No matter if it was the Aburame clan or the Kamizuru clan, as clans that controlled insects, they all shared one fatal weakness.
And that was their utterly terrible close-combat ability. After all, all of their power was in their insects—offense and defense were left to them. They themselves lacked taijutsu combat capability.
Aburame Tatsuma before him was the same. Even though the parasite beetles granted him powerful offensive strength, his own defensive ability… heh… was basically nonexistent.
"Ah!"
The intense pain made Aburame Tatsuma unable to hold back a scream. He clearly had received professional training, but he simply couldn't endure it. It hurt far too much.
This kind of pain that pierced straight into the soul was something he couldn't suppress at all.
And that wasn't the end of it—swirling chakra surged, making Aburame Tatsuma spin up into the air, his whole body flying out like a rocket.
At the same time, losing his control, the pitch-black swarm of parasite beetles all froze in midair, unable to act.
Without the support of the parasite beetles, the Transparent Release senbon pierced through Hanzo's Water Formation Wall and began injuring the people inside the room.
"Retreat!"
"Get out of the room!"
The Root members clearly all understood Gekko Chizan's strength. In such a tight space, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Even without Aburame Tatsuma's command, their basic combat training was still there.
They smashed open doors and windows one after another and fled at high speed.
Hanzo didn't care at all about their survival. The moment he saw Gekko Chizan, his heart was instantly filled with boiling rage.
He had been guarding against this bastard brat for quite some time, and now he finally saw him again.
"Damn it, you little bastard!"
"Die!"
The extended chains encircled Gekko Chizan, the sharp sickle blades once again slashing toward his head.
"Old fossil, don't think that just because you joined up with Danzo, I'll be afraid of you."
"Even if Danzo himself came, worst case I'd just run. What can you do to me?"
"Transparent Release — Crystal World."
Facing Hanzo's assault, Gekko Chizan didn't care at all. He released the Tiger hand seal, then pressed one hand to the ground.
The kekkei genkai Transparent Release erupted fully. Centered on him, massive crystalization began spreading outward. At the same time, crystal walls rose up around him, enclosing him completely.
Seeing Gekko Chizan hide inside crystal walls, Hanzo coldly snorted: "Coward. Let's see how long you can hide."
As he spoke, he formed hand seals. Water vapor gathered rapidly around him, forming giant water spheres.
Countless water spheres slammed into the crystal walls. They were sturdy, but the impacts made them buzz continuously.
At the same time, the flowing water greatly slowed the spread of the crystalization.
But at that moment, the parasite beetles—frozen in midair after Aburame Tatsuma collapsed—suddenly moved again, as if receiving a command. They re-formed and swarmed toward Hanzo.
"Hm? These bugs?"
Hanzo, who was still attacking, was suddenly harassed by the parasite beetles. His expression turned ugly.
Why would the Aburame clan's insects attack him?
Though Hanzo was full of doubts, he couldn't allow the parasite beetles to get close. He knew very well how dangerous they were, and he quickly swung his chains to drive them away.
What he didn't know was that inside the crystal, Gekko Chizan's face held a wicked grin. He was performing Transparent Release with one hand.
And the other hand? Chōmei's scale powder was spreading out from it.
The surrounding parasite beetles were controlled by the scale powder and instantly became Gekko Chizan's helpers.
Using the parasite beetles to entangle Hanzo directly interrupted his ninjutsu before it could be released.
Gekko Chizan seized the opportunity, dispelling part of the crystal wall. His hands rapidly formed hand seals:
"Transparent Release — Serpent!"
Crystal surged from the ground, transforming into long serpents that lunged at Hanzo.
Seeing the crystal serpents attack, Hanzo stomped the ground and retreated quickly.
"Hmph! Trying to run? Not that easy!"
Gekko Chizan pushed chakra through, accelerating the solidification of the crystal. The crystal serpents suddenly sped up, about to bite into Hanzo.
Hanzo abruptly stopped, then leapt high into the air with force.
At the moment when the crystal serpents reached his feet, Hanzo formed a one-handed seal and roared:
"Explode!"
Dozens of explosive tags suddenly appeared on the ground, ignited instantly, and detonated violently.
"Boom!"
Gekko Chizan's expression instantly froze.
He had truly not expected Hanzo to have set up an explosive tag array at a time like this—and he hadn't noticed it at all.
The violent explosion blew the entire room to pieces. And just as the explosion went off, two figures shot out of the castle and fell onto open ground nearby.
They were Salamander Hanzo and Gekko Chizan.
"Old fossil, you really just blew up your own castle?"
"Impressive. As expected of a village leader, money means nothing to you."
Gekko Chizan was wrapped in a thick layer of crystal. Although the explosion was sudden, he didn't suffer any damage.
And Hanzo, who had planted the explosive tags and detonated them himself, was of course completely unharmed.
But his castle… was now reduced to rubble, black smoke still rising.
[Ding! Noticing that the host's sudden assault caused Salamander Hanzo to blow up his own castle with explosive tags, resulting in huge financial losses in addition to his fury—special reward: Ninjutsu Power Increase +5%.]
Gekko Chizan landed steadily, feeling completely refreshed.
He thought: As expected of Salamander Hanzo. What a generous reward.
"You little bastard! You blew up my castle, killed my men—today I'm ending you no matter what!"
Hanzo's exposed eyes were blood-red with fury. Gekko Chizan knew very well—if he could, Hanzo would absolutely devour him alive.
Skin him, eat his flesh, drink his blood, gnaw his bones.
Ever since they crossed paths, aside from their very first fight where Gekko Chizan took a small loss, Hanzo had suffered losses ever since.
He had lost his Salamander Ibuse, now his castle… Tsk tsk. The pain Gekko Chizan had brought him was truly enormous.
"Hehehe… Old fossil, you're thinking too much."
"You think I'd be scared of you?"
Gekko Chizan grinned wide, then drew the Kusanagi Sword and charged straight at Salamander Hanzo.
The sickle blades and the Kusanagi Sword clashed again, sparks flying.
"Chizan, he really didn't notice your clone?"
"Tsk tsk. The Shadow Clone Technique was created by the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama. Even the Sharingan can't instantly tell the real one from the clone. This old fossil with no special abilities? Recognize it? Don't make me laugh."
Up in the air, Gekko Chizan coldly watched the furious Salamander Hanzo fighting his clone below, amusement all over his face.