Hiroki's command cut through the stagnant air like a sharp blade, carrying a sense of desperate determination. The Uchiha elites instantly transformed into machines executing orders.
"Yes!" Izumi, Shisui, Itachi, and Fugaku responded in unison, their voices distinct yet all carrying a cold fighting spirit. The remaining Uchiha members tacitly formed a watertight defensive circle around Saori and Hiroki, maintaining a high-speed pace toward Mount Kido of the Thousand Peaks—though Saga blocked their path, moving away from the center of the main battlefield remained the best choice to minimize variables.
Itachi and Shisui moved the fastest! They knew that Saga's current confusion was a fleeting opportunity.
"Amaterasu!" Itachi's right Mangekyo snapped wide open, his gaze locked onto Saga, who was still growling in pain as his hair color flickered wildly between blue and gray. Pitch-black, inextinguishable flames, like a curse from hell, ignited out of thin air around Saga, instantly engulfing him!
However, the expected burning effect did not fully manifest.
The pitch-black flames were merely burning and leaping, but they seemed to encounter an invisible barrier, being firmly blocked by the surface of the Gemini Gold Cloth! The dark golden luster of the Cloth flowed within the flames; far from being incinerated, it was like molten gold in a furnace, appearing even more dazzling.
The flames of Amaterasu clung stubbornly, sizzling, but they could not truly penetrate the interior to deal fatal damage to Saga—the divine material of the gold cloth possessed a powerful resistance against this otherworldly flame that also carried "conceptual erasure" properties!
"Cough... Urgh..." Saga's low growl was mixed with a hint of rage. The sensation of being burned by flames made his already unstable will even more manic, and his gray hair quickly gained the upper hand.
"Kotoamatsukami!" At the same time, Shisui activated his most powerful Mangekyo ocular technique! His crimson left eye erupted with an indescribable spiritual torrent—the ultimate Genjutsu capable of rewriting another's will and imposing a brand! His will turned into an invisible spike, ruthlessly stabbing toward Saga's chaotic spiritual sea!
Buzz—!!!
A terrifying roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth rending, exploded in Shisui's mind—a sound only he could perceive! It wasn't Saga's resistance, but an automatic counterattack from the opponent's bottomless Cosmo!
How vast and majestic was Saga's spiritual will? It was an existence close to a god, capable of even warping reality under extreme emotions! Although Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was powerful, the Spiritual Pressure it contained was too far apart from Saga's, like a small stream attempting to shake the ocean! The result of forcing the technique was a terrifying spiritual torrent surging back!
Poof—! Shisui was struck as if by lightning, his entire body jolting violently. Bright red blood instantly gushed from his left eye, nostrils, and even his ears! He clutched his eye, letting out a painful muffled groan, and his body tumbled backward like a broken kite, slamming heavily onto the ground. His body twitched violently; he had already lost the ability to fight.
"Shisui!" Itachi caught sight of this scene, his heart jolting in shock.
"That idiot!" Hiroki looked at the fallen Shisui, his heart practically bleeding, while a strong sense of frustration and lingering fear welled up within him.
"Dammit! I warned him! If the Spiritual Pressure... or rather, the energy gap is too large, don't use it! Using Kotoamatsukami against an outlier like Saga?!"
Now was not the time for regret. The price of Shisui's failure was that Saga's recovery time would be greatly shortened!
Fortunately, although Itachi's Amaterasu failed to heavily wound Saga, the persistent burning pain and the visual and spiritual interference acted like maggots on a bone, successfully intensifying Saga's internal spiritual conflict. The pain and struggle on his face became increasingly intense, and a blue-gray halo tangled fiercely around his head; it seemed he was just a bit away from falling completely into the abyss of internal tearing. But Hiroki knew this window of time was now being measured in seconds!
Fugaku did not hesitate for a moment! The instant Hiroki gave the order, his target locked onto Deathmask, who was surrounded by Sekishiki energy! Fugaku utterly loathed this kind of opponent who toyed with souls and was filthy and cold. More importantly—the opponent seemed to be a level below Saga in the strength assessment!
A massive, deep-black Susanoo suddenly rose high! Fugaku controlled this giant god, charging toward Deathmask with the momentum of Mount Tai pressing down! The massive Susanoo fist smashed down ruthlessly with devastating Spiritual Pressure!
"Hmph! Petty tricks!" Deathmask sneered. He was the man who had just repelled the leo at the Kido mansion (though he knew the process himself), and his confidence was at its peak. His Cosmo erupted, and countless ghostly claws and decaying arms condensed from Sekishiki energy reached out as if from the gates of hell, layering in front of him to form a terrifying barrier of the dead, grabbing toward the Susanoo's giant fist!
Sizzle—! The ghostly claws collided with the Susanoo's energy armguards, producing an ear-piercing friction and the booming sound of energy annihilation.
But in the next moment, the movements of Fugaku's Susanoo changed. Its massive body was incredibly agile; with a sideways rotation, the giant hand was no longer a fist but had drawn a massive longsword burning with purple flames, ancient in design and radiating an endless sealing aura—the divine artifact, sword of totsuka!
This was borrowed from Itachi. After seeing the previous combat scenes, the Uchiha elites had designed and allocated their tactics.
The sword light did not slash toward the barrier of the dead but traced a profound arc, stabbing straight into the core of those wailing ghosts!
"What?!" Deathmask only felt a surge of fear from the depths of his soul instantly seize him! That sword... something was wrong! It seemed to ignore the barriers of matter and energy, its target directly locking onto the source of the Sekishiki energy—or rather, locking onto him, the one casting the spell to control the dead!
"Sekishiki...!"
Deathmask wanted to perform an even stronger ultimate move again, but the speed of the sword of totsuka was incredibly fast, and the purple flames swirling on the blade seemed capable of incinerating the soul!
Puchi! A muffled sound, but not the sound of a physical piercing. The tip of the sword of totsuka did not pierce Deathmask's body, but instead seemed to stab into an invisible core node within the thick Sekishiki energy permeating around his body!
"Aaaaaagh—!!!" Deathmask let out a shrill, incomparable scream, a sound like hundreds of souls being torn apart simultaneously! The surging Sekishiki energy around him collapsed like a deflated ball, being swallowed by the purple vortex on the sword of totsuka! His proud legion of the dead, which was enough to trap Aiolia, melted away like snow, quickly becoming thin and transparent until finally disappearing completely into the sealing flames of the sword of totsuka. The light of the gold cloth also seemed to dim for an instant!
Deathmask himself looked as if his spine had been removed, his face as pale as paper and his Cosmo drastically reduced; clearly, those souls had not come without a price. He looked in horror at the approaching purple Susanoo and that burning sealing sword, feeling a true threat of death for the first time. He retreated repeatedly, no longer daring to easily summon the dead.
Uchiha Izumi carefully placed Saori in a relatively safe rear area, her figure instantly turning into an afterimage as she lunged straight for Pisces Aphrodite!
She knew how terrifying the opponent was—that invisible and intangible toxic pollen! The Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly in her eyes, the Three-Tomoe connecting into shape, and her vision instantly entered high-speed analysis mode. The air was no longer a void; countless tiny pollen particles, the trajectories of air currents, and even the way energy flowed around Aphrodite were clearly presented under her ocular power!
Facing the charging Izumi, a cruel smile appeared on Aphrodite's handsome face. He didn't take her seriously at all. With an elegant wave of his arm, countless blood-red Demon Roses mixed with pale-gold toxic Royal Demon Roses swept out like a beautiful storm of death, silent yet carrying a lethal fragrance toward Izumi!
Boom! A blue Susanoo rose from the ground in front of Izumi! The giant skeletal warrior held a massive blade in one hand, while the other was covered by a thick armguard. This was not an active attack from Izumi, but an instantly activated absolute defense!
The lethal rose storm slammed hard against the armor and skeletal frame of the teal Susanoo! Sizzle, sizzle—! Intense sounds of corrosion rang out! The toxic petals hit like rain, actually causing small pits and ripples of energy disorder to appear on the sturdy Susanoo skeleton! This poison could not only corrode matter but also erode energy!
But Izumi's Sharingan was precisely the nemesis of such invisible killers! With her ocular power fully unleashed, she accurately perceived the areas where the pollen with the strongest toxicity and highest permeability was distributed.
The massive blue Susanoo did not tank everything head-on; instead, following Izumi's commands, it skillfully tilted its body, using the thickest armor and most condensed energy parts to block the impact points of the core toxins, while using the gale generated by swinging its weapon to blow away as much of the scattered pollen as possible.
Her movements were as precise as dancing on the tip of a knife, and the high-speed insight of the Sharingan allowed her to find gaps accurately within the dance of death.
At the same time, Izumi's right hand quietly formed a seal.
She knew that she could not win by defense and evasion alone.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" The massive fire dragon did not charge straight at Aphrodite but instead sprayed toward the gaps the pollen belt was forced through by the wind, creating a high-temperature zone in an attempt to decompose and evaporate some of the toxins!
Aphrodite's smile froze.
He had never imagined someone could so clearly perceive the "trajectory" and "toxic focus" of his pollen and make such precise and efficient evasions and counters!
"Insight... impressive eyes! Unfortunately, how much longer can you hold out?" With a flick of his wrist, an even more enchanting white rose radiating a chilling aura—the Bloody Rose—quietly appeared at his fingertips, ready to deliver a fatal blow.
Just as the three Mangekyo users were struggling to hold back the Gold Saints, another change occurred!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!
Several silver figures with astonishing speed lunged out like ghosts from the woods on the sides and rear, and from among the ruins!
Crow, Auriga, Perseus, Ophiuchus, Lacerta, and Canes Venatici! They had actually avoided the chaotic center of the battlefield. Relying on the speed of Silver Saints, like leopards scenting blood, their target was aimed straight at the core of the Uchiha formation—Kido Saori, who was watching the battle coldly with her arms crossed!
"Protect Saori!" Hiroki roared sternly, his heart suddenly tightening.
The Gold Saints were one thing! How did even the Silver Saints get here?
Bang! Bang! Bang! The dozen or so Three-Tomoe Uchiha Ninjas responsible for the outer defense reacted extremely quickly! They abandoned their Ninja tools and directly used the powerful Genjutsu of the Sharingan! "Paralysis Technique!" "Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!" "Sharingan: Genjutsu Vision!" Various powerful visual-type Genjutsu lights flashed, instantly covering the several lunging Silver Saints!
"Hmph! Petty tricks!" The voice of the Canes Venatici Saint carried disdain; his mind-reading ability allowed him to vaguely predict the source of danger and make evasions in advance! The Medusa Shield of the Perseus Saint flashed, actually deflecting the Genjutsu beams directed at him! The movements of the Ophiuchus Saint were tricky and bizarre, like a slippery venomous snake!
At least four Silver Saints, relying on their rich combat experience, unique abilities, or the resistance of their Cloths, briefly broke through the first Genjutsu interception net!
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Claw!" "Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!" "Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Various elemental Ninjutsu instantly erupted! Fireballs, wind blades, and lightning intertwined into a net to block the Silver Saints' path of advancement! The Silver Saints' speed did not decrease; their Cosmos erupted as they either used high-speed movement to evade, used their Cloths to tank, or used combat techniques to clash! The Crow Saint's black wings flapped, whipping up a gale to disrupt the Ninjutsu trajectories; the Auriga Saint drove his chariot, crashing through brutally; the Lacerta Saint's toxic tail needles in high-speed movement were like a venomous snake's tongue, extremely sinister and tricky!
Muffled groans and the sound of metal clashing came from within the Ninjutsu bombardment! Two Two-Tomoe Uchiha failed to evade in time and were clipped by the Auriga chariot; the massive impact of the Cloth instantly sent them flying, the sound of breaking bones clearly audible! Another Three-Tomoe elite attempting to block Ophiuchus barely parried the first strike with a Chakra-infused short sword, only to be struck in the ribs by the bizarre angle of the second strike! Although he timely avoided vital points, the strength added by the Cloth and the paralyzing toxin on the needle caused his combat power to be severely damaged instantly!
The defensive circle was torn open with several gaps! The Silver Saints, like crazed vultures, lunged toward the center with eyes red, carrying the light of death in their hands. Their target was only one—Athena!
Just then, a roar filled with pure, undisturbed dark will, as if from the deepest hell, echoed across the entire battlefield!
"Enough—!!!"
It was Saga! That gray long hair had completely stabilized, with no trace of blue remaining! The pitch-black flames on the Gemini Gold Cloth (Amaterasu) were actually forcibly suppressed and finally extinguished by an erupting, even more overbearing Cosmo! Saga slowly raised his head, his eyes already completely filled with cold, brutal dark will! That suffocating pressure was like a physical substance, far exceeding what it was before!
Itachi forcibly maintained his Susanoo, preparing to use other powerful Genjutsu to interfere again, but Saga completely ignored all enemies and obstacles before him! His left hand, burning with Cosmo, reached out toward Kido Saori, who was moving at high speed in the distance protected by the Uchiha—and also toward the entire formation guarding her—and his five fingers snapped open!
Boom! A golden beam of light, condensed to the extreme and shattering the void, instantly tore through space! Carrying a condensed core of destruction! Galaxian Explosion! This was a strike even more powerful than the one when they first met!
!!! The hair on Hiroki's entire body stood on end! A fatal sense of crisis enveloped him and everyone else!
"Susanoo!" Having recovered, Shisui immediately and instinctively mobilized the maximum power he could use with all his might! An extremely blurred, transparent energy skeleton, several times thinner than the others' Susanoo and with a color hard to discern, rapidly formed in front of Hiroki and Saori! At the same time, several Three-Tomoe elites who had been guarding them also roared, putting up their strongest defensive Ninjutsu with all their strength!
Puchi, puchi! That meteorite-like star explosion was like the sharpest spear of judgment! It easily shattered the fragile Susanoo skeleton Shisui had just condensed like a soap bubble! The several Ninjutsu defensive shields that followed were like paper! The Galaxian Explosion did not slow down at all, its target aimed straight at—Kido Saori!
At the critical moment, an indescribable glimmer flashed in Saori's deep purple eyes. She seemed to let out an extremely faint sigh. The moment that lethal Galaxian Explosion was about to touch the invisible, extremely weak protective light composed of Athena's Cosmo on her body's surface—
Buzz!
Space rippled with an imperceptible wave, like a stone thrown into water. The sense of time was extremely stretched and then instantly restored. That condensed and terrifying Galaxian Explosion actually deflected by an extremely small yet vital angle out of thin air! It grazed the ends of Saori's flying long hair and slammed ruthlessly into the ground behind them!
Boom!!! A large hole instantly appeared, and in the next instant, the earth shook violently! With the hole as the center, the ground within a radius of a dozen meters collapsed dozens of meters deep as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, the edges forming perfect radial cracks! The destructive power caused a secondary impact after exploding underground; its terrifying power was heart-stopping!
Hiroki's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat! That split-second difference between life and death just now left his mind blank. If not for the Goddess's subtle... intervention (he was almost certain it was an intervention), he and Saori would have been turned to ashes by now!
"Run!!! We must run!!!"
Hiroki roared internally, fear and immense pressure almost crushing him.
Two million points were good, and the gold cloth was tempting, but life was the foundation! Saga had completely stabilized his personality; although Deathmask was injured, he was still a Gold Saint; Aphrodite was unharmed; and the Silver Saints were still attacking the formation! This battle simply couldn't be fought anymore!