Chapter 592: Eight Gates Muyue

"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!"

The Third Mizukame waved his hand and created a massive water mirror.

When Rōshi's gold dust struck the water mirror, the mirror rapidly changed shape, eventually trapping all the gold dust inside and perfectly blocking it.

At that moment, Muyue and the Third Raikage each stepped back a few paces, temporarily creating some distance.

"Mizukage, you traitor!" Rōshi was stunned for a moment, then glared angrily at the Third Mizukage.

Without a doubt, the Mizukage had betrayed them.

"I simply cannot stand your evil deeds of bullying the weak with the strong," the Third Mizukage said with righteous indignation.

Although the backstab was for profit, it was best to keep that clear in one's mind; on the surface, one still needed to save face.

Ōnoki, who had finished forming his Dust Release, frowned deeply. This was unexpected for him.

Although Kirigakure was not on the mainland, it had always sought interests there; logically, it should not have passed up the chance to weaken Konoha, the mainland's hegemon.

Moreover, Kirigakure had suffered quite a few losses at Konoha's hands. Shouldn't they seize such a perfect opportunity for revenge and strike back hard?

Ōnoki could not quite understand Kirigakure's choice.

This was the gap in information.

If Ōnoki had known that Konoha had captured over a thousand Kirigakure ninja, including Yagura Karatachi, he would never have dared to form an alliance with Kirigakure.

But there was no "if" in reality. Even Kirigakure itself only learned of this news when Konoha came knocking, let alone Iwagakure.

"Damn, if the Mizukage has defected..." Ōnoki thought of something and his expression changed drastically.

If the Third Mizukage was a traitor, then Konoha must have known about their assassination plan long ago.

"Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in combat gear, pulled a giant shuriken from a scroll, then leaped up and hurled it at Ōnoki in the sky.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!

The giant shuriken split rapidly in mid-flight: one into two, two into four, four into eight, instantly sealing off all of Ōnoki's escape routes.

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

Ōnoki had no choice but to redirect the Dust Release he had prepared to attack Muyue, using it to shoot down the incoming giant shurikens.

"Lord Third Hokage!" many Konoha ninja exclaimed in delight.

Although they trusted the Wood Release ninja, Muyue was still a young man who needed to grow, while Sarutobi Hiruzen was the Hokage who had guarded Konoha for a long time.

The Konoha ninja still had great faith in Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage who had taken over during a crisis and protected the village.

"You shameless old red-nose, to assassinate a junior, you actually allied with three Kage!" Sarutobi Hiruzen cursed without restraint.

The Third Mizukage had told him all the intelligence, so he knew that Ōnoki was the instigator behind the assassination plan.

Ōnoki's expression darkened, not because he was scolded by Sarutobi Hiruzen, but because he knew that today they likely would not be able to kill Muyue.

The Third Mizukage had turned traitor, and Sarutobi Hiruzen had personally entered the fray; in terms of numbers of powerful ninja, they had no advantage.

"Everyone, whatever your ulterior motives, this is our last chance. If we don't leave Hanyū Muyue here today, we will never have another opportunity!" Ōnoki flew above Rōshi and the others and said.

Now that things had come to this, Ōnoki could not simply give up.

Due to the Third Mizukage's betrayal, future alliances would be even more difficult. This was the last chance to kill Muyue.

After this, it was not a matter of low probability—it would be absolutely impossible to kill him.

Right now, they not only had numerical superiority in troops but also had elite units arriving soon. Who would win or lose was still uncertain.

During the meeting, Ōnoki had not specified how many ninja each side should bring; he only said that each should bring a squadron of elites.

Ōnoki knew his position well. He was not some alliance leader without authority to command; he was merely an organizer who had gathered everyone to jointly assassinate Muyue.

Therefore, even Ōnoki himself did not know their side's total combat strength.

The organizer himself did not know, so naturally the mole did not either. Now it came down to whose raw strength was greater.

Swoosh swoosh!!

Ohnoki had barely finished speaking when hundreds of ninja wearing Iwa uniforms rushed to the battlefield.

These were elites selected by Ohnoki, specifically prepared to surround and kill Mu Yue.

Before even half a second had passed, a group of dark-skinned Kumo ninja charged over as well, each with burly muscles and a murderous aura, looking very formidable.

"Lord Raikage!" The Kumo ninja stood behind the Third Raikage, quickly drawing their weapons and staring at Mu Yue.

They knew there was only one mission today: to kill Mu Yue.

"Lord Fourth Kazekage!"

Soon, a large group of Suna ninja also arrived near Rasa.

"Looks like this will be a tough battle today," said Nara Shikaku, leading a contingent of Konoha ninja to the battlefield, sighing.

"All five Kage gathering on one battlefield—there has never been a battle like this in history," Uchiha Fugaku nodded in agreement.

To ensure Mu Yue's safety and to severely damage the three great ninja villages, Hiruzen Sarutobi mobilized as many of Konoha's elites as possible.

Most of the jōnin and chūnin from Konoha's major clans were on this battlefield.

Even the police force responsible for maintaining order in Konoha was brought to the battlefield by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Apologies, Lord Third."

Yagura Karatachi arrived on the battlefield with a large number of Kiri ninja, lowering his head slightly as he stood beside the Third Mizukage.

Since Kirigakure had shown sufficient sincerity and Yagura Karatachi was also a rare high-level combatant, Konoha had released Yagura early.

"It is not your fault," the Third Mizukage said, narrowing his eyes and shaking his head.

Without intelligence, it was only too normal to lose against a formidable man who could become the second God of Shinobi.

"I can give you all a chance. If anyone is willing to negotiate peace with Konoha, then I will consider the previous events as not having happened and engage in unconditional peace talks."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shielded Mu Yue behind him, his sharp gaze sweeping over Ohnoki, Rasa, and the others.

For this battle, Hiruzen Sarutobi had prepared thoroughly, but if it could be avoided, he still preferred not to fight.

Because even if they won, the losses would be substantial.

It would be better to accumulate strength and wait until Mu Yue became stronger; then Konoha could naturally regain its original transcendent status.

Mu Yue, standing behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, said nothing. If peace were possible, that would be the best outcome.

Too many elite ninja had gathered on this battlefield.

Among the reinforcements from the other villages, many were jōnin with over twenty thousand chakra and multiple mastery-level skills, and there were even a few powerful shinobi with seventy to eighty thousand chakra and a large number of mastery-level techniques.

If it came down to the final battle, even the victor would pay a heavy price.

"Don't be ridiculous. Saying 'let bygones be bygones' is just a way to pick us off one by one with fewer losses," Ohnoki said scornfully.

With that, Ohnoki brought his palms together, ready to gather chakra to perform Dust Release.

Ohnoki's action became the signal to attack, and the battle, which had temporarily stalled due to the chaotic situation, resumed.

Rasa:...

He had been a bit tempted just now, but upon second thought, he felt that Ohnoki's words made a lot of sense.

"Then let's settle this with force!" Seeing that Ohnoki had not given up his plan to kill Mu Yue, Hiruzen Sarutobi also grew angry and decided to teach Ohnoki a lesson.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slapped the ground and summoned Enma.

"Transform directly. This is going to be a tough fight," Hiruzen said quickly.

Enma could transform into an infinitely extendable, extremely hard Adamantine Staff, which was a crucial part of Hiruzen's combat power.

Aside from the five elemental ninjutsu, Hiruzen was most proud of his taijutsu.

Without another word, Enma transformed into a black staff and stood before Hiruzen.

And Hiruzen, with great swiftness, grasped Enma's transformed Adamantine Staff and pointed it at Ohnoki.

The Adamantine Staff lengthened continuously, piercing through the air, heading straight for Ohnoki.

Ohnoki knew the power of the Adamantine Staff, so he flew even higher.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Bullet!"

"Earth Release: Iron Rock Cannon!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

The battle instantly became extremely fierce, as all the elites who had just arrived on the battlefield went all out.

The ninjas of Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure wanted to kill Muyue, while the ninjas of Konohagakure and Kirigakure were protecting him.

"Kamui!"

Seeing the Third Raikage slaughtering through the crowd—neither defending nor dodging any enemy jutsu—Obito's eyes bled tears as he twisted the space around the Third Raikage's left side.

His Kamui was the bane of all defensive techniques; no matter how strong the defense, it could not withstand the twisting power of space.

With a flash of lightning, the Third Raikage instantly vanished from the spot where Kamui had been released.

"Ah." Obito was dumbfounded—why did he dodge when it came to him, and with such incredible speed?

Boom! Boom!

Muyue sent the surrounding jonin flying with a single blow and flashed to the Third Mizukage's side.

"Please block the Raikage, senior. I have a good jutsu for dealing with the Kazekage," Muyue said quickly.

With his Byakugan, Muyue had been observing the entire battlefield.

The Third Mizukage's performance could be described as shrewd.

He was putting in effort, constantly targeting opponents of the same level, but he kept focusing on the weakest Rasa as if he couldn't see the nearby Third Raikage.

And although Rasa was not as strong as the Third Mizukage, he could still be considered on the same level overall, and could not be defeated in a short time, so the situation remained deadlocked.

This was not the situation Muyue wanted to see. He intended to take down one Kage as quickly as possible to change the battlefield.

"Alright." The Third Mizukage nodded with a smile.

"Young people are truly formidable," the Third Mizukage sighed inwardly.

He greatly envied Konoha for producing such a ninja.

Not only was he powerful, but he was also steady and composed. Even in this fiercely contested battlefield, Muyue still used polite language toward him, making his words pleasant to hear.

The Third Mizukage had a premonition that the ninja world's landscape was about to undergo a dramatic change.

During the first Five Kage Summit, the Third Mizukage had attended as the Mizukage's guard. He had personally seen Hashirama Senju in the meeting and knew the nature and personality of that God of Shinobi.

He was the kind of person the Third Mizukage found hard to understand.

The meeting had barely started when Hashirama Senju cheerfully knocked his head against the conference table in front of all the Kage.

To be honest, if the Third Mizukage possessed Hashirama's strength, he would consider it merciful if he didn't make others kowtow to him—how could he ever bow his head to anyone?

The Third Mizukage did not know what kind of person Muyue was, but he was definitely nothing like Hashirama Senju.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!"

Rasa immediately showed an expression as if facing a great enemy, staring at Muyue, and used his chakra to create a large amount of gold dust, arranging it around himself.

He did not dare underestimate Muyue, after all, this was the ninja who had forced Ohnoki to ally with three other great villages to kill.

"Eight Gates, Gate of Shock, Open!"

Muyue opened the Eight Gates to the seventh gate, causing the chakra in his body to surge and his aura to skyrocket.

At the same time, Muyue concentrated his Rock Breathing to the utmost and entered Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, constantly consuming chakra in his body to enhance his defense and strength.

The combination of Eight Gates and Rock Breathing was a fairly good technique.

However, it was awkward for Muyue because he always had better options and had no need to use the Eight Gates.

The Eight Gates caused the chakra in his body to run wild; during this time, Muyue could not use many of his techniques, and the massive amount of chakra could only fuel a very small number of ninjutsu and taijutsu.

But gold always shines. In the current chaotic battlefield, combining the Eight Gates with Rock Breathing was a good choice for quickly taking down a Kage of no small strength.

The high defense of Rock Breathing plus Armament Haki allowed Muyue to ignore attacks coming from all directions, while also granting him the speed and power to rapidly defeat his enemy.

"Magnetic Release: Gold Dust Funeral!"

"Whoosh!!"

"As Rasa continuously consumed chakra, the soil around him suddenly became exceptionally active, as if pulled by an invisible force, beginning to spin and rise wildly."

"High-density gold dust, shimmering with golden light, interweaved and collided in the air, forming an overwhelming golden ocean."

"Like massive waves at sea, they cascaded down, enveloping Muyue in a golden radiance."

"Some Kirigakure and Konohagakure ninja tried to help Muyue block this terrifying gold dust, but their jutsu were quickly swallowed up by the golden storm."

"Muyue charged at Rasa without changing expression, as if he couldn't see the golden sand waves about to strike him."

"'He dares to take it head-on like this.' Rasa was both irritated and excited."

"Irritated that Muyue underestimated him, excited that he had a chance to eliminate Muyue."

"His gold dust was incomparable to ordinary sand, especially at this magnitude; just hitting a person could smash them into pulp, not to mention that this jutsu also had a sealing effect."

"'Armament Haki!'"

"At the moment of contact with the gold dust, Muyue's entire body was covered in black Armament Haki."

"Boom!!"

"A large amount of gold dust surged wildly around Muyue, quickly forming a pyramid."

"The moment the pyramid formed, a huge amount of gold dust exploded outward in all directions, as if there was a terrifyingly powerful bomb inside the pyramid."

"A flash of black light passed, and Rasa's hair stood on end instantly, feeling a life-and-death crisis approaching."

"His extensive combat experience allowed him to instantly create a gold dust barrier around himself."

"'Serious Punch!'"

"Facing the gold dust barrier, Muyue threw a full-power punch covered in Armament Haki."

"It looked like a simple punch, but this punch contained the full power of Armament Haki, Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, Transparent World, and a massive amount of chakra."

"Crash!!"

"The gold dust burst outward, and Rasa's body flew backward rapidly, crashing through who knows how many ninja before stopping."

"The Third Mizukage's eyelids twitched. He knew Muyue was going to unleash his power, but he didn't expect it to be so ruthless — Rasa was beaten like this in less than a minute."

"This junior was too terrifying!"

"'Lord Fourth Kazekage!' Some Sunagakure ninja, ignoring the enemy, hurriedly ran toward Rasa."