r18novel Chapter 430 Trying to escape? Vajra Lockdown!
Chapter 430 Trying to escape? Vajra Lockdown!
A white figure landed on the top of the highest outer building of the competition venue in a few leaps.
Jiraiya's long, white, spiky hair was slightly disheveled as he sped along, clearly indicating that he had been rushing all the way.
Upon arriving at the competition venue, Jiraiya sensed a terrifying chakra, and his ominous premonition grew stronger.
"Tailed Beast Chakra?! Could it be that Kurama has gone out of control?! Is Naruto in trouble?!"
This thought made his heart clench instantly.
But the next moment, his keen senses told him that something was wrong!
Although this chakra was as violent as the chakra of a tailed beast, it felt different from the pure malice of the Nine-Tails. Not only was it weaker, but it also seemed to carry the aura of sandstorms...
"This is... the One-Tailed Beast?! Shukaku's chakra?!" Jiraiya instantly realized, his shock growing even greater.
The Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku was brought to Konoha by the Land of Stars.
After Sunagakure was annexed by the Land of Stars, information about the One-Tailed Jinchuriki disappeared. Now, the appearance of this Tailed Beast Chakra means that the Land of Stars is likely closely related to this attack!
Before Jiraiya could think it through, his gaze was immediately drawn to another scene.
On the roof of the VIP viewing platform, the purple barrier of the Four Purple Flames Array stood silently like a magnificent coffin.
Inside the barrier, one could vaguely see the shadows of countless wildly growing, twisting, and dancing giant trees, as well as two familiar streams of chakra.
One of them was his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Another cold, viscous chakra that Jiraiya would never forget was that of his former best friend, Orochimaru!
Just below his line of sight, a large section of the stands on the east side of the competition venue had been swallowed up by a dense, wildly growing sea of trees that had suddenly appeared!
In the sea of trees, several familiar figures were fighting. It seemed to be Kakashi and Might Guy fighting against the ninjas of the Land of Stars.
"Wood Release... Four Purple Flame Formation... Tailed Beast Chakra... Land of Stars?" Jiraiya's face turned ashen, and a chill instantly swept over his entire body, causing him to shiver involuntarily.
Orochimaru and the Sound Ninja's invasion, the Jinchuriki of the Land of Stars, the Four Purple Flame Formation imprisoning the Hokage, and the astonishingly large Wood Release: Sea of Trees...
"Orochimaru...you bastard...what have you done?!"
With a low growl, Jiraiya's figure charged headlong from the high place toward the battlefield of the purple barrier and the sea of wood-style trees!
In the athletes' rest area, the air was filled with the malice of tailed beast chakra and the dryness of yellow sand.
Ahead of the Hidden Mist Village squad, Ao's right eye was surrounded by bulging veins, his white eye fixed on Gaara, who was being lifted up by yellow sand in mid-air and exuding the aura of a violent tailed beast chakra.
He held a pair of specially made kunai in his backhand, his body slightly lowered, shielding Hozuki Suigetsu, Chojuro, and Uzumaki Hinaka behind him as much as possible.
"Mizuki, Chojuro, Hinaka." Ao's voice was extremely low and rapid, with a commanding tone.
"Listen, don't make any rash moves. This guy is a Jinchūriki, and he seems to have very stable control over the Tailed Beast's power. He's definitely not someone you can fight head-on."
"As soon as I have a chance, I will create an opening. You must immediately evacuate this area as quickly as possible. Do not look back, and find a chance to leave Konoha!"
Even Hozuki Suigetsu, who always prided himself on being a genius of Kirigakure and had an unconventional and arrogant personality, did not refute this at this moment, which was quite unusual.
He tightened his grip on the long sword and sewing needle slightly, and his eyes, which always carried a cynical expression, were now fixed on Gaara and the swirling yellow sand around him. His Adam's apple bobbed.
Even though he possessed the Water Transformation Technique and was confident that he could be immune to most physical attacks, he couldn't muster much thought of fighting back against the power of the Tailed Beasts and their pure, unreasonable chakra crushing force.
Jinchuriki are top-tier combatants with extremely high strategic value in all major ninja villages. For example, the two Jinchuriki of Kirigakure are not only powerful, but the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, himself rose to power by becoming the Three-Tails Jinchuriki!
What's more, Temari and Kankuro are also watching closely, and the team led by that red-haired, bespectacled girl named Karin is no pushover either; they suffered a loss at the hands of the other side during the second exam a few days ago.
On the other side, Samui from Kumogakure also had a frosty expression on her face.
She held a dark red hilt and a long, narrow blade of ninja sword in her hand, with faint lightning crackling on the blade, clearly infused with lightning chakra.
She shielded Karui, Omoi, and Atsui behind her, her cool eyes quickly scanning the positions of the six Star Kingdom members and the surrounding environment, her brain rapidly calculating possible breakthrough routes and escape opportunities.
She knew very well how terrifying the Jinchūriki's strength was; a direct confrontation would be futile. She had to either outsmart them or escape in the chaos.
However, the Star Kingdom clearly has no intention of giving them any chance to catch their breath or escape.
Gaara, suspended in mid-air, indifferently swept his emerald green eyes over the crowd below who were on high alert, as if looking at a group of prey trapped in a cage, struggling in vain.
He slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread.
"The Strange Arm of Sand".
With a pronouncement, the yellow sand swirling around him, soaked in Shukaku's chakra, suddenly became even more violent!
A large number of sand grains converged and shaped wildly, instantly solidifying into four extremely thick, dark yellow sand arms with ferocious beast claw-like ends!
Each of these four sand monster arms is seven or eight meters long, covered with rough sand textures, and exudes a suffocating sense of oppression. Like four Shukaku hands from the depths of the desert, they suddenly grab and strike at the Mist Village team, the Cloud Village team, and the Konoha Sasuke team and Shikamaru team!
The offensive covered the entire field, clearly aiming to leave them all behind!
"Scatter!" Qing Li shouted, quickly forming hand seals.
"Water Release·Water Crush Wave!"
He opened his mouth and spewed out a high-pressure jet of water, not to attack the Sand Monster Arm, but to bombard the ground in front of it, attempting to use the water flow to change the Sand Monster Arm's trajectory and create water mist to interfere.
Hozuki Suigetsu, Chojuro, and Uzumaki Hinokami also retreated rapidly to the side and back.
On the Cloud Village team's side, Samui moved like lightning, his lightning blade slashing out several sharp beams of light in an attempt to sever the attacking sand monster's arm. However, when the lightning struck the sand, which was condensed with Shukaku's chakra, it only stirred up a burst of sparks and scattered sand particles, failing to cause any effective damage.
Karui, Omoi, and Atsi quickly dodged backward.
On Konoha's side, Shikamaru had been rapidly devising a countermeasure since the Sand Arm first took shape, but his Shadow Imitation Technique was ineffective against such pure power crushing.
"Choji! Block the front! Ino, prepare to turn around! Sasuke, find an opportunity..." Before he could finish giving his instructions, Akimichi Choji roared.
"Partial Multiplication Technique!"
His right arm instantly swelled several times its original size, like a giant shield, and stood fiercely in front of Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino!
However, Gaara's Sand Arm was far more powerful than imagined, and the giant sand claw slammed into Choji's multiplied arm!
boom--! ! !
With a dull thud, Choji's multiplied arm was slammed down by Sand Claw!
He was hit as if by a heavy truck, screamed and flew backward, crashing heavily into the wall in the distance. The multiplication spell was instantly canceled, he returned to normal, and passed out on the spot!
"Choji—!!!" Yamanaka Ino screamed.
"Choji!" Shikamaru's face turned pale, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Just a casual strike!
Choji was beaten so badly that he fell into a coma!
Is this the power of a Jinchūriki?!
Sasuke's crimson three-tomoe Sharingan barely caught the trajectory of the Sand Claw's attack. Relying on the dynamic vision granted by the Sharingan and the results of Kakashi's special training, he narrowly avoided the sand claws that were reaching for him.
Sai and Shigaraki Tanuki stayed close behind him, using their exquisite taijutsu and ninja swords to parry and deflect the aftershocks of the Sand Monster Arm. Their primary task was always to "protect" Sasuke.
However, not everyone can remain calm.
"Damn it! Take this! Cloud Flowing Flame Slash!"
The hot-tempered and impulsive Atsui, seeing the Sand Monster Arm attack again, lost his mind due to anger and pride as a Cloud Village ninja.
He roared, his chakra erupted, and the ninja sword in his hand was instantly wrapped in scorching fire chakra, transforming into a flaming longsword. Instead of retreating, he advanced, leaping high into the air and slashing at Gaara in mid-air!
His sword strikes were fierce, and flames roared, demonstrating his remarkable skill in ninjutsu.
"Azii! Don't be impulsive! Come back!" Omoi shouted anxiously, dropping his lollipop.
Gaara didn't even turn around.
A thick tail covered in purple patterns suddenly emerged from behind him and lashed out like a steel whip!
Clang—!
The flaming longsword slammed into Shukaku's tail, producing a deafening clang of metal clashing!
Flames flew everywhere, and sand and dust billowed.
Atsui felt an overwhelming force coming from the blade, his hand snapped open, and the ninja sword flew out of his grasp!
The next moment, Shukaku's tail continued its momentum and struck him squarely in the chest!
"puff--!"
Atsi coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a kite with a broken string, his chest armor dented.
Shukaku's tail then chased after Atsui!
"Azui!" Samui watched his younger brother being knocked away, his eyes wide with rage. His figure vanished from the spot in an instant, and when he reappeared, he was already blocking Atzui's retreating path. The lightning blade in his hand burst forth with dazzling lightning, and he slashed at the tail of Shukaku that was chasing after him with all his might!
"Cloud flow·Shun!"
Amidst the piercing crackling of electricity, Samui's lightning blade barely managed to leave a shallow scorch mark on Shukaku's tail, forcing the tail to pause slightly.
Karui and Omoi seized the opportunity to rush forward, catch the seriously injured and unconscious Atsi, and quickly dragged him to a safer distance behind.
Sami retreated immediately after the attack, his face pale and his hand holding the knife trembling slightly.
In that clash just now, she used almost all her strength, but she could only barely block its attack, and she herself was also shaken so badly that her blood and qi were churning.
In just one exchange, four squads, twelve examinees plus two elite Jonin were completely overwhelmed by Gaara's casual "Sand Arm" and the counterattack of Shukaku's tail!
Choji is unconscious, Atsui's fate is unknown, and everyone else is in a sorry state, with morale plummeting.
Shikamaru supported the still-shaken Ino, looked at the unconscious Choji, then at Atsui who was being dragged away by his companions while coughing up blood in the distance, and finally looked at Gaara in mid-air who seemed to control everything. His heart sank to the bottom.
The opponent is too strong; they are simply not an enemy that their level can handle!
His mind was racing at an unprecedented speed, and he couldn't find any way out of the predicament except to find a chance to escape. A sense of despair gradually crept into his heart.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, the three tomoe in his Sharingan trembling slightly due to extreme emotional fluctuations.
Looking at Gaara's indifferent, condescending attitude, at Choji's injury, and at the Cloud Village ninja's crushing defeat, a fire of anger, resentment, and a deep sense of powerlessness burned in his chest.
Obviously...
He had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, received Kakashi's special training, and mastered Chidori. Logically speaking, he should now have strength close to that of a Special Jonin.
But why...
Why are they still so powerless when facing the powerful enemies of the Star Kingdom?
Just how strong is this Gaara?!
Just then, a clear, disgruntled female voice rang out.
"Hey, Gaara!" Karin put her hands on her hips and walked over to Gaara, her emerald green eyes glaring at the disheveled Kirigakure squad, especially Hozuki Suigetsu.
She said angrily, "Remember to leave that Kirigakure squad to me! Especially that annoying white-haired, sharp-toothed brat! We haven't settled the score from the second exam in the Forest of Death yet! I'm going to beat him to a pulp and teach him what happens when he angers me!"
As she spoke, she cracked her wrists, interlacing her fingers to produce a sharp, teeth-grinding cracking sound, radiating fighting spirit.
Gaara responded with a soft hum from his nose.
Of the four "sand monster arms," the one that attacked the Mist Village team slowly dissipated, turning into ordinary grains of sand that drifted down.
With the pressure slightly reduced, Hozuki Suigetsu looked at Karin, who was full of fighting spirit above, then at Gaara, who was indifferent in mid-air, and Temari, Kankuro, and the others who were eyeing him covetously. He felt like he had a splitting headache.
He scratched his short white hair, bit his lower lip with his sharp teeth, and muttered under his breath, "Tsk... What a nuisance. I already thought your chakra level was ridiculously high during the second exam by the river, and your secret techniques were incredibly difficult to deal with. I didn't expect there to be an even more outrageous guy behind you... I don't want to deal with two monsters at the same time."
However, although he complained about his headache, a sly glint flashed in his eyes.
He quickly formed hand seals in front of him.
Chou-Si-Wei!
"However, although I really want to have another good fight with you, you grumpy woman, and see who's better," Hozuki Suigetsu raised his voice, his tone returning to that flippant smirk.
"But as the saying goes, a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. Now... is not a good time to fight."
"Hidden Mist Technique!"
With his final low shout, his chakra exploded instantly!
Centered on him, a thick white mist appeared out of thin air and spread outwards at an astonishing speed!
In just two or three breaths, the entire rest area, along with the location of the six people from the Star Kingdom, was completely shrouded in a thick fog so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!
Their vision was completely stripped away, and even their chakra perception was severely interfered with and distorted.
"Bye-bye, hello~" Hozuki Suigetsu's flippant voice rang out in the thick fog, tinged with a hint of smugness, his position shifting erratically, clearly indicating that he was moving rapidly.
"Retreat!" Samui on the other side also made a decisive move, shouting at Karui and Omoi.
Don't miss out!
Taking advantage of the sudden thick fog, this is the best time to escape!
With a swift movement, she prepared to lead the injured Atsi and two subordinates towards an exit she remembered.
Shikamaru reacted quickly, hoisting Choji onto his shoulder and whispering to Ino, "Ino, calm down! Let's get out of here now!"
However, just as the people of Kirigakure and Kumogakure thought they had found a lifeline and were preparing to evacuate,
From the depths of the thick fog came Karin Uzumaki's disdainful shout:
"Want to leave? Not so easy!"
"Diamond Lockdown!"