Danzo's face hardened; the agitation Tsunade had stirred minutes before had been replaced by cold composure.
"Tsunade! I'll admit you're skilled — but the victor will be me!" he declared.
"Attack!" he barked.
On his command, four Root shinobi sprang forward and surrounded Danzo and the others. A city-sized earthen wall, dozens of meters high, erupted up around them, sealing them in.
Someone immediately reinforced it with a sealing jutsu.
Danzo laughed. His body grew faint and translucent — he'd activated Izanagi again.
He was trapped, yes, but Izanagi would let him shrug off the consequences.
"Hahahaha, Tsunade — enjoy the Thick Earth Seal!" Danzo crowed, delight twisting his weathered features.
Tsunade and the pinned Sasuke both went pale. Danzo hadn't only used the Thick Earth Seal; he'd layered an Earth Release technique — Earth Release: Iron Finger — into it. The technique hardened the earth until it was like steel, and as the seal tightened over time it would grind them into paste.
"This is bad," Tsunade muttered.
She threw a fist.
Boom.
The impact rattled the air. A shallow crater marked the steel-like wall, but against that massive shell the damage was negligible.
Slowly, inexorably, the walls began to compress inward.
Both of them frowned, but the pressure increased only gradually. Still — given the technique's escalation, they would be crushed within a minute if they couldn't break free.
Outside the barrier Danzo laughed aloud. "Tsunade, you didn't expect this, did you? I prepared this long ago — to catch you unready!"
Muscles twitched across his face as he grinned like a man watching a turtle trapped in a jar.
A huge silver block of metal materialized within the seal. Shisui and the other nearby shinobi stiffened; many wanted to charge in and free Tsunade.
Naruto held Shisui back. "Don't rush in yet. Let's see what they can do," he said.
Shisui paused and, despite his worry, felt strangely steadied by Naruto's calm. Could Naruto really think Tsunade and Sasuke might break Danzo's seal?
Four figures took positions at the corners of the bright silver block outside the barrier, palms to the ground, channeling chakra. Black sealing runes crawled across the metal's surface.
Danzo watched the silver block shrink with gleeful eyes. Soon Tsunade would die by his hand — the jutsu was merciless.
Inside the cage, Tsunade scanned the dim interior. Light from a casual Fire Release she'd conjured illuminated their prison, but the air was thin; even sustaining the flame would burn chakra fast.
Tsunade battered the metal again and again, but each strike left only a dent. Worse, the metal's density kept rising.
Sasuke's Sharingan tracked the compression with cold clarity. The more desperate the moment, the calmer he became — there had to be an answer. Naruto had said every thing in the world had a counter: chakra opposed chakra, jutsu opposed jutsu.
If the wall had been ordinary steel, Tsunade's blows would have long since shattered it; the sealing-augmented earth, however, was a different order entirely. Without space ninjutsu, or immense power to overwhelm the technique, escape would be near-impossible.
Tsunade's mouth tightened. Summoning Katsuyu and performing the Reverse Summoning Technique would work — but she hated the idea. It felt like admitting defeat.
"Kid, come here. I'll pull you out with the Reverse Summoning Technique — otherwise you'll end up crushed," she told Sasuke.
Sasuke, frowning in thought, suddenly brightened. "No need." His eyes flashed. "If we electrolyze the iron in front of us, we can reduce it back to pig iron. Pig iron is soft — we can break that easily."
"That's it," Tsunade said, hope and steely resolve returning to her face.
Sasuke's eyes suddenly gleamed, his Sharingan spinning with focus.
Tsunade blinked in confusion.
Electrolytic iron? She had heard of iron conducting lightning, but not electrolyzing it.
Sasuke, however, had once pored over science books while studying the Railgun technique—at Naruto's insistence.
After all, as Naruto liked to say, "A shinobi who doesn't understand science isn't a good shinobi."
"As long as we mix in acidic water," Sasuke said, excitement growing in his voice, "we can electrolyze the iron! Once it breaks down into pig iron, it'll be soft enough for you to smash apart like dirt!"
Tsunade stared blankly for a moment, still trying to keep up with his explanation.
Outside, Danzo felt no more movement from within the silver cage. A grin spread across his wrinkled face.
"Tsunade! I told you resistance was futile! Die in despair!" he bellowed, laughing maniacally.
Inside the seal, Sasuke was already at work. His hands blurred through a sequence of hand signs, summoning a small stream of Water Release—slightly acidic, just enough to conduct the process he needed.
It wasn't as corrosive as Mei Terumī's Lava or Boil Release, but it was enough for his plan.
If only I had her Kekkei Genkai, he thought briefly. I could have melted this thing in seconds.
Lightning crackled around his right hand. He channeled Chidori into the acidic water, sparks leaping as the mixture hissed and steamed against the metal.
"Electrolysis…" he muttered, pushing his chakra harder. The walls began to sizzle and distort, their hardened structure starting to soften.
Seeing Sasuke's movements, Tsunade stopped her futile punches and simply watched. She could tell—this was working.
"Lady Tsunade!" Sasuke shouted through gritted teeth.
"Now—expand this opening!"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. She could see it—the metallic surface had changed. Her lips curved into a fierce grin.
"Got it!" she roared, drawing back her fist.
Boom!
The explosion shook the entire barrier. Even outside, Danzo staggered back from the shockwave, a dark premonition crawling up his spine.
No… it can't be!
Bang!
Another thunderous impact. The silver prison trembled.
Boom!!!
A final, deafening crash tore through the field. One side of the massive metal block shattered, a burst of steam and impure water gushing out as the barrier collapsed.
From the wreckage, Tsunade and Sasuke leapt free.
Tsunade landed first, clapping Sasuke on the shoulder with a broad grin.
"You've got some brains on you, kid! Hahaha!"
Sasuke exhaled, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
I, Uchiha Sasuke, am a true academic, he thought with quiet pride.
...
TN:
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