Chapter 178: Not Only Do You Not Thank Me, But You Even Blame Me?
To be honest, Oborotsuki had been holding back—he had never intended to go on a killing spree.
With just one move, massive numbers of enemies on the ground were instantly knocked down and out.
The remaining survivors were furious and shocked. They immediately launched counterattacks.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Tornado!!"
"Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!!"
"…"
Faced with the rampaging blue Divine Flames, some ninja instinctively used Water Release techniques.
However, their ordinary Water Release couldn't threaten Oborotsuki's Divine Fire at all.
The flames continued to burn unchecked.
Those struck by the fire soon screamed in agony, rolling on the ground in pain.
But once the Divine Flames had incapacitated them by burning away their combat ability, Oborotsuki willed them to extinguish on their own.
The surviving enemies became cautious. They quickly moved to rescue their injured comrades and no longer dared to provoke Oborotsuki.
At this moment, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa of Sunagakure and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi of Konoha both arrived on the battlefield with their elite forces.
Seeing the battlefield in chaos and their own people suffering heavy, miserable losses, both Rasa and Hiruzen were deeply shocked.
"Hōzuki Oborotsuki, what exactly does your Kirigakure want?!"
Rasa raised his head and questioned Oborotsuki.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen—dressed in his black mesh combat suit and gripping the Adamantine Staff—also frowned deeply as he looked at Oborotsuki:
"Hand over the Nine-Tails, Hōzuki Oborotsuki!"
"Additionally, we demand justice for the death of Konoha's Hokage advisor Danzō Shimura!"
"Today you must face judgment and pay for your crimes!"
"Danzō Shimura deserved to die."
"I killed him—which means I did Konoha a favor by getting rid of a disaster. You should be thanking me."
"But instead you're blaming me?"
Oborotsuki laughed lightly as he responded to Hiruzen's words.
Hearing such unrepentant arrogance, Hiruzen's brows furrowed even deeper.
"As expected—there's no reasoning with you."
"Since that's the case, we have no choice but to take you down first!"
He spun the Adamantine Staff like a windmill, then called out to Rasa:
"I'll cover you, Lord Fourth Kazekage!"
With that, the Adamantine Staff—spinning rapidly like a windmill—suddenly stopped.
In the next instant, it extended violently, shooting toward Oborotsuki like a cylindrical laser beam.
"Hmph!"
Oborotsuki chuckled disdainfully. He casually swung the Decapitation Greatsword downward toward the incoming Adamantine Staff.
But at that exact moment, the ground beneath him suddenly cracked open.
A massive wave of gold dust surged upward, forming an overwhelming net of sand that quickly rose above Oborotsuki's current position and crushed downward toward him.
"Magnetic Release: Desert Layer Great Burial!"
Rasa had noticed upon arriving that both the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki and the Fourth Raikage A were gravely injured and out of the fight.
He had long heard rumors of Oborotsuki's terrifying strength.
So from the very beginning, he had no intention of dragging this out—he immediately unleashed his strongest sealing technique, intending to subdue Oborotsuki first.
This technique had once effortlessly suppressed even a rampaging One-Tail Shukaku.
Rasa believed it would naturally work against a human.
But he had grossly overestimated his own ability—and severely underestimated Oborotsuki's power.
Oborotsuki gave him no chance to land the attack.
Before Rasa's technique could even touch him, Oborotsuki had already vanished from his original spot.
Meanwhile, the blade wave he had released earlier struck the Adamantine Staff head-on without deviation.
Clang!
A deafening metallic clash rang out.
Hiruzen's Adamantine Staff was forcefully knocked aside.
The massive inertia dragged Hiruzen himself stumbling sideways.
"What terrifying power!"
Hiruzen was shocked. Feeling the violent pain in both his palms, he looked up in disbelief toward the sky.
At that moment, large numbers of Kirigakure ninja appeared around them, confronting the invaders.
"Red?"
Asuma Sarutobi—standing behind Hiruzen—suddenly called out.
Hearing this, Hiruzen instinctively followed Asuma's gaze and looked toward a figure among the opposing crowd.
With just one glance, Hiruzen immediately recognized her—it was Yūhi Kurenai, the Konoha kunoichi who had gone missing some time ago!
"Why is she here?"
Hiruzen muttered in astonishment, frowning to himself.
"It seems the culprit really is Hōzuki Oborotsuki without a doubt…"
Kakashi had returned to the group by now. He also noticed Kurenai's presence.
Kurenai's disappearance had occurred after he himself was controlled by a mysterious enemy using Sharingan genjutsu.
At that time, everyone in Konoha who knew the details believed the Uchiha clan was behind it.
But they had never found any concrete evidence—only speculation.
And Kurenai had remained missing ever since, leaving the truth shrouded in mystery.
Now, seeing Kurenai appear in Kirigakure—combined with the accusations that Hōzuki Oborotsuki had used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and attack the village—
everything suddenly seemed to fall into place.
"Hōzuki Oborotsuki had already infiltrated Konoha long before. He conducted multiple reconnaissance missions before Kushina gave birth."
"That time he attacked you and put you under genjutsu—it was him too, wasn't it, Kakashi!"
"Konoha has committed countless crimes!"
"Being besieged by the four great ninja villages today—they deserve every bit of it!"
Asuma drew his special weapons and said grimly to Kakashi.
Wind Release chakra wrapped around his twin chakra blades, making the wind-enhanced edges indestructible.
With two sharp swings, he repelled his opponents.
Kakashi had been observing Kurenai's behavior the entire time.
He saw her attacking Konoha ninja—who clearly recognized her and tried to reach out and talk to her.
But Kurenai acted as though she didn't know them at all. She ignored their questions and attacked decisively.
This bizarre scene filled Kakashi with countless doubts:
"Red… seems to have lost her memories…"
"Was she controlled by Sharingan genjutsu?"
"That bastard Hōzuki Oborotsuki! Hmph!"
Asuma snorted coldly and quickly leaped toward Kurenai's position.
But the moment he jumped, a figure suddenly crashed down from the sky—nearly hitting him.
BOOM!
The figure smashed into the ground not far in front of Asuma.
Asuma looked down and saw it was his father—Hiruzen Sarutobi.
At this moment, Hiruzen clutched his chest, staring up at Oborotsuki in the sky with wide, incredulous eyes. The next second—
"Pfft!"
He opened his mouth and vomited a large mouthful of blood.
"Lord Third!"
Shisui—who had been fighting several Kirigakure ANBU—saw this and immediately jumped over to support.
But at that moment, Oborotsuki's pursuit arrived.
-------------------------
Support us on Patreon and gain access to 100 chapters in advance!
patreon.com/inkroxx