"Argh…! My head… It hurts!"
From the inside, Izayoi felt nothing at all when those intangible Yin Release chakra threads tried to invade him. The moment they touched him—just like all the ninjutsu repelled by Shinra Tensei—they were scattered by an unseen "rule-like" force. The would-be caster was left suffering severe backlash.
The agonized screams came from Yamanaka Fū, who had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for a shot at a one-hit kill. He tried taking over Izayoi's body to help Danzo seize the Rinnegan, only to end up sprawled on the ground, clutching his head and howling in pain.
Izayoi glanced at Yamanaka Fū—sprawled out with his hands clutching his head, eyes wide in agony—and could only shake his head. Under his breath, he muttered, "What a dumbass."
Using a Yin Release-type mental jutsu against an Ōtsutsuki, and one who had awakened a supreme dōjutsu at that, was a suicidal move.
Apart from taijutsu and the "rule-based" abilities, every aspect of an Ōtsutsuki's resistance was basically inhuman. And that was only Izayoi's red-rank Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
A purebred alien Ōtsutsuki would have immunity to ordinary ninjutsu—possibly even to Kekkei Tōta or divine-level illusions. Just that single immunity would be enough to fill 99% of the ninja world with despair.
"Keep going. Use area attacks."
No one bothered to help the screaming Yamanaka Fū. Danzo's voice echoed from the darkness. With Wind Release woven into his words, anyone without Tenseigan or Mind's Eye of the Kagura would have trouble pinpointing his location.
"Fire Style: Hiding in Ash and Dust Technique!"
A small gap opened in the barrier, allowing four Root shinobi to spew dense ash inside, instantly reducing visibility in that enclosed space to a dull gray. Right before the barrier sealed back up, those four gritted their teeth as a small flame ignited the ash, unleashing a huge, orange-red flare that threatened a devastating explosion.
"Shinra Tensei."
Once again, Izayoi's repulsive shockwave dispersed both ash and flame, slamming them against the barrier wall. This time the shockwave was surprisingly powerful.
The Four Violet Flames Formation ballooned outward like a rapidly inflating balloon, badly warping from the inside. Although it withstood breaking, the four shinobi maintaining the barrier saw the barrier itself being pushed toward them. They didn't even have time to cancel it. As soon as the barrier's flame-laced edges touched them:
"Argh…!"
A chorus of screams rose. The Four Violet Flames Formation vanished, and Izayoi's force wave continued outward, shattering the stone bridge and stirring up massive dust clouds. Already dimly lit, the subterranean complex plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Izayoi, who had just been about to intensify his next Shinra Tensei to test the barrier's upper limit, paused, noticing four charred corpses where the barrier-shielders had been. Shaking his head, he murmured, "What a waste. All that precious fodder…"
Then, as though sensing something else, a glint flickered in Izayoi's eyes. Without any hesitation, he launched another repulsive shockwave, blowing away the near-microscopic poisonous insects that were invisible to the naked eye. The instant he touched ground, more jutsu of various natures came hurtling in from all directions, only to be repelled once again by that unstoppable force.
The Root operatives obviously knew by now how powerful Izayoi's ability was. They refrained from using another barrier to trap him. Instead, they used Earth Release to turn the ground muddy and bombarded him from a distance, forcing Izayoi to repeatedly use that same power. They were collecting intel on his jutsu for Lord Danzo.
Meanwhile, in the shadows, Danzo turned to Yamanaka Fū, who was still reeling but somewhat recovered. "Why haven't the rest of our squads arrived? Did you fail to pass on my orders?"
Fū pressed his palm to his aching head. "I notified everyone. If they're not here by now, they must've run into enemy forces. Earlier, I detected several chakra signatures. Probably that man's subordinates. But their chakra wasn't strong, so unless they're picking them off one by one, they shouldn't be able to stop all our squads."
Hearing that, Danzo's expression improved slightly. He then turned to Aburame Torune, who had tried several stealth attacks already. "Torune, do you see any openings yet?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo." Torune nodded. "That jutsu of his is extremely unusual and strong—it can blow away or scatter all ninjutsu. Its 'cooldown' is very short. But it also has limits. To unleash that big invisible blast, he needs time to gather chakra and transform it into that repulsive element. We can see a greenish glow forming around him when he charges up."
"If he fires it consecutively without charging, the second wave is only about as strong as a super-sized Wind Release: Great Breakthrough that can repel everything in close range. If someone with a robust body were prepared, they might be able to tank that second blast. He seems aware of this, so he rarely uses the rapid version. He prefers to stand in place—or fly above—while charging. That's the best window to strike, except…"
Torune paused, letting Fū interject. Wincing at Izayoi—who was apparently pinned down by Root's "cover fire" but still blocking all ninjutsu—Fū continued gravely, "But his Yin Release chakra is unbelievably strong. Yamanaka techniques don't work on him, so illusions probably won't, either. To break his stance, you'd need to prevent him from charging even once, and also keep him from using that quick-shot version. That's basically impossible."
"And according to my insects, his chakra is immense," Torune added. "Hoping to deplete him by attrition is equally unrealistic."
"Flying, near-absolute offense and defense, seemingly unlimited usage of that jutsu, and not so long ago he summoned giant creatures… This is the Rinnegan's power, yes?" Danzo stared at Izayoi with both greed and excitement. "The legendary apex of the Three Great Dōjutsu should have more than just these three abilities."
No doubt about it, Danzo would have to get personally involved. His plan in place, he loosened the bandages around his right eye, unsealing the device that held the stolen Sharingan in his arm. He gestured in code at Fū and Torune. The two instantly nodded and vanished.
For his part, Izayoi—currently "exchanging turns" with Root—looked thoroughly amused. From an outside perspective, it seemed like they had him pinned with constant long-range jutsu, forcing him to stand in place. But, in Izayoi's eyes, every Root ninja was a treasure. He was being careful not to kill them too fast. He even felt heartache if any of them accidentally got themselves killed—like losing a fortune when you're broke.
To him, if Gatō was "the richest noble in the world," then Root was a goldmine of "points." Each Root operative was at least mid-chūnin level, typically starting at green-rank potential or higher, up to jōnin with blue-rank, or even purple-rank Kekkei Genkai. Almost none of them had just a single trait; nearly all had two or three.
Whereas outside, the human puppets might kill multiple ninja before finally dropping one green trait, here in Root, for every two kills at most, one would drop green or even blue, sometimes even two traits at once. Such a high drop rate was unprecedented since Izayoi first acquired his system. A tear welled at the corner of his eye.
At last, his day had come.
All that anxiety he'd felt about leveling up too slowly—falling behind the Shippuden-era power creeps, then having to face alien Ōtsutsuki with godlike abilities—suddenly vanished. He was cured of that stress for good.
~~~
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