Chapter 393: Tailed Beast Ball vs. Dust Release
The rain poured from the darkened heavens in relentless sheets. Droplets struck Roshi's crimson Lava Release Armor, hissing violently as they instantly vaporized into thick plumes of white steam. Deep within the jagged confines of the canyon, the atmosphere grew suffocatingly heavy, the biting chill of the storm warring against the blistering heat radiating from the Jinchuriki's body.
Roshi narrowed his eyes through the dense fog. As a veteran elder of Iwagakure, the figure hovering above him was etched into his very soul. A legend of the Hidden Stone.
"Lord Mū..." Roshi's voice was a low, gravelly rasp over the roaring wind. "To think even someone of your stature was defiled by that cursed Jutsu..."
Suspended in the turbulent sky, the bandaged form of the Second Tsuchikage, Mū, tilted his head a fraction. His dark, reanimated eyes gazed down at Roshi with hollow indifference.
"The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, is it?" Mū's voice echoed, flat and devoid of warmth. "I have no desire to raise my hand against a junior of my own village. Unfortunately, this vessel no longer obeys my will."
The moment the final syllable left his lips, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, stepped forward beside him. Without a word, the auburn-haired Kazekage raised both hands toward the stormy sky.
The canyon floor violently shuddered. Deep within the churning mud, fine particles of gold began to gleam, vibrating as if suddenly infused with a malicious life of their own.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Tsunami!"
Rasa's face remained a mask of absolute apathy. He did not bother with probing attacks; his opening strike was meant to slaughter.
A harsh scoff tore from Roshi's throat. "Do not underestimate me!"
He inhaled sharply, his chest expanding as searing chakra flooded his lungs.
"Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique!"
Throwing his head forward, Roshi expelled a barrage of colossal magma fireballs. The sheer, terrifying heat radiating from the molten rock instantly incinerated the falling rain, creating a vacuum of dry, blistering air in their wake.
The molten spheres and the surging wave of gold collided violently in the center of the canyon.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
The harsh, screeching sound of rapid heating and corrosion bounced off the canyon walls. Caught in the terrifying temperature of the magma, the leading edge of the gold dust flared a blinding cherry-red, the dense metal softening and showing signs of melting under the Jinchuriki's assault.
Yet, the sheer volume of Rasa's arsenal proved overwhelming. This was not ordinary sand. It was placer gold, incredibly dense and carrying a crushing weight far beyond the earth of the desert.
The stalemate lasted only a fraction of a second.
The endless, suffocating tide of heavy gold surged forward, burying the molten rock and forcibly snuffing out the magma fireballs beneath thousands of tons of shifting metal.
Roshi's pupils shrank to pinpricks. 'Even in a torrential downpour, he can manipulate placer gold on such a massive scale?'
Before the thought could fully process, a terrifying, skin-crawling sensation of impending death plummeted from the sky directly above him.
Mū, who had hovered motionless during the exchange, brought his hands together. A translucent, geometric barrier materialized between his palms, rapidly expanding into a perfect cube. At its exact center, a speck of dazzling, pure white light condensed, humming with an apocalyptic frequency.
"Dust Release..." Mū intoned, his voice cutting through the roar of the storm. "Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
A blinding pillar of white light erupted downward without a fraction of warning. Its velocity shattered the limits of human perception.
Driven entirely by the honed instincts of a veteran shinobi, Roshi threw his body to the side, diving into the mud.
A heartbeat later, the world went silent.
The patch of earth where he had just stood, along with the massive bedrock foundation beneath it, simply ceased to exist. There was no explosion, no debris. Only a perfectly smooth, bottomless square crater remained in the canyon floor.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Roshi's temple, instantly vaporizing against his molten armor. He stared at the geometric void.
This was the true terror of the Second Tsuchikage. The legendary Kekkei Tōta, an elemental expansion surpassing even the Kekkei Genkai. A single grazing hit meant absolute erasure, breaking down flesh and bone at the atomic level.
Roshi's chest heaved as he dragged oxygen into his burning lungs. Facing two reanimated Kage-level monsters simultaneously, conventional ninjutsu was nothing short of suicide.
"In that case."
He slammed his palms together, his fingers locking into a tight seal. Deep within his core, a dormant, terrifying presence awakened. The chakra network beneath his skin flared wildly as dark, bubbling crimson Tailed Beast chakra erupted from his pores like a detonating volcano.
Behind him, the corrosive energy whipped through the air, rapidly coalescing. One by one, four thick, dark red tails lashed into existence.
Partial Tailed Beast Transformation.
"You think you can just capture me?!" Roshi snarled, his voice distorting into a demonic, dual-layered growl. "Then prepare to burn to ash! I will not be taken like some helpless beast!"
He dropped to all fours, his posture turning feral. The four chakra tails thrashed violently behind him, gouging deep trenches into the canyon walls. The solid stone beneath his claws splintered and cracked under the sheer pressure of his aura.
Tipping his head back, Roshi unleashed a deafening roar, blasting a concentrated, hyper-pressurized Lava Release fireball straight toward the hovering Tsuchikage.
Mū simply watched the incoming strike. His bandaged figure began to waver, blurring like a mirage over hot sand before vanishing entirely into the stormy sky.
The Second Tsuchikage's signature art: the Dustless Bewildering Cover.
Down in the mud, Roshi's heightened senses hit a blank wall. Sight, sound, smell, and even chakra signature—Mū had completely erased his presence from the world. The massive lava fireball sailed through the empty airspace, detonating uselessly against the dark clouds in a brilliant shower of orange sparks.
A heavy weight settled in Roshi's chest. The Second Tsuchikage possessed the absolute destruction of Dust Release, the ability to physically divide his body, and perfect invisibility.
Fighting an enemy who could not be seen, sensed, or touched was a nightmare.
Before he could adjust his stance, the dark mud beneath his claws flashed with a blinding, metallic sheen.
Rasa's flat, unfeeling voice echoed from the canyon rim. "Do not forget your other opponent."
The Kazekage crossed his arms. "Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!"
The earth ruptured. Tens of thousands of tons of placer gold erupted from every conceivable angle, rising like a tidal wave of solid metal. The heavy dust crashed down over Roshi, instantly interlocking to form a colossal, towering golden pyramid that swallowed the Jinchuriki whole.
Trapped in the pitch-black interior, Roshi thrashed wildly, his four tails whipping against the walls as he pushed his Lava Release to its absolute limit, desperately trying to melt his way out.
But Rasa was merciless. He fed more chakra into the earth, stacking layer upon crushing layer of gold over the pyramid, sealing every microscopic gap and reinforcing the walls faster than Roshi could burn them.
"Damn it..."
Roshi gritted his teeth, his vision swimming with black spots as the oxygen inside the tomb rapidly depleted. Worse still, the invisible threat of Mū lingered above; the moment he broke free, a Dust Release dismantling beam would likely be waiting for him.
"Cough..."
A violent cough tore through his chest, and thick blood spilled past his lips, sizzling against his glowing skin. The sheer, astronomical pressure of the compacted gold was crushing his ribs, making it agonizingly difficult to maintain his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation.
'Son Goku!'Roshi roared into the depths of his own mindscape, his mental voice echoing through the vast, sealed cavern.'Lend me your power! If you don't, we are both going to die here!'Deep within the damp, cavernous mental space, the massive, red-furred ape rested on his knuckles. Son Goku, the Four-Tails, exhaled a heavy breath that rattled the iron gates, letting out a deep, disdainful snort.'Oh? So now you remember to ask this Great Lord for help?'The giant beast shifted, his massive yellow eyes narrowing.'However... those two corpses outside are indeed a nuisance.'Gripping the bars of his seal, Son Goku threw his head back and unleashed a world-shaking bellow.'Get the hell away from us!'
In the physical world, the towering gold pyramid suddenly bulged.
A ferocious, blinding storm of pure, unadulterated red chakra exploded from the center, generating a shockwave that tore the rain clouds apart. The airtight placer gold shattered into a million jagged fragments.
From the wreckage, a colossal, red-furred ape with twin curved horns burst forth, tearing through Rasa's ultimate sealing jutsu with brute, terrifying strength.
Full Tailed Beast Transformation.
"ROAR!!!"
Son Goku beat his massive fists against his chest, unleashing a primal, deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the canyon.
High above the chaos, Mū's invisible form shimmered back into existence. He looked down at the towering red beast, a rare flicker of genuine emotion briefly disturbing his dead eyes.
"A Full Tailed Beast Transformation?" Mū murmured. "Impressive. But..."
He slowly raised his hands, aligning his palms once more.
"The larger the volume, the easier the target."
Rasa, standing on a floating platform of gold dust a short distance away, said nothing. His hands blurred through a sequence of hand signs with terrifying speed.
The scattered placer gold coating the canyon floor began to violently boil. In seconds, the liquid metal stretched and hardened into countless, thick golden chains, shooting upward like vipers to wrap tightly around Son Goku's massive, tree-trunk legs.
"Scram, you pest!" Son Goku roared furiously, kicking his legs to shatter the bindings.
He planted his feet firmly into the bedrock and unhinged his massive jaw. Particles of blue and black chakra violently gathered in front of his mouth, rapidly compressing into a dense, pitch-black Tailed Beast Ball.
But the Four-Tails did not stop there. He channeled his unique elemental affinity, injecting streams of scalding, bright orange magma directly into the sphere's core.
"Lava Release: Flower-Fruit Mountain Tailed Beast Ball!"
The colossal, swirling sphere of black chakra and molten rock tore through the air, carrying a suffocating, world-destroying pressure as it shot directly toward Rasa and Mū. The sheer kinetic force of its launch alone began to uproot the canyon walls.
This single, catastrophic attack was more than enough to wipe the entire landscape off the map.
For the first time, a crack appeared in Rasa's apathetic expression. He slammed his palms down onto his floating platform.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Shield Wall!"
Every ounce of placer gold in the vicinity surged upward, weaving together to form a towering, solid golden rampart dozens of meters thick in front of the two Kage.
Yet, against the apocalyptic might of a magma-infused Tailed Beast Ball, the ultimate defense was rendered utterly meaningless. The shield wall was instantly overwhelmed. The sheer heat and density of the attack burned through the impenetrable gold in a fraction of a second, melting it into glowing slag.
Just as the massive sphere of destruction was about to swallow the two reanimated Kage whole, the Second Tsuchikage flickered, reappearing directly in the deadly path of the Tailed Beast Ball.
Mū spread his hands wide. The translucent, geometric barrier flared to life between his palms once more. Only this time, he poured every ounce of his reanimated chakra into the construct, expanding the cube until it was several times larger than his own body.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique: Pillar!"
A blinding, catastrophic pillar of pure white light, dozens of meters in diameter, erupted from the cube. The atomic-dismantling beam tore through the sky, meeting the apocalyptic Tailed Beast Ball in a spectacular, head-on collision.
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