuzuka Hana sniffed the air and said,
"They've entered this cave."
Uchiha Fugaku peered into the cave with his Sharingan vision. Numerous previously unclear footprints appeared, all heading towards the cave.
Apparently, after reaching the cave, the Otsutsuki puppets could no longer rely on their flying puppets, forcing them to retract them and continue on foot.
Knowing that the Sharingan would suffice for the remainder of the pursuit, and that Inuzuka Hana's scent tracking was unnecessary, he immediately addressed Inuzuka Hana.
"Leave the rest of the tracking to me. You stay outside and communicate with the other tracking teams."
"Yes,"
Inuzuka Hana quickly replied.
Having given his orders, Uchiha Fugaku activated the Body Flicker Technique and flew into the cave.
Entering the cave, Uchiha Fugaku was greeted by an empty space.
The space contained no Otsutsuki puppets from before, nor was there a passage leading anywhere else. All that remained was a pool of eerie, fluorescent water.
"Underwater!"
Instantly perceiving the Otsutsuki puppets' whereabouts, Uchiha Fugaku quickly dove into the pool and swam to the bottom.
Passing through a transparent membrane, he entered a new dimension.
Simultaneously, a barrier-like genjutsu enveloped him.
"Remove—"
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes swirled, instantly blocking the genjutsu.
To his mastery of genjutsu, the barrier seemed incredibly crude, easily broken. He
surveyed the space before him.
It was a space filled with giant, fluorescent spherical bubbles, also containing a pool of fluorescent water.
He plunged into the water again, passing through another transparent membrane, and another space, surrounded by fluorescent water, appeared.
This time, however, he saw Otsutsuki puppets.
He also saw one of them carrying an unconscious little girl, none other than Hinata Hanabi.
At that moment, the Otsutsuki puppet was about to leap into the pool of water within this space.
Swish—
the instantaneous body movement technique was activated, and Uchiha Fugaku pounced on the Otsutsuki puppet, attempting to prevent it from entering the pool.
Swish, swish, swish!
The other Otsutsuki puppets attacked in unison, firing dense spheres of yellow light, intercepting Uchiha Fugaku.
The Otsutsuki puppet, carrying Hinata Hanabi on its shoulder, successfully leaped into the pool.
"Wind Style. Vacuum Blade—"
Wind-attribute chakra infused the kunai, transforming it into a long, azure sword.
Uchiha Fugaku dodged the yellow ball of light and crossed paths with the Otsutsuki puppets that blocked his way.
Snap—
one after another, the Otsutsuki puppets were cut in half. Uchiha Fugaku approached the fluorescent pool of water, and only one Otsutsuki puppet was left blocking his way.
Ding—
Uchiha Fugaku's green sword that was slashing towards the Otsutsuki puppet was blocked.
A weapon infused with chakra appeared in one of the hands of the Otsutsuki puppet, blocking the green sword.
This was the first puppet that could block Uchiha Fugaku's attack.
Looking closely at this Otsutsuki puppet, its body is slightly larger than the other Otsutsuki puppets. It wears black clothes and a black hat with a crescent moon symbol on its head.
This is a special Otsutsuki puppet, with greater strength than the other Otsutsuki puppets.
Hinata Hiashi once said that there was a puppet whose strength was not weaker than his, and this puppet should be it.
"Corpse Vein. Bone Armor—"
Time was of the essence, and Uchiha Fugaku decided to fight swiftly.
Unleashing a super-shadow-level Corpse Vein jutsu, a mass of dense, hard bones erupted from his body, covering his form and transforming into a full-body bone armor.
With a thud,
he stomped the ground, creating a shallow dent in the rocky ground. He quickly lunged at the unique Otsutsuki puppet.
With a crackle,
the unique Otsutsuki puppet sprouted two more arms, transforming into a four-armed puppet. Each of these arms wielded weapons sharpened by chakra, striking at the advancing Uchiha Fugaku.
With a boom,
Uchiha Fugaku's armored fist blasted out like a cannonball, colliding with the unique Otsutsuki puppet's chakra-infused weapon.
With a crackle,
Uchiha Fugaku's power, amplified by the bone armor, was terrifying.
The chakra-powered weapon shattered like rotten wood as Uchiha Fugaku's fist slammed into the special Otsutsuki puppet.
With a swoosh,
the special Otsutsuki puppet shattered, its parts flying everywhere.
The special Otsutsuki puppet, a near-Kage-level powerhouse, was powerless to withstand, unable to block Uchiha Fugaku's blow.
After destroying the Otsutsuki puppet, Uchiha Fugaku leaped toward the pool.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of the pool, blocking Uchiha Fugaku's path.
It was a young man with pale skin and long, bluish-white hair.
He wore white clothes, his eyes closed. It was Otsutsuki Toneri.
Uchiha Fugaku quickly retreated, keeping his distance, wary of Otsutsuki Toneri.
Although Otsutsuki Toneri hadn't yet evolved his Samsaragan, having yet to acquire the eyes of Hinata Hanabi, he undoubtedly possessed considerable combat power with his massive Samsaragan.
"Descendant of the Six Paths Sage, I've seen you before,"
Otsutsuki Toneri said, looking up at Uchiha Fugaku.
"Really? What an honor!"
Uchiha Fugaku, wary, smiled nonchalantly.
"The first time I saw you was a few years ago, when you were battling a powerful enemy. The second time was a few days ago, when you were also battling a powerful enemy,"
Otsutsuki Toneri said.
"Are you sure you can see?"
Uchiha Fugaku sneered, looking at Otsutsuki Toneri's closed eyes.
"Although I have no eyes, I can see more clearly than the average person. Your combat power far exceeds that of other ninjas. Your existence is a disaster for the ninja world..."
Otsutsuki Toneri shook his head.
"No, Otsutsuki Toneri is just stalling for time!"
Suddenly, Uchiha Fugaku thought to himself, "Oh no!"
He dodged, approached Otsutsuki Toneri, and punched him.
The fist pierced through Otsutsuki Toneri, not because the force was too great, but because this Otsutsuki Toneri had no body at all.
It was a projection so convincing it was real, even displaying chakra reaction, which was why it fooled his Sharingan.
Swish—
ignoring the Otsutsuki Toneri projection, Uchiha Fugaku dove into the pool.
After entering several dimensions and crossing several pools of water, Uchiha Fugaku finally caught up with the Otsutsuki puppet carrying Hinata Hanabi.
Just as the puppet was about to leap into a similarly luminescent pool of
water, Uchiha Fugaku appeared beside it.
One hand grabbed the puppet's grip on Hinata Hanabi and twisted it free, while the other hand freed her.
Then, he kicked the puppet.
At this time, Uchiha Fugaku was still wearing the bone armor, possessing terrifying power. The Otsutsuki puppet immediately broke into pieces and fell into the nearby pool of water.
At this point, he successfully saved Hinata Hanabi.
Swish— just as he saved Hinata Hanabi, the shadow of Otsutsuki Toneri appeared again.
(End of this chapter)