Chapter 126: Protection

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Protection

"Huh? Has the battle really gotten this intense?"

Gazing from afar at the golden flashes that periodically lit up the horizon, while the continuous thunderous booms echoed in his ears, White Zetsu’s clone wore a look of astonishment.

At the moment, his main body and Obito were busy holding back the main pursuit force led by Danzo on the outskirts of Konoha. Because of that, this lone clone was the only one currently responsible for monitoring Uchiha Shinichi.

But despite all their calculations, there was one thing they had failed to account for—

Uchiha Shinichi’s sensory abilities.

Especially after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Shinichi’s sensory abilities had improved tremendously, reaching a level comparable to that of an ordinary sensory-type ninja.

Because of this, even White Zetsu, who could freely travel underground, couldn’t get too close.

Otherwise, Shinichi would notice him.

He had already confirmed this several times while following Shinichi along the way.

So for now, he could only watch from a great distance, not daring to approach too closely. As a result, he had absolutely no idea what was actually happening on the battlefield.

"I can’t let him die."

However, the intensity of the battle had far exceeded his expectations.

To make sure nothing happened to Uchiha Shinichi, White Zetsu hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to take the risk and move closer.

After several leaps, White Zetsu landed atop a large tree, hoping to use its height to get a better view of the battlefield.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Just then, iron spears came shooting toward him from every direction!

"What!?"

Before White Zetsu’s clone could even react, the iron spears pierced straight through his body from all sides.

At first glance, his entire body looked like a hedgehog, covered from head to toe in protruding spears.

Hiss...

Immediately afterward, the distinctive sizzling sound of explosive tags being ignited rang out.

Only then did White Zetsu’s clone, completely pinned in place by countless iron spears, notice that some of them actually had explosive tags tied around them!

"This is bad!"

That was the only thought he had time for.

In the next instant, White Zetsu’s clone was swallowed by a chain of explosions.

Once the explosions finally subsided, the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, which had been secretly following behind Hyuga Kagami all this time, descended from the sky.

It carefully examined the mangled remains of White Zetsu’s clone, which had been blown apart by the explosive tags.

In truth, ever since Team Eleven had left the village, the Third Kazekage Human Puppet had been following Hyuga Kagami from a considerable distance.

Its task was simple—

Eliminate anyone attempting to spy on him.

Since Hyuga Kagami already knew that Uchiha Shinichi had come into contact with Obito, there was naturally no way he would neglect the possibility of Obito and Zetsu spying on them.

Thus, even while locked in an intense battle with Uchiha Shinichi, Kagami never stopped monitoring his surroundings.

And it was precisely because of this caution that, the instant White Zetsu’s clone approached, Kagami’s Tenseigan detected him in advance.

This reconnaissance-type White Zetsu clone was capable of hiding underground and, through vibrations transmitted across the earth, observing chakra activity over a vast area on the surface.

But when it came to targets in the air, his reconnaissance capabilities were extremely limited.

As a result, he failed to notice the Third Kazekage Human Puppet flying overhead in time.

By the time the ambush came, he didn’t even have the chance to react before he was killed outright.

...

Meanwhile, the battle on Hyuga Kagami’s side was still raging.

Through careful observation, Kagami discovered that Uchiha Shinichi wasn’t merely capable of removing his injuries.

Even after suffering setback after setback, he was somehow able to maintain his chakra reserves as well.

"Simply removing or postponing an injured state wouldn’t be enough to accomplish this. This guy’s Mangekyo Sharingan ability definitely isn’t limited to injuries!"

At that thought, Kagami recalled what Shisui had told him about the circumstances surrounding Uchiha Yui’s death.

"The person he loved died in his arms, and he was powerless to do anything about it. At first, I thought the Mangekyo ability he awakened was related to ’healing.’ But now it seems the true keyword behind his ability isn’t ’healing’—it’s ’protection’!"

This so-called "protection" was clearly not something as simple as strengthening his defenses.

Rather, it was a form of protection applied to his very state of being.

Perhaps, for a certain period of time, Uchiha Shinichi’s physical state was completely locked in place by the effect of this "protection."

As long as he remained within the duration of that protection, no matter how badly he was injured or how much chakra he consumed—

his condition would remain completely unchanged.

"But in the end, this is still only a Mangekyo Sharingan dojutsu. There has to be a way to break it."

After roughly figuring out the nature of Uchiha Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan ability, Kagami needed only an instant to think of two ways to counter it.

The first method was simple.

He could drag out the battle until the duration of "Protection" expired. Once that happened, the lock on Uchiha Shinichi’s state would naturally be released.

The second method—

This Mangekyo Sharingan dojutsu inevitably had an upper limit to how much damage it could withstand.

As long as Kagami inflicted enough damage on Uchiha Shinichi within a short enough period of time to exceed the limit of his "Protection," he would undoubtedly be able to break the technique by force.

During their previous exchanges, Kagami had been worried that he might destroy Uchiha Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan.

Because of that, he had exercised considerable restraint whenever he attacked.

But now he understood.

The more he held back, the less chance he had of doing anything to Uchiha Shinichi.

So Kagami decided to completely change his approach.

This time, he would stop holding back, hit Uchiha Shinichi with everything necessary—

and end the battle as quickly as possible!

As for whether Uchiha Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan could survive what came next...

That could only be left up to fate.

Having made his decision, Hyuga Kagami’s figure flickered.

In an instant, he closed the distance and appeared directly in front of Uchiha Shinichi.

At the same time, the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion thrust forward, aimed straight at Shinichi beneath his Susanoo!

BOOM!

With a thunderous explosion, Uchiha Shinichi’s enormous Susanoo shattered on impact—

and his body was directly severed in two by the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!

Lying on the ground, Uchiha Shinichi coughed up blood as he murmured,

"So fast..."

Kagami kept his eyes fixed on Uchiha Shinichi while simultaneously splitting his attention to sense the surrounding area.

Within his perception, numerous chakra signatures were rapidly converging on his position.

Some were unfamiliar.

Others belonged to the familiar chakra signatures of his Team Eleven comrades.

Kagami frowned inwardly.

"I’m running out of time!"

At that moment, two trails of bloody tears once again streamed from Uchiha Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan.

Then—

Kagami suddenly felt his consciousness blur.

The entire process lasted less than a second.

By the time Kagami regained his senses, Uchiha Shinichi had already been completely restored to his previous state.

Even his chakra reserves...

had not decreased at all.

Kagami immediately became certain of his deduction.

"Just as I thought!"

After returning to his original state, Uchiha Shinichi didn’t immediately launch another attack.

Instead, his face was filled with astonishment as he blurted out,

"H-How could this happen!? How did so much time disappear all at once!?"

According to Uchiha Shinichi’s own calculations, his ability should have been able to last for at least another five minutes.

But after taking a direct hit from Hyuga Kagami’s Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, the remaining duration of his ability had somehow been drained away in an instant.

After quickly ruling out every other possibility, Uchiha Shinichi realized where the problem lay.

His gaze shifted toward the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion in Kagami’s hand.

He asked,

"Just what kind of ninjutsu... is that golden sword in your hand?"