https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-574-The-Ice-Age-that-Frozen-Everything/12558857/
Chapter 575: Fallen and Enlightenment
Chapter 575: Fallen and Enlightenment
Kacha!
The chakra that Iwaku had gathered within his body came into play, helping him break free from the hardened ice.
"Huff, huff." Iwaku panted, his face contorted in discomfort.
Although he had successfully broken free from the ice seal, the greatest damage inflicted by the Ice Age technique was the bone-chilling cold that invaded his body.
If one were to observe closely, they would notice that Iwaku's hands and feet were still trembling uncontrollably.
Tick, tick...
The ice encasing the elderly man, Zi, soon began to drip with water, followed by the production of large amounts of white mist as his body erupted with terrifying heat, melting the ice.
Mu Yue was not too surprised by this turn of events, as the Four-Tails' chakra possessed the power of Lava Release, making it capable of breaking through the ice seal.
After all, although the Ice Age was a powerful skill drawn from an S-rank scroll, Mu Yue's proficiency in Ice Release paled in comparison to his skill with other chakra nature transformations.
Moreover, Mu Yue had not developed a breathing technique to enhance her Ice Release abilities.
Without the myriad enhancements of other skills, it was indeed challenging for Ice Age to instantly defeat powerful opponents like Zi and Iwaku.
Of course, it could only fail to kill the truly formidable foes; for genin and below, it was instant death, as they simply couldn't withstand the deadly cold.
For opponents like Iwaku, while they might not be killed instantly, they would still suffer severe injuries.
"You worthless piece of trash, Iwaku!" Zi glared at Iwaku, his eyes wide with anger.
Already injured, the icy assault had worsened his condition.
What infuriated Zi the most was that Iwaku, who had boasted about leading the team to take down Mu Yue, had now become a liability.
Zi was now contemplating taking Iwaku's life himself.
Although Iwaku had accidentally injured a fellow Iwagakure shinobi, he had failed to eliminate Mu Yue and had instead been injured by her.
However, despite his impulse to kill Iwaku, Zi spat out a lava fireball toward Mu Yue, who was rushing toward Iwaku.
Swish!
Mu Yue halted and used the Body Flicker Technique to change her trajectory, moving in another direction.
Iwaku was merely a spent force, not worth expending too much effort on. Besides, he had no chance of escape.
"Sigh." Iwaku heaved a deep sigh.
From being the rising star of the shinobi world after the conclusion of the meeting, to now facing a life-or-death situation after the failed ambush.
In just a few short hours, he had fallen from the heavens to the depths of hell.
At this moment, he desperately wished that it had been him who was injured that day instead of Ranshi. Then, he could have stayed in Iwagakure to recuperate peacefully.
But that was no longer possible. The Iwagakure forces were destined for a crushing defeat in this battle, and whether Iwaku would survive was anyone's guess.
"At least not a total annihilation," Iwaku murmured to himself.
While he had considered defecting and trying to absolve himself of the blame for the impending defeat, most of the time, his thoughts revolved around the welfare of Iwagakure.
After all, it was the village he had sworn to protect since childhood.
"Use the Tailed Beast Ball, disregard everything else, and unleash it with full force! Then, take the surviving Iwagakure shinobi and leave!" Iwaku commanded sternly.
This was truly his last and most desperate option.
The Tailed Beast Ball had an immense range and destructive power. If Konoha didn't want to be annihilated along with Iwagakure, they would have no choice but to retreat once Zi released the Tailed Beast Ball.
Zi stared at Iwaku in disbelief. He never expected Iwaku to be more reckless than when he was under the influence of the tailed beast's chakra.
With a single Tailed Beast Ball, Iwaku might top the kill count in this war.
While others could only take out shinobi from one side, his Tailed Beast Ball would wipe out a large number of shinobi from both Konoha and Iwagakure.
Without waiting for Zi's response, Iwaku took the initiative and began gathering chakra to attack Mu Yue.
Casting the Tailed Beast Ball would take time, and with Mu Yue's current distance from Zi, she could easily prevent Zi from releasing it.
Swish!
Five stones imbued with Explosion Release chakra shot toward Mu Yue.
With the aid of the Byakugan and her ability to see the world in a transparent state, Mu Yue effortlessly ignored these attacks, deftly dodging each flying stone with every movement of her body.
In the midst of her evasive maneuvers, Mu Yue withdrew several kunai from her ninja tool pouch. She threw three kunai toward Iwaku and one toward Zi.
Zi, feeling the chill in his body, silently opened his mouth, and a large amount of chakra gathered in front of him, rapidly forming a dark purple chakra ball.
Although Iwaku's plan was insane, it was indeed a viable option.
If they continued the stalemate, the outcome would only be their mutual deaths at Mu Yue's hands, and the Iwagakure forces would fail to break through.
"Damn, a Tailed Beast Ball!" Kakashi furrowed his brows upon noticing Zi's attempt to gather the tailed beast's chakra.
He wanted to stop it, but they were occupied with dealing with the numerous Iwagakure shinobi in their vicinity.
After all, the Iwagakure forces outnumbered the Konoha ninjas by about eight hundred. If it weren't for the fact that Konoha had ambushed them, a direct clash might have resulted in significant casualties for Konoha by now.
"He's going to release a Tailed Beast Ball?!" Some of the more distant Iwagakure ninjas were stunned.
If Zi were to release the Tailed Beast Ball here, he would take both the Konoha and Iwagakure ninjas with him.
Whether they were from Konoha or Iwagakure, the ninjas instinctively wanted to get away from Zi.
If he were to release the Tailed Beast Ball, they could at least try to run for it.
Boom!
The three kunai Mu Yue threw were incredibly fast, and Iwaku could only detonate an Explosion Release stone to interfere with them. However, he only managed to deflect two of the kunai, while the third one continued on its path toward Iwaku.
Swish!
As the kunai grazed Iwaku's right side, Mu Yue appeared beside him in an instant, grasping the kunai and stabbing it toward Iwaku.
However, Iwaku reacted strangely, not panicking but instead looking pleased.
Iwaku had never thought that he could defeat Mu Yue in single combat, even when he was at his peak. Now, weakened by the Ice Age technique, it was even more impossible.
After all, not every Blast Release ninja had the ability to self-destruct, nor did everyone have the courage to do so.
"If I can die together with Mu Yue, then I won't have lived my life in vain under Oyamaki-sama's mentorship." Iwaku thought to himself.
At such a close distance, Mu Yue had not anticipated that he possessed the ability to self-destruct, and she surely wouldn't have time to perform the Flying Thunder God Technique.
If Mu Yue didn't have any other special defensive abilities, Iwaku's plan might just succeed in taking them both out.
"Blast Release: Self-Detonation!"
Powerful Blast Release chakra erupted, and a brilliant white light engulfed Iwaku's body.
Just as Iwaku thought he had succeeded, Mu Yue's body vanished.
Boom!
Mu Yue appeared beside Zi, unleashing a powerful blast with her Exploding Fist, sending the elderly man stumbling and causing the almost-complete Tailed Beast Ball to dissipate.
Iwaku stared at Mu Yue, bewildered. He couldn't understand how she had seen through his plan. Could it be that she possessed a space-piercing mind-reading ninjutsu?
The next moment, all of Iwaku's questions and worries vanished, as he quite literally exploded, in the literal sense.
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion reverberated, followed by a blinding white light. In an instant, the deputy captain of the Iwagakure Blast Corps vanished, leaving behind only a charred, gaping crater.
He could never have imagined that beneath Mu Yue's glasses lay a pair of Byakugan that could see through chakra, nor could he have fathomed that just a glance from her was enough to reveal most of his information.
From the very beginning, Mu Yue had seen through Iwaku's plan. That was why, in addition to throwing three kunai at Iwaku, she had also thrown a Flying Thunder God Kunai towards Zi.
By doing so, she forced Iwaku to self-destruct while simultaneously disrupting Zi's attempt to release the Tailed Beast Ball.
Kakashi's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
If Zi had successfully released the Tailed Beast Ball, they might have been protected by Mu Yue, but the Konoha ninja forces would have undoubtedly suffered significant losses.
"Lord Iwaku!"
Some Iwagakure ninjas stared in disbelief, shocked that Iwaku had self-destructed.
"This waste...this guy..." Zi, who had managed to steady himself, looked at the charred crater and felt a pang of emotion.
Although Iwaku was indeed incompetent and had led the Iwagakure forces into a dire situation, he wasn't entirely useless.
At the very least, Iwaku was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the village and the Iwagakure forces.
What about him, then...?
Zi's thoughts turned inward, reflecting on his own life.
Like many other jinchuriki who had been sealed with a tailed beast from a young age, Zi had endured a tragic and lonely childhood, facing scorn, discrimination, and fear from those around him.
Because of these experiences, even though the Four-Tails had acknowledged him, Zi was reluctant to communicate with the beast.
He felt that if it weren't for the Four-Tails, he wouldn't have gone through such hardships, and he resented his identity as a jinchuriki.
Even though he knew that establishing a mental link with the tailed beast and achieving mutual understanding would make him stronger without any need for training, Zi still refused to communicate with the Four-Tails. He just couldn't bring himself to get past that mental barrier.
However, witnessing Iwaku's self-destruction changed something within Zi.
Even now, Zi considered Iwaku to be a terrible person.
After all, Iwaku had forced him to use his complete tailed beast transformation in the presence of numerous Iwagakure ninjas, showing a blatant disregard for the lives of his fellow villagers.
But even someone as awful as Iwaku was willing to sacrifice himself for the village and the Iwagakure forces.
Zi didn't consider himself to be as terrible as Iwaku, so why couldn't he muster the courage to overcome his mental block and harness the power to turn the tide of the battle?
Zi's thoughts stirred, and he found himself in a dark space, facing the Four-Tails—a towering, red-furred ape with an imposing presence.
The Four-Tails gazed silently at Zi, saying nothing.
Zi looked at the beast, summoning all his strength to open his mouth and speak. He was afraid that if he held back even a little, he wouldn't be able to get the words out.
"Son, please help me. Lend me more of your power," Zi said, his expression complex as he uttered these words for the first time.
This was the first time he had called the Four-Tails by its name. In the past, he had avoided any communication with the beast and certainly wouldn't have addressed it as a friend.
Zi's heart was filled with trepidation as he waited for the Four-Tails' response. He feared that the beast would reject him and humiliate him further, as he had often ignored the Four-Tails in the past.
The Four-Tails looked at Zi with a smile, pleased that the stubborn man had finally let go of his stubbornness. He was glad to see Zi's progress.
"As you wish, Zi," the Four-Tails said, generously infusing a large amount of its chakra into Zi's body.
Zi was taken aback by the Four-Tails' actions. He hadn't expected that the very creature that had caused him so much pain and a tragic childhood would so readily agree to his request.
He had steeled himself for rejection and humiliation...
"Thank you," Zi whispered, his voice fading as his consciousness left the mental space.
PS:
I encountered a minor setback as some relatives unexpectedly paid a visit and insisted that I join them for a few drinks.
When elders pour drinks for you, you can't refuse, and now I'm feeling a bit tipsy after a few glasses.
To avoid staying up too late, I'll have to stop here for now. I'll aim to finish the rest within the next couple of days, as this battle scene is taking a bit longer than expected.
(End of Chapter)
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