At the same Yushiro and Sayami began their respective battles, the red cocoon finally struck the Red Lake of the Valley of Hell with a thunderous impact. The liquid was pushed towards the canyon walls at the impact as dust briefly clouded the air. When the cocoon burst apart, liquid splashed outward in every direction, staining the already crimson terrain even darker.
Might Duy arrived an instant later, his body still under Orochimaru's direct control. His feet struck the surface of Red Lake with explosive force, as his gaze locked onto En Oyashiro's. Orochimaru's interest sharpened the moment his senses fully registered the environment they have landed at. The Valley of Hell was saturated with Liquid iron-rich minerals, giving the land its infamous red hue. To Orochimaru, it looked like a battlefield custom-built to amplify his opponent, a blood-based kekkei genkai.
Orochimaru observed everything through Duy's eyes, his fascination growing by the second. The Ketsuryūgan alone rivaled a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan in Genjutsu utility, but the true danger lay in the clan's blood manipulation techniques.
He observed the sheer versatility of En Oyashiro's blood techniques—shaping it into a scythe, blood clones, shields, and even a protective cocoon. The formless nature of blood made it an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield. Orochimaru's excitement grew at the prospect of acquiring such a bloodline. He forced Might Duy's body to move even faster, keeping the Eight Gates active. With the added amplification from Hashirama's cells, Duy could remain in the Eighth Gate just a little longer.
He watched as En Oyashiro landed upon the red liquid without resistance, the surface rippling like disturbed water beneath his feet. The blood cocoon peeled away from him, dissolving back into the pool. Oyashiro straightened, his presence suddenly heavier, more oppressive than before.
"It is only right," En Oyashiro said calmly, his voice echoing across the canyon, "that I face an opponent of your caliber at my absolute best." His gaze locked onto Might Duy. "Today marks the end of your life. Though, I suppose you are already dead, aren't you?"
The red liquid responded to his will instantly. It rose into the air around him, spiraling upward before taking shape. Massive blood wings unfurled behind him, each feather formed from condensed blood, sharp-edged and shimmering under the light. In his right hand, blood solidified into a trident, its prongs pulsing faintly like a living organ. En Oyashiro hovered above the surface, looking every bit like an executioner descended from pure land.
Without warning, Thousands of blood-forged senbon launched toward Might Duy in a dense storm, each projectile moving at near hypersonic speeds. The sheer volume turned the attack into an unavoidable wall of death. Might Duy planted his feet and swung his arms in blinding arcs, deflecting and shattering senbon upon impact. Each strike sent shockwaves through the canyon, the surface of red lake trembling beneath his power.
Yet En Oyashiro had already moved.
Using his wings for instantaneous repositioning, he slipped into Duy's blind spot with cover from the senbon attack. Blood reshaped itself mid-flight, forming aan even sharper trident longer than Duy's body. The blade whistled through the air as it came down from behind.
Might Duy twisted at the last possible instant. The scythe grazed past him, carving a deep trench into the canyon wall instead. Duy countered immediately, his speed monstrous even by Eight Gates standards. In the blink of an eye, he appeared directly in front of En Oyashiro and drove his fist forward with devastating force.
En Oyashiro exploded.
His body burst apart into a violent spray of blood, scattering across the red pool below and the impact was overwhelming, even by Orochimaru's expectations. For a fraction of a second, he believed the battle had ended.
Then laughter echoed from every direction.
"Did you truly believe," En Oyashiro's voice rang out, layered and omnipresent, "that your strength alone could destroy me? What a pity. Such overwhelming power, wasted on such a simpleton."
Blood surged upward from the pool, reforming into dozens of identical figures. Few of En Oyashiro clones stood upon the liquid's surface and few hovered in the air alike, each one radiating killing intent. Orochimaru immediately recognized the technique's brilliance. Even he didn't know that these were no ordinary blood clones.
Only a minute had passed since the battle started here, yet the battlefield had already escalated beyond the limits of ninja.
Renga arrived at the canyon's edge moments later, having followed the trajectory of the blood cocoon at full speed. The moment he laid eyes on the battlefield, he froze. The scale of destruction before him was overwhelming. This was not a fight he could simply step into... any miscalculation would result in instant death.
As he observed, Renga recalled Kaien's earlier words about rethinking the Heavenly Transfer Technique. The idea of moving only parts of a target rather than entire body stayed in his mind, leaving him to figure out the rest. As he was observing the battle, he noticed portions of body near pelvis and hips move pretty much linearly... targeting this portion should be much easier than the rest of the body. But, the opponents were still too fast for him.
Meanwhile, En Oyashiro focused on the Might Duy.
"Cursed Blood Art: Undead Hop."
The technique activated without any visible changes. It allowed him to transfer his consciousness between any existing blood clone instantaneously after he died. Even if his main body was destroyed, survival was guaranteed as long as a single clone remained intact. Properly executed, it rendered him effectively immortal. However, every clone should have a bit of his own blood... normal clones made from iron-rich liquid would not work.
"You cannot kill me," his voice echoed again with a hint of mocking tone.
Might Duy was now forced into a brutal war of attrition. He attacked relentlessly, shattering clone after clone with overwhelming force. Each time he destroyed one, En Oyashiro's consciousness simply appeared in one of the other clones, launching fresh attacks from multiple angles. Long-range blood spears rained down from above while ground-level clones struck in coordinated waves... controlling the Red Lake at Duy's feet.
This was exactly the scenario Orochimaru had wanted to observe. Raw power against someone with tricks. Seeing this his desire for power and immortality only deepened.
Might Duy knew he could not sustain this. His body was already screaming in protest, Hashirama cells barely holding his form together. There was only one option left.
"Charge," Duy growled, his voice cracking.
"Night Duy."
A colossal red aura erupted around him, taking the shape of a roaring dragon that twisted violently through the canyon. The pressure alone flattened nearby rock formations, the Red Lake split apart into concentric rings.
En Oyashiro felt it immediately. Even the clone standing upon the red pool staggered under the sheer force.
"First step."
The air itself detonated. The En Oyashiro clone on the surface was obliterated, his form erased entirely as the shockwave tore through the canyon. The real En Oyashiro transferred into an aerial clone instantly, forming new clones even as the attack continued.
"Second step."
"Third step."
Each strike annihilated everything in its path. Blood clones burst apart faster than they could be replaced. The iron-rich liquid flung outward and evaporated under the heat of Duy's aura.
For a full minute, destruction reigned.
When the aura finally faded, silence followed. The pool was gone. The clones were gone. Only one En Oyashiro remained, kneeling on scorched ground, his chakra nearly depleted. Across from him, Might Duy's body was breaking apart. Cracks spread across his skin, even Hashirama cells failing under the strain. However, the reanimation held the structure of his body.
Renga, who was grunting as he held his stomach, did not hesitate.
From a safe distance, concealed within a blind spot, he activated the Heavenly Transfer Technique. Might Duy's collapsing body vanished an instant before it could disintegrate completely, sent it to Killer Bee as he had become frighteningly proficient with sealing techniques in the last two years after learning from the Konoha's Jinchūriki and his synergy with 8-tails only became better after Benihime-sensei replaced his seal with the Eight Trigrams Sealing technique.
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A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0
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