chsdbacks Chapter 439 What I'm gambling with is my life.
Chapter 439 What I'm gambling with is my life.
Chapter 439 What I'm gambling with is my life.
Hiss!
The medical tent was torn to shreds like paper, with shards of canvas and broken frames flying everywhere.
Silent figure flew out of the tent, exposed to the night sky and firelight, the bandages on her body following her like a persistent leech!
With the enhancement of the Steel Release technique, the bandages transformed into dozens of spears gleaming with cold light, shooting out as afterimages that were almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The clanging of metal against metal created a continuous explosion. Shizune swung her kunai into a ball of silver light, each collision causing her arm to go numb and her tiger's mouth to crack, leaving the kunai riddled with holes.
Too many, too fast.
Although Shizune is a Jonin, she is not a Jonin who specializes in combat.
Dan Kato was her uncle and Tsunade's lover. After Tsunade developed hemophobia and left Konoha, Shizune, who was still very young at the time, also left with Tsunade.
Tsunade often incurred a lot of debt due to gambling, so Shizune followed her as she fled to avoid her debts. It was impossible to expect Tsunade, in that state, to take care of the child.
In this process, it was less that Tsunade was taking care of her and more that she was taking care of the distraught Tsunade. All she learned from Tsunade was poison and medical ninjutsu.
They might be able to put up a fight against ordinary ninjas.
However, when facing Hiruko, she could only struggle to swing her broken kunai to parry attacks aimed at her head and heart, but she was powerless to dodge the other attacks.
Pfft! Pfft!
A bandage grazed her left shoulder, leaving a trail of blood that was deep enough to expose the bone. Another bandage swept across her ribs, cutting open her vest and leaving a long, bloody gash on her side.
The third cut slashed across her thigh, the muscles twisting and blood instantly staining her trouser leg red.
In just a few breaths, Jingyin had more than a dozen wounds of varying depths on her body, with blood gushing out like a spring, making her almost a blood-soaked figure.
The pain and blood loss caused her vision to blur, and her movements inevitably became sluggish.
Hiruko did it on purpose.
Shizune knew that her hurtful words had thoroughly angered Biljuk.
She was already very familiar with Hiruko's intelligence analysis, and knew that Hiruko was sensitive and stubborn, and could easily be angered by past events related to the Sannin.
Given Hiruko's personality, when provoked, he would not kill his opponent, but instead use more cruel and torturous methods to destroy his opponent's mind and body, deriving a twisted pleasure from it.
Provoke him, make him focus all his attention on you, buy time for the other medical ninjas and the wounded to evacuate, and also for—
Shizune covered the deepest wound on her side, chakra light emanating from her hand, and she used her adrenaline to force herself to stay awake.
"I've had enough fun." Hiruko's voice reached my ears.
Clearly, he had calmed down from the anger provoked by the words, realized the potential changes that delay might bring, and no longer held back, more bandages were shot at Silent.
So fast!
Silent's pupils narrowed, and she was about to pull back to create some distance.
"Hurricane Release: Turbulent Current!" Hiruko formed hand seals.
In an instant, the air around him spun wildly, forming a violent hurricane visible to the naked eye, generating an incomparably powerful tearing force, and Silent was forcibly torn apart.
puff!
Several bandages pierced through her body in an instant, and blood gushed out from the wounds in front and behind her, creating a tragic blood mist in the air!
All his strength was released along with the blood. The kunai he was holding fell to the ground, and his body was lifted up in mid-air like a broken doll by the bandages.
"Hmph." Hiruko looked at Shizune, who was suspended in the air, snorted coldly, and raised his other hand, preparing to tear her to shreds.
However, the instant he raised his hand, a smile appeared on Shizune's lowered face, and she closed her eyes—
"Hiruko!!"
A roar filled with boundless rage suddenly exploded from above!
Hiruko suddenly stopped moving and subconsciously looked up.
Suddenly, a figure descended from the sky like a meteorite, smashing down from the air towards the eye of the storm where Hiruko was located with a savage and violent manner that disregarded and destroyed everything!
There was nothing fancy, nothing roundabout.
Super Strength - Painful Heavenly Kick!
"Tsunade!"
Hiruko's expression changed. There was no time to use Swift Escape to dodge, so he could only push Steel Escape to its limit, crossing his arms above his head to prepare for a hard-hitting stance.
Boom!!
It was as if a meteorite had struck the earth.
An unimaginable, terrifying force was poured into Hiruko's crossed arms, which then crushed down without any resistance, slamming into his chest.
Click click click!
Hiruko was slammed into the ground like a nail. The ground within a radius of tens of meters around the point of impact rose up and collapsed, forming a huge cracked crater!
The violent impact swept in all directions, sending mud and rocks pulverized into dust, tearing nearby tents, scattered equipment, and corpses apart!
At the bottom of the pit, all was silent except for the soft rustling of soil and gravel falling down.
A moment later, the smoke and dust settled slightly, revealing the bottom of the pit.
Within the giant crater, Biruhu's bandaged body was embedded deeply into the shattered ground in a twisted posture.
"Cough!" He coughed up blood, his arms crossed in front of his chest, the bandages covering them were torn to shreds, revealing his arms with a metallic sheen.
For the first time, shock and horror were revealed in his usually arrogant eyes.
The physical body directly shattered my external defenses with Steel Release and injured my internal organs, which I couldn't strengthen with Steel Release.
How is such power possible?
Tsunade stood before him, and the lower leg that had been resting on Hiruko's arms was shockingly bent backward, with the white bone fragments even piercing through the flesh, leaving it dripping with blood.
"Hiruko, you bastard, how dare you—"
Tsunade didn't look at Hiruko, but instead looked at the mess and corpses around her, finally settling her gaze on Shizune, whose fate was unknown in the distance.
"I'm going to take you—"
She lowered her head, her fist slowly clenching, her knuckles cracking, her voice low and terrifying as she said, each word deliberate and forceful: "Burn to smithereens!"
Click! Click!
The moment the words left her lips, a sickening cracking sound came from her leg, which had snapped in the opposite direction!
The bone fragments that had pierced the flesh were forcibly repositioned and reconnected at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the ruptured blood vessels and muscle fibers were also healed under the protection of chakra!
This is almost equivalent to enduring the pain of a broken leg again.
In her rage, Tsunade completely ignored the extent of the pain.
boom!
She whirled around abruptly, her newly reattached right leg whistling through the air as she unleashed a vicious spinning kick, sweeping towards Hiruko at the waist!
Like a battle axe, the leg wind swept away even the dust!
"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!" Hiruko's expression changed again, and he could only throw a punch in response.
A fierce glint flashed in Tsunade's eyes, and her right leg, which she kicked out, continued its momentum without slowing down, even becoming a fraction faster, her shin striking his fist hard.
boom!!
An explosion occurred at the point of contact between the fist and the calf, blasting Tsunade's leg into a bloody mess, but the force was not diminished in the slightest, and it swept across Hiruko's raised arm to block!
clang!!
A deafening crash, like a heavy hammer striking an anvil!
"Pfft!" Hiruko felt a tremor in his internal organs, spat out a mouthful of blood, and his whole body was like a cannonball, flying backwards off the ground.
His feet carved two deep furrows in the ground, sending mud and gravel flying. He finally stopped his retreat and knelt on one knee, spitting out another mouthful of blood. His arms trembled uncontrollably.
"Damn it!" Hiruko suddenly raised his head, and through the gap in the arms protecting his face, his eyes suddenly turned blood red, and his pupils became horizontal.
Tsunade, who had been catching up, met his gaze.
Illusion Technique: Blood Dragon Eye!
An invisible and intangible spiritual energy invaded Tsunade's mind through her vision.
Tsunade's rushing figure suddenly froze, stopping abruptly in place. The sharpness in her eyes quickly dimmed and dissipated, and the world before her was replaced by an endless expanse of blood red.
"Hahaha!"
Hiruko slowly lowered his trembling arm, and beneath the slightly torn bandages on his face, a hideous and ferocious grin spread across his lips.
"Did you see that? Tsunade!"
With a look of triumphant satisfaction, he exclaimed excitedly, "I'm no longer the loser who could only look up to you guys!"
"Now, I am a perfect ninja who has fused multiple bloodline limits and mastered everything —"
However, he hadn't yet uttered the final "者" in "忍者".
Tsunade, who had been hanging her head and trapped in the illusion, suddenly raised her head. The blood-red illusionary world shattered like fragile glass the moment she looked up.
Hiruko was still excited and smug, and before he could react, Tsunade's figure disappeared on the spot!
No, it didn't disappear, it just went too fast!
She appeared in front of Hiruko and delivered a straight punch—simple yet imbued with her monstrous strength and fury—striking solidly into Hiruko's face, which was contorted with shock!
boom!!
A chilling, explosive sound of bones cracking!
Hiruko's face instantly deformed, the torn bandages completely scattered, revealing a face beneath that was abnormally ugly due to human modification.
He didn't even have time to scream before he tumbled through the air, flying backward like a tattered sack, finally crashing into a pile of medical tent wreckage and ruins.
"How—how is this possible?!"
Hiruko struggled to prop himself up, his face a bloody mess, his nose sunken, and his teeth broken. He roared in rage and shock, "How could you possibly break free of my illusion?!"
As the smoke and dust cleared, Tsunade slowly withdrew her fist, stood still, and coldly stared at the disheveled Hiruko in the ruins in the distance.
The diamond-shaped Yin seal on her forehead had now been removed, and black patterns spread like vines across her cheeks, neck, and even her entire body, centered on the Yin seal.
At the same time, a slug slid off her shoulder and crawled onto the unconscious, barely breathing Shizune behind her.
"You think—" Tsunade's calm voice rang out, "that you're the only one who has gained new power in these past few years?"
"With the help of the Fifth Generation, I erased the painful memories that once made me fear blood and held me back, and at the same time..."
As Tsunade spoke, she raised her hands and formed a hand seal in front of her chest, saying, "I've also made some minor modifications to the Yin Seal."
As she formed the hand seals, the black lines that had spread across her fair skin became even deeper, almost jet black.
The shape of the patterns also changed, with small, eerie branches sprouting from the edges, and a chilling aura spread out, causing a look of pain to appear on her face.
Yin Seal?
Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth: Hundred Healings Technique?
No, that's not right!
"You, you crazy woman—"
Hiruko stared incredulously at the bone gradually growing on half of Tsunade's face, exclaiming, "You used that technique to absorb and store the spiritual energy of 'Hollows' for your own use?!"
No wonder, no wonder Tsunade was able to break free from the Blood Dragon Eye's genjutsu so quickly.
No matter how powerful Blood Dragon Eye's illusions are, they are useless in the face of "Illusion".
The power of the "Hollow" is something that Hiruko dares not touch or covet. Each "Hollow" is a product of the twisted aggregation of countless souls, resentments, memories, and obsessions.
The spiritual energy of the Blood Dragon Eye was like a stream trying to shake the ocean in the face of the power of the "Void".
Tsunade's techniques are indeed amazing, allowing her to gradually remove the complex memories contained in the soul, much like treating a tumor.
But what about those twisted and insane resentments and obsessions of the soul?
The moment the mental energy is fully released, if the caster does not have a strong enough will to suppress the violent mental energy, their self-awareness will be instantly overwhelmed.
Turn into a monster that only knows killing and destruction and has no reason whatsoever!
Hiruko was certain that this was absolutely the first time Tsunade had used this technique.
Because this is not about gaining power at all; it's about playing with fire, a gamble with a success rate that is infinitely close to zero!
But Tsunade, that crazy woman—
She actually dared to do that! How could she possibly do such a thing?!
The half-face of pale bone on Tsunade's face had completely solidified, adding to her eerie appearance, and her long golden hair danced wildly without wind due to the violent chakra.
"Although I'm not like that idiot Jiraiya, who completely and unconditionally believed in him because of some so-called prophecy—"
Her voice came through the bone, hoarse with suppressed pain, yet unusually calm: "Because my intuition still tells me that Hinata Kumokawa is too perfect."
"His plans, his power, everything he displayed—it was too perfect to be real."
"I always felt that beneath that perfect facade lay some kind of ambition that I couldn't see through, and that might even be extremely dangerous."
"but----"
She paused for a moment, then continued, "When I personally witnessed Konoha's rebirth under his leadership, and saw the ninja world transformed by the changes he brought—"
"I've seen countless people have different choices and futures because of him."
"I've decided to stand here."
"I'm going to take a gamble!"
She clenched her fist, a terrifying power gathering within it, and said hoarsely, "I'm betting on his actions, on the future he's pointing to—"
"To make this stagnant, unchanging world, this world filled with pain, war, and despair, a little better, even if it's just a little bit better."
Hiruko was almost amused by this absurd and naive declaration. He pointed at Tsunade and said angrily, "You fat sheep who always loses at gambling, you actually dare to gamble?"
"You always lose when you gamble, that's when you're gambling with real money." Tsunade's voice suddenly turned cold. "But what I'm about to gamble on now—"
The moment she uttered the word "in," her figure vanished from the spot.
The white mist left behind was not a teleportation technique, but a terrifying speed of pure extreme. The air was forcibly pushed aside, creating a sonic boom mist that exceeded the speed of sound!
"—It's fate!"
Tsunade arrived even faster than the second half of her sentence, and with a punch, she slammed into Hiruko's arms, which were blocking her way.
Boom! Crack! Crack!