Chapter 575 Death and Enlightenment

Crack!!

Iwakura’s Chakra, condensed within his body, took effect, helping him break through the hard ice.

“Hoo, hoo.” Iwakura gasped, looking uncomfortable.

Although he successfully broke free from the ice, the greatest damage Glacier Age caused him was the cold invading his body.

If one observed closely, they would see Iwakura’s hands and feet still trembling incessantly.

Drip!

The ice encasing Roshi quickly began to drip, followed by a large amount of white steam, as Roshi’s body erupted with terrifying high temperatures, melting the ice.

Muzuki wasn’t too surprised by this; the Four-Tails’ Chakra possessed the power of Scorch Release, making it not difficult to break through the ice.

After all, while Glacier Age was a powerful skill drawn from an S-rank scroll, Muzuki’s Ice Release proficiency was far from his ordinary Chakra Nature Transformation proficiency.

Moreover, Muzuki hadn’t developed a Breathing Technique that could enhance Ice Release.

Without the numerous enhancements of his other skills, Glacier Age found it truly difficult to instantly kill experts like Roshi and Iwakura.

Of course, it could only kill those who weren’t too strong; ordinary Jonin and below would instantly perish, unable to withstand the fatal cold.

Someone like Iwakura, though not killed, could be severely wounded.

“Iwakura, you trash!” Roshi glared at Iwakura with wide eyes.

Already injured, he had also suffered from the cold invasion, making his condition even worse.

The crucial point was that Iwakura, who claimed he would lead the squad to take down Muzuki, had failed so miserably.

Roshi now had the urge to kill Iwakura.

He had indeed accidentally injured Iwagakure, but Iwakura not only failed to kill Muzuki but was also injured by Muzuki.

However, impulse aside, Roshi still spat out a lava fireball towards Muzuki, who was charging at Iwakura.

Whoosh!

Muzuki stopped and used Body Flicker Technique in another direction.

Iwakura was merely at the end of his rope; he wasn’t worth wasting too much of his own condition to force a kill, as Iwakura definitely wouldn’t escape anyway.

“Sigh.” Iwakura let out a deep sigh.

From being a hope renowned in the Ninja World at the end of the meeting to now facing a life-or-death crisis after the failed encirclement.

In just a few hours, he had practically fallen from heaven to hell.

At this moment, how he wished it wasn’t Retsuishi but him who was injured that day, so he could rest assuredly recovering in Iwagakure.

But it was no longer possible; the Iwa Ninja Force was sure to suffer a crushing defeat in this battle, and whether he could survive was an unknown.

“At least we can’t be completely wiped out,” Iwakura muttered to himself.

Although he had thought about shifting blame and how to vigorously clear his name to avoid punishment for the defeat, most of the time, Iwakura considered Iwagakure.

After all, it was the Village he had sworn to protect since childhood.

“Use the Tailed Beast Ball! Don’t worry about anything else; use the Tailed Beast Ball with all your might! Then, take the surviving Iwagakure Ninja and leave,” Iwakura commanded sharply.

This was truly his last and most extreme method.

The Tailed Beast Ball had an enormous range and terrifying destructive power; as long as Konoha didn’t want to perish with Iwagakure, they would have no choice but to retreat after Roshi released the Tailed Beast Ball.

Roshi looked at Iwakura in disbelief, not expecting this guy to be even crazier than when he was affected by the Tailed Beast Chakra.

One Tailed Beast Ball would likely put him at the top of the kill count for this war.

Because others could only kill one faction, but his Tailed Beast Ball would take out a large number of Ninja from both sides.

Before Roshi could reply, Iwakura actively condensed Chakra and attacked Muzuki.

Unleashing a Tailed Beast Ball also required time, and given Muzuki’s current distance from Roshi, Muzuki was fully capable of preventing Roshi from releasing the Tailed Beast Ball.

Whoosh!!

Five stone projectiles imbued with Explosion Release power shot towards Muzuki.

Muzuki, enhanced by Byakugan and Transparent World, directly ignored these attacks, perfectly dodging each flying stone with every flicker of his body.

While dodging, Muzuki pulled out several Kunai from his Ninja tool pouch, three aimed at Iwakura, and one at Roshi.

Roshi, feeling his body chill, silently opened his mouth, and a large amount of Chakra gathered in front of it, rapidly forming a dark purple Chakra Ball.

Although Iwakura’s method was crazy, it was indeed a solution.

Otherwise, if the stalemate continued, the final outcome would only be him and Iwakura both dying at Muzuki’s hands, and the Iwa Ninja Force would be unable to break through.

“Damn it, a Tailed Beast Ball!” Kakashi’s brows furrowed upon discovering Roshi attempting to condense a Tailed Beast Ball.

He wanted to stop him, but they had a large number of Iwagakure Ninja nearby to deal with.

Iwagakure still outnumbered the Konoha Ninja Force by eight hundred; if Konoha hadn’t ambushed them, in a direct confrontation, the Konoha Ninja would likely have suffered significant losses by now.

“He’s going to release a Tailed Beast Ball?” The Iwagakure Ninja further away were bewildered.

If Roshi was going to release a Tailed Beast Ball here, he was going to take them and the Konoha Ninja out together.

Both Konoha Ninja and Iwagakure Ninja instinctively wanted to distance themselves from Roshi.

If he really released the Tailed Beast Ball, they could at least escape in time.

Boom!!

The three Kunai were incredibly fast; in a hurry, Iwakura could only throw an Explosion Release stone and detonate it, which only interfered with two of the Kunai, leaving one still flying towards Iwakura.

Whoosh!

As the Kunai grazed Iwakura’s right side, Muzuki instantly appeared beside Iwakura, grabbed the Kunai, and thrust it towards Iwakura.

Iwakura, however, was strangely not panicked but delighted.

Iwakura had never thought he could directly kill Muzuki in a one-on-one battle; he couldn’t even do it at his peak, much less when he was weakened after being hit by Glacier Age.

But he was an Explosion Release Ninja, possessing an attack method that ordinary Ninja would absolutely not have—self-detonation.

Someone who wasn’t extremely familiar with Explosion Release Ninja could not possibly anticipate this method.

After all, not every Explosion Release Ninja had the ability to self-detonate, nor did everyone have the courage to do so.

“If I can perish with Hayate Mugetsu, then I haven’t failed Ōnoki-sama’s cultivation,” Iwakura thought to himself.

At such a close distance, Muzuki wouldn’t have anticipated his self-detonation ability and definitely wouldn’t have enough time to use Flying Thunder God Technique.

If Muzuki didn’t have other special defensive abilities, he should be able to achieve a one-for-one exchange at the limit.

“Explosion Release: Self-Detonation!”

A powerful Explosion Release Chakra erupted, and a fierce white light surged from Iwakura’s body.

Just as Iwakura thought he was about to succeed, Muzuki’s body vanished.

Bang!

Muzuki appeared beside Roshi, suddenly unleashing an Exploding Fist, the sudden heavy force nearly knocking Roshi to the ground, and the almost-condensed Tailed Beast Ball dissipated at this final step.

Iwakura looked at Muzuki with a puzzled expression; he didn’t understand why Muzuki could see through his thoughts, was there a Ninjutsu for remote mind-reading?

The next moment, Iwakura lost all his doubts and worries, because he had already exploded, literally exploded.

Boom!!

A huge explosion sound rang out, a dazzling white light flashed, and the Iwa Explosion Corps’s vice-captain was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a massive charred crater in his place.

He would never have imagined that beneath Muzuki’s glasses were a pair of Byakugan that could see through Chakra, much less that Muzuki only needed to glance at him to know most of his information.

Muzuki had seen through Iwakura’s intentions from the very beginning, so besides throwing three Kunai at Iwakura, Muzuki also threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai at Roshi.

This was to force Iwakura’s self-detonation while simultaneously interrupting Roshi’s Tailed Beast Ball release.

Kakashi’s anxious heart relaxed slightly.

If Roshi had truly released the Tailed Beast Ball, they might not have been harmed with Muzuki’s protection, but the Konoha Ninja Force would certainly have suffered considerable losses.

“Iwakura-sama!”

Some Iwagakure Ninja looked at this scene in disbelief, not expecting Iwakura to actually self-detonate.

“This trash… This guy…” Roshi, who had regained his balance, also felt a pang of emotion looking at the charred crater.

Although Iwakura was indeed somewhat incompetent, leading the Iwa Ninja Force into a pit, he wasn’t entirely useless.

At least, Iwakura would fight to the death to carve out a final path for the Iwa Ninja Force.

So, what about him…?

Roshi couldn’t help but think of himself.

Like many Jinchuriki whose Tailed Beasts were sealed in them at a young age, Roshi had a tragic childhood, being looked down upon, discriminated against, and feared.

Because of these experiences, even though the Four-Tails acknowledged him, Roshi was unwilling to communicate with the Four-Tails.

He felt that if it weren’t for the Four-Tails, he wouldn’t have had such experiences; he hated his Jinchuriki status.

Even though he knew that if he could communicate with the Tailed Beast, he would become stronger without any training, Roshi still didn’t want to communicate with the Four-Tails; he just couldn’t get past that hurdle in his heart.

But after seeing Iwakura self-detonate, Roshi’s thoughts changed.

In fact, even now, Roshi still thought Iwakura was a terrible person.

Because Iwakura actually told him to use Full Tailed Beast Transformation while a large number of Iwagakure Ninja were around, which completely disregarded the lives of his fellow Village Ninja.

But even such a terrible person could self-detonate for the sake of the Village and the Iwa Ninja Force.

He considered himself not that bad, so why couldn’t he overcome that hurdle for the power to salvage everything?

Roshi’s mind stirred, and he arrived in a dark space, where a tall, red-haired Four-Tails ape stood before him.

The Four-Tails silently watched Roshi without speaking.

Roshi looked at the Four-Tails, opening his mouth with all his might; he worried that if his voice was even a little weaker, he wouldn’t be able to say those words.

“Son, please help me, give me a little more power,” Roshi said with a complex expression.

This was the first time he had called the Four-Tails by its name; he had never been willing to communicate with the Four-Tails before, so it was impossible for him to call the Four-Tails by its name like a friend.

Roshi was now very anxious; he worried that the Four-Tails would refuse him and then humiliate him, after all, he usually ignored the Four-Tails.

The Four-Tails looked at Roshi with a smile; the stubborn person had broken his stubbornness, and he felt relieved by Roshi’s progress.

“As you wish, Roshi,” the Four-Tails generously poured a large amount of its Chakra into Roshi’s body.

The Four-Tails’ action surprised Roshi; he hadn’t expected this guy, who had caused him a tragic childhood, to agree to his request so easily.

He had even prepared to be scorned and return empty-handed…

“Thank you.”

Leaving a soft word of thanks, Roshi’s voice disappeared from the consciousness space.

P.S.:

Had a small unexpected event, didn’t realize relatives were visiting and insisted I have a few drinks with them.

The elder kept pouring, and I couldn’t refuse, so I was drowsy and only managed to write three thousand characters.

To avoid staying up all night, I had to stop here, in an awkward spot; I’ll try to finish this in the next two days, this fight has been going on for days.