Konoha Notes

Chapter 407 Exposing
Seeing the black ball appear in Payne Tendo's hand, Shuji didn't wait any longer.

Almost as soon as it rose.

His hands were already clasped together in front of his chest.

Chou-Wu-Hai-Si!
As their fingerprints locked, the sand beneath his feet suddenly exploded.

A giant wooden arm burst forth from the sand, followed by a massive head. The moment the wooden figure fully materialized, it bent its knees, pushed off the ground, and the enormous creature leaped several meters into the air, slamming its fist down towards the still-unfurled black sphere.

The wooden puppet's fist, powerful enough to withstand a Tailed Beast Ball, slammed solidly into the black sphere.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the black sphere, and the chakra that had been compressed to its limit inside found an outlet.

There was no deafening explosion, only a muffled hum, followed by a shockwave.

The shockwave, mixed with sand and gravel crushed into powder, spread wildly outwards. Several nearby reefs silently turned into stone dust, while the waves further away were pushed aside, forming a brief depression.

The wooden figure, bearing the brunt of the explosion, was thrown backward by the immense force of the blast, lost its balance, and fell to the ground in the shallow sea.

The seawater was smashed into towering waves, which mixed with sand rain that was shaken high into the air and fell down in a flurry.

In that instant when the light burst forth, the two figures quietly retreated, quickly disappearing into the dust and water vapor.

Standing on the wooden figure's shoulder, Shuji breathed a sigh of relief. The first thing they used was Chibaku Tensei; if that thing really got too high, he couldn't say for sure what would happen to him, and Jiraiya and the others would probably be in serious trouble.

Almost at the same moment the wooden doll fell down, Shura Dao separated his wrist from his elbow. He pulled his wrist open and pulled out a string of missiles from the cut, aiming at Shuji on the wooden doll's shoulder.

The wooden figure raised its arm, blocking the way.

A series of explosions erupted on the wooden dummy's arm, but after the flames subsided, it remained completely unharmed.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Shuji's wooden clone, which had remained beside Jiraiya, quickly moved to Jiraiya's side and said, "According to the original plan, you shall continue your journey to Kirigakure."

Jiraiya frowned: "You're going to deal with Nagato alone? And it's not even certain he's alone..."

"It's precisely because the one who knows space-time ninjutsu is nowhere to be found that even though Nagato himself is nearby, we're all stuck here with unknown numbers of guards. The potential gains are uncertain, and the risks are too high."

The Wood Clone calmly stated, "Their intention to besiege the point and attack reinforcements is obvious, but that doesn't mean that their attack on Kirigakure was a ruse when they attacked the reinforcements."

"The optimal solution at present is to ensure that the Hidden Mist is not lost. The Three-Tails and the Six-Tails have become their most likely targets based on the current situation."

"With you guys not here, it's very convenient for me to either try to gain something in the battle or to retreat."

Jiraiya, who had served as a military commander for many years, understood this principle.

But looking at the Heavenly Dao over there, the part belonging to the teacher was still being pulled apart.

"Don't show off your writer's sentimentality at a time when you shouldn't be so pretentious, Mr. Jiraiya."

The battle-hardened hero regained his composure amidst the cold words: "I understand... You too, if you can leave, then leave."

"after all……"

After all, you are more important than the Jinchūriki of Kirigakure. Jiraiya didn't say these words aloud, but he knew Shuji would understand.

Jiraiya then nodded to Han.

Han glanced at the figure on the wooden man's shoulder, said nothing, put away the tailed beast cloak, and took the lead in riding the waves towards the Land of Water.

The well-trained members of the joint team followed closely behind.

"I'm clumsy and couldn't be of much help," Hama Ken said apologetically as he ended the psychic summoning.

Shuji's wooden clone also completed its mission, disintegrating into a lifeless, ordinary piece of dead wood that fell onto the sand.

In the blink of an eye, the tense battlefield of multiple people facing off became much more spacious.

On the beach, only the towering wooden figure and the solitary Xiu Si standing on its shoulder remained.

Opposite him were the remaining four of the Six Paths of Pain—the Deva Path, the Asura Path, the Human Path, and the Preta Path.

The Heavenly Dao's gaze swept over Jiraiya and the others who were retreating, without lingering on their original target, Han.

"This is the power that Hashirama Senju used to quell the chaos of the world." He looked at the person on the wooden figure's shoulder. "You know the weakness of Chibaku Tensei."

“Isn’t it common sense in combat to take action against something that looks very conspicuous?” Shuuji said.

At this moment, after the explosion, the crab and the giant bird had disappeared.

The remaining giant centipede and rhinoceros, with thunderous footsteps, launched a brutal charge at the wooden figure from the left and right.

Attacked by the explosion, the split dog, now in two, lunged at Shuuji simultaneously.

Standing atop the wooden figure's shoulders, Shuji formed hand seals once more. (Snake-Sheep-Rabbit-Monkey!)
The wooden figure's other shoulder suddenly bulged, and two wooden dragons instantly wrapped around the split dog. Its chakra was visibly drained, and it lost its vitality on the spot, finally turning into white smoke and dissipating.

At the same time, the wooden figure sitting in the shallow sea moved. Its arm, which had just been bombarded by missiles, swept out and smashed into the head of the charging centipede.

"Crack!"

With a piercing sound of its hard shell shattering, the centipede's entire head was crushed, and its dozens of pairs of legs twitched weakly in the air before dissipating into smoke.

With its other arm clenched into a fist, it slammed down, striking the rhinoceros squarely on the back. In the silent impact, the rhinoceros's momentum, enough to crush rocks, came to an abrupt halt. Its hooves sank deep into the sand, and a groan of unbearable strain escaped its back as it followed in the centipede's footsteps.

At the same time that the wooden figure dealt with the two large summoned beasts, two figures, using the visual and commotion generated by the wooden figure's attack as cover, had already closed in.

The Human Path and the Hungry Ghost Path, wielding black clubs, bypassed the wooden figure and the coiled wooden dragon, leaping from the blind spot of the wooden figure's legs and the shallow sea, and stabbing at Xiu Si.

A little further away, Shura lay prone on the ground, his back bulging, a missile aimed at Shuji.

Faced with being caught in the crossfire, Xiu Si made a choice that caused the Heavenly Dao Reincarnation Eye to slightly condense.

He dispelled the wooden figure technique.

He is not Hashirama Senju. This technique can only be used in Sage Mode, and it is quite taxing on him.

Faced with Payne, who clearly intends to use flexible and cooperative tactics to maneuver and avoid direct confrontation, maintaining the giant wooden figure might become a weakness.

Just as he was falling, the Heavenly Dao appeared directly in front of Xiu Si's landing point, raising its right hand with its palm facing upwards.

All things guide the heavens!

A terrifying gravitational pull is about to erupt!

Shuji twisted his body in mid-air, bit his thumb, and slapped down with his palm at the last moment before falling to the beach!
A giant white shadow appeared, and a live slug landed on the beach.

Shuji's figure disappeared into the soft body of the live slug. The black rods of the Human Path and the Hungry Ghost Path pierced in simultaneously, but after the sharp tips entered the sticky soft tissue, they seemed to miss their target.

The next second, the giant slug split apart.

Thousands of small, live slugs swarmed in all directions, densely covering the entire beach.

Shuji's aura completely dispersed, disappearing into this writhing white ocean.

In the Rinnegan's field of vision, countless chakra dots lit up, each seemingly having the same intensity and frequency.

The Way of Heaven has come to a standstill.

At that very moment.

Suddenly, the sand beneath Shura's feet collapsed, and a hand burst from the ground, grabbing his ankle and pulling him down sharply.

Before the exclamation could even be uttered, the Heavenly Realm, the Human Realm, and the Hungry Ghost Realm were about to react.

Five medium-sized live slugs have gathered from the white ocean and opened their mouths at the same time!

My tongue and teeth feel sticky and acidic!

Corrosive acid sprayed out like a torrential rain, covering all directions of the human realm, the hungry ghost realm, and the heavenly realm.

The Heavenly Dao reacted extremely quickly, waving its right hand.

An invisible repulsive force erupted, deflecting all the acid that was aimed at him, which splashed onto the surrounding beach, instantly creating a dense network of pits.

However, the human realm and the hungry ghost realm are not so lucky.

Faced with the widespread acid rain, the Human Realm used half of its body to shield the Hungry Ghost Realm.

The acid was poured onto the back of the human realm being, instantly corroding their clothes and seeping into their flesh, emitting a pungent white smoke. Although the hungry ghost realm being was mostly protected, a small amount of acid still splashed onto their arms.

Amidst the sounds of flesh and blood corroding, the arm of the hungry ghost quickly melted away, revealing the bone!
And it was in this chaotic moment that...

The sand and soil exploded where the Asura Path had been dragged underground!

Shuji's figure burst out from underground and appeared directly in front of the Heavenly Path. He swung his right leg like a battle axe, with a visible azure chakra aura gathering at his ankle, and slammed it down hard towards the Asura Path, who had just broken free from the sand pit.

boom--! ! !
The very punk-style mechanical head of the Asura Path immediately scattered all over the ground.

Xiu Si landed lightly, shook his ankle, and looked at the Heavenly Path, which had finally fixed its gaze on him, as well as the Human Path and Hungry Ghost Path, who were seriously injured beside him.

On the beach, the white slug ocean still slowly undulates.

(End of this chapter)