TitoVillar
patreon
JST Chapter 187: A Storm of Poison and Insects
🕑 Added 2025-03-01 15:12:00 +0000 UTC"Jiraiya-sensei, have you ever thought of using force to convince Kazuki?" Minato asked.
He didn't want to pay any more attention to Onoki. His normally lively expression turned into a mask of indifference as he spoke calmly, "I remember that when you first started to master Sage Mode, you mentioned something about it…"
He paused before adding: "Looking back on it now, it doesn't seem like that was such a great idea."
Jiraiya didn't know what to say.
He was a man who longed for peace but was also willing to fight to the death for Konoha if necessary. His greatest wish was for the world to no longer be mired in conflict.
When he lost contact with Nagato, he practically pigeonholed Kazuki as the forbidden child of the prophecy.
Somehow, he seemed to be connected to peace… albeit in a disturbing way.
After the explosion of that strange, gigantic version of Senju Tobirama, the conflict had truly ceased. But so had life.
"I don't…! I never…! That's not true!" Jiraiya vehemently shook his head three times in a row before sighing deeply. He then looked at Onoki, who was beside himself with fury, and said in a grave tone, "Tsuchikage-sama, withdraw your troops. Unless you want all of Iwagakure's shinobi to die here."
Onoki's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the torn bodies around him. His mind was a whirlwind of emotions. What the hell happened here?
"Jiraiya, Minato, return to the defensive line…" Kazuki's voice echoed in his ears. "Tobirama No. 2's launch is ready. It will impact in fifteen seconds. Avoid the landing area."
Jiraiya shook his head and looked at Onoki with resignation. "Good luck, Tsuchikage-sama…"
"Tobirama No. 2 is coming soon." Onoki whispered, inhaling deeply. That damn Tobirama again?
He never wanted to hear that name again.
At that moment, he understood perfectly why his sensei, the Second Tsuchikage, always frowned and tensed whenever he heard that name mentioned.
"Prepare for air defense! Don't skimp on chakra! I want the thickest earth walls possible!" Onoki ordered loudly.
What he didn't know... was that this time it wasn't an explosive bombing.
But rather a cloud of poisonous gas that would spread with the wind…
Under Onoki's command, the surviving shinobi of Iwagakure displayed exceptional discipline. Even though the devastating steam explosion had thrown them into chaos, upon hearing the Tsuchikage's voice, their bodies reacted instinctively.
...
On the battlefield, Kitsuchi waved his arms and shouted to encourage his comrades: "The enemy's chakra has been exhausted! This was their last attack before retreating!"
"If we hold on, we can return to the village and plan a counteroffensive! There's nothing to fear!"
His powerful voice echoed across the battlefield. With chakra flowing through his towering body, Kitsuchi performed a hand seal and exclaimed, "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave!"
A thick rock wall extended from the earth to protect the heads of the Iwagakure shinobi.
Infected by Kitsuchi's fervor, the other Iwa-nin reacted immediately and began to raise defensive structures with Earth Release.
One after another, stone walls rose on the battlefield. The surviving shinobi, who were initially paralyzed by fear, began to regain their resolve.
From above, Onoki watched the scene with a mixture of excitement and pride.
No matter how difficult the situation was, his shinobi would never give up. Inspired, Onoki reinforced the air defenses with more stone walls, while gathering chakra in his hands, preparing his Dust Release to destroy the enemy bombs before they hit the ground.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Minato and Jiraiya stood next to Kazuki, attentively observing the response of the Iwagakure shinobi. The faces of the master and disciple reflected a deep seriousness.
Even though the operation to contain Onoki had been a partial success, they knew that the Iwagakure army was still a formidable force. If they had been fully organized from the start, the battle would have been very different.
Their fighting spirit, discipline and determination made them fearsome adversaries.
Minato couldn't help but wonder: If Konoha suffered so many casualties, would the shinobi be able to maintain morale like this?
Jiraiya was also thinking about it.
Behind them, Gamabunta had his gaze fixed on Kazuki. He sensed that Kazuki could be the forbidden child of the prophecy.
The destructive power of Kazuki's ninjutsu had left him speechless. The efficiency with which he eliminated his enemies brought him dangerously close to becoming the deadliest shinobi in history.
"Kazuki, we should retreat…" Jiraiya muttered with a frown. His eyes fell on the two dying Jinchuriki at Kazuki's feet and his expression hardened. "The Iwagakure shinobi have reacted quickly. A simple wave of bombardment will no longer be enough to finish them off."
Minato, on the other hand, has slowly come to understand the Root's ruthless methods and suspected that the next attack Kazuki warned them about would not be a simple bombing.
Kazuki smiled calmly and replied, "Jiraiya, don't be so impatient."
With narrowed eyes, he looked at the formation of the Iwagakure shinobi and quietly declared, "According to our estimates, at least 90% of these shinobi must die today."
"If we don't reach that number, we'll consider the operation a failure. Now, relax and enjoy the true power of Konoha!"
With a calculated gesture, Kazuki adjusted the direction and angle of the final bombardment, ensuring that the Tobirama No. 2 would land at strategic points on the battlefield.
From the sky, the highly toxic Tobirama No. 2 bombs began to descend.
Onoki responded with Dust Release, firing columns of energy that disintegrated the bombs before they detonated. Dust Release's ability to break down matter to its most basic level made it a formidable ninjutsu.
But under Kazuki's precise instructions, the bombs fell at an unpredictable rate and trajectory, and some bombs managed to pierce through Onoki's attacks, finding their targets.
Finally, the Tobirama No. 2 bombs hit the ground defenses of the Iwagakure shinobi.
The Iwa-nin waited anxiously, holding their breath.
But to their surprise, this second wave of Konoha's bombardment did not have even half the destructive power of the first, but the thick smoke that rose soon engulfed the entire battlefield.
Kitsuchi exhaled deeply, a faint smile on his face. Just as he was about to utter some encouraging words, his pupils suddenly contracted.
What at first looked like an ordinary cloud of smoke quickly began to transform into a deep, dark blue upon contact with the air.
The Iwagakure shinobi who inhaled the blue-black mist began to cough violently. Within seconds, their bodies shook in spasms, and they fell to the ground, as a large amount of dark blood gushed out of their mouths and noses.
"The smoke is poisonous! It's a toxic fog!"
"Use Wind Release ninjutsu! Quick, disperse the mist!"
"Help! I'm going to die!"
Although the blue-black mist did not cause spectacular explosions or deafening noises, its lethality was terrifying.
Onoki felt an icy cold run through his body.
The blows one after another made the shrewd Third Tsuchikage feel as if he was stuck in a quagmire. The rhythm of this war seemed to be firmly controlled by Kazuki at every step...
"Shikuro, it's your turn." Kazuki placed a hand on Aburame Shikuro's shoulder and spoke softly, "Show the true power of the Aburame clan. Let everyone know that the silent insects carry the most ardent will of fire."
Shikuro's eyes shone with determination as he nodded firmly.
On the battlefield, the blue-black mist paralyzed a large number of Iwa shinobi, reducing their army to a useless force.
Meanwhile, on Konoha's side, a group of Root and Shikuro shinobi moved quickly, piling the bodies of the slain Iwa-nin into a macabre mountain of corpses.
Shikuro removed his gloves, revealing his hands, a deep purple hue. He placed one of them on the corpse of an Iwa jonin.
In an instant, the body was dyed purple-black and began to expand, forming a dark-colored cocoon with cursed inscriptions glowing on its surface. It was a gruesome sight.
On the other hand, although the toxicity of Tobirama No. 2 had been diluted for mass production, its ability to control the battlefield was still terrifying.
Onoki couldn't accurately estimate the level of danger of the poison, but anything with Tobirama's name on it couldn't be a good thing.
Furthermore, his army was completely paralyzed and vulnerable.
If Konoha launched a counterattack now, they would be finished.
"Those who can use Earth Release ninjutsu to dive into the ground, evacuate now! The rest, cover your mouths and noses!"
Onoki quickly formed seals and summoned massive rock golems to rescue the shinobi who were writhing and convulsing due to the poison...
But then, Shikuro finished his preparation.
The poisonous nano insects began to multiply inside the dark cocoon, until, with a thunderous bang, they spread out into a dense black cloud.
Each particle of that mist was made up of deadly nano-sized poisonous insects.
Hidden by the blue-black smoke of the Tobirama No. 2, the black cloud of nano insects made its way among the Iwa shinobi causing havoc among them, with each new infected body the nano insects multiplied exponentially.
This time, the blue-black poison was mixed with deadly black haze, and the weapons of mass destruction at the root bared their fangs and began to harvest lives!
Onoki floated in the air, his eyes bloodshot, helpless in the face of the slaughter of the Iwa-nin.
Onoki turned his head in anger, staring at Kazuki. His heart was filled with hatred... but also fear.
Onoki gritted his teeth and, fighting back his anger, took Kitsuchi and a few jonin who could still be saved, opting to retreat.
Despite his mastery of Dust Release, Onoki knew he could do nothing against that lethal cloud of nano insects and poison.
Onoki was a typical glass cannon. He could flatten a mountain, but he could not resist a kunai at the right time.
In the end, the Iwa shinobi abandoned on the battlefield were devoured by the poisonous nano insects.
98% of the Iwagakure army had been annihilated.
Kazuki motioned for Shikuro to seal the nano bugs and then looked at Minato and Jiraiya with a smile. "War fought this way is better. Don't you think?"
Jiraiya didn't answer, he just let out a long sigh.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Kazuki's strategy killed 10,000 people.
