Chapter 267: Self-Termination
[Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop]!
Thunder cracked, and Minoru Hiranaka's heart seemed to skip a beat. He only blinked once, but the restless thunder was already ringing in his ears.
The tall and burly Fourth Raikage instantly appeared in front of this man, who wore full body armor and seemed completely out of place in the entire ninja world. His hand-knife, wrapped in intense Lightning Release chakra, brazenly slashed through the air.
He chopped down towards the opponent's chest.
Sizzle!
The air emitted the acrid smell of burnt ozone from the lightning strike. Minoru Hiranaka, originally just an ordinary Genin, should have been unable to react effectively to such an attack.
But at this moment, as the golden rings in his eyes contracted, his body leaned backward, seemingly attempting to dodge.
Seeing the opponent's movement, the Fourth Raikage snorted coldly in his heart. Ordinary Taijutsu and Body Flicker Technique were almost impossible to use to dodge his Nintaijutsu. Before you could mold chakra or twist your body, his hand-knife would have already slashed through you.
Vmm!
The air was sliced open in an instant. Blue-white electric light spread out nearly a meter along his hand-knife, but there was nothing beneath the blade.
He turned his head and saw the guy in heavy armor sway, then disappear as if teleporting, reappearing several meters away. He was now constantly widening the distance between them.
Space-Time Ninjutsu?!
The Fourth Raikage had originally thought the opponent was just a Konoha scout. He didn't expect him to master an ability that seemed like short-distance instant teleportation.
In that instant just now, he had definitely slashed through the position where the opponent's body should have been, but the opponent simply "vanished" before his hand-knife and created distance.
This was also the first time Minoru Hiranaka had used the ability named [Bloodhound's Step] in actual combat, successfully escaping from the Fourth Raikage's Nintaijutsu.
He hadn't expected to encounter the Fourth Raikage directly here, nor that the other party would attack him without a word.
This was probably the fate Miss Providence mentioned he would face...
But Minoru Hiranaka neither regretted nor feared.
He had the resolve to sacrifice his life. Compared to this world where wars were constantly waged for a thousand years and ordinary people could find no peace, he believed more in the [Age of the Erdtree] described by Miss Providence.
Although even without death, people would still have troubles and hatred over other things.
But death was indeed the root cause of everyone's pain today.
He knew that the intelligence he passed on led to the deaths of everyone in Jianghe Town. He once hated himself and wanted to end his own life. He also hated those ninjas for killing the weak, and even hated Miss Providence for leaking that intelligence to him.
But after obtaining that sapling, he had found his own path to redemption.
As long as the Erdtree's blessing shone upon the whole world, death would no longer be the end of life; the Erdtree would be.
Without death, people would no longer grieve over loss, nor would they kill each other. Without the constraint of [Death], everything in the world would become peaceful, and life would simply be a journey to enjoy before [Returning to the Tree].
Everyone could be liberated from the eternal cycle of hatred. This was true [Ultimate Benevolence]!
Minoru Hiranaka ran quickly towards the Land of Lightning. He was ready to sacrifice himself, but that had to wait until the Golden Erdtree fully matured. Before that, no matter what, he had to live.
Intense thunder sounded from behind. He could feel the fine hairs on his exposed skin standing up one by one.
Minoru Hiranaka turned around and looked at the ninjas behind him, whose hands were lit up with intense electric light.
He drew the peculiarly shaped greatsword from his back. Patterns glowing with a golden luster lit up on the greatsword. Minoru Hiranaka stabbed the sword into the ground in front of him and spread his hands.
He prayed devoutly to the Golden Erdtree. For the Age of the Erdtree to arrive, he begged for the protection of the Golden Order.
Huge golden magic circles instantly lit up in front of him one after another.
[Golden Vow]
[Golden Magic Fortification]
[Golden Lightning Fortification]
[Erdtree's Protection]
Incantations he hadn't known before miraculously appeared in his mind and were released one by one.
Minoru Hiranaka's body was almost completely covered by that golden light.
Sizzle!
Sizzle!
Thunder exploded. Lightning Release ninjutsu bombarded Minoru Hiranaka's position instantly, but they had absolutely no effect. Under the brilliance of layer upon layer of incantations, Minoru Hiranaka pulled out the greatsword in front of him.
A golden luster lit up on the blade. This greatsword looked as if it were cast from gold. Two semicircular arcs of light even appeared on the blade. Under the golden light of the incantations, this sword was as brilliant as colored glaze.
Minoru Hiranaka looked at the Raikage and the others in the distance. He held the sword high above his head, as if praying to someone, then held it flat to his right with one hand, his body and the sword forming a subtle triangular shape.
The Erdtree sigil lit up again. The next moment, Minoru Hiranaka swung the sword horizontally with a boom across dozens of meters.
Vmm!
The Golden Greatsword suddenly caused the air to hiss. Golden incantation light first exploded around Minoru Hiranaka, then turned into a huge golden sword wave slashing towards the group of ninjas.
"Watch out!"
A ninja shouted a warning. In the battle with Konoha, they had witnessed the peculiarities of these ninjutsu emitting golden luster, so no one was careless now.
They all dodged instantly.
Even the Fourth Raikage was no exception. Those who followed the Raikage to rush back to aid the country were all elites. Everyone had completely evaded by the time the golden sword wave flew through the air.
Pfft, BOOM!
The sword wave slashed into the ground, followed by a violent explosion. Judging by the power, it was quite terrifying.
The Fourth Raikage felt absolutely no aura of chakra from the opponent's attack, nor did any nature transformation occur. That glittering golden technique seemed to have nothing to do with the chakra system.
This could no longer be explained by Kekkei Genkai or secret techniques.
"He ran away, Lord Fourth."
The Fourth Raikage looked at the guy who had run hundreds of meters away again after slashing out. For some reason, he felt that the person in front of him was more important than the Land of Lightning's Daimyo, whose fate was unknown.
He waved his hand.
"Go back to the village and find Bee, then rush to aid the Royal Capital together. I'm going to catch this guy and see what the hell Konoha is up to!"
The group quickly split into two.
The Fourth Raikage was extremely fast. With his powerful physique and the boost from Nintaijutsu, he had far greater trekking ability than ordinary ninjas. After activating [Lightning Release Chakra Mode], his movement speed was unmatched by few except the late [Namikaze Minato].
Minoru Hiranaka couldn't shake off the Fourth Raikage at all, but A didn't capture him immediately. He kept following Minoru Hiranaka, wanting to see what the opponent's purpose in heading to the Land of Lightning was.
Suddenly, the Fourth Raikage turned his head and saw another figure hundreds of meters away, drifting like a ghost, also following behind the opponent.
That figure wore a black robe with red clouds and an orange spiral mask on his face.
Uchiha Obito looked at Minoru Hiranaka ahead, whose stamina seemed endless, his Sharingan filled with indifference.
He was certain that Kakashi had been hidden by that woman. Without retrieving his other [Mangekyo Sharingan] from Kakashi, he wasn't confident in defeating Mercenary Tao and Nagato.
Nor could he stop that madman Mercenary Tao from cooking and eating the Tailed Beasts.
The Eye of the Moon Plan couldn't proceed.
His actions had hit a dead end, so he turned to pursue news of that woman. [Zetsu] gave him key intelligence: this guy named Minoru Hiranaka was probably very important to that woman.
She had kept him hidden before, but now he was released. The purpose was unknown.
Since Mercenary Tao could have Uchiha Shisui hide Uzumaki Naruto, and that woman could hide Kakashi, then he could naturally hide this Minoru Hiranaka!
He only glanced at the Fourth Raikage in the distance, not taking him seriously. He floated silently from the air towards Minoru Hiranaka, illusory ripples appearing in his eye.
As long as he sucked Minoru Hiranaka into the [Kamui Dimension], no one would be able to find him again.
Pfft!
An incandescent white shockwave pierced through Obito's body, followed by a series of air explosions.
Cloud-like ripples exploded one after another from the distant forest.
Through the rotation of the Sharingan tomoe, he had already seen clearly that what pierced his body was a black pebble.
In the distance, a figure leaping through the air quickly appeared in Uchiha Obito's field of vision.
From the air, Kaito Shirogane spotted the man shining with golden glow at a glance. The man wore heavy armor completely out of place in this world. He was certain this was probably the target he had to protect.
BOOM!
Kaito Shirogane fell directly from the air, and the ground exploded with a boom.
This time, he didn't use any force-unloading techniques. He completely smashed his terrifying weight of hundreds of kilograms from a height of nearly a hundred meters onto the ground.
Kaito Shirogane was angry. He was very dissatisfied!
Minoru Hiranaka stopped immediately, shielding himself with his hands. The sand and stones splashing from the exploding ground hit the gauntlets on his hands, making clanking sounds.
After the dust settled, the man whom Miss Providence said would protect him until the Golden Erdtree grew, following the guidance of "fate," finally appeared.
Moreover, his wife had also survived under the opponent's protection.
The final piece of Ultimate Benevolence—Mercenary Tao—had appeared!
At this moment, Minoru Hiranaka finally relaxed a bit. He wasn't good at fighting. Even with the incredible abilities granted by the Erdtree's blessing, he still didn't dare to fight the Fourth Raikage.
"Mercenary Tao, thank goodness, you..."
Swoosh.
A figure appeared from the wind. That terrifying size of over three meters exuded a daunting pressure.
Before Minoru Hiranaka could finish speaking, he felt his throat tighten. A powerful large hand had already grabbed his neck.
Minoru Hiranaka struggled, but the opponent's strength was terrifyingly great; he couldn't budge it at all.
Hoo~
White mist sprayed from the opponent's nose and mouth, making Minoru Hiranaka feel the opponent was more like a monster.
His heart sank. This was different from what he had imagined. The opponent didn't seem like the final piece of the benevolent Age of the Erdtree, but rather like... a butcher...
"I say, Mr. Minoru Hiranaka, can you do me a favor?"
Kaito Shirogane's gaze swept over Uchiha Obito and the Fourth Raikage in the distance. He finally looked sinisterly at Minoru Hiranaka.
"Could you please... terminate yourself?"
(End of Chapter)
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