Chapter 183: Majestic Destroyer Flame

Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Majestic Destroyer Flame

Looking at the shuriken hurtling straight toward him with piercing shrieks, Hyuga Kagami’s heart skipped a beat as an ominous feeling welled up inside him.

Boom...

Boom...

Boom...

Before Kagami could make another move, the shuriken slammed into the ice mirrors one after another. The sheer force behind them made it seem as though artillery shells were bombarding the mirrors!

Shockwaves rolled backward as smoke billowed into the air!

The outermost layer of ice mirrors shattered in an instant!

Immediately afterward, the shuriken continued onward without losing momentum, crashing into the inner layers of ice mirrors. Amid the surging frost and scattering shards of ice, the Wind Release ninjutsu infused into the shuriken spun like miniature whirlwinds, rapidly slicing through the inner mirrors.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Only after smashing through four consecutive layers of ice mirrors did the shuriken finally exhaust all their momentum and fall to the ground.

Upon hitting the ground, every one of those shuriken cracked into several pieces. Their power had been so tremendous that even the meticulously forged shuriken themselves could barely withstand it.

Crack...

At that moment, even the final layer—the fifth ice mirror—failed to escape unscathed. Cracks appeared across its surface, spreading wildly in every direction like a spiderweb.

Kagami breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Whew... I finally blocked it!"

Suddenly, with a sharp bang, the Adamantine Staff effortlessly smashed through the crack-covered fifth ice mirror and struck Kagami behind it.

At the same time, the Third Hokage rapidly formed hand seals, then slammed both hands heavily onto the ground, unleashing an Earth Release ninjutsu.

In an instant, the mud on the ground surged upward like a python, twisting through the air before wrapping around Kagami and firmly binding the lower half of his body. At the same time, a powerful arm extended from the Adamantine Staff that had struck him and seized him by the throat.

The Third Hokage slowly walked over. "Finally caught you!"

Suddenly, an eye opened on the Adamantine Staff, and Enma’s voice rang out. "No, this is a clone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the arm gripping Kagami’s throat tightened.

Kagami immediately collapsed into a splash of clear water.

"A Water Clone?"

The Third Hokage’s gaze sharpened as he swept his eyes across the surroundings.

From the outer perimeter, a Konoha ANBU shouted, "Lord Hokage! He’s at your nine o’clock!"

The Third Hokage reached out and caught the Adamantine Staff as it sprang back toward him. His razor-sharp gaze immediately shifted toward the nine o’clock direction.

After the Konoha ANBU stationed around the perimeter exposed his position, Kagami curled his lips beneath his mask and stepped out from behind a large tree.

"Lord Hokage, are we really going to keep this up?"

The moment Kagami had sensed something was wrong, he had taken the opportunity to form hand seals and create a Water Clone. He knew very well that against an opponent of the Hokage’s caliber, the defensive power of his Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals could no longer be considered reliable.

The Third Hokage smiled confidently. "This old man has only just finished warming up!"

Kagami swept his gaze around the surroundings, his expression beneath the mask turning grim.

Although the Third Hokage’s mobility was the worst among all the Hokage, it was still far beyond that of an ordinary ninja. In particular, by using the Adamantine Staff to propel himself over short distances, he could almost instantly catch up with Kagami’s Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

So for Kagami, who was currently using his Water Release clone, trying to shake off the Third Hokage through sheer mobility was simply unrealistic.

Moreover, there was still an entire ring of Konoha ANBU surrounding the battlefield.

Nearly every one of these ANBU was an elite. Among them were not only Kagami’s Team 11 comrades, Kakashi and Guy, but also every member of the Third Hokage’s personal Hokage Guard.

Even setting the Third Hokage aside, dealing with these people alone was enough to give Kagami a headache.

Kagami looked up at the night sky again.

The rain clouds he had previously created by taking advantage of the Third Hokage’s Multiple Fire Dragon Flame Bullets had already been completely exhausted. Although the night sky remained gloomy and overcast, the rain had stopped.

"Damn... Neither the heavens nor the terrain are on my side anymore!"

Kagami sighed inwardly, then quickly composed himself.

Even when driven into a desperate situation, he would never admit defeat. Besides, at worst, all he stood to lose this time was a single clone.

......

As Shisui raced through the forest, he repeatedly encountered ANBU comrades who had fallen behind the main pursuit force.

Yet after exchanging information with them, the doubts in Shisui’s heart not only failed to disappear—they only continued to pile up.

"An Ice Style ninja!? Wasn’t it Senpai who took Gloya’s corpse?"

Shisui had assumed all along that the person currently being pursued by the Third Hokage was Hyuga Kagami himself. That was why he had been rushing over in such a hurry.

But after asking around, he discovered that the person the Third Hokage was pursuing was actually a mysterious Ice Style ninja.

"Could it be a friend of Senpai’s?"

Shisui had personally witnessed Kagami leave with Gloya’s corpse. Following that line of thought, he figured Kagami might have handed the corpse over to one of his friends, only for that person to subsequently attract the Third Hokage’s attention.

With countless thoughts swirling through his mind, Shisui pushed his Body Flicker Technique to its limit, moving so fast that he practically left no shadow behind.

Watching Shisui vanish from sight in an instant, an ANBU who knew him well couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

"As expected of ’Shisui of the Body Flicker’!"

A short while later, Shisui finally reached the battlefield.

However, he did not recklessly enter the battlefield, nor did he reveal his identity to the ANBU guarding the perimeter. Instead, he concealed himself within the canopy of a large tree and observed the battlefield from afar.

At that moment, Kagami and the Third Hokage had already clashed once again.

Because Kagami had unleashed a large number of Water Style and Ice Style techniques, the entire battlefield was shrouded in mist and freezing air. From even a moderate distance away, it was difficult to see what was happening clearly.

"So it really is an Ice Style ninja!"

After confirming that the person targeted by the Third Hokage truly was an Ice Style ninja, Shisui immediately hesitated.

Logically speaking, as a Konoha ANBU, he should assist the Third Hokage in capturing this Ice Style ninja.

But he knew that this Ice Style ninja must have been entrusted by Kagami to deal with Gloya’s corpse.

Once this Ice Style ninja was captured, the truth that Gloya had died at Hiashi’s hands might be exposed.

And when that happened, Kumo would inevitably seize the opportunity to make trouble. Konoha would then be forced into a terrible dilemma—either sacrifice the Hyuga Clan or enter into an all-out war with Kumo!

"For the sake of the village, I absolutely cannot let this Ice Style ninja be captured!"

Having made up his mind, Shisui suppressed the unease in his conscience and changed into an ordinary cloak.

With a flicker, he appeared before two Konoha ANBU guarding the outer perimeter.

"Who are you?"

Seeing that Shisui was wearing a Konoha ANBU mask but a cloak that differed from standard ANBU attire, the two Konoha ANBU immediately became vigilant.

Their six eyes met.

The tomoe within Shisui’s Sharingan spun rapidly.

Thud! Thud!

With two muffled sounds, the two ANBU caught in Shisui’s genjutsu immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

After moving the two unconscious ANBU off to the side, Shisui surveyed the battlefield once more. Once he had planned out an escape route for later, he immediately leaped atop a large tree and shouted toward the Third Hokage in the middle of the battlefield:

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

BOOM—!

In an instant, a colossal wave of fire, more than ten times greater than a Great Fireball, surged toward the battlefield...