https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-573-The-Full-Tailed-Beast-Transformation-Once-Again/12558856/
Chapter 574: The Ice Age that Frozen Everything
Chapter 574: The Ice Age that Frozen Everything
Although the jinchuriki who had completely transformed into their tailed beasts were quite noticeable, Han and Jiraiya had already withdrawn from the main battlefield, so they didn't cause much of an impact.
Both the Iwagakure and Konoha ninjas continued their battle as before.
Mu Yue wanted to press on with the pursuit, but many Iwagakure ninjas saw that Lao Zi was injured and quickly attacked Mu Yue to stop him from causing further harm.
Most of the Iwagakure ninjas didn't like Lao Zi; not only was he a jinchuriki, but he also had a bad temper.
But this was the battlefield, and they were at a disadvantage, having fallen for Konoha's trick. They needed Lao Zi's power.
When the Iwagakure ninja team was first assembled, there were two jinchuriki to anchor the team, so Onoki didn't arrange for other top powerhouses from Iwagakure to join.
If Lao Zi were to be defeated by Mu Yue's combo attack, the Iwagakure ninja team would be in serious trouble.
"Earth Style: Rock Cannon Technique!"
"Earth Style: Rock Spear!"
Various earth-style jutsu rained down on Mu Yue.
Shush!
Mu Yue calmly took out three shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and threw two of them.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
An Iwagakure ninja quickly erected an earthen wall to block the shuriken, preventing them from getting close to the earth-style jutsu's range of attack.
Shush!
Mu Yue used the Hiraishin Technique to disappear from his original spot and appear beside several Iwagakure ninjas.
He and Minato had prepared well, setting up Hiraishin seals in many locations beforehand. The two shuriken he threw earlier served to distract the enemies' attention.
Whoosh!
Blood splattered as Mu Yue's shuriken precisely slashed the necks of the Iwagakure ninjas, taking the lives of several of them.
The other Iwagakure ninjas who witnessed this scene frowned and cursed the Hiraishin Technique in their hearts as annoying.
It was already troublesome enough that the shuriken could be used for instant teleportation, but now they had fallen into their enemies' carefully laid trap, and they didn't even know where their opponent would appear next.
"Cough, cough."
Lao Zi coughed twice and stood on the small lake, channeling his chakra.
"Huff, huff."
Lao Zi breathed heavily, trying to adjust his body's condition with the tailed beast's chakra. He was not feeling well at the moment.
Although only four of Mu Yue's Ten Dragons Explosive Attack had hit him, they had still inflicted significant damage.
His lava armor, which could withstand even Minato's Spiraling Sphere, was ineffective against the water dragons due to the type disadvantage. Only the first water dragon was slightly blocked, while the remaining three landed solid hits on his body.
If he hadn't timely activated the tailed beast's chakra to offset some of the damage, his condition would have been much worse.
"Mu Yue!" Lao Zi glared at Mu Yue, his face stern, as he watched the latter's figure flashing through the crowd.
After mastering the complete tailed beast transformation through arduous training, this was the first time he had suffered such a big setback at the hands of a single person.
If it weren't for the other Iwagakure ninjas helping him, he might have been defeated by Mu Yue already.
"Use the complete tailed beast transformation," Iwagakure suggested quietly as he appeared beside Lao Zi. "Make Mu Yue think that you're going all out, and then I'll lead a team to take advantage of the situation and finish him off!"
Iwagakure really wanted to retreat, but given the current situation, a direct withdrawal was impossible.
They had to take out some of the key players among the Konoha ninjas—either Jiraiya or Mu Yue.
Even Minato wouldn't do, as his position on the current battlefield was relatively low.
"Transform here into my complete tailed beast form?" Lao Zi furrowed his brows.
They were at the center of the Iwagakure ninja team, and it was precisely because of this that Lao Zi had only used his lava chakra mode up till now.
"Most of the ninjas will have time to retreat to a safe distance," Iwagakure quickly replied. "As for the small number who might be inadvertently injured, it's a necessary sacrifice on the path to success."
This was already the best plan he could come up with.
Even if they lured Mu Yue to the Five-Tails' location, it wouldn't help, as Jiraiya was equally formidable. Injured as he was, Lao Zi, along with Han, might not be able to defeat Mu Yue and Jiraiya together.
But it would be different here. With the complete transformation of the Four-Tails, along with the five Iwagakure blast ninja leaders and the numerous other Iwagakure ninjas around, killing Mu Yue was not impossible.
Lao Zi's face showed a hint of hesitation.
Even though his status as a jinchuriki had brought him much criticism and discrimination, he instinctively disagreed with Iwagakure's suggestion.
"If we don't kill Mu Yue and create a chance to break through, more people will die in the end," Iwagakure continued persuasively.
If Lao Zi agreed, he wouldn't have to worry about sharing the blame.
After all, Onoki already had issues with Lao Zi's stubbornness and their differing views. Later, when he reported what happened, he could just add something about how Lao Zi disregarded the lives of his fellow village ninjas by using his complete tailed beast transformation, thus reducing his share of the blame for the defeat.
Dark red chakra surged out from Lao Zi's body, engulfing him entirely.
Along with the rise of a savage aura, another gigantic beast appeared on the battlefield, right at the center of it all.
"To use complete tailed beast transformation in that spot just to deal with Mu Yue..." Minato couldn't help but feel surprised as he looked at the red-haired giant ape.
Lao Zi's current position meant that if he threw a punch at Mu Yue, it was uncertain if Mu Yue would die, but several Iwagakure ninjas would definitely perish.
"Have I caught your attention now?"
Mu Yue's 360-degree Byakugan noticed something. After Lao Zi's transformation, several chakra signatures that were no weaker than his were approaching him.
Although his Byakugan had seen through their chakras, Mu Yue still played it safe and threw out several Identification Techniques.
【Name: Ganaku】
【Chakra: 71,000】
【Skills: Explosion Release (Proficient Level: 3100/15,000), Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient Level: 3500), Explosion Release: Rock Explosion (Proficient Level), Explosion Release: Detonating Clay (Proficient Level)...】
【Name: Sandstone】
【Chakra: 41,000】
【Skills: Explosion Release (Proficient Level), Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient Level), Explosion Release: Detonating Clay (Proficient Level)...】
【Name: Tsuchigo】
【Chakra: 35,000】
【Skills: Explosion Release (Proficient Level), Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient Level), Earth Release: Hardening Technique (Proficient Level)...】
"It's the Iwagakure Blast Corps."
Seeing the six panels with uniformly proficient Explosion Release, Mu Yue instantly realized that the six people quietly approaching him were the elite forces of Iwagakure, the Iwagakure Blast Corps.
However, Mu Yue was not alarmed.
Now that he had discovered their plan, the danger level had decreased, and with the Flying Thunder God Technique that he could use to escape at any time and the Perfect Body that could perfectly protect his body, he had even less to worry about.
Seeing Lao Zi transform into a gigantic ape, the Iwagakure ninjas who were afraid of being hit by friendly fire quickly retreated.
Mu Yue moved even faster, chopping down Iwagakure ninjas as he made his way towards the area with the highest concentration of Iwagakure ninjas, hoping that Lao Zi would accidentally injure more of them.
Lao Zi, determined in his heart, did not give up on his offense because of Mu Yue's actions. He leaped up and swung his gigantic fist towards Mu Yue.
In his complete tailed beast transformation state, even just using chakra-enhanced physical attacks, he possessed tremendous power.
Boom!!
The ground was smashed into a huge pit by Lao Zi, and within the pit lay the bodies of two unfortunate Iwagakure ninjas.
As for Mu Yue, who was Lao Zi's intended target, he used the Body Flicker Technique at the last moment to create distance, dashing towards the small lake he had created, where most of the Explosion Release ninjas were located.
"As expected, a genius like him isn't afraid of an injured jinchuriki." Ganaku couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight.
Normally, in the current chaotic state of the battlefield, choosing a ninja who could use the Flying Thunder God Technique as the target of a siege was unwise.
Because Mu Yue could use the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave at any time, and they couldn't stop him.
But Ganaku had predicted Mu Yue's thoughts. He didn't think Mu Yue would be afraid or retreat just because Lao Zi had transformed into his complete tailed beast form.
On the contrary, he thought Mu Yue would use this opportunity to thoroughly defeat Lao Zi.
Mu Yue was not only a young super genius but also someone who had personally killed a jinchuriki on the battlefield. Ganaku believed that Mu Yue had his own pride and wouldn't back down easily.
"Explosion Release: Detonating Clay!"
Ganaku seized the opportunity and instantly created several stones with power far superior to explosive tags, launching them at Mu Yue.
Before taking action, Ganaku had already given orders to the other Blast Corps members. In the instant Ganaku made his move, the other five Explosion Release ninjas also used their most proficient Explosion Release ninjutsu.
"Explosion Release: Detonating Clay!"
"Explosion Release: Explosion Jutsu!"
Various ninjutsu capable of causing explosions flew towards Mu Yue.
Just as it seemed that Mu Yue was about to be engulfed by the explosions, Ganaku's heart did not relax at all. Mu Yue only needed to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to easily dodge this crisis.
Ganaku swiftly gathered chakra, preparing to use his strongest Explosion Release ninjutsu, Rock Explosion.
He predicted that Mu Yue wouldn't use the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape too far and would instead use it to appear nearby and counter-attack.
As long as Mu Yue appeared, no matter whose side he appeared on and no matter how many Iwagakure ninjas were around Mu Yue, Ganaku would immediately activate his ninjutsu.
If he could kill Mu Yue himself, then it wouldn't be a simple defeat—it would be a glorious loss.
The vast amount of chakra that Mu Yue had gathered within him erupted in that instant, and a terrifying icy-blue chill spread out, with Mu Yue at its epicenter.
Crack! Boom!
The small lake instantly transformed into an icy wasteland, and the stones imbued with explosive power became ice blocks that fell to the ground, triggering a series of explosions.
The chill spread with astonishing speed, and before Iwagakure could react to Mu Yue's use of Ice Style instead of the Flying Thunder God Technique, the chill had already engulfed his body, freezing him solid.
The other Explosion Release ninjas, who were not far from Mu Yue, were even less able to escape this fate, their powers inferior to Iwagakure's. They, too, were turned into ice.
Lao Zi had intended to take advantage of the situation and land a punch on Mu Yue, but before he could even throw the punch, the chill had already reached his body.
The bone-chilling cold caused Lao Zi's pupils to shrink involuntarily, and before he could react further, he, too, had turned into an enormous ice sculpture.
With Mu Yue's unreserved release of chakra, the S-rank Ice Age technique displayed its terrifying might.
In addition to the Explosion Release ninjas who were close to Mu Yue and Lao Zi, several other Iwagakure ninjas who were nearby were also unable to escape the encroaching chill and became ice blocks.
The unharmed Iwagakure ninjas looked at the towering ice sculptures with terrified expressions and quickly retreated.
Even the Konoha ninjas who had arrived nearby didn't dare to stay and quickly withdrew.
For a moment, a patch of icy blue silence spread across the battlefield.
"As expected of Teacher Mu Yue!" Obito exclaimed as he witnessed Mu Yue effortlessly turn the tide and launch a powerful counterattack.
They had just worked together to kill many Iwagakure ninjas, and now, leading a team of Konoha ninjas, they wanted to relieve some pressure from Mu Yue. But before they could provide any support, Mu Yue had already resolved the situation.
"Looks like it won't happen this time," Kakashi thought with a sigh of relief.
The war had reached a point where their plan to lure and kill the Iwagakure forces was largely successful.
Both Mu Yue and the Konoha ninja forces were in good shape, and no matter what, it wouldn't lead to Mu Yue's death.
All they needed to do now was to continue weakening the Iwagakure forces, and this would be the biggest victory Konoha had seen in the war so far.
"From now on, we need to pay more attention to our surroundings," Sharingan-wielding Genma advised as his eyes scanned the area.
With Mu Yue's side under control, they needed to focus on protecting themselves and not becoming a burden to Mu Yue.
"He actually quietly mastered the Ice Style to such a high level," Jiraiya, who was engaged in a battle of wits with the Five-Tails, commented with surprise.
Jiraiya, who was battling a jinchuriki, should have been fully focused on the fight, but the frozen Four-Tails was just too massive and eye-catching.
The sun was slowly rising, and the dawn's light reflected off the ice, creating a colorful display. Coupled with the Four-Tails' bright red fur, it was a dazzling sight.
"If it's him, he might even surpass Sarutobi-sensei in teaching ninjutsu," Jiraiya couldn't help but marvel.
Mu Yue had already demonstrated extraordinary prowess in Water Style and Fire Style, and now he had also mastered the advanced bloodline limit, Ice Style, to such a high degree.
It was remarkable that Mu Yue had achieved all this at only twenty-one years of age, and with the time he had ahead of him, his future potential was immeasurable.
Han also sensed the situation on the main battlefield, and his usually calm demeanor gave way to a hint of urgency, causing his attacks to become hasty.
However, Jiraiya in Sage Mode was no pushover, and Han's haste only resulted in him exposing weaknesses that Jiraiya was quick to capitalize on.
Not only was Han injured, but the Iwagakure jonin tasked with protecting him were also slain by Jiraiya and the two sage toads.
"With these annoying distractions out of the way, the rest of the battle should be easier," Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief.
A jinchuriki capable of complete tailed beast transformation was someone that no strong shinobi would underestimate.
If they were further supported by a specialized jonin squad, the danger would increase exponentially.
However, for a powerful shinobi like Jiraiya, who had mastered numerous techniques, dealing with a single jinchuriki was challenging but highly probable.
The frozen Four-Tails and the frozen Iwagakure ninjas boosted the morale of the Konoha ninjas, while the Iwagakure forces were left disheartened.
Their strong combatants were faltering, unable to gain the upper hand. At this rate, not only would they fail to defeat Konoha, but even breaking through their encirclement seemed unlikely.
PS: This chapter is 4.2k words long. There will be another chapter later, probably around midnight, and at the latest, by 1 AM.
Little Ju successfully went to bed early yesterday and wants to maintain this habit for a week to get her sleep schedule back on track.
(End of Chapter)
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