"Earth Release: Twin Mountains Technique!"
Amid the storm of attacks from Byakuren and the others, Yuyi Kurotsuki instinctively dodged to an open patch of ground—
Right where Ishikawa had been waiting.
Emerging from his Camouflage Concealment, the First Tsuchikage slammed his palms onto the earth.
BOOM—!
The ground quaked as two colossal hemispheres of rock erupted on either side of Yuyi, crushing inward like a titanic vise.
Yuyi tried to escape—but the remaining three Kage had already sealed the exits.
Reto's wind blades.
A's lightning fists.
Byakuren's sealing needles.
Trapped, Yuyi stopped moving.
His expression didn't change as the mountains smashed together.
For a moment, there was only silence.
The four Kage landed outside the newly formed peak.
"Is it over?" Reto asked casually, finally tending to his wounded arm.
Ishikawa nodded. "Even a Tailed Beast wouldn't break free quickly."
Byakuren frowned. "I'll add a seal—"
CRACK!
The mountain shuddered.
Before Byakuren could react—
The peak exploded.
Molten rock geysered into the sky, raining back down in a hellish cascade. And within the eruption—
Yuyi Kurotsuki shot straight for Byakuren.
"Got you."
Byakuren's hands flew into seals—but this time, Yuyi didn't dodge.
He raised his right hand.
"Dark Release: Absorption Hole!"
A black vortex yawned open in his palm, devouring Byakuren's jutsu like a starved beast.
A trump card, hidden until now.
"One."
The screech of a thousand birds filled the air as Yuyi's Chidori slammed into Byakuren's chest.
"You—!" The Mizukage's eyes widened in disbelief—
THUD.
Yuyi's hand pierced clean through his heart.
"STOP!"
A arrived too late.
"DAMN IT!"
The Raikage's fist, crackling with lightning, crashed into Yuyi's back—
Only for his chakra to vanish, siphoned away by the same dark vortex.
"What—?!"
By the time A realized his mistake, Yuyi's other hand was already swinging—
"Two."
SHRRK!
A severed arm hit the ground.
One dead. One maimed.
This was Yuyi's long-prepared trap.
In the shinobi world, knowledge was power.
Jiraiya had died to Pain—but with prior intel, he might have won.
Here, the Kage had walked blindly into a slaughter.
Reto and Ishikawa dragged A back, their faces pale with dawning horror.
Dark Release.
A Kekkei Genkai so rare, most shinobi had never heard of it.
The ability to absorb any ninjutsu and repurpose its chakra.
For technique-based fighters, it was a death sentence.
And paired with Steel Release's near-invulnerability?
How do you fight someone who negates both ninjutsu and taijutsu?
Even the future Kage watching from afar were stunned into silence.
"I wanted revenge for Lord Byakuren," Gengetsu Hōzuki muttered, "but… how?"
Only Tobirama Senju remained analytical.
"Dark and Steel Release… a formidable combo. But all Kekkei Genkai have limits."
He wasn't wrong.
Dark Release could be overwhelmed—as seen when Baihu failed to absorb Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
But Yuyi was no crude imitator.
His mastery was flawless, his reserves bottomless.
He could tank multiple Rasenshuriken without breaking a sweat.
Tobirama's gaze flickered to his brother's position.
"A few more casualties would've been ideal… but he won't wait any longer."
Hashirama Senju never let allies die if he could help it.
Sure enough—
The God of Shinobi finally moved.