Chapter 142: Sage Technique, Kisame's Shock
The battle in which the Mist ninja intercepted the three major ninja villages progressed extremely swiftly.
At the same time, on another front, Ringo, Zabuza, Ranmaru, Suigetsu, Kisame, and Chōjūrō launched a simultaneous surprise attack on Konoha.
Konoha, which had not yet had time to catch its breath, could only respond hastily when faced with the sudden assault from the Mist ninja.
The six members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen held off Konoha's attacks while maintaining their defensive formation.
Meanwhile, Utakata, Haku, and Kimimaro charged toward the Tailed Beasts trapped within the Wood Release.
The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi had expended such great effort to imprison the three Tailed Beasts was naturally to ensure that, once the war ended, Konoha would possess the qualifications to negotiate with the other three major ninja villages.
These three Tailed Beasts were the key bargaining chips.
This was something Danzō and the other high-ranking members of Konoha understood clearly.
Now, upon seeing Kimimaro and the others from the Mist Village attempting to destroy the seal, everyone in Konoha instantly realized what the Mist Village was trying to do.
Although the six members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had temporarily blocked Konoha's ninja, they clearly would not be able to hold out for long.
Fortunately, Utakata and the other two were only focused on destroying the seal formed by the Wood Release.
Utakata drew upon the power of the Six-Tails, spraying out vast amounts of corrosive liquid that ate away at the wooden prison, leaving holes of varying sizes.
Coupled with the attacks from Haku and Kimimaro, the confinement binding the One-Tail, Shukaku, was the first to be broken.
Without the Wood Release seal, Shukaku's body rapidly dissolved into sand, dispersing as it reverted to its Jinchūriki form.
Haku used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared beside Gaara, hoisting him onto his shoulder.
On the other side, under the relentless assault of numerous Konoha ninja, the defensive line formed by the six Seven Ninja Swordsmen began to collapse, and Zabuza, Kisame, and the others quickly retreated back to Kimimaro's position.
"What a pity. There's no time left to bring back the other two Jinchūriki."
Ringo glanced at Gaara on Haku's shoulder, a regretful expression appearing on her face.
"If Ao were leading the Mist forces in support, it might have been possible, but the Mist troops went to intercept the ninja from the three major villages."
Suigetsu spread his hands, his face showing helplessness.
"Lord Yuto's original objective was the One-Tail Jinchūriki. We can already consider the mission complete. If the Mist forces fight Konoha again, the advantage we just established will be lost."
Chōjūrō looked at everyone and spoke in a low voice.
"The Konoha ninja are already closing in. How do you plan to retreat?"
Kisame glanced at the Konoha ninja rapidly approaching from ahead and looked curiously at Zabuza and the others.
"In that case, I'll—"
A ferocious grin appeared at the corner of Zabuza's mouth as he twisted his neck and prepared to step forward, when a faint voice sounded from behind him.
"I'll do it."
Kimimaro stepped past Zabuza and calmly walked to the front.
Seeing Kimimaro's action, Zabuza raised an eyebrow and said nothing further.
Bang!
A surge of air suddenly erupted from Kimimaro's body, followed immediately by a unique aura rising from within him.
A black dot the size of a coin appeared on Kimimaro's forehead, while dark markings spread around his eye sockets, giving off an unsettling impression.
Kisame froze for a moment. In that instant, Kimimaro gave him an extremely dangerous feeling.
Kisame glanced at the expressions of the others and found that Zabuza and the rest looked completely calm, as if Kimimaro's sudden increase in aura was nothing surprising.
Kimimaro looked at the Konoha ninja rushing toward them, quickly formed hand seals with both hands, then slammed his palms onto the ground.
"Sage Art — Dead Bone Pulse — Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
Rumble! Rumble!
The entire ground seemed to quake like an earthquake, and in the next moment, countless sharp bones rapidly grew out from the earth.
In almost the blink of an eye, these bones covered the entire ground, resembling a forest composed entirely of white bone.
This forest of bones completely separated Kimimaro and the others from the Konoha ninja.
Kimimaro took a slight breath, his body withdrawing from Sage Mode, and he could not help but think inwardly.
Had a technique of this level already exhausted all the Sage chakra he had stored?
As expected, the amount of stored Sage chakra was still far too little and simply could not support prolonged combat.
Zabuza and the others watched Kimimaro's move, a trace of amazement flashing through their eyes.
However, when they saw Kimimaro exit Sage Mode, a look of "as expected" passed through everyone's gaze.
Their condition was similar to Kimimaro's. The Sage chakra within their bodies was fundamentally insufficient to sustain long battles.
They had learned Sage Mode for too short a time, and the amount of Sage chakra stored in their bodies was still too limited.
Compared to the faint helplessness in Zabuza and the others' eyes, Kisame instead widened his eyes and could not help staring at Kimimaro.
What exactly was that chakra just now?
Kisame sensed that Samehada, the great sword on his back, was unusually transmitting a mixture of craving and fear.
"Lord Yuto's mission is complete. Retreat."
Kimimaro spoke indifferently.
On Konoha's side.
Looking at the forest of bones blocking Konoha's advance, Jiraiya's face grew solemn.
"That chakra… was that Sage Technique?"
How could the Mist Village possibly possess Sage Technique?
As far as Jiraiya knew, the only places in the entire ninja world where Sage Technique could be learned were the three great sacred lands, all of which had deep ties to Konoha.
As for the other ninja villages, even if they wanted to learn it, they had no way to enter those three sacred lands.
Could it be Orochimaru?
At some point, Tsunade had already come to stand beside Jiraiya, her voice heavy as she spoke.
"For the Mist Village to quietly possess so many powerful ninja, among the Five Great Ninja Villages this time, I'm afraid only the Mist Village has not only suffered the least losses, but also gained quite a bit."
Jiraiya nodded, his expression equally grave.
"The Mist Village has now taken the One-Tail Jinchūriki. Combined with the one they already have, they now possess three Tailed Beasts in total. The Five-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchūriki must not be lost. These are the conditions Konoha currently has to negotiate with the Cloud and Stone Villages."
"As long as we can reach an agreement with the Cloud and Stone Villages, the issue between the Sand Village and Konoha will be easy to resolve. As for the Mist Village in the end…"
Jiraiya's voice trailed off, and he did not continue.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Mist Village was the most mysterious and also the one about which every village possessed the least intelligence.
That man capable of using Adamantine Sealing Chains likely had a special relationship with the Mist Village, in Jiraiya's view.
However, given the current lack of sufficient intelligence, Jiraiya did not dare to draw conclusions lightly.
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