Chapter 604: The Great Edo Tensei Battle (Part 2)
The moment Minato Namikaze appeared beside Ao, he intended to inject his own chakra to disrupt the genjutsu.
But at that moment, Ao, along with the Three-Tails inside him, was under Sakura's control. Anticipating this, Sakura immediately had Ao lash out with a Tailed Beast attack right at Minato's face.
Minato could have continued trying to release the genjutsu, but he would have been blasted apart.
Without hesitation, Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge sideways, narrowly avoiding Ao's attack.
But by dodging, he lost his chance.
A thick layer of Three-Tails chakra instantly covered Ao's body, and the volume of chakra was increasing rapidly.
Minato could no longer touch Ao's physical body.
Ao wasn't an Edo Tensei zombie; he was alive. Minato didn't dare attack recklessly, fearing Sakura might control Ao to intentionally take a fatal hit.
So, Minato flashed back to Kakashi's side.
After the chaos of the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, the ninja on both sides had mostly recovered.
However, taking advantage of the explosion, Iwa had seized the initiative. They had captured the First Mizukage and now controlled Ao with genjutsu.
Seeing Ao running toward the Iwa side under the control of Shisui and Itachi, the Alliance ninja tried to intercept him.
But the recovered Iwa forces ran interference, leaving the Alliance helpless to stop him for the moment.
Just as Ao was about to cross over to the Iwa lines, Yagura (the Third Mizukage) suddenly closed his eyes.
The next moment, the Three-Tails chakra on his body surged, and he let out a roar.
As the roar faded, back in Iwagakure, Sakura, who was controlling Itachi, twitched.
She shouted, "Not good! The Third Mizukage used his Three-Tails chakra to break the genjutsu on the Three-Tails inside Ao via resonance!"
Shizuka Minamoto reacted fast. "Tell everyone to pull back!"
If the genjutsu on the Bijuu was broken, the genjutsu on Ao himself would be broken instantly.
The Alliance, no longer restrained by the hostage situation, would counter-attack.
Iwa's positioning was poor; they would be vulnerable.
But Natsuki and the others reacted a beat too slow.
Sure enough, Ao suddenly opened his eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks and swung his chakra tails, attacking Shisui, who was nearby.
Seeing Ao's crisis resolved, the Alliance quickly shifted targets. Most of them focused on the Third Raikage and Darui, who were still rampaging inside their encirclement.
Meanwhile, the other Iwa ninja were still on the perimeter defending against the Alliance's attacks to cover Ao's capture. They didn't have time to change their combat rhythm.
This time, Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata teamed up to attack the most troublesome opponent: the Third Raikage.
They were the strongest three on the field, and their teamwork was flawless. Hinata took close combat, Sasuke provided ranged support, and Naruto ran interference.
Despite his speed, the Third Raikage was quickly hemmed into a very small area.
Exerting force at the same time was Kakashi. He aimed his left Mangekyō Sharingan at Darui, whose movements had been restricted by the Alliance.
Darui was entangled by the White Fang and targeted by multiple chakra tails.
As Kakashi focused his gaze, space around Darui began to twist.
Kakashi's Kamui was about to tear Darui apart.
But Darui's reaction exceeded Kakashi's expectations.
Instead of resisting the Kamui, he moved with it, diving into the dimension connected to the technique.
Kakashi realized what Darui was doing and quickly canceled the Kamui.
But by then, most of Darui's body had already entered the Kamui dimension. The closing space only snipped off his legs.
Kakashi's face was grim. He knew Darui had successfully escaped.
Sure enough, the next moment, a spatial distortion appeared near Obito Uchiha in the distance, and the legless Darui emerged from the vortex.
Missing two legs would incapacitate a living person.
But as an Edo Tensei, Darui's legs regenerated rapidly.
Watching his prey escape, Kakashi looked dark.
But just then, a thought struck him. A small slug crawled out of his clothes, bringing good news.
The slug said, "Lord Hokage, there is a way to break the Edo Tensei."
Kakashi's eyes lit up.
It turned out that while everyone was busy with Ao, the First Mizukage—who had been taken back to the Iwa side by Tobirama—had formed hand seals under Fugaku Uchiha's genjutsu control to release the Edo Tensei.
Fugaku had done it very covertly, avoiding the Alliance's line of sight.
Ao, who had the Byakugan, was struggling in Shisui's genjutsu, and Hinata was focused on Shisui and Itachi.
Neither of them noticed the First Mizukage's seals.
But in a corner far from the battlefield, a pair of Red Eyes (Ketsuryūgan) was watching everything.
The user saw the entire process and used a pre-placed slug to relay the intel to Kakashi.
Kakashi hadn't expected there to be such a release method.
Tobirama Senju hadn't left any written records of how to break Edo Tensei. He feared the caster would patch the loophole. He had left it as a backdoor for himself in case he was ever summoned.
After hearing the slug's detailed description, Kakashi was overjoyed. He immediately used the Flying Thunder God to appear beside Hinata.
At that moment, the besieged Third Raikage stumbled after taking a hit from Hinata.
Kakashi immediately cast a Sharingan genjutsu on the Third Raikage.
Hinata, though unsure of what Kakashi was doing, cooperated by activating her dōjutsu: Space Freeze.
The next moment, the Third Raikage, unable to dodge, was caught in Kakashi's genjutsu.
Under Kakashi's control, he formed the seals and released his own Edo Tensei.
Sensing the Third Raikage disappear, Sakura immediately alerted the others. The Iwa group was shocked.
Rion said, "Konoha and Kiri figured out the release method!"
"We can't drag this out. Start the melee immediately!"
Sakura and the others nodded. They immediately had their controlled reanimations use the Transformation Jutsu.
Suddenly, all the Iwa reanimations transformed into the appearance of Ishiro!
The sudden appearance of dozens of Ishiros stunned the Alliance.
Especially the living members like Kakashi. They had been suppressed by Ishiro for years and held a deep-seated fear of him.
Seeing Ishiro appear, many instinctively stepped back, abandoning their prepared jutsu.
They subconsciously thought Ishiro was plotting something, that they had fallen into a trap.
This was exactly the effect Iwa wanted. Transforming into Ishiro was Rion's idea.
She believed transforming into anyone else would just cause confusion, but transforming into Ishiro would cause fear.
Before the Alliance could recover, all the "Ishiros" charged forward in a swarm, aiming for close combat.
During the charge, they constantly switched positions, making it impossible to tell who was who.
The Alliance, unsure of Iwa's plan, retreated while fighting under Kakashi's lead.
Minato exchanged a few blows with one "Ishiro," marked him with a Hiraishin seal, and flashed away to create distance.
But then, he paused, realizing what Iwa was doing. He shouted, "Not good! Iwa is trying to mark us with Flying Thunder God seals! Everyone be careful!"
The others realized it too. Right, they're using the Transformation Jutsu to hide Tobirama Senju's movements!
Just then, the Third Mizukage suddenly spoke. "I've been marked. The man in front of me is Tobirama Senju! Watch out!"
Everyone looked at him. Suddenly, a scream came from another direction.
It was the former Six-Tails Jinchūriki. A vortex appeared on his body.
"It's Obito! Hinata!" Kakashi shouted.
Hinata reacted faster than Kakashi. One of her main tasks today was to watch Obito.
Recognizing the Kamui, she immediately activated her Space Freeze.
But she was half a beat too slow. Half of the Six-Tails Jinchūriki's body had already been sucked into the Kamui dimension.
When Obito's Kamui was forcibly interrupted, the Jinchūriki was bisected by the spatial force.
Seeing his cover blown, Obito grabbed the half-body he had captured and retreated immediately.
With Obito and Tobirama both having succeeded (one captured a target, one marked targets), all the "Ishiros" immediately retreated.
As they fell back, every Iwa ninja threw out a massive amount of explosive tags.
This wasn't the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags jutsu; these were real tags.
Where did they get this many tags? Does Iwa have money to burn? Everyone couldn't help but think.
Kakashi remembered the explosive tag attack during the Konoha Crush Plan.
Iwa had not only mastered remote detonation but also low-cost production.
But the immediate problem was dealing with this ocean of tags.
The Alliance ninja, preparing to pursue, halted.
They quickly grouped up and retreated. At the same time, Kakashi, Minato, Hiruzen, and Danzō stood at the four corners of the group.
They formed seals rapidly and shouted, "Four Red Yang Formation!"
Iwa was afraid of being caught in the blast too, so they didn't detonate immediately.
They waited until they were a safe distance away before triggering the tags.
By the time the shockwave reached the Alliance, the Four Red Yang Formation was up.
No one on their side was hurt.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM...
The Alliance was safe inside the barrier.
Iwa, on the other hand, had weaker countermeasures.
They huddled together, surrounded by two thick layers of Gold Sand and one layer of Iron Sand.
But the intense shockwave still injured many of them.
However, the explosion had widened the distance between them and the Alliance, preventing the Alliance from capitalizing on their injuries.
Once the explosion passed, the Alliance dropped the barrier. Iwa's reanimations had already regenerated.
Obito quickly released the genjutsu on the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, and Tobirama removed the Hiraishin mark Minato had placed on one of their comrades.
Just then, the small slug on Kakashi's shoulder spoke again. "Lord Hokage, Kakuzu was taken by Obito. The one next to you is a fake."
Kakuzu was the only one on the Alliance side without autonomous consciousness, making his presence easy to overlook.
The "Ishiro" who was actually Obito had grabbed Kakuzu first, but amidst the intense fighting, no one had noticed.
But the Red-Eye user monitoring the perimeter saw it clearly.
Kakashi sensed the area. Sure enough, the Kakuzu next to them didn't have the Hiraishin marker he had placed earlier.
Kakashi destroyed the fake Kakuzu—it was a Shadow Clone, though he didn't know whose.
He turned to Minato. "Minato-sensei!"
Minato nodded.
Kakashi used Kamui on Minato. The next moment, Minato vanished from everyone's sight.
Minato moved fast. He returned a few seconds later.
And he brought the real Kakuzu back with him.
Seeing Minato return safely from the Kamui dimension with Kakuzu, the Alliance breathed a sigh of relief.
Losing Kakuzu didn't matter, but losing Minato would have been a disaster.
The group reformed their battle lines but didn't attack immediately.
The explosion had reset the distance, giving both sides a breather.
Both sides used this brief respite to analyze the intel.
Iwa needed Sakura's group to relay information, while the Alliance did not.
So the Alliance finished their analysis first and launched the initiative.
They now knew many of Iwa's trump cards, so their attacks were highly targeted.
Furthermore, the Alliance had identified Iwa's biggest weakness.
Kakashi and the others analyzed: The people controlling these reanimations lack combat experience. They've put their own units in danger multiple times.
Although Iwa had achieved more results, their escapes relied on weird abilities like infinite explosions or Kamui.
The combat skills and adaptability displayed by the Iwa reanimations were not high-level.
Of course, Iwa had an advantage: coordination.
Many reanimations were controlled by the same person, allowing for perfect synchronization.
They also shared vision. So in the chaotic melee earlier, Iwa's performance had been decent.
But after the battle, Minato had roughly figured out that the twenty-plus reanimations were controlled by three people, and he had guesses as to which ones were grouped together.
The Alliance's next attack targeted this. They forced reanimations from the same control group into separate battles.
Natsuki and the others could handle the Alliance's signature moves well. Against a Tailed Beast Ball, they set up multiple defenses. Against Hiruzen's Five-Element Combo, Natsuki used Jiraiya's Earth Release to interrupt. Against Kamui, they ran. Against Amaterasu or Hiraishin marks, they removed them.
These were scenarios Aono Shinichi and the others had pre-planned.
But against common ninjutsu attacks, Natsuki's group's responses were poor.
They either wasted chakra on overkill jutsu, used the wrong element, or used too little power.
If the reanimations weren't immortal with a high margin for error, they would have lost already.
Now that the Alliance had found their weakness and adjusted tactics, the tide turned immediately.
Natsuki, Sakura, and Yakumo, who had seemed at ease, suddenly became flustered.
As Sage-level Yin Release users, multitasking wasn't hard.
But one person controlling multiple bodies in multiple high-speed battles was too much.
Hinata, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi—the four strongest—coordinated to attack four members of one control group simultaneously.
The other members of that group were also targeted by other Alliance ninja.
In Iwagakure, Natsuki screamed, "Sakura, Yakumo! Help me! I can't hold on!"
The seven she controlled were the ones Kakashi's group was targeting.
Sakura and Yakumo hurriedly tried to move their reanimations to assist.
The First Tsuchikage, Second Tsuchikage Mu, and the two former Iwa Jinchūriki—the ones with free will—also tried to help.
But without unified command, their coordination collapsed.
Their attacks interfered with each other.
Soon, four of Natsuki's seven reanimations were captured by the Alliance.
These were Chiyo, Ryōsuke, Rasa, and the Third Kazekage—the targets of Kakashi's group.
They were quickly sealed, then Kakashi put them under genjutsu and forced them to release the Edo Tensei.
After dispatching these four, the Alliance didn't stop. They continued the attack.
This time, they targeted the seven controlled by Yakumo Kurama.
Natsuki only had three left; she could handle them easily now, but her impact was minimal. So the Alliance switched targets.
Yakumo realized she was in trouble and frantically asked Aono Shinichi's group what to do.
The division of labor was based on ability.
Natsuki controlled the Suna puppet masters, the Kazekage, Pakura, the First Raikage, and Jiraiya—ranged ninjutsu types.
Yakumo controlled the Jinchūriki. Excluding the Iwa natives, there were exactly seven.
Seeing the Alliance attack, Yakumo instinctively tried to group them together, but the Alliance gave her no chance.
"Have Fugaku Uchiha act!" Aono Shinichi told Sakura.
Sakura nodded immediately.
Fugaku had been fighting, using Susanoo and genjutsu effectively.
But his dōjutsu hadn't been used.
Now that Iwa was on the verge of collapse, Aono finally reminded Sakura to use this trump card.
On the battlefield... Boom! Boom! Boom!
Another round of explosions. Of the seven Jinchūriki Yakumo controlled, Yugito, the former Two-Tails, the former Eight-Tails, and Nagi Minazuki were beaten senseless.
Just as they were about to follow Rasa's fate, the nine reanimations controlled by Sakura suddenly switched targets.
They split into three groups, rushing at Mangetsu Hōzuki, the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hōzuki, and Ao.
Tobirama, Obito, and Hanzō charged at Mangetsu.
Seeing he was targeted, Mangetsu was startled, but seeing none of them were Lightning Release users, he relaxed.
He relaxed too soon.
Tobirama and the others simultaneously pulled out Kumo-made handheld lightning tools.
Mangetsu's soul nearly left his body. He immediately chose to flee.
But a scene of despair unfolded.
The attacks weren't aimed at his current position, but precisely at where he was dodging to.
It looked like he had thrown himself headfirst into the lightning.
"It's over," Mangetsu thought, eyes wide. Paralyzed, he couldn't dodge the follow-up attacks.
The three Uchiha charged at the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hōzuki.
Gengetsu specialized in genjutsu, but against three Mangekyō Sharingan, his skills were useless.
He tried to move, but like Mangetsu, he was intercepted perfectly, then caught in Itachi's genjutsu.
Finally, Ao was targeted by A, Darui, and the Second Raikage.
Ao couldn't beat any of them one-on-one, let alone three-on-one.
Most importantly, his movements were also predicted by Fugaku's dōjutsu!
Lacking their combat experience, Ao was quickly beaten into a critical state.
Iwa's counter-attack was lightning fast. The Alliance couldn't react in time.
Their main force was besieging the seven Jinchūriki, while the others were fending off Iwa's relief attempts.
Suddenly, the Iwa forces turned to target Mangetsu, Gengetsu, and Ao.
The others wanted to help, but the remaining Iwa forces switched from trying to break through to pinning them down.
Most critically, Mangetsu and the others made inexplicable, fatal errors, falling into a disadvantage instantly.
Minato hadn't been going all out; he was holding back for emergencies.
So although Sakura's attack was sudden, Minato reacted.
He teleported to Ao, saving him.
Then he went to Mangetsu, saving him too.
When he tried to go to the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu had already been caught in genjutsu and forced to release the Edo Tensei.
Minato was feeling regretful when he suddenly whipped his head around and flickered away.
In that instant, he had sensed killing intent from behind him.
After creating distance, Minato looked at Mangetsu, who had been standing behind him.
But the attack he sensed never came. Mangetsu held a kunai, yes... but it wasn't pointed at Minato.
It was buried in his own throat.
(End of Chapter)
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