Chapter 501: Senju Tobirama [Kurama Connection]

"Ha!"

The red giant, who had stood up again after obtaining unknown power, let out a soul-stirring battle cry. His sturdy body leaped up, performing a front flip in the air.

Landing, he assumed a "swallow-style flying kick" posture, using the gravitational acceleration brought by his tonnage to kick heavily onto the Wood Statue's arm that was tightly pinching Senju Tobirama.

*Snap! *

The thick wooden giant hand snapped in response. Senju Tobirama felt his whole body loosen, the pressure around him greatly reduced. However, having been sucked too hard by the Wood Style just now, he couldn't refine chakra for a while and could only watch helplessly as he fell headfirst toward the ground.

*Whoosh~*

Just as his white head was about to crack open like a watermelon hitting the ground, Kagami, with quick eyes and fast hands, performed a sliding tackle and caught Senju Tobirama steadily in his hand at the last moment.

"Hoo... ah?"

Uchiha Kagami let out a long sigh of relief. Just as he was about to place the teacher in his hand in a safe place, he was suddenly hit hard from behind. The savage giant force almost made him fall face-first.

"Roar!"

Kagami, who had stabilized his figure, heard the roar behind him again. With a feeling in his heart, he took the opportunity to roll, thereby opening up the distance from the attacker.

Looking back, two ferocious wooden dragons were circling the place where he had just been. If he had been a second late, he might have staged another "binding play."

*Boom! Boom! *

The two Wood Statues stood together again. Under the clone's endless supply of chakra, the Wood Statue whose arm had been kicked off had now recovered as before.

"Tsk."

Senju Tobirama, who had recovered some strength, looked solemnly at the clone on top of the Wood Statue. After such a long battle, the opponent's terrifying momentum had not decreased at all.

He is worthy of being a template inherited from his peak older brother; ordinary ninjas are simply not a match for him in one exchange.

Thinking that he hadn't provided any useful help to Uchiha Kagami so far, Senju Tobirama couldn't help but clench his fists, a faint light flickering in his scarlet eyes.

If ordinary ninjas won't do...

Then...

Reaching out to touch something on his body that didn't belong to him, a bold plan was conceived in his mind.

"Teacher, take care of yourself. I might not be able to look after you in the next battle."

Uchiha Kagami, not knowing what his teacher was planning, carefully placed Senju Tobirama on the ground and turned his gaze to the two Wood Statues that were eyeing him covetously.

If it weren't for the clone casting the Cloth-Wrapping Technique just now, he might have already solved one of the Wood Statues.

"Kagami, you just go ahead and do it. As your teacher, I won't drag you down again this time."

Senju Tobirama nodded and then locked his gaze on the expressionless clone.

"Ha!"

Without wasting any more time, Uchiha Kagami stood up, assumed a fighting stance, and strode forward, rushing toward the two Wood Statues with flying sand and stones along the way.

*Rumble! *

Leaping up dozens of meters away from the Wood Statues, he delivered a simple and unadorned flying kick, targeting the No. 1 Wood Statue beneath the clone.

*Thud! *

The clumsy Wood Statue was suddenly hit hard and stumbled back a few steps. After the red giant landed, he twisted his body, and his mountain-like fist slammed into the head of the No. 2 Wood Statue, instantly stirring up sky-filling wood chips.

"Ha!"

Kagami pursued the victory, grabbed the backward-leaning No. 2 Wood Statue, carried it on his back, tripped it to make it lose its center of gravity, and then used a shoulder throw to smash the Wood Statue heavily onto the ground.

*Crack! *

Cracks of all sizes instantly covered the Wood Statue's whole body. The next second, it shattered at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally turning into withered wood and collapsing.

"Roar!"

Seeing this, the No. 1 Wood Statue, which was stumbling back, got anxious and immediately threw out the two wooden dragons wrapped around its body, biting toward the red giant's back.

"Ha! ~"

However, its small movements had long been seen by Kagami. Facing the sneak attack of the two wooden dragons, the red giant raised his hand and shot out several orange-red crescent-shaped light darts.

*Boom! *

The two collided in mid-air. The wooden dragons still didn't get any advantage and were cut off by Kagami's Gaia cutting after a few hits, turning into withered wood and falling to the ground.

Not only that, while the smoke and dust produced by the explosion had not yet dissipated, the red giant's whole body suddenly exuded a silver light, and his entire figure turned into a stream of light with afterimages, rushing straight toward the No. 1 Wood Statue standing dull in place.

*Whoosh~*

Kagami, using his high-speed movement ability for the first time, steadied his mind and concentrated all his power on his fist. As he approached the No. 1 Wood Statue, he slammed out a Gaia fist containing terrifying giant force.

The clone, who was distracted and manipulating the Wood Statue on top of the No. 1 Wood Statue's head, felt the threat of death, and all the hair on its body stood up. Almost without any hesitation, it leaped backward and flew away from the Wood Statue.

*Snap! *

Almost at the same moment, the red giant's fist fell, and the Wood Statue's hard head was smashed into tiny wood chips with one punch, and the thick headless torso slowly fell backward.

In just the blink of an eye, the two Wood Statues that had been arrogant just now were blasted to death by the red giant who had regained his power, turning into rotten withered wood.

*Tap! *

On the other side, the clone that had just escaped the disaster landed steadily. Looking at the red giant's sturdy and straight body, it hesitated for a moment and did not pull the Wood Statue up again.

It was obvious that the Arhat Wood Statue was not the red giant's opponent, and even if it were summoned again, it would be to no avail.

Thinking of this, the clone clasped its hands together, closed its eyes, and a visible, eerie aura surged around its body.

"Bad! Kagami, interrupt him quickly!"

Senju Tobirama, who was preparing to open champagne for his disciple, sensed the natural energy suddenly rising on the field and quickly locked onto the clone in the distance with its eyes closed.

Hearing the teacher's reminder, Uchiha Kagami did not be ambiguous. He raised his hands to his chest, and the red light flourished.

"Ah Ha!"

When the light condensed to the point of being substantial, a red energy beam exuding a scorching aura sprayed out from the red giant's arm, targeting the clone with its eyes closed.

*Rumble! *

A violent explosion sounded, and the position where the clone stood was replaced by a bottomless crater.

*Beep~ Beep~ Beep~*

After releasing the finishing move, the red giant slowly lowered his hands, and the timer on his chest flashed red again. But for this seemingly victorious result, Senju Tobirama kept his brow furrowed.

In his perception, the natural energy refined by the clone had not disappeared.

*Boom! *

Sure enough, accompanied by a loud noise, the whole ground was shaking violently. The red giant, who had finally steadied his swaying body, saw a giant Guanyin Buddha head break through the ground from the deep crater that his light beam had just blasted out.

The giant figure climbed step by step, soon surpassing the red giant, and finally stopped at a height of nearly a thousand meters.

The solemn Buddha lowered its head, staring at the somewhat cramped red giant, and on its head, a tiny figure slowly opened its eyes.

The clone, who entered Sage Mode at the last moment, not only survived the baptism of Kagami's finishing light beam but also took the opportunity to summon the Thousand-Armed True Buddha.

"Damn it, still a step late."

Senju Tobirama hammered his thigh in annoyance. Now that the Buddha had appeared, the red giant transformed by Uchiha Kagami was as weak as a newborn baby in front of it. The battle, which originally had a few chances of winning, ended ahead of schedule.

*Beep~ Beep~ Beep~*

Uchiha Kagami, with his light flashing, looked up at the bottomless Buddha and did not show a trace of timidity. Instead, he assumed his usual fighting stance, leaped up, and began to attack the Buddha.

"Kagami... you..."

Senju Tobirama, watching this scene, was moved. He wanted to give up hope, but Uchiha Kagami actually still had fighting spirit. This enthusiastic heart was truly admirable.

By comparison, he seemed a bit timid.

"In the end, I, as a teacher, was taught a lesson by a disciple."

Senju Tobirama took a deep breath, his eyes becoming firm. Looking up at the clone at a height of a thousand meters, the last trace of hesitation in his heart vanished.

For the current plan, wanting to defeat the Thousand-Armed Buddha head-on was like a fool's dream. Compared to the Thousand-Armed True Buddha with its overwhelming pressure, the clone as the caster became the breakthrough point.

If he could solve the clone, the threat of the Buddha would disappear, and their victory would come.

*Buzz... *

The red giant flying in mid-air nimbly dodged the Buddha's attacks and used the opponent's clumsiness to use light beam skills from time to time, but the results were minimal.

The light beam that could kill a Tailed Beast shot onto the Buddha, only leaving a small crack, which recovered as before in the blink of an eye.

Even so, Kagami still did not give up. Even if the red light of the timer on his chest became more and more urgent, his attacks did not stop. Countless orange-red light bullets poured down, just to block the Buddha's footsteps.

However, the power of one person was ultimately limited. Constantly squandering the little energy left in his body, the red giant's figure became a bit shaky.

"Hoo!"

Kagami, who had just finished shooting an energy beam, was not careful and was slapped by the Buddha, who had seized the opportunity, smashing heavily onto the ground like a cannonball.

*Boom! *

Lying in a deep crater of tens of meters, Kagami wanted to struggle to stand up, but found that his whole body seemed to be filled with lead, and he couldn't even do a simple action like lifting a finger.

Lying powerlessly in the pitch-black soil, the beeping sound in his ears gradually became faint. Looking at the Buddha's palm raised high, a bitter expression appeared on Kagami's face.

Sorry everyone, I might be dying.

He had really tried his best, but he still couldn't change the cruel reality.

"I really want to eat Uchiha Da Lang's barbecue one more time, really want to drink a cup of iced lemon tea, really want to be with everyone..."

The memories of the first half of his life began to play back in his mind like a revolving lantern. Uchiha Kagami, with blurry eyes, suddenly heard a cold and sharp voice in his ears.

"Kagami! Not until the last moment! Never give up!"

"Teacher?"

Struggling to prop up his eyelids, through the giant perspective that had begun to become blurry, he saw the familiar figure standing at the edge of the crater. It was Senju Tobirama, who had been "rowing" (slacking off) before.

He looked determined, his words sounding like encouragement, and also like a entrustment.

"You rest well, leave the next battle to me!"

"Huh?"

Uchiha Kagami, who had recovered some sanity, was confused. To clarify, he didn't mean to look down on his teacher, but combined with Senju Tobirama's previous poor performance, he really couldn't believe that the other could have the ability to turn the tide.

"Teacher, why don't you leave me and run? Don't worry, Uncle Gin definitely won't blame you~"

"Do you think I would be afraid of that curly-haired guy?"

Glaring at the disciple who spoke nonsense, Senju Tobirama turned around, facing the approaching Buddha, and slowly took out something that made Uchiha Kagami's pupils shake violently.

"Teacher, you wouldn't want to..."

"As you think."

Ignoring the dumbfounded red giant, Senju Tobirama unfamiliarity buckled the driver onto his waist and took out the Nine-Tails card exuding a scorching aura.

"But the Nine-Tails, it..."

Uchiha Kagami blinked. It wasn't said that putting on a driver would definitely make one a Tailed Beast Knight. The only prerequisite for becoming a knight was to deal with the Tailed Beast first.

"How do you know if you don't try?"

Looking at the ferocious red fox on the card, a flash of red light passed through Senju Tobirama's eyes, and his consciousness was instantly drawn into it.

*Tick-tock~*

In the dark card space, the Nine-Tails was lying comfortably in the cozy little nest it had conceived. Finding a strange figure falling in front of it, it half-squinted its vertical pupils, curiously sizing up the newcomer.

"You are..."

"I am..."

Feeling the scorching aura close at hand, Senju Tobirama frowned slightly, preparing to introduce himself first.

He never thought the Tailed Beast was a creature that was easy to get along with, but the situation was urgent, and he only hoped that the Tailed Beast could make a deal with him to get through the current difficulty.

"It's you!"

However, what Senju Tobirama never expected was that before he could introduce himself, the giant fox in front of him actually stood up first and leaned its massive head over.

In the eyes staring at him, there was actually a strange, complex look.

There was excitement, joy, and a trace of lingering mutual appreciation.

"You know me?"

Seeing the Nine-Tails' expression, Senju Tobirama's heart tightened. Could it be that Uchiha Madara had said a lot of bad things about him in front of the Nine-Tails?

"Don't you remember? Oh! That's right, we met online before. This is our first time meeting offline."

Seeing Senju Tobirama's nervous face, the Nine-Tails slapped its forehead, and a human-like realization appeared on its ferocious beast head, after which it said words that were incomprehensible.

"What online or offline? This should be our first time facing each other alone."

Could it be that this guy had been tortured crazy by Uchiha Madara?

Senju Tobirama's face immediately showed a trace of pity. Sure enough, it was the naturally evil Uchiha, not even sparing the Tailed Beast.

"Last time, last time when you were fighting that octopus-bull-monster, wasn't it me who lent you power?"

Discovering that Senju Tobirama's confusion didn't seem fake, the Nine-Tails explained patiently, and the look in its eyes toward the white-haired man in front of it was full of appreciation.

It had taken the opportunity to see all of Senju Tobirama's memories at that time and expressed high approval of his repeated sneak attacks on Uchiha Madara, wishing it could pull the other to become sworn brothers on the spot.

"OH!!! So that voice was you!"

The sealed memories were awakened, and Senju Tobirama widened his eyes instantly. He had always thought that the reason he transformed into a giant at that time was because Uchiha Kagami had done something to the transformation device. He didn't expect it to be the Nine-Tails helping in secret.

"That's right, this great one..."

"We can talk about the past later. Now, please lend me your power again!"

Looking at the Nine-Tails, who was full of gratification, Senju Tobirama raised his hand to interrupt what the other wanted to continue saying, and extended his fist seriously.

The Nine-Tails was slightly stunned. Although it didn't have a deep connection with Senju Tobirama, just based on the other's feat of stealing Uchiha Madara's kidney, it was worth it to go all out to help.

"Let's go!"

One man and one beast, two fists of vastly different sizes collided, bursting out with dazzling light.

"Henshin!" (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 502 =====