At this moment!
A terrifying, shuddering aura erupted from Yuto's body like a volcanic explosion, spreading outward with the force to annihilate everything in its path.
"It's over!"
This was the thought that flashed through Uchiha Itachi's mind.
Izanami was already an extremely secretive forbidden jutsu, but once someone like Yuto learned of it, he would never again allow Itachi even a single chance to get close!
A bitter smile tugged at Uchiha Itachi's lips.
The gulf in their strength was simply too vast, a chasm between heaven and earth.
Mere traps and stratagems were useless now.
Before absolute power, all such tricks were ultimately futile.
A pity...
Sasuke would not get to see him one last time.
RATTLE! RATTLE!
Hundreds upon hundreds of adamantine sealing chains erupted from Yuto's body in an instant, piercing, crushing, and pulverizing Uchiha Itachi where he stood!
The Reanimated body of Uchiha Itachi was ground down to the size of dust particles.
Yuto's gaze remained cold and indifferent, not even sparing Uchiha Itachi a glance as the hundreds of adamantine chains swiftly wove together and reformed in midair!
In mere moments, a giant formed entirely of adamantine sealing chains, as tall as a small mountain, stood between heaven and earth!
Sage Art: Adamantine Chains Giant Transformation!
Yuto crossed his arms, his eyes cold and indifferent as he stared at Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru in the distance.
The next moment!
The giant of adamantine chains began to move, and several thick chakra chains erupted from its palm.
They coiled around the massive tantō that had fallen beside the struck-down Gamabunta!
With a violent yank, the giant pulled the enormous blade into its grip.
Wielding the giant tantō, the adamantine chains giant suddenly radiated a savage, ferocious aura.
The giant stomped its foot against the ground with a tremendous boom, and though its body was as large as a small mountain, it moved with surprising speed.
In just a few strides, the chains giant reached the recently battered Manda, raised the tantō high, and brought it crashing down.
A thunderous boom exploded through the air!
"Damn you, Orochimaru, making me face such a monster!"
Manda watched the scene unfold, his serpentine pupils contracting sharply.
Hearing Manda's roar and seeing the massive tantō descending from above, Orochimaru, who stood atop Manda's head, felt his eyelid twitch.
Without a moment's hesitation, Orochimaru stomped hard on Manda's head and shot away in another direction, fleeing the area.
The giant tantō plummeted through the air, instantly cleaving Manda in two, though it only sliced through a layer of snake skin.
Snake Shedding Technique!
"Once you entered this battle, your fate was already sealed."
Yuto manipulated the chains giant as it turned around, gripping the massive tantō in both hands and driving it forcefully into the ground beneath.
As the giant blade plunged into the earth, torrents of blood sprayed upward from the impact like a crimson fountain!
"HISS! AH!!!"
Manda, who had been trying to burrow underground to escape, let out a piercing shriek and erupted from the ground once more.
The entire terrain shook violently, as though a magnitude-seven earthquake had struck, sending rocks and sand flying in every direction!
The chains giant did not pause for a moment.
The massive tantō slid savagely along Manda's body, slicing the great serpent cleanly in two.
Flee!
Manda's eyes filled with pain and terror as chakra surged across his body, and he dissolved into a plume of white smoke, attempting to summon himself back to Ryūchi Cave.
But the chains giant was faster, the giant tantō slicing through the air with a thunderous sonic boom.
Just as Manda was about to return to Ryūchi Cave, the massive blade, trailing a cold and deadly gleam, severed his head clean off.
A geyser of blood sprayed skyward, dyeing the entire ground crimson, forming a small lake of blood.
Manda's head soared high into the air, then crashed heavily to the ground, carving out a massive crater.
The serpent's dying eyes still held the terror and panic of his final moments.
After dispatching Manda, the chains giant did not pause for an instant, turning and charging swiftly toward Gamabunta.
Seeing this, fear flashed through Jiraiya's eyes as he shouted to the Gamabunta beneath his feet:
"Bunta! Get back to Mount Myōboku at once!"
Gamabunta watched as Manda was slain in an instant, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
If even Manda could fall so easily to Yuto's hand, what hope did he have?
Though Gamabunta had never gotten along with Manda, seeing the great serpent's severed head filled his heart with sorrow and a deep sense of helplessness.
Now, hearing Jiraiya's panicked cry from atop his head, Gamabunta snapped back to himself.
Without a moment's hesitation, Gamabunta swiftly gathered his chakra, preparing to return to Mount Myōboku!
SWOOSH!!
At that very instant, a sharp crack of displaced air thundered through the sky.
The chains giant heaved the massive tantō in its hand and hurled it straight toward Gamabunta!
Just as Gamabunta was about to return to Mount Myōboku, the giant blade pierced through his body almost simultaneously, spraying out a torrent of blood!
The massive cloud of white smoke dispersed.
Gamabunta, along with the giant tantō impaling him, vanished from the spot.
Jiraiya clearly heard Gamabunta's dying scream as the great toad returned to Mount Myōboku.
Jiraiya stood in a pool of blood, staring at a massive chunk of flesh some seven or eight meters wide, and the shattered innards scattered nearby, his pupils contracting ceaselessly.
Whether the giant slab of meat and innards, or the blood pooling at his feet, all of it had come from Gamabunta!
"Bunta..."
Jiraiya stood rooted to the spot, dazed.
Pierced clean through by the giant tantō, with so much of his innards left behind on this battlefield, even if Gamabunta had returned to Mount Myōboku, he clearly could not have survived.
Lord Fukasaku was dead. Lady Shima was dead. And now Gamabunta was gone too.
Jiraiya had taken a crushing blow to his spirit.
The colossal form of the chains giant had already appeared near Jiraiya, lifting its foot to stomp down on him where he stood.
"Fierce Snake Stomp!"
Orochimaru let out a hoarse roar, and a thick, massive snake burst forth from beneath Jiraiya's feet, coiling around him and swiftly carrying him away.
Orochimaru seized Jiraiya by the arm and bolted toward Tsunade's position.
"You fool, standing still like that—do you want to die?!"
Orochimaru dragged Jiraiya along as he ran, shouting furiously all the while.
BOOM!
The thunderous footfalls of the chains giant closed in rapidly from behind.
But fast as Orochimaru was, how could he outrun a chains giant the size of a small mountain, when each stride covered hundreds of meters?
A streak of golden light sped in from afar, and Namikaze Minato appeared at Orochimaru and Jiraiya's side in the blink of an eye.
"Lord Orochimaru, Sensei Jiraiya, you two get out of here now!"
Before Namikaze Minato could finish his sentence, he turned into a streak of golden light and vanished once more.
When Namikaze Minato reappeared, he was already standing on the chains giant's knee.
Namikaze Minato raised both hands and pressed them swiftly against the chains giant's body.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
Namikaze Minato and the chains giant were both teleported away together.
The instant Namikaze Minato had appeared, Yuto had sensed him immediately, and cut his own connection to the chains giant.
That was why he had not been teleported away alongside it.
Yuto plummeted rapidly from the sky, and when he was less than a hundred meters above the ground, he suddenly stomped against the air itself, producing a sonic boom!
BOOM!
Yuto turned into a streak of black light, shooting straight toward Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
"Run!!"
"Orochimaru! Jiraiya!"
Tsunade's panicked, hoarse scream came from the distance.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya only heard a rush of wind past their ears, and then every hair on their bodies stood on end.
"It's over, isn't it?"
Yuto had already appeared directly in front of Orochimaru and Jiraiya, his tone calm and flat.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya's frantic sprint came to an abrupt halt.
"My, my, looks like we can't run."
A fine sheen of cold sweat broke out across Orochimaru's forehead as he spoke in a low voice.
Tsunade and Katsuyu appeared behind Yuto.
With Orochimaru and Jiraiya in front and Tsunade and Katsuyu behind, it looked as though Yuto had been surrounded.
Yet strangely, the surrounded man showed no trace of tension, while Jiraiya and the others surrounding him stood rigid, drenched in cold sweat, as if they were the ones trapped.
"YUTO!!"
Jiraiya let out a furious roar, a Rasengan forming in his palm as he prepared to charge at Yuto.
He was ready to stake his life on one final strike, even knowing it would accomplish nothing.
But before Jiraiya could move, Orochimaru seized him by the arm and held him back.
Orochimaru slowly shook his head at Jiraiya.
He knew better than anyone that their chances of victory had dwindled to zero, and continuing to fight would only mean dying in vain.
"Lord Yuto, I suddenly recall something."
"The Four-Tails jinchūriki does indeed appear to have been captured by my subordinates."
Orochimaru took a small step forward, looking at Yuto as he spoke in a low, rasping voice.
Yuto arched an eyebrow slightly, regarding Orochimaru with a hint of surprise.
"Oh? You wish to make a deal with me?"
Yuto's voice carried a note of amusement as he regarded Orochimaru with cool indifference.
Seeing Yuto pause, Orochimaru could not help but let out a long breath of relief deep inside.
It seemed they could still talk!
If they could talk, there was still hope!
"Not a deal—a request. If Lord Yuto can agree, I will hand over the Four-Tails jinchūriki with both hands."
Orochimaru hastily corrected the word "deal," speaking with great care.
"Heh heh heh..."
Yuto gave a soft chuckle, and the heavy tension in the air dissolved considerably.
But in the very next instant, Yuto had appeared right in front of Orochimaru, raising a hand and slamming it down.
Before Orochimaru could even react, his entire body had been slapped into a pulp of meat and gore.
"Seems you died for nothing last time."
"You have no right to make demands of me. I will find the Four-Tails jinchūriki myself."
Yuto's tone was cold and indifferent as he glanced at the pulped remains of Orochimaru, lifting his foot and crushing the small white snake hidden beneath the gore.
"YUTO!!"
"YUTO!!"
Jiraiya and Tsunade snapped back to themselves at the same time, letting out furious roars.
Jiraiya charged forward, kunai in hand, appearing instantly before Yuto and thrusting the blade toward Yuto's heart.
Yuto casually raised his hand and flicked the incoming kunai with a finger, the violent force shattering the sharp blade on impact.
Not only that, but the force continued up Jiraiya's arm after shattering the kunai, pulverizing his entire arm into a mist of blood.
"Sensei Jiraiya!!"
Namikaze Minato's horrified shout rang out at that moment, and in the blink of an eye he appeared at Jiraiya's side.
Yuto's eyes flashed coldly, and he threw a direct punch forward.
Namikaze Minato, who had shielded Jiraiya, had half his body blasted apart, but using that split-second opening, Namikaze Minato—with his ruined half-body—grabbed Jiraiya and both vanished.
Flying Thunder God Technique once more!
Yuto's brow furrowed slightly.
Against a space-time ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God, Yuto currently had no direct countermeasure.
Of course, if he truly wanted to stop Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God, it was not impossible, by using a special barrier.
But that would take some time to set up.
As Jiraiya was teleported away by Namikaze Minato, Tsunade appeared behind Yuto in the same instant, throwing a punch straight at the back of his head.
The fist's passage whipped up a terrifying shockwave!
"Compared to Senju Hashirama, your fist is too weak."
"And now only you, the Hokage, remain."
Yuto casually extended a single finger, blocking Tsunade's fist with it.
"Even if I am the only one left in Konoha, I will not retreat a single step!"
Tsunade's pale blonde hair whipped in the wind, her amber eyes blazing with fury.
Even as she spoke, Tsunade raised her other hand, the fist surging with massive chakra, and swung it down at Yuto.
Before Tsunade's fist could reach Yuto, his palm had already struck her chest.
Tsunade's face went deathly pale in an instant, and she spat out a mouthful of blood as she was sent hurtling backward.
Katsuyu swiftly slithered into position behind Tsunade, catching her as she was blasted back.
Tsunade's chest was visibly caved in, and blood poured ceaselessly from her mouth!
[
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