Chapter 556: Tobirama Senju [Kurama Link]

"Ha!"

The red giant, having regained its footing after obtaining an unknown power, let out a soul-stirring war cry; its massive body leaped into the air, performing a front flip,

and as it descended, it assumed a swallow-style flying kick pose, using the gravitational acceleration provided by its tonnage to kick fiercely at the arm of the Wood Man that was tightly gripping Tobirama Senju.

"Snap!"

The thick wooden hand broke upon impact; Tobirama Senju felt his entire body loosen and the pressure around him suddenly diminish, but having been drained too severely by the Wood Release just moments ago, he was unable to refine chakra for the time being and could only watch helplessly as he fell headfirst toward the ground.

"Swish~"

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

"Hoo-ah?"

Kagami Uchiha let out a long sigh of relief, but just as he prepared to place his master in a safe spot, he was suddenly struck hard from behind; the savage, immense force nearly sent him sprawling face-first into the dirt.

"Roar!"

Having steadied himself, Kagami heard the roar sounding again from behind; sensing something, he rolled away, using the momentum to put distance between himself and the attacker.

Looking back, two ferocious wood dragons were coiling around the spot where he had just been; if he had been a second later, he might have been subjected to another round of "binding play."

"Boom! Boom!"

The two Wood Men stood together once more; under the endless supply of chakra from the clone, the Wood Man whose arm had been kicked off had already recovered as if nothing had happened.

"Tsk."

Having recovered a bit of strength, Tobirama Senju looked solemnly at the clone atop the Wood Man's head; even after such a long battle, the opponent's daunting aura remained undiminished.

He was truly worthy of being a template inherited from his peak-form eldest brother; ordinary ninja were simply no match for him in a single exchange.

Thinking that he had not provided any useful help to Kagami Uchiha until now, Tobirama Senju could not help but clench his fists, a faint glimmer flickering in his scarlet eyes.

If ordinary ninja wouldn't work...

Then...

He reached out and touched something he was carrying on his person that did not belong to him, and a bold plan began to gestate in his mind.

"Master, take care of yourself; I may not be able to look after you in the coming battle."

Unaware of what his master was planning, Kagami Uchiha carefully placed Tobirama Senju on the ground and turned his gaze toward the two menacing Wood Men.

If it hadn't been for the clone using the Bringer of Darkness Technique earlier, he might have already finished off one of the Wood Men.

"Kagami, just go all out; this time, your master will not hold you back."

Tobirama Senju nodded, then locked his gaze onto the expressionless clone.

"Ha!"

Without wasting any more time, Kagami Uchiha stood up, assumed a fighting stance, and took long strides, charging toward the two Wood Men amidst a flurry of flying sand and stones.

"Rumble!"

He leaped into the air from tens of meters away from the Wood Men, delivering a plain and unadorned flying kick aimed directly at the first Wood Man beneath the clone.

"Thud!"

The bulky Wood Man was caught off guard by the heavy blow and stumbled back several steps; after landing, the red giant twisted its body, and its mountain-like fist slammed into the head of the second Wood Man, instantly sending wood chips flying everywhere.

"Ha!"

Gin pressed his advantage, grabbing the reeling second Wood Man, pulling it behind his back, tripping it to make it lose its center of gravity, and then executing a shoulder throw to slam the Wood Man fiercely into the ground.

"Crackle!"

Cracks of all sizes instantly covered the Wood Man's entire body, and in the next second, it fell apart at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually collapsing into withered wood.

"Roar!"

Seeing this, the first Wood Man, which had been stumbling backward, grew anxious and immediately lashed out with the two wood dragons coiled around its body, biting toward the red giant's back.

"Ha! ~"

However, its petty tricks had long been seen by Gin; facing the sneak attack of the two wood dragons, the red giant raised its hand and fired several orange-red crescent light blades.

"Bang!"

The two collided in mid-air, and the wood dragons gained no advantage, being sliced apart by Gin's Gaia Cutter in a few strikes and falling to the ground as withered wood.

Not only that, but before the dust from the explosion had even settled, the red giant's entire body suddenly emitted a silver glow, and its entire figure transformed into a stream of light trailing afterimages, charging straight toward the first Wood Man standing dazed in place.

"Whoosh~"

Using his high-speed movement ability for the first time, Kagami steadied his mind, concentrated all his strength into his fist, and the moment he closed in on the first Wood Man, he unleashed a Gaia Punch imbued with terrifying power.

The clone, who was distracted by manipulating the Wood Man from atop its head, felt the threat of death; the hair all over his body stood on end, and almost without hesitation, he backflipped away from the Wood Man.

"Snap!"

At almost the same moment, the red giant's fist landed; the Wood Man's sturdy head was actually smashed into fine wood chips by a single punch, and the thick, headless torso slowly toppled backward.

In the blink of an eye, the two Wood Men that had been so overbearing just moments ago were destroyed by the red giant, which had regained its power, and turned into rotting, withered wood.

"Tap!"

On the other side, the clone who had just escaped disaster landed steadily; looking at the red giant's sturdy and upright figure, he hesitated for a moment and did not pull the Wood Men back up.

It was clear that the Wood Man Arhat was no match for the red giant; even if he summoned them again, it would be of no use.

Thinking of this, the clone pressed his palms together, closed his eyes, and a visible, eerie aura began to surge around him.

"Not good! Kagami, hurry and interrupt him!"

Tobirama Senju, who was just about to pop the champagne for his disciple, sensed the natural energy suddenly rising in the arena and quickly locked onto the clone in the distance who had his eyes closed.

Hearing his master's warning, Kagami Uchiha did not hesitate; he raised his hands to his chest, and a red light flared brilliantly.

"Ah-Ha!"

When the light condensed until it was almost tangible, a pillar of red energy radiating scorching heat erupted from the red giant's arm, aimed directly at the clone with his eyes closed.

"Rumble!"

A violent explosion rang out, and the spot where the clone had been standing was replaced by a bottomless crater.

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"

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

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

"Boom!"

Sure enough, accompanied by a loud noise, the entire ground shook violently; the red giant had just managed to steady his swaying body when he saw a massive Guanyin Buddha head erupting from the deep crater his beam had just created.

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

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

The clone, who had entered Sage Mode at the very last moment, had not only survived the baptism of Gin's finishing beam but had also taken the opportunity to summon the Thousand-Armed Wood Statue.

"Damn it, still a step too late."

Tobirama Senju hammered his thigh in frustration; now that the Buddha had appeared, the red giant transformed by Kagami Uchiha looked as frail as a newborn baby before it, and the battle, which had originally held a glimmer of hope, had ended prematurely.

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"

Kagami Uchiha, with his light flashing, looked up at the towering Buddha; he did not show a hint of cowardice, but instead assumed his usual fighting stance, leaped into the air, and began to launch an attack toward the Buddha.

"Kagami, you..."

Watching this scene, Tobirama Senju was moved; he had wanted to give up hope, but Kagami Uchiha still had the fighting spirit—this fervor was truly admirable.

By comparison, he seemed a bit timid.

"In the end, I, the master, have been taught a lesson by my disciple."

Tobirama Senju took a deep breath, his gaze becoming resolute; looking up at the clone a thousand meters above, the last trace of hesitation in his heart vanished.

As things stood, trying to defeat the Thousand-Armed Buddha head-on was like a pipe dream; compared to the overwhelming pressure of the Thousand-Armed Wood Statue, the clone acting as the caster had become the breakthrough point.

If the clone could be eliminated, the threat of the Buddha would disappear, and their victory would be at hand.

"Zzz."

The red giant flying in mid-air nimbly dodged the Buddha's attacks and, taking advantage of the opponent's clumsiness, used his beam skills to attack from time to time, but with little effect.

The beam that could vaporize a Tailed Beast only left a small crack on the Buddha, which recovered in the blink of an eye.

Even so, Gin did not give up; even as the red light on the chest timer became increasingly urgent, his attacks never ceased, and countless orange-red light bullets poured down, purely to block the Buddha's advance.

However, the power of one person was ultimately limited; constantly squandering the little energy left in his body, the red giant's form became somewhat unsteady.

"Hoo!"

Having just fired an energy beam, Kagami was caught off guard and slapped by the Buddha, who had spotted the opportunity, and he was smashed into the ground like a cannonball fired at high speed.

"Bang!"

Lying in the crater tens of meters deep, Kagami tried to struggle to his feet, only to find that his whole body felt as if it were filled with lead, and he couldn't even perform a simple action like lifting a finger.

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

Sorry everyone, I might be dying.

He really had exhausted all his strength, but he still couldn't change the cruel reality.

"I really want to eat Dalang's barbecue one more time, I really want to drink another cup of iced lemon tea, I really want to be with everyone..."

Memories of the first half of his life began to play like a revolving lantern in his mind; in the ears of the dazed Kagami Uchiha, a cold, sharp voice suddenly rang out.

"Kagami! Never give up until the very last moment!"

"Master?"

Struggling to prop open his eyelids, through the perspective of the giant which had begun to blur, he saw the familiar figure standing at the edge of the crater—it was Tobirama Senju, who had been "coasting" all this time.

He saw that Tobirama's face was resolute, and his words sounded like both an encouragement and a final entrustment.

"You rest well; leave the rest of the battle to me!"

"Huh?"

Kagami Uchiha, having regained some of his senses, was completely bewildered; let it be stated beforehand that he did not mean to look down on his master, but combined with Tobirama Senju's previous lackluster performance, he truly could not believe that the other could have the ability to turn the tide of the battle.

"Master, why don't you just leave me and run? Don't worry, Uncle Gin will absolutely not blame you~"

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

Glaring at his disciple who had spoken such wild words, Tobirama Senju turned around, faced the approaching Great Buddha, and slowly pulled something from his person that made the pupils of Kagami Uchiha shake violently.

"Master, you don't mean to..."

"Just as you think."

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

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

Kagami Uchiha blinked; it wasn't as if putting on the driver guaranteed one could become a Tailed Beast Knight. The only prerequisite to becoming a knight was to first subdue the Tailed Beast.

"How would I know if I don't try?"

Looking at the ferocious red fox on the card, a flash of red brilliance flickered in Tobirama Senju's eyes, and his consciousness was instantly pulled into it.

"Tick-tock~"

In the gloomy card space, the Nine-Tails was lying comfortably in the cozy little nest it had conceived. Discovering a strange figure landing before it, it half-squinted its vertical pupils, curiously sizing up the newcomer.

"You are..."

"I am..."

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

He never considered Tailed Beasts to be creatures that were easy to get along with, but given the urgent situation, he only hoped the Tailed Beast could make a deal with him to help him get through the current crisis.

"It's you!"

However, what Tobirama Senju never expected was that before he could even introduce himself, the giant fox before him actually straightened its body first and leaned its massive head over.

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

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

"You recognize me?"

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

"Did you forget? Oh! That's right, we met online before; this is our first time meeting in person."

Seeing Tobirama Senju's nervous expression, the Nine-Tails slapped its forehead abruptly, a human-like look of realization appearing on its ferocious beastly face, and then it said things 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 driven insane by Madara Uchiha?

A trace of pity immediately appeared on Tobirama Senju's face. As expected of the naturally evil Uchiha, they didn't even spare the Tailed Beasts.

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

Discovering that Tobirama Senju's confusion did not seem feigned, the Nine-Tails immediately began to explain patiently, its gaze toward the white-haired man before it full of admiration.

It had taken the opportunity back then to see all of Tobirama Senju's memories, and it highly approved of his behavior of repeatedly ambushing Madara Uchiha; it wished it could have sworn brotherhood with him on the spot.

"Oh!!! So that voice was you!"

Dusty memories were awakened, and Tobirama Senju's eyes widened instantly. He had always thought the reason he transformed into a giant back then was because Kagami Uchiha had tampered with the transformation device; he never imagined it was actually the Nine-Tails helping in the shadows.

"That's right, yours truly..."

"We can talk about old times later; for now, please lend me your power again!"

Looking at the gratified Nine-Tails, Tobirama Senju raised his hand to interrupt what the other wanted to continue saying, and with a serious face, he extended his fist.

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

"Iku ze!"

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

"Henshin!" (End of chapter)