Chapter 192: Breaking the Genjutsu

Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Breaking the Genjutsu

In the forest.

More than a dozen afterimages flickered in and out beneath the moonlight. Every so often, several would collide, producing a few sharp clang, clang sounds of metal striking metal before abruptly separating again.

Bang!

After sending a Konoha ANBU flying with a kick, Kakuzu barely had time to catch his breath before another ANBU immediately locked onto him.

"Hmph..."

With a disdainful snort, Kakuzu flickered away and landed atop a large tree.

A gentle breeze swept through the forest.

Standing upon the crown of the tree, Kakuzu wore a cold expression as the red-cloud cloak on his body billowed in the wind, fluttering with a soft flap, flap.

Taking advantage of the brief lull, the Konoha ANBU quickly readjusted their formation and surrounded Kakuzu from all sides.

Kakuzu swept his gaze around him.

After confirming that there were no fewer than sixteen Konoha ANBU currently besieging him, his heart sank slightly.

This entire vicious battle had been nothing short of an undeserved calamity for him.

He had originally just been going about his usual business—hunting down a target and collecting the bounty.

Then, out of nowhere, the Third Hokage had come charging after him with the Adamantine Staff in hand and chased him halfway across the damn village.

Even now, Kakuzu still hadn’t managed to properly catch his breath.

Boom...

At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed from the river in the distance.

Kakuzu and the Konoha ANBU all turned to look.

On the battlefield over there, waves of freezing air surged while flames illuminated the night sky!

"Sasori has already brought out his Ice Release Human Puppet...?"

As Sasori’s current partner, Kakuzu knew that Sasori generally wouldn’t use his Human Puppets lightly. Once he brought one out, it meant he had been dragged into a fierce battle.

The Konoha ANBU, meanwhile, all wore worried expressions.

Seeing traces of Ice Release on the battlefield by the river, they assumed that the formidable "Kawa" from earlier was over there as well. Inevitably, they began to worry about the Third Hokage.

One of the Konoha ANBU captains stepped forward and said, "Finish him quickly! We’re going to reinforce Lord Hokage!"

In an instant, the Konoha ANBU launched a fierce assault on Kakuzu.

Kakuzu leaped high into the air, evading a vicious Wind Release ninjutsu.

Before he could even land, however, several kunai wrapped with large numbers of explosive tags struck him, engulfing him in a violent explosion.

Staring at the cloud of smoke and dust filling the air, one ANBU asked, "He’s dead, right?"

Another ANBU nodded. "I saw the kunai hit him with my own eyes. At this distance, those explosive tags should’ve blown him to pieces!"

But at the exact moment the two ANBU let down their guard—

Two arms suddenly pierced through the smoke and shot outward!

Each hand seized one of them by the throat, and in the blink of an eye, both ANBU were dragged straight into the smoke.

"AAARGH...!"

Two bloodcurdling screams immediately rang out from within the smoke.

As the smoke gradually dispersed, everyone discovered that the necks of the two ANBU in Kakuzu’s hands had already been completely snapped.

Casually tossing their corpses aside, Kakuzu said coldly, "Coming after me was the biggest mistake you could’ve made..."

Chirrrp—!

Before Kakuzu could even finish speaking, the piercing cry of birds suddenly erupted behind him.

Immediately afterward, an arm crackling with lightning pierced straight through his chest from behind!

"Cough..."

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Kakuzu struggled to turn his head.

The person who had ambushed him from behind was a white-haired Konoha ANBU wearing a fox mask.

It was none other than the captain of Konoha’s ANBU Team 11—

Hatake Kakashi.

Following the Third Hokage’s orders, Guy had already returned to the village to search for Hyuga Kagami and Shisui. Thus, among the members of Team 11, Kakashi was currently the only one still accompanying the main force.

Kakuzu was completely caught off guard by Kakashi’s ambush.

He hadn’t sensed him at all.

Forcing his head around, Kakuzu stared at Kakashi and asked, "When... did you get behind me...?"

Kakashi didn’t answer.

Instead, he abruptly yanked his right arm out of Kakuzu’s chest.

The instant Kakashi withdrew his arm, Kakuzu’s pupils contracted sharply.

A torrent of blood sprayed from the gaping hole in his chest, and his entire body toppled stiffly to the ground.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The Konoha ANBU scattered throughout the area quickly gathered together.

After giving Kakuzu, who lay motionless on the ground, a cursory glance, they all shifted their attention toward the battlefield by the river in the distance.

His chest had been completely pierced through.

In the eyes of the Konoha ANBU, this bounty hunter who had once attempted to assassinate the First Hokage was unquestionably dead.

Thus, even Kakashi paid little attention to Kakuzu lying on the ground. Instead, everyone focused their attention on the Third Hokage’s battlefield.

But at that very moment—

Several masked creatures suddenly burst out of Kakuzu’s body!

One of the masked creatures opened its mouth and spat out a mass of crackling lightning, instantly engulfing several nearby Konoha ANBU...

...

Inside Hyuga Kagami’s Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

Watching the black-and-white world around him rapidly recede, Kagami, who was trapped within Fugaku’s genjutsu space, immediately came to his senses.

Looking at the Dragon Vein floating in midair, he teased, "Hey, aren’t you a little slow? If this had been a one-on-one fight, I’d already be dead!"

The plump Dragon Vein turned its head away and let out a snort, seemingly protesting that it had already gone through a great deal of effort just to barely squeeze its way into this black-and-white genjutsu space.

In truth, Kagami understood the reason as well.

The Dragon Vein was sealed inside the gourd artifact he carried with him. Although Kagami had already released the seal during the battle, it was still considerably more troublesome for the Dragon Vein to help him break free from a genjutsu than it would be for a Tailed Beast normally sealed inside a jinchūriki.

Naturally, it also took more time.

But as with everything, there were advantages and disadvantages.

Because the Dragon Vein wasn’t sealed inside Kagami’s body, his enemies wouldn’t even realize it was there.

And because they were unaware of its existence, they naturally wouldn’t think to cast a genjutsu on it.

That way, Kagami could avoid the awkward situation of both the jinchūriki and the Tailed Beast being caught in a genjutsu at the same time.

The Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure, Yagura Karatachi, had been a perfect jinchūriki.

Yet even someone like him, after falling victim to a deliberate scheme, had still been unable to escape the tragic fate of being controlled through genjutsu.

...

Outside the genjutsu space.

When the Uchiha elites saw that "Kawa" and "Homura" had successively fallen under their clan head’s genjutsu, they were immediately overjoyed.

They quickly surrounded the two.

All they needed was a single order from their clan head, and they would immediately cut down Kawa and Homura while the two were still trapped in the genjutsu.

At that moment, Fugaku and Shisui simultaneously collapsed into sitting positions on the ground, gasping heavily for breath.

The Uchiha elites immediately gathered around Fugaku.

"Clan Head, are you all right?"

Fugaku shook his head without saying anything.

His gaze, however, remained firmly locked on Shisui across from him.

Never in his wildest expectations had he imagined that this "Homura" would actually forcefully break free from the genjutsu of his Mangekyo Sharingan!

Shisui wasn’t doing much better himself.

Breaking Fugaku’s Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu had consumed a tremendous amount of his ocular power.

He glanced at Hyuga Kagami beside him and thought,

"I have to break Senpai out of the genjutsu first!"

Fugaku naturally understood what Shisui was thinking. He said coldly, "Don’t waste your effort. You should know that my genjutsu isn’t so easily broken..."

Before Fugaku could even finish speaking—

Hyuga Kagami grabbed the heavily panting Shisui and vanished in a flash...