Chapter 168: Trump Card
Han's movements were significant, and Ishiro, from his high vantage point, easily identified his attack target.
Considering that Jinchūriki were tough and thick-skinned, Han should be able to withstand Jiraiya's attacks for a short period. Thus, Ishiro abandoned Jiraiya and headed straight for Ikura.
Saka below naturally noticed Ishiro changing direction towards Ikura and couldn't help but frown. In Saka's view, Ikura should have no problem tying down Minato Namikaze and wouldn't need support. However, Jinchūriki were uncontrollable, and Ishiro should have stayed by Han's side.
Once a Tailed Beast went out of control, Ishiro would be the last line of defense.
However, Saka hesitated for a moment and didn't stop Ishiro. Mainly because Ishiro was not someone who disregarded the bigger picture. Ishiro, being high up, might have discovered something.
For instance, it was Ishiro's timely warning just moments ago that had greatly reduced Iwagakure's losses.
Ishiro's speed was immense. Unobstructed in the air, by the time Ishiro reached the other side, Ikura hadn't even engaged Minato Namikaze yet.
Seeing Ishiro approach, Ikura was somewhat puzzled and asked, "Ishiro, why aren't you watching Han? Be careful of trouble on his end."
Ikura was naturally referring to the Tailed Beast. Ishiro knew this well and explained, "Han will be fine for a while. I find this Minato Namikaze very troublesome and can't rest easy. Let's team up!"
Ikura nodded. Ninjas wouldn't say foolish things like "I want to fight alone." They were now mortal enemies. If teaming up with Ishiro could kill Minato Namikaze, Ikura would absolutely not refuse.
As they spoke, Ikura on the ground and Ishiro in the sky were already not far from Minato Namikaze, who was standing atop Gamabunta's head.
Iwagakure didn't have as deep a foundation as Konoha; they lacked giant summoning beasts. Facing Gamabunta, they had no good options but to clash head-on.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!" Ikura, like Ishiro, was a ninjutsu specialist, so he cast his first jutsu from a great distance.
This technique wasn't meant for killing but to restrict Gamabunta's movements.
As soon as this ninjutsu was cast, a large area of land, starting from Ikura, began to turn into a swamp. This swamp spread continuously towards Gamabunta's position.
Gamabunta could choose to flee, but that would allow Ikura, a powerhouse capable of Kage-level combat, into the midst of Konoha's main forces charging towards them.
Considering Ikura was also a user of large-scale ninjutsu, the consequences would be hard to predict.
Thus, Gamabunta chose not to flee but instead used Water Release: Water Bullet Technique. Several water bullets successively smashed onto the rapidly spreading swamp, forcefully interrupting the advance of the Swamp of the Underworld.
"Porcelain Release!" While Gamabunta was dealing with the Swamp of the Underworld, Ishiro used his Porcelain Release slurry to form a large number of rock spears, which shot towards Gamabunta at extremely high speed.
This was a method Ishiro had learned from the Third Kazekage human puppet. Porcelain Release, like Iron Sand, could transform into myriad forms.
Gamabunta, having just cast a ninjutsu, couldn't evade the hundreds of giant rock spears Ishiro was attacking with. Just as it seemed he couldn't dodge in time, Minato Namikaze made his move.
"Wind Release: Wind Tornado!" A hurricane immediately raged towards Minato Namikaze's direct front.
Ishiro's hundreds of rock spears were relatively scattered, sealing off a large evasion area for Gamabunta after being launched. Only a few dozen in the middle were aimed directly at Gamabunta.
After the hurricane passed, these dozens of rock spears were immediately blown away. However, the powerful impact also caused the hurricane to shake violently a few times.
Under Minato Namikaze's control, the hurricane didn't dissipate and eventually stabilized. Then it continued to rage forward.
Wherever the hurricane passed, the swamp created by the Swamp of the Underworld was immediately churned up layer by layer. Although there was still some danger, relative to Gamabunta's massive size, it was no longer lethal.
Ishiro saw all of this and thought to himself: "Truly worthy of being the future Fourth Hokage. This ninjutsu choice is truly appropriate, killing two birds with one stone. It blocked my attack and destroyed the combat environment Ikura created."
"But aren't you underestimating my Kekkei Genkai a little?"
At this moment, the hundreds of rock spears Ishiro had shot out, apart from a small portion destroyed by the hurricane, the rest had swept past Gamabunta from not far away. They had now decelerated and completed their turn.
Then, under Ishiro's remote control, these rock spears once again shot from behind towards Gamabunta's massive body.
However, this time Gamabunta had the time and space to evade.
Sensing the danger from behind, Gamabunta first lunged forward, following the path cleared by the hurricane for several dozen meters, then leaped back to its previous position, barely avoiding Ishiro's cluster of rock spears in mid-air.
"What an agile toad," Ishiro cursed his luck internally.
Gamabunta's previous maneuver seemed like a large movement, but for Gamabunta, the chakra consumption was negligible.
However, Ishiro controlling the rock spears back and forth consumed a considerable amount of chakra.
This couldn't go on.
But Ishiro wasn't fighting one against two. Ikura now made his move again.
"Earth Release: Rock Forest Jutsu!" A large number of irregularly shaped rocks jutted out from underground, perfectly timed for when Gamabunta leaped over Ishiro's returning rock spears and was about to descend.
This time, Gamabunta was falling in mid-air and had no time to dodge. It was immediately struck from below by several rocks.
That wasn't the most troublesome part. The most troublesome part was that Ikura's follow-up attack came immediately after the "Rock Forest Jutsu."
Taking advantage of Gamabunta losing its balance after being hit, Ikura this time used the Mountain Earth Jutsu.
It was precisely Kitsuchi's signature ninjutsu: two semicircular blocks of earth pressed towards Gamabunta from the left and right.
Ishiro was somewhat surprised; the ranks of these two ninjutsu were not low. Ishiro was very familiar with the Mountain Earth Jutsu; it was a solid A-rank. And the Rock Forest Jutsu, Ishiro had seen its description in the village's ninjutsu catalog; it was a ninjutsu upgraded twice from the C-rank Earth Release: Earth Spear, also an A-rank.
"Ikura can actually cast two A-rank ninjutsu in such a short time? When did his hand seal speed become so fast?" Curious, Ishiro glanced towards Ikura.
"Oh, so it's a clone jutsu. Having a lot of chakra is indeed an advantage." Ishiro happened to see a figure beside Ikura's main body dissipate into smoke.
Ishiro's chakra was his weak point, so he rarely used clones to cast high-level ninjutsu because Ishiro was reluctant to allocate too much chakra to a clone when performing the clone jutsu.
Ikura's chakra reserves far exceeded Ishiro's. The chakra consumed by the Rock Forest Jutsu cast by that clone which had just disappeared was probably half of Ishiro's entire chakra pool.
Ishiro wouldn't dare to do such an extravagant thing.
Ikura's main body was currently controlling the Mountain Earth Jutsu to rapidly close in, unaware that Ishiro was silently criticizing him.
Within the range of the Mountain Earth Jutsu, Gamabunta no longer had time to escape. Seeing this, Minato Namikaze could only say, "Bunta, thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to me!"
"Alright." Gamabunta didn't delay and directly dispelled the summoning jutsu. He knew the situation was urgent and naturally didn't dare to hesitate.
Poof! The giant toad immediately disappeared. Minato Namikaze, on the other hand, continuously used the Shunshin no Jutsu to leave the attack range of the Mountain Earth Jutsu.
The direction Minato Namikaze chose to flee was not backwards, but straight ahead. When Minato Namikaze rushed out of the Mountain Earth Jutsu's range, he was already not far from Ikura.
Although Minato Namikaze had many long-range attack methods, what truly matched his Kage-level strength was close combat.
Therefore, Minato Namikaze didn't pause at all and immediately rushed straight towards Ikura.
Ikura breathed a sigh of relief when Gamabunta disappeared. His previous wave of maneuvers had all been aimed at Gamabunta, this giant summoning beast. Now, in Ikura's eyes, the biggest opponent had vanished.
However, seeing Minato Namikaze rapidly approaching, Ikura didn't dare to be careless. After all, his consumption in that previous round of attacks had not been small.
Including the initial defensive earth jutsu, a total of four A-rank ninjutsu, each with deliberately increased chakra output. If it were Ishiro, he would have been completely drained by now, utterly dry.
Ikura was very familiar with methods to deal with close-combat ninjas. While rapidly retreating, he hastened to form hand seals.
Minato Namikaze's subsequent response, in Ikura's view, was not as brilliant as before and seemed rather conventional.
From his high vantage point, Ishiro clearly saw Minato Namikaze take out four specialized kunai and then throw them all at Ikura.
This kind of straightforward kunai attack was too ordinary for a ninja of Ikura's level; a slight sideways shift would be enough to dodge it. And Ikura indeed did so.
However, Ishiro was startled by this scene. While rapidly approaching Ikura, he quickly dispelled the Porcelain Release slurry he was controlling and, extending his hand towards the specialized kunai aimed at Ikura, used Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull).
Due to being somewhat far away, the effect of Ishiro's Banshō Ten'in wasn't very obvious; it only slightly shifted the specialized kunai from their original trajectory.
Fortunately, Minato Namikaze was still some distance from Ikura at that time. By the time the deviated specialized kunai neared Ikura, they were already several meters above him.
Ikura naturally noticed this, but knowing Ishiro's abilities, he didn't pay it much mind and continued with his hand seals.
But this scene, falling into Minato Namikaze's eyes, caused him to misjudge: that Iwagakure knew he had learned the Flying Thunder God technique.
Otherwise, if Ikura had already clearly dodged the specialized kunai, why would Ishiro still intervene to interfere with their path? And Ikura's unfazed expression made Minato Namikaze think Ikura also knew about the Flying Thunder God technique.
Thus, Minato Namikaze no longer hid his trump card. His figure abruptly disappeared from its original spot and then instantly reappeared beside the specialized kunai that was already far from his body: that is, at a position about a few meters to Ikura's upper side.
This position wasn't Minato Namikaze's optimal attack position, but since the information was already leaked, closing some distance was still good.
However, this scene, falling into Ikura's eyes, made him break out in a cold sweat.
If not for his quick reaction, plus Minato Namikaze being in the air and unable to rapidly close the distance, he would probably have been done for.
"Banshō Ten'in!" Ishiro continued to do his best to help Ikura. This time, Ishiro's target was Minato Namikaze himself. Since the distance had been shortened somewhat, the power of the pull this time was considerable, causing Minato Namikaze's figure to pause slightly. This gave Ikura a chance to turn the dangerous situation around.
Facing the approaching Minato Namikaze, Ikura, while not abandoning his hand seals, was still trying his best to dodge. Finally, under Ishiro's interference, he managed to hold on until the ninjutsu was complete.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!" This crucial ninjutsu of Ikura's was a continuous-attack interference-type ninjutsu. Bringing it out at this moment was perfect. A large number of earth bullets densely and continuously covered Minato Namikaze.
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