chapter 114 part 3
As the dog lunged at Tsukasa Kaede, Tsukasa Kaede simply waved his hand, summoning Troy, and pinned the dog down with a barrage of huge Card Shuriken.
As expected, after the dog was injured, its flesh immediately proliferated, and soon a new head grew out.
"Oh, oh, oh, isn't this the dog we caught before? How does it have a Rinnegan too? And it can ignore physical damage, it seems to have gotten stronger!"
"Do you see that? Even this dog has Rinnegan in its eyes. Huh, it even split! From one to two, maybe it can keep increasing its numbers and eventually overwhelm the enemy?"
Kyūsuke and the others were invigorated.
This was a large summoned beast! Most ninja wouldn't even have the chance to control such a summoned beast. Big is good, big is strong! A large individual could casually swing its limb or stomp its foot, and inflict significant damage on ordinary ninja, comparable to ninjutsu.
Not to mention, this summoned beast seemed to grow stronger with injury.
"It really is the Amplified Summoning Jutsu. Nagato pulled it off."
Tsukasa Kaede praised him profusely.
The more it was injured, the stronger it became, increasing the number of heads. When necessary, it could even split into a corresponding number of individuals based on the number of heads.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Amplified Summoning Jutsu. However, this was not a Rinnegan dojutsu, but an extremely rare B-rank summoning jutsu.
Nagato merely chose to restrain the Hell Hound with Amplified Summoning Jutsu, which is why the Hell Hound gained this power of proliferation and division. If he used it on other summoned beasts, they too would acquire this ability.
On the manga timeline, Jiraiya suspected that the Hell Hound's ability to grow heads and split itself was the Amplified Summoning Jutsu. Gamaken, Jiraiya's summoned toad, used a bit of taijutsu, expending a little stamina, and effortlessly defeated all more than ten split Hell Hounds without a scratch.
The anime timeline was peculiar; Gamaken was instead beaten senseless by a pack of Hell Hounds, left covered in wounds. In the end, Jiraiya had to intervene, using a Summoning Jutsu himself to summon the esophagus of the Giant Rock Toad, which swallowed all the Hell Hounds in one go to finally resolve the situation, making it seem as if the Hell Hounds were truly formidable.
As for Tsukasa Kaede, the power Nagato had skillfully mastered was, well, just so-so.
"Speaking of which, although I'm extremely proficient in Summoning Jutsu, I've never actually formed a contract with a large summoned beast. I've always only summoned zombies."
Tsukasa Kaede watched the two dogs pouncing one after the other, formed a single hand sign, and immediately unleashed a powerful jutsu. He wasn't there to play games with these people; he had more important matters.
However, he needed to subdue these guys first. At the very least, he needed to make Yahiko and Nagato wary of opposing him easily.
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!
As the ground trembled, a ferocious-looking Wood Dragon suddenly burst from the earth, pouncing on the two dogs and binding them in an instant.
Even with just a slight exertion of force, the two dogs shrieked. No matter how powerful their proliferation ability, it was useless against absolute binding power.
Everyone was stunned, including Nagato.
Because they had never seen this jutsu before, nor did they have any expectations! "So big, this summoned beast is even bigger! A Dragon???"
"No, this isn't a summoned beast; it's something created. This is ninjutsu!"
Yahiko's eyes widened. Could it be Wood Release?! He had heard Jiraiya mention that two powerful ninja had once fought in the Land of Rain, with Tailed Beast Bombs flying everywhere, and one of them possessed Wood Release ninjutsu, creating an entire forest! To create a Dragon with Wood Release... But how exactly did Tsukasa Kaede gain mastery over Wood Release? To unleash such powerful Wood Release right off the bat, capable of devastating the terrain! Once again, he felt he had underestimated Tsukasa Kaede. It seemed that every time they met, Tsukasa Kaede always made him feel lost, displaying an unknown level of skill.
"Wood Release… that must be the other powerful force within you."
Nagato watched his proud Hell Hound be instantly neutralized by Tsukasa Kaede's Wood Release jutsu, taken aback. However, he hadn't placed his hopes of defeating Tsukasa Kaede on the Hell Hound.
Taking advantage of this opening, Nagato bypassed the Wood Dragon and appeared before Tsukasa Kaede.
"Oh? You're actually approaching me proactively? Do you plan to deal with me using taijutsu?" Tsukasa Kaede's expression remained unchanged. The zombies beside him had already mobilized, launching a righteous gang-up on Nagato.
If one can fight in a group, why fight alone?
"Damn it, these corpses…"
Nagato gritted his teeth. He first touched Troy's head, realizing he sensed nothing—zombies had no souls at all, so of course, he couldn't pull anything out of them.
Numerous zombies attacked Nagato. After dozens of exchanges in a few seconds, Nagato suddenly spread his hands, blasting all the zombies away with an Almighty Push, and closed in further on Tsukasa Kaede.
He approached impatiently before the 5-second cooldown was over, yet he didn't intend to kill him. So there could only be…
Tsukasa Kaede was expressionless, his eyes subtly shifting.
"I've got your main body!"
Nagato's face showed an expression of surprise and delight. In a flash, extra arms suddenly shot out from his back, grabbing at Tsukasa Kaede! Normally, at this range, relying on the power of the Asura Path, he would succeed no matter what, unless Tsukasa Kaede escaped using Space-Time Ninjutsu. Nagato had already begun calculating the positions of the other zombies, predicting where Tsukasa Kaede would reappear, and what methods to use for suppression.
But to Nagato's astonishment, Tsukasa Kaede didn't flee at all. He simply stood his ground, extending his hands to meet the attack.
In an instant, both men froze, locked in what seemed like a pure test of strength—if one ignored the multiple arms on both sides.
Nagato looked at Tsukasa Kaede opposite him in disbelief, "How do you have…"
"How do I have arms, you mean? There's a lot you don't know. It seems another one of your dojutsu has been exposed," Tsukasa Kaede said calmly, his four arms firmly gripping Nagato's normal hands and two temporarily created Asura Path arms.
Nagato's abilities, on the other hand, were still within the realm of understanding, as two of his arms were clearly artificial.
But Tsukasa Kaede's baffled everyone; they were clearly real flesh-and-blood arms! "That's insane, you've subjected your body to terrible modifications… Is this the new ability you gained after dying and resurrecting?"
"Very astute, Nagato. You've grown into an excellent ninja, capable of handling things on your own. Now, let's talk business; there's no point in continuing this fight… I have something I need to give you. In return, I need you to assist me when necessary."
Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently, "I'll offer the One-Tail as payment, hiring your organization to do something for me in the future."
(end of chapter)