Shino attacked as well, sending a swarm of insects straight toward Obito and forcing him to go intangible.
In other words, phasing was basically the only thing he really relied on.
He could use Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push) to blast the bugs away, of course, but the swarm would just regroup and attack again in the next second. It was a terrible trade. Aside from going intangible, he had no other real option.
Shino's bugs also swarmed toward Rōshi. He already had experience dealing with this Edo jinchūriki.
"Mokuton: Jubaku Eisō (Wood Style: Tree-Binding Eternal Burial)!"
Yamato, naturally, wasn't idle either. He used Mokuton to bind Han, the Five-Tails' jinchūriki, in place.
Utakata, the Six-Tails' jinchūriki, was just about to make a move when his body suddenly refused to respond. He had clearly been caught by Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique).
Asuma and Darui immediately lunged in. Chakra blades and long sword flashed, slicing open Utakata's abdomen in an instant. Shikamaru quickly controlled Utakata's hands, reaching inside his belly toward the black receivers.
"Watch me rip those black rods out!"
Utakata's hands gripped one of the black rods and started to pull, but chains suddenly shot out from inside the rod, wrapping around his forearms and starting a tug-of-war. The chains also began draining Utakata's chakra.
Great. Now I'm the one pulling on myself? What kind of sick setup is this?
Seeing this, Obito immediately commanded all four jinchūriki to fully transform.
In an instant, four gigantic monsters appeared in front of everyone: the Two-Tails, a massive cat wreathed head-to-tail in blue flames; the Four-Tails, a red-furred ape; the Five-Tails, like a white horse-shaped beast; and the Six-Tails, a chubby, bloated slug.
All of them were huge and clearly nothing to take lightly.
Forced to release his Shadow Imitation on Utakata, Shikamaru felt a pounding headache coming on.
Ino quickly asked, "Shikamaru, can we even win this?"
Since all four jinchūriki were nothing but puppets, her clan's jutsu didn't seem applicable, and she didn't have much else in her toolbox. For a moment, her situation was as awkward as Shikamaru's.
Shikamaru's shadow techniques were practically useless against tailed beasts.
But Shikamaru didn't panic. "We're at a severe disadvantage against bijuu. Better to focus on helping Neji. That Obito guy can phase, so most attacks won't touch him. But your clan's ninjutsu might be able to control him, Ino. I'll watch and read the situation. You stand by and be ready. Once we get an opening, if you succeed, the victory is ours."
Ino nodded seriously.
If Shikamaru said her jutsu would work, then it would. All she had to do was listen to Shikamaru.
Neji seemed to understand this logic as well, so he began issuing assignments. "Shino, deal with the Four-Tails. Darui, take the Two-Tails. Choji, handle the Five-Tails. Yamato, the Six-Tails is yours. Just keep them contained within your capabilities and prioritize your own safety. Obito is mine."
No one had any objections, and they decisively moved to block the tailed beasts in front of them.
Fighting bijuu was incredibly dangerous, but if they were just stalling them, it should be doable… right?
Obito let out a cold laugh. "You really think that bunch of trash can 'contain' tailed beasts?"
Neji's confidence did not waver. "We just need to hold them for five minutes. Your phasing limit is exactly five minutes. I'll make sure you have no chance to dodge. Once your phasing ends in five minutes, you'll be in a checkmate you can't escape."
As he spoke, he shifted into a Hakke (Eight Trigrams) stance.
Then, in the next second, he raised both hands, extending his index and middle fingers like twin blades. His fingers snapped forward in rapid thrusts, transmuting repulsive force into fingertip strikes that pierced straight through Obito's intangible body.
"Jūken: Renzoku Shinkūshi (Gentle Fist: Continuous Divine Sky Fingers)!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Terrifying finger thrusts flew out with shrill sonic cracks, each one carrying a payload of concentrated repulsive force.
The Hyuga were already adept at striking acupoints, originally to land precise hits on an opponent's chakra network and shut down the flow. Now, Neji infused those finger strikes with repulsive force, launching them outward. Not only could they disrupt chakra, they could also punch clean through human flesh.
Put simply, it was something very akin to the Rokumon Jūshinken (Six Veins Divine Sword).
Neji's thrusts were incredibly fast, and within moments a dense barrage of finger strikes was passing straight through Obito's body.
It wasn't hard to imagine that the moment Obito's phasing ended, his body would be turned into a sieve.
The key was that this Shinkūshi technique barely used any chakra. Compared to Shinshōten (Divine Palm Air Strike), its consumption was much lower. Forget five minutes; even if Neji kept it up for half an hour, he wouldn't tire.
Obito immediately understood how troublesome this technique was, and his expression darkened.
He tried to dodge at high speed, but Neji's finger strikes were faster. No matter where Obito moved, the barrage continued to pass through his body. He simply didn't have time to turn off his intangibility.
If this continued, once his phasing limit was up, he would definitely die.
However, he wasn't panicking. He still had the powers of the Rinnegan. When the time came, he could just repel Neji's attacks and solve the problem.
But he seemed to have forgotten that Neji's Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye) could also command both repulsive and attractive forces, and that Neji's control was superior to his. Obito had no idea where this kid's absurdly refined control even came from.
On the other side, Shino's bugs had fully engulfed the Four-Tails.
Tailed beasts were large, but Shino's swarm was just as overwhelming.
And after devouring tailed beast chakra, the bugs kept growing larger. The biggest of them were already the size of millstones. Because the Four-Tails' chakra was special, the huge insects all turned a molten lava red.
Before long, the Four-Tails' entire body was covered in millstone-sized bugs.
The Four-Tails kept swatting them off, but they just crawled right back on and continued to siphon chakra. They also gnawed into the beast's flesh, tearing their way toward the black rods embedded in its body.
Obito knew just how broken Shino's insects were. Last time they had even bitten through black receivers. They were extremely dangerous.
So he hurriedly had the Four-Tails spit magma spheres at Shino, but Shino used Geppō (Moon Step) to dart and streak through the air, never getting hit at all. At the same time, he kept spawning more insects, so the number of bugs crawling over the Four-Tails only increased.
At that moment, one of the giant bugs bit down on a black rod and immediately started trying to pull it loose.
The chains inside the rod sprang to life, wrapping around the huge insect. But more and more big bugs latched on, some biting into the rod, others chewing away the flesh around it so the receiver would be easier to pull out.
Obito was on the verge of a breakdown. Since when had these bugs become this broken?!
It was ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.
He had no idea how much effort Shino had put into cultivating stronger insects. Ever since he met Fū, he frequently borrowed tailed beast chakra from her to raise his swarm. The bugs' power had steadily increased. At this point, they were arguably the strongest insect colony in the world. Even tailed beasts weren't necessarily their match.
You could call it outrageous, but this was simply the result of Shino's hard work.
Over there, Yamato repeatedly unleashed Mokuton, binding the Six-Tails tighter and tighter.
But the Six-Tails spewed acidic mist. Whenever the mist touched the Wood Style branches, it dissolved them completely. It felt like the beast couldn't be restrained at all.
Yamato felt like even if you gave him ten more Mokuton users, they still wouldn't be enough to truly pin the Six-Tails down.
Choji was having an even harder time of it.
His current strength was nowhere near the level he'd reached in the original timeline. Without having endured much hardship, he had never undergone his "butterfly" metamorphosis, so his power was much lower.
He could only partially expand, turning both arms into gigantic fists to grapple with the Five-Tails' strength. Even so, he was being steadily pushed back by the beast's furious charge.
(End of Chapter)
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