It's Decided, It's You!

Mito's thoughts shifted, and her technique for controlling the chains began to change dramatically.

From the initial broad and sweeping movements, it suddenly became more intricate and elusive.

No longer clashing head-on with Natsuhiko's tentacles, she deftly manoeuvred the chains to bypass the ends of the tentacles and strike directly at their base!

Like a whip, the closer a tentacle is to its base, the slower it moves.

So when one of Mito's chains broke through the interception at the tentacle's end, it quickly struck a part of the tentacle near its base!

Boom!

Boom, boom, boom, boom...!

As the shadow clone arm that was hit exploded, the entire front section of the tentacle's shadow clone arms also burst in succession like dominoes.

In an instant, a large portion of Natsuhiko's tentacles turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished into the air.

As expected.

Mito smiled with a slight sense of satisfaction.

Natsuhiko's shadow clone arms are connected to his body through meridians, allowing them to continue existing.

So, as long as the part near the base is struck, it can trigger a chain reaction, instantly rendering the entire tentacle useless.

This may not sound like much since real-life creatures are similar.

However, the shadow clone's extremely poor resilience magnifies this flaw, making it quite fatal!

So even though Natsuhiko's tentacles seem to be on par with the Adamantine Sealing Chains, in reality, they're just for show, easily broken by a skilled opponent.

After successfully putting Natsuhiko at a disadvantage, Mito felt much more at ease.

But she didn't stop her assault; instead, she continued to press forward.

Unconsciously, her expectations for Natsuhiko had risen to the level she had for Tobirama.

She was very curious to see if Natsuhiko could surprise her more in this dire situation...

...

Moments later, in the courtyard of the Senju estate, the battle continued, with tentacles and chains flying everywhere.

However, it was clear that the tentacle side was at a significant disadvantage.

Although Natsuhiko quickly regrew a tentacle from his back to make up for the loss, he was still at a disadvantage in front of Mito, who had completely changed her tactics. He could only barely defend himself.

There was no way around it; compared to Mito's thick and sturdy chakra chains, his tentacles were like fragile objects, not holding any advantage.

Moreover, in terms of control over the tentacles and chains, Natsuhiko was no match for Mito, who had been honing her skills for years.

Under Mito's control, the four chains moved like living creatures, constantly trying to break through and attack the tentacles' base and even Natsuhiko himself.

To cope with this situation, Natsuhiko's tentacles had already retreated close to his body, not daring to expose anything but the ends in front of Mito's chains.

As expected of Mito-sensei, she still seems to have plenty of strength left, yet she's already rendered my Blossoming Branch Mode completely ineffective.

Controlling his tentacles to intercept the chains' attacks, Natsuhiko couldn't help but think this.

However, he wasn't too worried. After all, as someone with paranoia, how could he not have noticed this weakness in his technique?

So, not long ago, he had already developed a technique to compensate for the flaws of the Blossoming Branch Mode.

He was just waiting for the perfect moment to maximise the effect of that move...

Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to get his chance.

Mito used three chains as bait, allowing the fourth chain to once again break through Natsuhiko's tentacles and shoot toward the base of a tentacle with immense force!

It's over.

Seeing that Natsuhiko seemed to have no backup plan, Mito felt a tinge of disappointment.

But that made sense. Developing and perfecting any ninjutsu requires a long time of accumulation and experimentation.

Even Tobirama couldn't develop ninjutsu overnight; in fact, when he died, he left behind a bunch of unfinished forbidden techniques—although a series of water-style jutsu had already been perfected.

So Mito quickly let out a relieved smile.

It seemed that ever since Kushina went to the ninja school to become an assistant instructor, Natsuhiko had constantly surprised her, raising her expectations for him too high.

However, just as this thought crossed Mito's mind, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of a sly grin forming at the corner of Natsuhiko's mouth.

Startled, she quickly looked toward the chain.

Then Mito was shocked to see that although the chain had struck a shadow clone arm, Natsuhiko's tentacle hadn't vanished.

What's going on?

Focusing her gaze, Mito noticed something unusual about the tentacle that had been hit.

It was stone—there was a layer of stone on that shadow clone arm!

And the stone layer was expanding, completely covering the entire arm.

"Is this... Iwagakure's Fist Rock Technique?"

Mito quickly identified the ninjutsu Natsuhiko was using.

After all, this Fist Rock Technique was efficient and served both offensive and defensive purposes, so it was almost mandatory for Iwagakure's ninjas.

Mito, who had dealt with them quite a bit in the past, was naturally familiar with it.

She even knew that Iwagakure's ninja uniforms deliberately lacked a right sleeve to make it easier to use this technique.

It's said that when this technique is mastered, one can directly transform their arm into rock, further enhancing offensive and defensive capabilities.

Moreover, since many people in Iwagakure could use this technique, it leaked out long ago and spread across the ninja world, so it wasn't surprising that Natsuhiko could use it.

Mito finally understood Natsuhiko's method of compensating for the flaws of the Blossoming Branch Mode.

It was simply covering the shadow clone's arms with a layer of rock!

Simple and crude.

But it seemed Natsuhiko wasn't finished; Mito then noticed, to her amazement, that all four tentacles began sprouting layers of rock at various points.

The rock layers quickly spread and connected, soon making it impossible to discern the original segmented arms. Instead, they appeared to be a unified entity, as if composed entirely of rock...

"Blooming Chaos: Rock Serpent!"

Seizing the opportunity while Mito's previous attack missed, the four tentacles, now encased in rock, launched a counterattack.

Although the increased weight reduced the tentacles' speed and flexibility, their thick and durable bodies allowed Natsuhiko to regain the upper hand, even slightly tipping the scales in his favour.

But this still wasn't the completed form of the technique...

As Mito's chain was knocked aside, the four rock serpents flew towards her simultaneously.

Natsuhiko then clasped his hands together again, and as the serpents advanced, they twisted together like a braid, crashing towards Mito with unstoppable force!

"It's decided, it's you! Great Rock Serpent!"

As soon as Natsuhiko finished speaking, Mito saw that the end of the menacing rock tentacle had grown a sharp horn and two lifelike eyes.

"Is it a projection technique...? No, those are eyes created by the Blossoming Branch technique, used to provide vision for better control?"

Although a terrifying rock serpent was charging at her, Mito seemed utterly unbothered, even taking the time to analyse whether the eyes were merely decorative.

Understanding Natsuhiko's thought process in an instant, Mito finally smiled with satisfaction, praising him:

"Natsuhiko, you really do always surprise me."

With that, another chain shot out from her back, instantly shattering the entire Great Rock Serpent...

Natsuhiko: "Meow meow meow???"

(End of this chapter)

P.S.: This Note will be posted for the following 9 chapters guys so please do not mind it.

So, guys, I have made some minor changes to my Patreon. Now, advance 60 chapters will be available there, but if you guys subscribe to it today, you will be able to access advance 69 chapters, so do not miss the opportunity.

Also, I am posting Dragon Ball fiction from my alternate account. The fic is likely the best project I have ever done as a translator, so do check it out. It is a multiversal fic with Dragon Ball as the main world. A Saiyan's Journey Begins From A Dream by SenatusAlpha.

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