HPDBC Chapter 352 Counterattack
Chapter 352 Counterattack
"...I...lost?"
On the collapsed remains of the Nine-Tails of Earth, Urashiki looked down at his mutated hands, then gazed at the two figures in the distance whose auras had not weakened but whose chakra was still abundant.
The purple-gold Susanoo Nine-Tails stood majestically, its radiance undiminished.
"Defeated by... such a lowly creature, barely at the level of a monkey?"
Humiliation! An unprecedented humiliation! Yet, the instinct for survival forcefully suppressed the boiling humiliation and madness. His remaining sanity screamed.
The ace has been eliminated, the opponent is in good condition, and may not even have gone all out.
Although his chakra was greatly depleted, he still had a considerable amount left thanks to the Otsutsuki's physique and the reserves he had previously absorbed.
If you want to survive... there's only one way left—escape!
However, when his gaze swept over Naruto and Sasuke, who were standing ready, if he used his previous strength as a standard, and faced the pursuit of both of them at the same time... the probability of successfully escaping was infinitely close to zero.
Even if all the remaining chakra is used up and a final desperate attempt is launched... it will probably only prolong a hopeless and meaningless death struggle.
Just then, the enormous purple-gold Susanoo Nine-Tails in the center of the battlefield began to dissipate. Naruto deactivated his full Tailed Beast Transformation.
As the light faded, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, one in gold and one in black, reappeared side by side on the ravaged land.
Their auras remained strong and stable, clearly indicating that the fierce battle had not caused them much damage.
Urashiki's golden Rinnegan stared intently at them, his mutated hand clenching and unclenching at his side.
"—Drink it!!!"
Without warning, Urashiki suddenly swung his arm forward! A ball of red chakra energy instantly formed in his palm, which he hurled with all his might toward Naruto and Sasuke not far away!
However, the two of them simply leaped to the left and right simultaneously the instant the energy ball struck, thus dodging it.
"boom--!!!"
The red energy ball roared through the gap between them and slammed into a patch of scorched earth hundreds of meters behind them, causing a violent explosion that created a sizable crater. Flames and smoke rose, but quickly subsided, leaving no other impact except for the added crater.
"Urashiki," Sasuke Uchiha slowly stepped forward, "Give up. You have no hope left."
This sounds like a final attempt to persuade him to surrender, but Sasuke is just saying it symbolically and won't give Urashiki a chance to catch his breath.
"Qilin..."
Sasuke uttered a single syllable clearly and briefly.
Almost at the same instant the syllable sounded—
"BOOM—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Within the clouds, the power of thunder was instantly unleashed, and a terrifying pillar of lightning, radiating blindingly bright white light, transformed into the shape of a monster and slammed down towards Urashiki!
Qilin!
Ninjutsu that previously required complex preludes has now reached a level where it can be performed almost instantaneously, thanks to Sasuke's current skill level!
"Don't underestimate people—!!"
Urashiki roared, his arm suddenly rising upwards, and red chakra surged out wildly, rapidly condensing above his head into an incredibly thick energy shield, blocking the Kirin's landing point!
"Bang--!!!!!"
Blinding lightning and red light burst forth wildly, and the shield hissed as it was eroded by the violent power of the lightning, but it was not pierced by the first blow and barely withstood the furious attack from heaven and earth!
However, this was already the limit of Urashiki's hasty defense!
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
Almost at the same instant the Kirin landed, Naruto's attack followed! A giant golden fox head suddenly appeared on his body!
The fox's head opened its huge mouth, and the Tailed Beast Ball instantly took shape, then shot straight at Urashiki, who was doing his best to resist the Kirin!
"【Amazuha Ryusei no Miko - Soul】!"
Urashiki's eyes were bloodshot with rage; his madness in the face of desperation had only fueled his last remaining potential! His other free hand shot forward with a burst of energy, purple chakra transforming into a thin, long beam of purple energy that met the incoming Tailed Beast Ball head-on!
"BOOM—!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The purplish-black destructive ray and the jet-black Tailed Beast Ball collided violently in mid-air, creating a massive explosion and dust.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The next moment, several golden fox front paws suddenly shot out from the smoke and energy turbulence stirred up by the explosion!
Taking advantage of the perfect moment when Urashi's hands were restrained, he grabbed his body and limbs fiercely!
"What?!" Urashiki exclaimed in surprise, but it was too late to react effectively.
"Bang!!"
"Snap!"
The golden chakra claws gripped his waist and abdomen firmly, then unleashed terrifying gripping and pulling force!
Immediately afterwards, all the giant claws exerted force at the same time, clenched into fists, and dragged Urashiki's body down, slamming it down hard onto the already ravaged earth below!
"boom--!!!!!!!"
Urashiki's body pierced the earth like a meteorite, creating a huge crater with a diameter of over twenty meters.
"Cough...cough cough...!"
From the bottom of the pit came Urashiki's weak and painful coughs and gasps. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The continuous heavy blows and the enormous mental shock had weakened this Ōtsutsuki to the extreme. The shadow of death was clearer than ever before.
If this continues... being surrounded by these two well-coordinated monsters, who are almost in perfect condition... I will surely die, without a doubt.
"It seems..." Urashiki lay at the bottom of the pit, looking at the two figures gradually approaching from above, "I... really... underestimated you."
Naruto and Sasuke hovered at the edge of the crater, showing no sign of relaxation or response. They had no interest in the nonsense of their dying enemies.
Urashiki continued, "However... if you want to kill me completely... with my current defensive stance and remaining chakra... it will take at least a few minutes, right?"
These words caused Naruto and Sasuke to frown slightly at the same time. They knew, of course, that an Otsutsuki determined to hold out to the death, even at the cost of self-destruction to buy time, was indeed difficult to kill instantly. A few minutes was a reasonable estimate.
In those few minutes, a great deal of change can occur on the ever-changing battlefield.
Urashiki's voice carried an unsettling calm. "If... either of you gets distracted by something else... leaving only one of you to deal with me..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear—once a one-on-one situation was established, even for only a brief moment, his chances of escaping or even retaliating would greatly increase.
Naruto and Sasuke did not respond, preparing to launch an even more powerful combined attack to end the battle completely. They would not give Urashiki any chance to delay or sow discord.
However, just as the attack was about to launch—
Urashiki's cracked lips suddenly curved into a very subtle smile. He stopped looking at Naruto and Sasuke and instead turned his gaze toward the direction of Konoha Village behind them.
"My last piece of 'advice' for you. Pay attention to what follows."
"Of course, whether you listen or not... is up to you."
"But... are you just going to leave those... 'ants'... unattended?"
"Ants"? What's next?
These two words pierced Naruto's heart! An ominous premonition made his hair stand on end. What... does this guy mean?
After consuming his own Rinnegan, Urashiki gained a tremendous increase in power, but it also meant that he temporarily lost the core abilities granted by those eyes—[Yomotsu Hirasaka] for spatial travel and [Time Reversal] for avoiding fatal damage!
Therefore, the cunning Urashiki must have prepared other forms of "backup plan" besides spatial abilities to create chaos in order to find a glimmer of hope in a desperate situation!
"roar--!!!!!!"
The worst fears were confirmed: a roar, though from a distance, was incredibly clear and filled with a violent aura, suddenly came from the direction of Konoha Village!
Naruto and Sasuke suddenly turned around!
At the edge of the horizon, above the forest surrounding Konoha Village, a massive nine-tailed fox roared to the sky!
Urashiki's last move!
He had secretly hidden a portion of the Nine-Tails chakra he had stolen from Kushina near Konoha Village long before the battle began!
After using up all the five elemental chakra he had stolen from the Third Hokage to create the Five Elements Nine-Tails, he did not exhaust all his "spoils of war".
Just now, the red energy ball he seemingly threw at Naruto and Sasuke in vain was not actually intended to attack! It contained not chakra for attack, but rather byproducts from the process of seizing the Nine-Tails' chakra.
The chakra of the Uzumaki clan!
When the ball of energy landed at the designated location, it immediately merged with the Nine-Tails chakra that had been lurking there, activating it and using it as a blueprint and fuel to construct the last and closest pseudo-Nine-Tails to Konoha in a very short time!
A classic "trolley problem"!
Should they stay behind immediately and concentrate their forces to completely kill the heavily injured Urashiki within minutes? Or should they send someone back to Konoha immediately to stop the pseudo-Nine-Tails that is roaring on the edge of Konoha and could cause a devastating disaster at any moment?
Whichever option he chooses, Urashiki has achieved his goal—to distract them! Once one of them is lured away, the pressure on him will be greatly reduced, giving him more room to maneuver, whether to escape or launch a desperate counterattack!
Naruto's expression was solemn. The coordinates of the Flying Thunder God Technique were flashing rapidly in his mind. He almost wanted to activate the technique immediately and teleport back to the village!
"Buzz..."
Suddenly, in the midst of a violent shock, Naruto felt an uncontrollable, intense tremor coming from the ninja tool pouch at his waist!
"What?"
Naruto instinctively reached in and touched a storage scroll.
What's even stranger is that he didn't need to form any hand seals to undo it!
The scroll unfurled automatically in his hand, creating a slit, and a strange light shone through it! Then, to Naruto and Sasuke's astonishment, something broke free of the seal and "escaped" from it!
It hovered silently in the air in front of Naruto; it was a sword.
No… that might have once been a sword. But now, it appears to be covered in thick rust, its blade twisted, abandoned by the passage of time. It’s less a weapon and more a piece of scrap metal that barely resembles a sword.
It has no chakra fluctuations, only an ancient feel.
Things happened too fast; from the appearance of the fake Nine-Tails to the spontaneous appearance of the broken sword, only a second or two had passed. Naruto hadn't even had time to ponder what this strange phenomenon meant.
"call out--!"
Just as Naruto was stunned, the strange light flowing around the rusty, broken sword suddenly intensified!
The next moment, it transformed into a streak of light and shot towards Konoha Village at an astonishing speed!