However, even after taking a direct hit, Ichihime didn't seem to suffer any fatal injuries. Instead, perhaps seeing the Sharingan reminded her of the past clan massacre, directly enraging her. Her eyes became bloodshot, so red they almost rivaled the Sharingan.
Tōshirō's expression twitched.
"Why is she so durable?"
At this moment, he suddenly remembered something. In the original story, Shinno seemed to possess both Body Activation and Body Regeneration ninjutsu. Could it be that this woman also had both?
However, it was already too late. Ichihime, who had taken a Rasengan head-on, turned and swung her leg, kicking Tōshirō away. "Die!"
Tōshirō crashed heavily into the wall with a loud bang, and smoke billowed out.
"Thud…"
A hand gripped the wall as rubble fell. Tōshirō walked out from the cracked and indented wall.
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Begging the "beast" for help, Tōshirō humbly whispered to the Five-Tails within him, "Little Five, quickly give me your chakra. I'm almost at my limit. You don't want me to die, do you?"
The Zero-Tails had a limit to its chakra absorption. Once it exceeded this limit, it wouldn't be able to absorb anymore.
Tōshirō's own chakra certainly wouldn't be enough to satisfy the Zero-Tails, but the Five-Tails' chakra should be able to saturate it.
Tōshirō's plan was to use this to his advantage. Without the chakra restriction, he was confident he could launch a desperate counterattack.
The Five-Tails' eyes showed a playful glint. "Are you begging me?"
"Brother, my brother, I beg you, quickly give me your chakra. I really can't hold on much longer."
At this point, Tōshirō had no regard for his pride.
The Queen of the Sky Country, having learned he was from the Uchiha clan, would surely strike without restraint later. It would be troublesome if he accidentally got crippled.
"Alright…"
Seeing him so sincere, the Five-Tails prepared to give him chakra.
After all, if Tōshirō really died by accident, it would be very distressed.
The Five-Tails emphasized, "You owe me a favor."
"Thank you, boss."
Seeing the Five-Tails relent, Tōshirō hadn't even had time to rejoice when the wall beside him suddenly exploded.
Tōshirō was startled.
"What's going on?"
Then, a team of people slowly emerged from the smoke.
"Sorry, it took some time on the way."
Tsunade's voice came from within the smoke.
Tōshirō was overjoyed; people had finally arrived.
"Huh?"
Tōshirō was puzzled. "What's wrong?"
Someone noticed the obvious change in Tōshirō's eyes. The three tomoe were so conspicuous, prompting a confused question: "Tōshirō, your eyes?"
"My eyes?"
Tōshirō was stunned, then seemed to realize something and almost swore.
Damn it.
This was simply too unlucky.
Tōshirō: "…"
"Tōshirō, you have a Sharingan!?"
Hiten, who had been tasked by the Third Hokage to monitor Tōshirō, was greatly astonished.
Tōshirō had only activated his Sharingan moments ago. Even with his Byakugan, he had only just realized, despite constant surveillance.
"Uh…"
Tōshirō gave Tsunade an extremely resentful look, as if to say:
"You sure pick your timing. You just had to come save me at this very moment."
With his Sharingan directly exposed, Tsunade didn't know what to say for a moment.
Tōshirō, with an extremely reluctant expression, forced a smile: "Aren't you surprised? Very unexpected?"
Someone echoed, "Uh, it's certainly surprising."
Tōshirō: "…"
Someone else was puzzled, unable to understand: "Why did you usually claim you didn't have a Sharingan?"
"Uh, probably because I'm a natural dual kekkei genkai ninja. Staying with a genius like me, I was afraid others would feel inferior and pressured."
"Now that you've discovered it, I won't pretend anymore. I'm laying my cards on the table. I actually possess a dual kekkei genkai, oh, no, I'm now a super genius with three kekkei genkai…"
Everyone, including Tsunade: "…"
Tōshirō's smug expression made him seem utterly punchable. Someone immediately stated, "Tsunade, your boyfriend is so obnoxious, can I hit him?"
Tōshirō advised, "Stop it, you can't beat me…"
"…"
"Tsunade, you actually always knew about Tōshirō having the Sharingan, didn't you?"
Hiten guessed.
Tsunade nodded, implicitly confirming it.
Since the matter had been coincidentally stumbled upon, there was nothing more to hide.
Hiten fell silent for a moment.
He now understood why Tōshirō had controlled the Tailed Beast's power so quickly.
It turned out he possessed the Sharingan—no wonder…
Thinking this, he quietly glanced at Tōshirō. He would report this matter truthfully to the Third Hokage later.
If that person learned that Tōshirō possessed the Sharingan, he would surely have many ideas…
Seeing that the discussion about his Sharingan was becoming endless, Tōshirō quickly interrupted them: "Are you done talking nonsense? Can you help me deal with these two first?"
With that, he pointed to the Zero-Tails and Ichihime in the room.
Everyone looked, seeing unfamiliar faces, and were momentarily stunned. "What kind of things were you fighting?"
At this, Tōshirō became indignant: "It's all because your intelligence was wrong! You said I could easily take them out alone, but the enemy's strength is off the charts. Even I almost capsized in the ditch."
"Really that strong!"
Some were a little disbelieving. They knew Tōshirō's strength. Could a small country like the Sky Country actually have someone even he almost couldn't defeat?
Ichihime scanned the group, her gaze cold: "Are you done with your last words?"
With that, she commanded the Zero-Tails to attack. Yellow tentacles surged from its body like waves, combining speed and range.
"Don't use ninjutsu."
Tōshirō warned, but it was already too late. Someone had already hastily used a jutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu."
The large fireball in mid-air shrank like a deflating balloon, arriving at the Zero-Tails as only a small flame.
A Leaf Ninja exclaimed, "What in the world is going on!"
"I told you not to use ninjutsu. This thing absorbs chakra."
Tōshirō kindly reminded them again.
Hiten's eye veins bulged as he focused, and through his Byakugan's insight, he noticed the anomaly of the stone monument. He warned aloud:
"Everyone, attack that stone monument. That monument should be what controls that creature."
"You wish to succeed!"
With her secret discovered, Ichihime's former composure vanished. She clapped her hands together, summoning a large amount of thorns to attack the Leaf Ninjas.
Countless thorns surged like waves, and several slower-reacting Leaf Ninjas were immediately sent flying.
Tsunade dodged the attacks, surprised. "Is this Wood Release?"
Tōshirō denied it: "Didn't you hear what she said earlier? This is Thorn Release."
Tsunade was slightly startled, having never heard of this release. "Thorn Release?"
Tōshirō, combining with the current situation, concluded: "Based on its performance, it should be a weakened version of Wood Release."
Thorn Release seemed to lack the ability to absorb chakra and only possessed pure physical attack capabilities.
Although Thorn Release was just a low-tier version of Wood Release, Ichihime used it with incredibly powerful effects.
Ordinary Leaf Ninjas couldn't even parry it, and they couldn't help but wonder how Tōshirō alone had managed to hold out against these two abnormal opponents.
"It's no good, we can't even get close to these two."
Both Ichihime and the Zero-Tails possessed the ability to flexibly manipulate matter in combat. Working together, the Leaf Ninjas couldn't get close enough to destroy the stone monument.
"Damn it, I should have brought Ryōma along at a time like this."
Tsunade, considering the enemy's abilities, judged that the Aburame clan's insects would have been more useful in this situation.
Just then, a figure rushed out, stepping on the surging tentacles, rapidly heading straight for the huge tombstone behind the Zero-Tails.
"You wish to succeed!" Ichihime manipulated countless thorns to pursue him. Tōshirō dodged and weaved, cutting through the thorns with his weapon.
"Such a nuisance."
Seeing this, Tsunade immediately ordered her team to adopt the strategy of "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao," aiming to rescue Tōshirō.
"Annoying fellow."
Ichihime freed up her hands and manipulated thorns to attack Tsunade and the others.
With the thorn pursuit gone, Tōshirō seemed to have just relaxed his guard when countless small tentacles sprouted from the giant yellow tentacles beneath his feet. Taking him by surprise, they first entangled his feet, then his legs, waist, and body…
Tsunade cried out with worry, "Tōshirō—!"
"Haha, I got you!" Shinno, controlling the Zero-Tails, laughed triumphantly.
"Hmph, did you really catch me?"
Tōshirō used the chakra he borrowed from the Five-Tails, releasing it directly.
"Hey, you don't have to seek death like this!" Shinno, feeling the immense chakra surging from behind, let out a hysterical laugh.
Using too much chakra at once could be life-threatening. Shinno, with his exquisite medical abilities, understood this perfectly well.
However, his laughter didn't last long; it quickly ceased.
The Zero-Tails arched its body backward considerably, its body becoming bloated and swollen. It opened its mouth wide, drooling yellow saliva, and let out a painful, shrill scream.
"I can't take it anymore! What in the world is this abnormal chakra?"
The amount of chakra Tōshirō released was too great, instantly exceeding the Zero-Tails' absorption limit.
Even Shinno, the controller, couldn't endure it and lost control of the Zero-Tails.
Tōshirō seized the opportunity to break free from the Zero-Tails' restraint, landing on the ground, and shouted to the others, "Run!"
Everyone was stunned, but fortunately, Tsunade reacted quickly, knowing what Tōshirō intended. She immediately ordered everyone to withdraw.
After his comrades retreated to a safe area, Tōshirō had no more worries. Ichihime, not understanding why, manipulated thorns to attack Tōshirō.
Tōshirō took a breath and gathered a little power: "Ice Age…"
In an instant, centering on himself, he unleashed the incomparable ice-style chakra within him all at once. An immense, powerful cold swept through everything around him. All sounds ceased, covered by a thick layer of ice.
At the moment the cold current spread, even though Ichihime stopped using Thorn Release and dodged the freezing erosion of the ice on the ground with her agile movements, the Zero-Tails wasn't so lucky and was frozen solid along with the entire space.
(End of Chapter)
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