Chapter 159: Trump Card vs. Backup Plan

A snake-like force pulled a rock, dragging Yuto's body forward. As he moved at high speed, he placed an explosive tag on the rock wall.

Boom!

The explosion caused Impure World White Fang's body to slow down again.

In just one minute, the two had clashed over a hundred times. Sakumo's speed slowed down while Yuto used the recoil to move faster, creating a distance between them.

With the pursuers behind him unable to attack for the moment, Yuto did not relax. Instead, he focused ahead, his killing intent growing.

At the edge of his Half-Awakened Tenseigan's vision, the image of an old man calmly sitting beneath a giant statue came into view.

—Madara Uchiha!

Yuto extended his index finger, and the Repulsive Force Gun howled.

Bang!

In the blink of an eye, the young branch family member was within a hundred meters of Madara.

The old man sensed something and suddenly looked up.

His eye sockets were empty, his eyelids drooping, and he appeared frail and blind.

Yet, Madara remained calm and fearless. Sensing the intense killing intent ahead, he even nodded slightly, welcoming the challenge from the young man with an open and honorable demeanor.

Getting such magnanimity from him was beyond ordinary comprehension.

'Die, Ghost of Uchiha...' Yuto murmured softly, without hesitation, pointing his finger forward.

Boom!

A vast and ominous chakra suddenly appeared between him and Madara, piercing through the intruder's shoulder. Blood splattered, but the wound healed rapidly.

With fox-like long ears, a crimson chakra cloak, six violent tails, and a sinister power that even made inanimate objects tremble...

'Kushina?' Yuto's heart sank. Just as he tried to retreat, Kushina recklessly grabbed the arm that had pierced her shoulder and swung her left fist, clawing at Yuto's chest with her tailed beast claws.

The sound of bones breaking was heard as the branch family member's chest bone shattered. While Creation Rebirth quickly restored it, the intense life force and chakra consumption left Yuto's face pale.

Buzz—

The Fuinjutsu Absorption Seal activated in time, and Yuto frantically absorbed Kushina's chakra, despite the backlash from directly absorbing the tailed beast chakra.

But as the strongest tailed beast, Kurama's chakra was almost immeasurable. The Fuinjutsu Absorption Seal couldn't impact the jinchuriki's movements in the short term. Kushina restrained Yuto's shoulder and pressed him deeper into the underground.

At this moment, an ordinary kunai flew at them again.

It was Impure World Sakumo, The White Fang.

The kunai cut a deep wound on Yuto's back, which would have decapitated him if not for his use of repulsive force to alter its trajectory.

Ahead was the rampaging Nine-Tails jinchuriki, and behind was Sakumo, who had transplanted the Rinnegan.

Both were top-tier combatants of their era.

Faced with this massive crisis, Yuto unexpectedly looked up at Madara Uchiha.

Then, he nodded slightly, acknowledging the elderly enemy.

—The rebel caged bird had a spirit comparable to anyone.

'I've already exposed the Explosive Tags and Creation Rebirth. At least here, there's no need to hide my identity...'

Yuto sighed softly, then raised his leg. With repulsive force enhancing it, he used Heavenly Foot of Pain.

Rumble...

The underground world of rocks collapsed. This powerful taijutsu move forced back the two formidable enemies, creating a gap just enough for Yuto's next move.

He bit his hand and then pressed it to the ground.

A simple summoning technique caused Madara's eyebrows to knit together.

Yuto's chakra was completely absorbed, even Creation Rebirth couldn't be maintained. The black lines reverted to diamond-shaped marks, nearly invisible.

In the Masked Mode, both the quality and quantity of Yuto's chakra far exceeded ordinary shinobi by hundreds of times. Yet, half of his chakra was instantly drained!

"Summoning Jutsu."

Yuto spoke softly.

The next moment, the underground world vanished.

The colossal Outer Path Statue, the crumbling rock walls, the towering rock dome... all disappeared.

They were replaced by soft white flesh walls covered with numerous tongues and teeth.

"Katsuyu..."

For the first time, Madara's face became serious. Even though he couldn't see, his perception told him what the enemy had done.

—Yuto's summoning technique had brought Slug Sage into the underground world!

However, this ageless sage's body was so vast that even in the Masked Mode, Yuto couldn't summon it all.

Only part of Slug Sage's mouth was summoned here.

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Katsuyu-sama," Yuto bowed, touching the soft flesh wall with his finger.

He and Slug Sage had worked together for years and understood each other well. At the moment his finger touched the flesh wall, several tentacles emerged, wrapping around Yuto and pulling him deep into Katsuyu's body for protection.

"Hahahahaha..." Madara suddenly laughed.

"Katsuyu! So, you want to join the dance too?"

Before he finished speaking, the sage's attack began.

Its tongues and teeth hardened to steel, and the flesh walls continuously squeezed inward, devouring space and oxygen. Sakumo and Kushina bombarded the flesh walls, destroying tons of Slug Sage's flesh with each hit.

But the sage remained unfazed, continuing to tighten its mouth.

Slug Sage's "immortality" had flaws, but its immense life force was real. Even part of its mouth could replace the underground world in this area, unafraid of pain.

In a way, its immortality turned itself into a small world. Now, with Sakumo and Kushina trapped in its mouth, it was hard to turn the tables.

The mouth squeezed tighter and tighter, reducing the enemies' space and oxygen. This was a top-level sealing technique in the shinobi world, using infinite life force.

However, all techniques and beings have flaws.

Summoning part of the Slug Sage's body to fight had its downside... Yuto had only used half of his chakra so he could keep fighting, but once that chakra was depleted, the Slug Sage would automatically return to the depths of Shikkotsu Forest.

Boom!

The chakra of Slug Sage depleted, She disappeared, and the statue, shattered rock walls, and gray-black dome reappeared.

Sakumo supported himself with a kunai, kneeling on one knee, while the Nine-Tails jinchuriki guarded Madara.

Even with Impure World bodies and tailed beast cloaks, they have limits. They cautiously watched their surroundings, ready to protect Madara from a sudden attack.

Bang!

A hand emerged from the ground, grabbing someone's ankle.

"!?..." Madara realized, but it was too late.

Yuto pulled Sakumo underground.

Then, his fingers skillfully touched Sakumo's eye socket and gently exerted force to remove the eye.

—The Rinnegan was in his hands!

(End of Chapter)