vstars Chapter 871 Hair Going Numb
Chapter 871 Hair Going Numb
Onoki felt a chill run down his spine. The ANBU member in front of him was ridiculously strong in taijutsu, swordsmanship, and ninjutsu, and their teamwork was flawless. It was not at all like the combat skills that a young ninja should have.
"Dust Escape·The Art of Original Realm Peeling!"
Left with no other choice, Onoki placed his palms together, and a transparent cube-shaped barrier quickly took shape, emanating a chilling aura of destruction.
Sensing the threat of the dust escape technique, Zhang Hai abruptly stopped, forcibly interrupting his attack and instantly creating a hundred-meter distance using his extreme speed.
The two faced off from a distance.
Onoki floated in mid-air, his chest rising and falling slightly, and a layer of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
"Thank goodness... If I had been a fraction of a second slower, this old man would be done for."
He stared at the masked young man in the distance, his heart filled with shock. In just a few short years, this Konoha Anbu member, who once needed to resort to sneak attacks to harm his clones, had now grown to the point where he could confront him head-on, even forcing him to use his bloodline limit to save his life.
"This growth rate... is even more terrifying than Minato Namikaze back then."
On the other side, Zhang Hai's expression behind the mask was not relaxed either.
"Tch, it's still a bit lacking."
Zhang Hai sighed inwardly. While the Thunder Blade Technique and Sword Control Technique were incredibly powerful, they were, after all, only recently developed and were not yet perfect. Facing a Kage-level expert like Onoki, whose defensive methods were endless and whose combat experience was as rich as an old monster, a one-hit kill was far too difficult.
Moreover, that "Dust Release" technique was simply too overpowered. Once you were enveloped by that cube, no matter what kind of Susanoo or indestructible body you were, they would all be broken down into molecules. This forced him to remain on high alert at all times, preventing him from fighting with all his might.
"Hey, old man Tsuchikage."
Zhang Hai suddenly spoke, his tone full of sarcasm, "What? A dignified Tsuchikage, all you can do is hide like a rat? Where's your Dust Release? Where's your Will of Stone? Show it to me!"
He was trying to provoke Onoki. Even the slightest opening would be a fatal opportunity for a speed-type ninja like him.
However, Onoki was not angry; instead, he revealed a sinister smile.
"Hehe, those reverse psychology tactics won't work on me."
Onoki touched his nose, his eyes turning cunning. "This is Iwagakure territory. Why should I fight a reckless brat like you? As long as I hold you off, once my reinforcements arrive... heh heh, just like how I wore down the Third Raikage, I'll wear you down right here!"
"At that time, no matter how strong you are, you will only become a corpse when facing thousands of Iwa ninja."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hai's brows furrowed slightly beneath his mask.
He's definitely a cunning old fox. This shameless attrition tactic is indeed the safest yet most deadly.
"Trying to wear me down? You'll have to wait until reinforcements arrive."
Zhang Hai sneered, suddenly put away the knife in his hand, crossed his arms, and adopted a completely relaxed posture.
"However, old Tsuchikage, aren't you mistaken about something?"
"What is it?" Onoki looked at him warily, afraid that he would play some trick again.
"Do you really think the intelligence you received about our surprise attack on Kannabi Bridge is accurate?"
Zhang Hai's voice became playful, "Don't you wonder why I've been spending so much time here with you all by myself? Why I don't seem to be in any hurry to blow up the bridge?"
Onoki's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition surged into his mind.
"What do you mean?"
"Is there a possibility..." Zhang Hai said slowly, each word striking Onoki's heart like a hammer blow, "that the reason I appeared here and fought you so openly was actually just to lure away your top combat power?"
"The real raiding force might not be here at all. Instead, it might have already circled around to the other side of the Kannabi Bridge while you left headquarters and came here to play hide-and-seek with me..."
Zhang Hai pointed towards the bridge in the distance, his tone wistful: "Perhaps right now, that bridge has already been blown to bits."
"impossible!"
Onoki instinctively retorted, but his voice clearly lacked confidence.
Although the intelligence source is reliable and there's a high-level leak, all's fair in war. If this is truly Konoha's "luring the tiger away from the mountain" tactic, then the Tsuchikage, a dignified figure, has been completely outmaneuvered by a mere ANBU brat, resulting in the destruction of his supply lines. In that case, Iwagakure is truly doomed to lose this battle!
Seeing the doubt flickering in Onoki's eyes, Zhang Hai chuckled inwardly.
Psychological warfare can sometimes be more effective than ninjutsu. Once this seed of doubt is planted, Onoki will inevitably be distracted, and that... will be his chance to break the deadlock.
The clouds in the sky seemed to have solidified, and the oppressive atmosphere made the air feel thick and sticky.
Onoki floated in mid-air, hands behind his back. The previous probing and hesitation in his cloudy yet piercing old eyes vanished completely, replaced by a battle-hardened resolve and killing intent. In his eyes, Zhang Hai's earlier probing words were nothing more than a delaying tactic, or perhaps the prelude to a deeper conspiracy. As the Tsuchikage who had ruled Iwagakure for many years, he knew one thing well: when facing an unfathomable enemy, the safest course of action was to make them disappear completely.
"Young man, you talk too much nonsense. Since you refuse to reveal your true colors, then take your secrets to the Pure Land."
Onoki's voice was deep and hoarse. As he finished speaking, he suddenly stretched out his hands, palms facing each other. A chilling wave of chakra erupted instantly, and white light rapidly gathered in his palms, instantly forming a semi-transparent cubic barrier.
"Dust Escape·The Art of Original Realm Peeling!"
With a roar from Onoki, the small cube instantly expanded rapidly, completely engulfing the space in front of it at a speed defying the laws of physics. Zhang Hai's figure didn't even have time to make any dodging movement before being completely swallowed up by the dazzling white light.
There was no loud explosion, no rising flames, only deathly silence.
The terror of Dust Escape lies in the fact that it is not simple destruction, but rather the decomposition of matter at the atomic level. Wherever the white light passed, rocks, trees, air, and even Zhang Hai's seemingly materialized body, all instantly turned into dust invisible to the naked eye.
The light faded, leaving nothing in front of him. Where Zhang Hai had stood, a huge cylindrical pit had appeared, its surface as smooth as a mirror, as if a piece of this space had been forcibly carved out by a god.
Onoki slowly lowered his altitude, but his brows were tightly furrowed.
so easy.