Elsewhere, Han, in his full Tailed Beast form, was locked in a ferocious battle with the Konoha shinobi.
With a roar that seed to split the sky, a sphere of chaotically swirling energy materialized before him.
Feeling a palpable, lethal threat wash over them, Choza Akimichi shoved his comrade aside and pulled a small red pill from his pouch, imdiately swallowing it.
This was one of the Akimichi clan's three secret pills, passed down through generations. The other two were the green Spinach Pill and the yellow Curry Pill, but the red Chili Pill was by far the most powerful.
Taking it amplified the user's strength a hundredfold, allowing them to enter "Butterfly Mode." The drawback was the imnse physical strain it placed on the body, which would very likely result in death.
But in this situation, if he couldn't stop Han's Tailed Beast Bomb, the side effects wouldn't matter. None of them would even have a body left to bury. Seeing this, his best friend, Shikaku Nara, didn't try to stop him.
How long has it been since I've felt this helpless? Shikaku thought, his fists clenched tight as he watched the brilliant chakra wings unfurl from his friend's back. His body trembled, partly from rage at his own powerlessness, and partly from fear of what was to co.
Just as despair threatened to consu him, Choza, now fully transford, spoke from in front of him. "It's alright."
"I will protect you."
"Choza..." Hearing his friend's voice, as gentle and steady as ever, Shikaku's trembling subsided. He opened his mouth to say sothing, but the world before him was suddenly consud by a blinding light.
A deafening roar followed an instant later.
"HRAAAGH!" Choza roared, focusing every last bit of his chakra into his hands. He tracked the trajectory of the Tailed Beast Bomb and, with his hands clasped together, slamd them into the sphere's underside with a powerful upward blow.
The ground beneath his feet cracked and splintered under the imnse force, but Choza held firm against the initial impact.
At that mont, Hyuga Hizashi, despite his own grave injuries, appeared in a flash below the Tailed Beast Bomb. He thrust his palms forward, unleashing four powerful shockwaves of chakra that struck the base of the sphere.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
With Hizashi's support, Choza grit his teeth. Every muscle in his body strained as he unleashed a final, cataclysmic burst of strength.
The jet-black Tailed Beast Bomb was finally forced upward, soaring into the sky. A few seconds later, the sky itself seed to darken for an instant before the sphere detonated in a massive explosion.
BOOM!
The apocalyptic scene made everyone, even those desperately trying to retreat, freeze in their tracks. They stared in terror at the source of the devastation.
"My god... who could possibly stop a monster like that?"
"Lord Hokage, please watch over us..."
"Damn it... is this the end?"
Just as hope began to fade, a pair of beautiful chakra wings unfurled in the sky. With a powerful beat, they propelled their owner directly toward the roaring, tailed beast.
It was Choza Akimichi.
"I will not let you harm my comrades!" he bellowed, closing the distance to the Tailed Beast Han in an instant. He drew back his right fist, which pulsed with the entirety of his remaining chakra, and drove it into his foe.
"Secret Technique: Butterfly Bullet Bombing!"
The very ground beneath them collapsed. A sonic boom cracked through the air as Han's massive body was sent flying backward like a cannonball, carving a deep trench in the earth until it finally slamd into a small, hundred-foot-tall hill and ca to a stop.
"I... I did it..." Choza managed, looking up at Shikaku as he rushed to his side. A faint smile touched his lips before he collapsed heavily to the ground.
"Choza!" Shikaku cried, turning his friend over and pressing his ear to his chest, his expression tense. He held his breath until he heard the faint but steady beat of a heart that was still fighting. Only then did he let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
Looking at the serene smile on his friend's face, Shikaku gave a bitter laugh. "Thanks to you, we're all still alive. Next ti... this will never happen again. I promise."
Just then, Hyuga Hizashi and Uchiha Ukyo slowly approached. Both glanced at the unconscious Choza in astonishnt before placing a comforting hand on Shikaku's shoulder.
After composing himself, Shikaku stood and turned to Hizashi. "What's the enemy's status?"
Hizashi, who had been tracking their foe with his Byakugan, replied with relief, "Choza's attack inflicted massive damage. It wasn't fatal, but it was more than enough to scare him off. He's retreated."
"He ran..." Shikaku breathed, relieved, but then his brow furrowed.
Today's battle had been perilous, but sothing about it felt off. It was as if the enemy's entire purpose had simply been to cause a scene and leave.
Their dical camp had sustained heavy damage, but personnel casualties were surprisingly low. Logically, the enemy's surprise attack should be considered a failure, yet a deep sense of foreboding lingered in Shikaku's gut.
He handed Choza over to the arriving dical ninja and imdiately used his communicator to contact Inoichi Yamanaka, who was stationed elsewhere.
After briefly describing the situation, he added, "I suspect the enemy had another objective today. Make sure you remind the other units to stay on high alert."
Inoichi acknowledged the ssage, and the communication was cut.
After relaying Shikaku's warning to the other units, Inoichi received feedback that all was quiet. Could Shikaku's guess have been wrong? he wondered. No, his concerns are valid.
Trusting his comrade's intuition completely, Inoichi sent out a wide-scale alert, ordering all units to imdiately report any unusual enemy activity to the communications departnt.
It was then that a piece of intelligence caught his eye.
According to the report from a Konoha ninja, a separate Iwa unit had apparently infiltrated the Land of Fire. Their objective was unknown, but they had reportedly clashed with mbers of the Uchiha clan and abducted soone important. The Uchiha's Second Elder was now leading a pursuit.
"...What is the enemy trying to achieve with a move like this?" Unable to figure it out, Inoichi dispatched a team to investigate. The news they sent back made his heart sink.
The support team arrived at the site of the battle to find it long over. The scene showed signs of a fierce struggle. They found the bodies of several Iwa ninja, but there was no trace of any of the Uchiha clan mbers.
The conclusion was obvious: they had either been completely annihilated by a jutsu, or they had been taken captive.
Either outco was a disaster for the Northwestern Corps. These Uchiha were not only important in their own right, but their lives were deeply connected to a critical figure: Uchiha Kyosuke, who was at that very mont racing to the front lines.
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every ti we hit 100 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30 advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 spat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!
Reviews
All reviews (0)