At that mont, all the shinobi on the battlefield—whether from Iwagakure or Konoha—had halted their attacks, staring in stunned silence at the fallen half of the Iron Prison.
A single slash—just one—had cleaved that massive circular iron prison in two, and not only that, but also instantly killed the four Explosion Corps mbers who had been outside it.
Was this the power of Hoshiyomi-sama—Konoha's Silver Moon.
The contrast on the battlefield couldn't have been clearer. The Konoha shinobi were flushed with excitent, as if they themselves had delivered that finishing blow through Hoshiyomi.
anwhile, the Iwa ninja looked as if they were mourning the dead—utterly despondent, slumped like eggplants hit by frost, silent and broken.
From sowhere within the remaining half of the Iron Prison, four flashes of blade light suddenly streaked out. The next mont, a large rectangular stone wall collapsed outward, and Hoshiyomi stepped calmly out of the broken prison.
Seeing that Hoshiyomi still stood tall and unshaken, the Konoha forces erupted into cheers, and with renewed vigor, they charged the Iwa forces once more.
The Iwagakure shinobi had co back to their senses—but they felt oddly powerless when trying to defend. After another round of clashes, countless Iwa shinobi once again fell to the ground.
Even those few elite Iwa Jōnin who managed to counterattack and score kills didn't get the chance to rouse morale—the mont they opened their mouths, they were either taken out by Shinku's genjutsu or crushed by Jiraiya.
The morale of the Iwa forces had plumted to rock bottom. If things kept going like this, even if they didn't collapse or surrender outright, the battlefield would end in catastrophic casualties for them.
Deep in the crowd, Yōgan knew he had to act no matter what. Looking around at the corpses of his fallen comrades, he clenched his teeth and made a ruthless decision.
With a grim heart, he began forming hand seals:
Lava Release: Scorching Rock River!
Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock!
Despite the similar nas, the two jutsu had different effects.
First, the ground erupted with a massive surge of boiling, molten lava. The terrifying heat imdiately raised the temperature across the entire battlefield.
Then, Yōgan opened his mouth and spat out a massive ball of molten lava, which flew toward Hoshiyomi at considerable speed.
Given Hoshiyomi's speed, he could easily dodge the lava ball—but there were many Konoha shinobi behind him. If he simply evaded, the densely packed forces at his back would pay the price.
With no other choice, Hoshiyomi activated Nature Transformation, changing his chakra nature to Water Release, then slashed repeatedly at the incoming lava ball.
Multiple arcs of blue sword energy smashed into the molten ball, shattering it and rapidly cooling it mid-air. After five or six consecutive strikes, the sphere solidified into fragnts of black basalt-like stone that crashed harmlessly to the ground.
But because Hoshiyomi had to deal with the lava ball, he lost the chance to save others.
The sea of molten lava surged forward in all directions, giving people no ti to escape. So stronger Jōnin managed to use Body Flicker Technique to flee, but Chūnin and Genin weren't so lucky.
Those less fortunate had no way to outrun the deadly lava. So were lucky enough to be rescued by Jiraiya's Needle Jizō, rolled away just in ti. Others only got a few steps before being swallowed by the searing tide, screaming as they were burned into charred corpses.
Even the wounded Iwa shinobi, watching in despair, hadn't imagined they would die not at the hands of their enemies, but from their superior's jutsu.
Minato and Kuugetsu were also near the front lines. But the two of them were sharp enough to react imdiately.
As soon as Minato saw Yōgan's movents and chakra fluctuations, he knew sothing was wrong and used the Body Flicker Technique to get out.
Kuugetsu hadn't mastered the Body Flicker Technique yet, but she was quite smart. Seeing the lava spread rapidly, she imdiately discarded her ninja blade. The finely crafted sword, stuck into the ground, served as a foothold.
Just as the lava surged toward her, she stepped onto the hilt, launching herself into the air. After landing, she executed two forward rolls to soften the impact. Not only was she uninjured, she also escaped the area of effect entirely.
…
A river of molten lava now flowed between the Konoha and Iwa forces, completely separating the two sides.
On the other side, Shinku quickly gave orders:
"Water Release users—start cooling the lava! Everyone else, hold your position. Once the lava cools, we'll launch the pursuit!"
anwhile, Yōgan took advantage of the fact that Konoha couldn't cross over and bellowed:
"Everyone, front ranks beco the rear ranks and retreat quickly! The Second Jonin Squad, gather around and cover our retreat. If any Konoha shinobi dares to co after us, make sure they don't return."
Just as both sides assud the battle would end anticlimactically, Hoshiyomi moved.
He turned back toward Jiraiya and shouted:
"Jiraiya—Summoning Jutsu!"
Jiraiya was stunned for a mont—then his eyes lit up. He quickly ford hand seals and perford a summoning: Gamabunta
Gamabunta glanced at the battlefield and asked curiously:
"Jiraiya, why did you summon ?"
Hoshiyomi appeared on Gamabunta's foot and said:
"I'm the one who asked Jiraiya to summon you. Bunta, can you use your tongue to throw across to the other side?"
Gamabunta had t Hoshiyomi before and knew he was a close friend of Jiraiya. Hearing the request, he didn't hesitate. After asuring the width, he rolled his tongue and wrapped it around Hoshiyomi.
With a mighty flick, Gamabunta's powerful tongue launched Hoshiyomi through the air.
Toad tongues were incredibly powerful—especially one as huge as Gamabunta's. Hoshiyomi, being fairly lightweight, was sent flying easily across to the other side.
Of course, being wrapped up in a toad's tongue wasn't exactly pleasant—but on the battlefield, there was no ti to worry about such things.
Yōgan hadn't imagined Hoshiyomi would "fly" over like that—much less that he'd dare to pursue them now.
Seeing Hoshiyomi in the air, he gritted his teeth and said, "Everyone attack! Shoot him down!"
Following his command, Iwa shinobi started forming seals for various jutsu, aiming to blast Hoshiyomi out of the sky before he landed.
But Hoshiyomi hadn't co this far just to get blown away. As he flew through the air, his hand was already on his sword's hilt—charging up. And when Hoshiyomi was charging up, there was only one thing it could an:
Piercing Sky Draw Slash!
As the barrage of jutsu surged toward him, Hoshiyomi didn't hold back. In midair, he activated Dance of the Startled Swan.
His figure vanished from the sky, startling all the Iwa shinobi into a stunned silence. Even the Konoha side wore expressions of disbelief.
Only Minato's face lit up with excitent:
That's it! That's the technique! I need to earn enough rit on the battlefield—then I'll learn this space-ti ninjutsu myself!
Hoshiyomi reappeared suddenly—right in the midst of the Iwagakure ranks, beside Yōgan and the surrounding elite jōnin.
At the sa ti, he swiftly drew his blade—Mikazuki Munechika.
Once again ca the stunningly beautiful circular sword energy—followed by a spray of blood, and the sound of bodies collapsing.
The entire Iwagakure Second Jōnin Squad was wiped out in a blink. Thanks to the unique combination of Dance of the Dance of the Startled Swan Piercing Sky Draw Slash, nearly all were killed instantly—only one person survived.
That lone survivor was none other than the Iwagakure ANBU Captain—Yōgan.
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