Chapter 104: Quicklime Congealing Jutsu
Above the boundless blue sky.
Birds flapped their wings, and with each beat, the surrounding air seemed to stir, forming visible ripples.
The clouds, which had been floating like light gauze in the air, scattered under the impact of this powerful force.
Hasumi Maki sat steadily on the broad back of the bird, looking down at the sparkling sea below from high in the sky.
On the vast ocean, Turtle Island was no longer in sight.
From the time Kisame sent information about it until now, no one could accurately estimate how far Turtle Island had advanced.
"According to the information provided by Kisame, that island was indeed here, but I didn't expect it to have moved."
Yakushi Kabuto gazed at the empty sea below, saying thoughtfully, "But after all, it's an island of such immense scale. No matter how fast it moves, how fast can it really be? It should be somewhere in this vicinity."
As he spoke, Yakushi Kabuto turned to look at Deidara, who was standing nearby. Before he could speak, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
Bang!
Accompanied by a dull thud, Deidara, who was standing at the very front, suddenly widened his eyes. His pupils contracted sharply, and his gaze slowly shifted behind him.
A fist the size of a casserole, carrying a fierce gust of wind, slammed heavily into Yakushi Kabuto's chest.
The one who suddenly appeared and attacked Yakushi Kabuto was none other than the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure of the Land of Earth—Ōnoki.
The fist fiercely pierced through Yakushi Kabuto's chest.
Yakushi Kabuto looked down at his pierced chest, but there was no sign of pain on his face. Instead, he seemed completely unfazed, calmly turning to Ōnoki and slowly saying, "That punch was really light. I didn't expect Lord Tsuchikage himself to come as an ambush."
Ōnoki had used immense force in that punch. As he pulled, Yakushi Kabuto was easily snatched from the bird into mid-air, like a little chick.
Just then, Deidara, seeing the familiar figure in front of him, instantly brightened his eyes, a wide, excited smile spreading across his face, and shouted, "Haha, it's Old Man Ōnoki! Long time no see!"
With that, Deidara quickly formed hand signs, manipulating the bird beneath him to charge towards Ōnoki at an extremely fast speed.
Ōnoki, as expected of a seasoned veteran, reacted instantly to Deidara's sudden attack.
Daring to charge directly at him like this!
There was only one possibility!
That the people in front of him were all substitutes!
"Clay Clone!"
Not far away, the true bodies—Hasumi Maki, Yakushi Kabuto, and Deidara—stood steadily on the bird.
Deidara's eyes flickered with a fanatical light as he excitedly channeled the Chakra within his body, preparing to detonate.
Accompanied by a deafening roar, a dazzling fireball suddenly exploded within the thick clouds.
A powerful shockwave swept in all directions, and the surrounding air seemed to ignite.
However, strangely, the billowing smoke produced by the explosion was not the usual black or gray, but a bizarre earthy color.
Clearly, the opponent also used a clone Ninjutsu to deceive them.
"This truly surprised me, I heard you were dead, Deidara!"
As expected, after the pervasive smoke slowly dispersed, Ōnoki flew lightly in the air, completely unharmed, and spoke to Deidara in front of him.
"What happened just now?"
Yakushi Kabuto asked.
Deidara and Ōnoki were old acquaintances after all.
Deidara naturally understood the fighting style that his old acquaintance was good at better than anyone else.
"Tch, that's just Old Man Tsuchikage's usual Earth Clone! I didn't expect this old geezer to think of the same thing as us, un!"
Deidara's face was filled with resentment, clearly displeased at having been tricked by the other party just now.
Kurotsuchi, standing beside Ōnoki, widened her eyes, looking incredulously at the resurrected Deidara, so astonished that her mouth couldn't close: "Brother Deidara, weren't you supposed to have died in the big explosion? How are you alive again now?"
On the other side, Kitsuchi looked at Deidara with unreserved joy, excitement overflowing: "Haha, Deidara, so you're not dead! That's great!"
However, before he could rejoice for long, he heard Ōnoki sternly admonish, "Don't just focus on being happy, Kitsuchi! You must be careful in the upcoming fight!"
"That's Orochimaru's Edo Tensei!"
Ōnoki, having lived for so many years, possessed astonishing experience.
He narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the figure that seemed resurrected but was not truly the person, and said in a deep voice, "Although Edo Tensei can bring the deceased back to the world, their souls are already controlled."
"Tch. This guy is clearly dead, yet he still comes out to cause trouble for everyone. It's unforgivable!"
Ōnoki was full of dissatisfaction, complaining incessantly.
His heart was filled with contempt and anger for this Ninjutsu that disrupted the order of life and death.
"Back then, he died at the hands of that rookie from Konoha. Now he still has the nerve to resurrect through Edo Tensei and make a fool of himself!"
Ōnoki sarcastically remarked without mercy, his words revealing his harshness and cunning.
It must be said, Ōnoki's mouth was always so venomous, no matter who he faced.
Deidara, standing nearby, heard these words and instantly became like a lit powder keg, his emotions completely out of control.
He glared with wide eyes, roaring at Ōnoki, "Shut up! Uchiha Sasuke was already blown up by me!"
Before his death, Deidara was only concerned with frantically performing his explosive art, completely oblivious to the final outcome.
Hasumi Maki, who had been silently standing by, kindly reminded him, "Deidara, I regret to tell you a fact: Uchiha Sasuke not only didn't die, but he's doing very well now, and his strength is much greater than before."
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000]
[Chakra (287,154,010 / 400,000,000)]
Upon hearing this, Deidara's face showed an incredulous expression. He gritted his teeth tightly, veins bulging on his forehead, glared fiercely at Hasumi Maki, then turned to Ōnoki and roared, "Old man, no matter what, none of you will leave here alive today!"
"Do you think we came here empty-handed and unprepared?"
Yakushi Kabuto's lips curved slightly, and he said slowly to Ōnoki with a half-smile.
In the trench nearly a thousand meters below them, it was pitch black, with only faint light penetrating from the surface of the sea.
In this gloomy environment, an astonishingly large giant python was silently swimming towards the equally colossal turtle not far away.
As soon as Yakushi Kabuto finished speaking, he no longer paid attention to Ōnoki, who was lost in thought. Instead, he turned his gaze to Deidara beside him and instructed, "Our top priority is to find that small island as quickly as possible, not to get entangled with them here."
Hearing these words, Deidara felt a surge of anger. He was about to retort, but just then, he was horrified to find that his body was completely unresponsive, as if controlled by an invisible force.
Deidara narrowed his eyes tightly, staring fixedly at Yakushi Kabuto, his eyes gleaming with ferocity and a hint of unconcealed malice.
Hasumi Maki, seeing this, couldn't help but shake his head helplessly and sighed softly, "Don't you know that once Edo Tensei is cast, the recipient loses control of their own body? How can you be so stupid!"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000]
[Chakra (287,155,010 / 400,000,000)]
At the same time, in the deep seabed, the swiftly moving giant python had already successfully captured the blurry outline of Turtle Island.
It suddenly opened its gaping maw, its sharp, pointed teeth gleaming with a chilling, cold light, and bit down hard on the giant turtle's tail without hesitation.
"Roar—!"
The heavily wounded giant turtle immediately let out a deafening, sky-piercing, and mournful wail, its sound penetrating layers of seawater and echoing across the entire surface of the sea.
On the island, everything turned upside down.
Naruto fell to the ground unprepared.
"What happened?"
Naruto looked blankly at Renji.
They and all the animals had already moved inside the turtle shell.
Motoi looked nervously at Renji.
Renji raised an eyebrow, helped Naruto up, and naturally speculated, "Turtle Island must have accidentally hit some reef! Don't worry."
Motoi immediately reacted, nodding, "That's right, that's right! It must have hit a reef. I'll go out and check! You all continue your investigation!"
After Motoi finished speaking, his figure quickly headed towards the tunnel entrance leading out of the turtle shell.
Renji looked at the animals in front of him and said to Naruto, "Let's continue."
Naruto nodded, somewhat confused, and continued to question the large rhinoceros in front of him, "Are you female or male?"
"It wants you to be its boyfriend, so of course it's female!"
Killer Bee said, speaking for the shy rhinoceros.
"But it has the character for 'male' written on its back!"
Naruto retorted.
Killer Bee: "That's just its pattern, there's nothing that can be done!"
Naruto: "That explanation is too far-fetched!"
Suddenly.
The world spun around them.
All the animals and Naruto fell to the ground.
"Damn it, what's happening outside?"
Inside Turtle Island, Naruto asked worriedly.
How could such a situation occur while traveling on the sea?
Even hitting a reef shouldn't cause this!
Renji sensed that unfamiliar Chakra had appeared on Turtle Island.
They had arrived.
...
Clay shaped like a jellyfish was quietly adhering to the massive underside of the giant turtle.
In an instant, an earth-shattering roar exploded, deafeningly loud.
Accompanying this thunderous sound, the giant turtle, which had been as steady as a mountain, instantly lost its balance, and its entire body violently flipped over.
Its hard and thick shell was now unable to support its heavy body, and it could only helplessly expose its soft belly upwards.
Deidara, standing on the bird's back in the air and witnessing all this, couldn't help but curl his lips into a smug smile: "Haha, look! This guy's belly is up, it definitely can't move another step now!"
After saying that, Hasumi Maki and the other two descended onto the giant turtle's belly.
Immediately after, Deidara's sharp gaze swept towards the three of Tsuchikage Ōnoki who were rapidly pursuing them. He turned to Yakushi Kabuto and Hasumi Maki beside him and shouted, "You two quickly go find the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tailed! I still have some scores to settle with these guys!"
Yakushi Kabuto nodded without hesitation, "Okay!"
Then Hasumi Maki and Yakushi Kabuto quickly turned and hurried towards the overturned shell of the giant turtle.
The monstrous python coiled tightly around the giant turtle's neck, constricting it more and more.
The giant turtle, bound in such a manner, was in excruciating pain, emitting a series of shrill howls.
Just then, Kurotsuchi formed hand signs and softly uttered, "Scorch Release: Quicklime Congealing Jutsu!"
Before her voice faded, clumps of white quicklime paste shot out like arrows towards Yakushi Kabuto.
In the blink of an eye, the quicklime paste firmly trapped Yakushi Kabuto.
A hint of triumph appeared on Kurotsuchi's face after her attack. She confidently said to the trapped Yakushi Kabuto, "Tch, don't underestimate my Quicklime Congealing Jutsu! They have the property of quick-drying!"