Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 485 Volcanoes and Sky Islands

As far as the eye could see, there was a world interwoven with dim red and dark colors.

The scorching air, thick with the pungent smell of sulfur, filled everyone's throats.

The sky was shrouded in thick clouds of volcanic ash, with grayish-white dust constantly falling from the air, covering everyone's hair and shoulders, and the high temperature blurred vision.

"It's so hot!"

"Where...where am I?"

"Aren't we in the Land of Fire?"

After a brief moment of confusion, an uncontrollable panic and commotion began to rise.

Thousands of surviving Allied ninjas, along with some equally bewildered White Zetsu, stood on the scorched, rugged ground, still reeling from the earlier battle in the capital.

Tobirama Senju stood slightly ahead of the crowd, scanning his surroundings.

But soon, he realized that he had broken free from the control of the Impure World Reincarnation, and subconsciously looked down at his palms, which were covered with tiny cracks.

The binding force that had been forcibly driving his will and body disappeared.

Is this no longer the ninja world?

Tobirama Senju realized this instantly.

Rumble!
Just then, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently, the scorched earth cracked open with a groan, and scorching air and the smell of sulfur gushed out.

"careful!"

Was it an earthquake?

Amidst the exclamations, Tobirama Senju raised his head, his gaze instantly locking onto the source of the tremor.

Not far away, a massive, short mountain, seemingly supporting the sky, was emitting a deep roar!

That's a volcano!

And it's an active volcano that's currently erupting!
Thick smoke billowed from the crater, and the bright red light cast a dark red glow on the churning gray clouds above.

boom!!

With a deafening roar that seemed to tear eardrums apart, scorching red magma shot into the sky from the crater, transforming into a pillar of fire that connected heaven and earth.

Countless house-sized boulders were ablaze with flames, and dense, rain-like jets of molten lava were hurled high into the air.

Amidst the flames, it crashed into the earth like a meteorite, leaving a trail of black smoke, indiscriminately bombarding the vast area surrounding the volcano!

"Take cover! Find cover! Get out of the way!"

Tobirama Senju's shout echoed from the aftershocks of the explosion.

But it was already too late.

Bang! Crack!

"what!"

"save……"

Screams and the sounds of flesh and bones being smashed rose and fell in an instant.

The burning boulders crashed down on the Allied ninjas who hadn't had time to scatter, crushing them into a bloody pulp. The intense heat then charred their flesh, leaving behind charred marks and a pungent stench.

The allied ninjas were terrified and hurriedly used ninjutsu to create cover, but in the face of such overwhelming power, the strength of an individual seemed so insignificant.

Buzz!
Under Tobirama Senju's somber gaze, thick, scorching magma erupted from the crater, like boiling porridge overflowing from a pot.

Following the scorched mountain ravines, it transformed into several surging rivers of lava, rushing down the mountain at an astonishing speed towards the direction where the allied forces were located!

Wherever the lava passed, the air was distorted wildly by the intense heat, crackling and popping, and even visibility became blurred.

That's incredibly fast!
At this rate, they will all be swallowed by lava in less than a minute.

"Everyone back off!" Tobirama Senju's roar instantly drowned out the chaos and noise of the scene. "Get away from the foot of the mountain! Quickly!"

He acted even faster than he warned.

Swish!
Tobirama Senju flung out a kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God mark, shooting it into the air in front of the lava torrent, and then vanished from the spot in an instant like a ghost.

The next moment, he appeared at the location of the kunai, dozens of meters above the ground, with a surging torrent of lava below.

Suspended in mid-air, with nowhere to grab hold of.

But Tobirama Senju's eyes remained unmoved. His hands formed a hand seal in front of his chest, moving so fast that only afterimages remained. A massive amount of chakra surged and gathered within his body.

Water Release: Great Explosive Water Wave! x2
Almost simultaneously, as Tobirama Senju shouted, another hoarse voice rang out from in front of the panicked crowd below, uttering the same name of the ninjutsu.

"This chakra..."

Senju Tobirama's heart stirred, and he looked down toward the source of the sound.

Not far below, Kisame Hoshigaki was also forming hand seals, his cheeks bulging out.

Boom!

Two enormous, terrifying waves erupted simultaneously, one above the other.

From Tobirama Senju's mouth in mid-air, a torrent of water, like an inverted celestial river, gushed forth and crashed down onto the surging lava below.

From Kisame Hoshigaki's mouth on the ground, a colossal wave, comparable to a river bursting its banks, surged forth from below, crashing fiercely against the scorching fire.

laugh!
The magma and water collided with a deafening roar, like throwing a red-hot iron into ice water, producing a piercing, high-pitched vaporization sound. A cloud of steam shot into the sky and instantly spread out, covering a large area.

The steam was frighteningly hot. The ninjas who didn't have time to escape felt a burning pain on their skin after touching it even slightly, and hurriedly retreated.

But under the frenzied impact and cooling of the two people's terrifying volume of water, the leading edge of the surging lava torrent solidified and turned black at a visible speed, gradually losing its fluidity.

From scorching fluid, it transformed into black rocks that emitted blue smoke and were hideous and ugly.

A moment later, the lava river, which was capable of devouring all life, was forcibly suppressed and cooled by the water-style technique used by the two together.

Between the allied forces and the volcano, a rugged, steaming barrier was formed, the scorching heat of the steam distorting the air itself.

Tobirama Senju landed on the still-hot black rock, his gaze passing through the gradually fading steam, meeting Kisame Hoshigaki's eyes, which were baring their sharp teeth not far away.

"To be able to unleash a water-style technique of this scale using only one's own chakra..."

Tobirama Senju narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself, "No wonder this shark-faced guy was able to control the Three-Tails and become its jinchūriki."

However, at that moment, a terrifying and violent aura surged from behind them like a raging fire.

The aura was so intense and violent that it instantly raised the temperature of the surrounding air, causing the newly solidified lava rocks to soften again.

"What?" Tobirama Senju and Kisame's expressions changed slightly.

The allied ninjas were even worse off. They had just caught their breath and hadn't even had time to feel relieved when they were suddenly overwhelmed by the oppressive aura, causing them to tremble in fear and instinctively turn their heads to look over.

The crater was completely empty.

However, a shadow was cast from above their heads, rapidly enlarging and enveloping the astonished ninjas below.

The shadow is getting bigger, which means...

"Up there!" a sensory ninja roared.

Too late.

A terrifying creature, resembling a giant ape, crashed heavily into a densely populated area!
boom!!

A deafening roar, far more muffled than a lava eruption, suddenly exploded across the earth. Centered on the point of impact, the ground sank and cracked, with spiderweb-like fissures instantly spreading hundreds of meters!

The shockwave spread outwards, tearing apart everything from charred lava to ninjas who were unable to dodge in time!
Smoke and dust mixed with the lingering steam, spreading everywhere.

However, at the heart of the churning dust, two crimson lights slowly rotated.

"Roar!!"

The earth-shattering roar instantly dispersed most of the smoke and dust, and the scorching air, carrying the stench of blood and burnt flesh, spread out.

As the smoke and dust cleared, that terrifying figure was exposed to the gaze of the allied ninjas.

The 'Flame Ape' has a body as large as a mountain, and its entire body is covered with thick, pitch-black rock armor.

It was covered with crisscrossing cracks, and deep within each crack, a scorching dark red light surged, as if flowing magma was flowing, emitting a suffocatingly high temperature.

It resembles an upright giant ape, with thick, long arms dangling to the ground, and two huge, curved, sharp lower teeth protruding from its mouth.

Beneath that giant foot lay a pool of barely recognizable mud, the only mark left by the allied ninjas who hadn't had time to dodge.

"It's the Espada!" Kisame Hoshigaki's solemn shout clearly reached the ears of the Allied Shinobi Forces. "Attack together!"

Almost the instant he finished speaking, the surrounding Allied ninjas transformed their fear into rage, their hands rapidly forming hand seals or unleashing their ninja tools.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Lightning Release: Earth Walk!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

Countless shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, and ninjutsu rained down on the massive body of the 'Flame Ape'!

Whoosh!

Faced with the swarming attack, 'Flame Ape' exhaled two streams of scorching breath carrying sparks from its nostrils, raised its thick, bulging arms, and let out a muffled thunderous sound.

"Intruder, die!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he slammed his arms down on the ground in front of him, and a ring of intense heat spread out.

Boom! Boom boom!!
Dozens of scorching pillars of fire erupted from the ground and shot into the sky dozens of meters high.

The ninjutsu and ninja tools unleashed by the allied ninjas were melted and engulfed upon contact with the towering pillars of fire.

The barrier formed by these pillars of fire not only blocked all attacks, but also engulfed the surrounding allied ninjas!

"Quick, get out of the way..."

"what!"

The short, agonizing scream abruptly stopped.

All of this happened too suddenly, too rapidly.

The fact that the 'Flame Apes' do not have broken faces means that, like the 'Sandstorms,' their power is constantly overflowing, reshaping the terrain around them.

He doesn't need to release his power through "Resurrection" like "Shikoku" and "Sakuya". Within his own territory, he and "Sandstorm" are even stronger than the previous Espada.

The fire pillars erupted over a wide area at an extremely high speed, leaving many ninjas no time to react.

As the pillar of fire swept across, the figure vanished instantly, leaving only a wisp of smoke or a charred, carbonized corpse, retaining its final posture before death, with a stench permeating the air.

The indiscriminate area-of-effect attack wiped out more than a third of the Allied Shinobi Forces and White Zetsu.

Including Kisame Hoshigaki.

Bang!
Kisame, his body charred black, collapsed forward to the ground, his clothes turned to ashes, and his exposed skin completely carbonized.

Large chunks of charred flesh were torn off, revealing the raw, red flesh writhing beneath, with bones even faintly visible. It was a gruesome sight, as if the skin had been peeled off.

Click click...

'Flame Ape' slowly retracted its arms that had been slammed into the ground, stretched its neck, making a crisp sound, and its crimson eyes swept over the solemn-faced Tobirama Senju in the distance.

But after only a brief pause, 'Flame Ape' looked at the Golden Horn and Silver Horn hiding further away, their faces grim.

"You have..." 'Flame Ape' said in a muffled voice, "something that lord wants."

------

Several enormous, inverted cone-shaped floating islands silently hovered within the pupils.

There was no vegetation, no water, only the pale light from above providing a meager illumination for these floating giant rocks, and a constant rumbling echoed from the center of one of the largest floating islands.
Thud! Thud thud!
Hyuga Neji continuously swung his katana, named "Rage," using the power techniques of Gentle Fist. The blade trembled, drawing lines that sliced ​​through the air with a shrill hum.

Huang Tu roared, his arm muscles bulging as he wielded the giant axe called "Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi," each swing causing the surrounding air to whistle.

The Fourth Raikage pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its limit, his body wreathed in raging blue lightning, moving so fast that to others it was just a series of flashes of light.

The three attacked the same figure from different angles and in different ways.

However, faced with the combined attack of the three, the figure did not even dodge, but simply raised his arms and used his fists, palms and fingers covered with bone armor to meet the attack.

clang!clang!clang!
Centered on the four people, the violent energy and shattered rocks were violently collided, stirred and swirled, forming a vortex that shot straight upwards.

Within seconds, nearly a hundred collisions of fists, palms, knives, axes, fingers, and legs exploded in rapid succession, the sounds forming a continuous, ear-piercing roar.

The originally invisible air shockwaves, under the crushed dust, gained a tangible form and continued to explode as the four people collided.

The giant axe of the loess is enough to split mountains and crack the earth, and the katana of Hyuga Neji is enough to pierce through steel.

However, their attacks, when they landed on the caged bird's bony arms or hands, mostly only left a shallow white cut, sparking a dazzling shower of sparks, before they could advance any further.

The Fourth Raikage and the other two could clearly sense that although the guy's moves seemed simple and direct, every block or counterattack precisely targeted the weak points in their power flow.

"Damn it!" The Fourth Raikage's expression grew increasingly furious, as if he felt a stifling sense of powerlessness.

"Is this the power of the Fourth Espada?" Hyuga Neji sensed it most clearly, his heart sinking. "Just his taijutsu alone is this powerful..."

Thinking of this, his eyes narrowed, a bright blue light shone in them, and chakra erupted from his feet.

Bang!
With a loud crash, the ground where he landed shattered and caved in.

Using this recoil force, he seemed to merge with the katana in his hand, transforming into a straight, sharp blade that instantly sliced ​​through the air currents in front of him and slashed at the 'caged bird' in front of him once again.

"You're good."

"Caged Bird" said calmly, seemingly slowly raising his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, the fingertips covered with bone nails, pointing precisely at the blade that Neji was slashing at.

Ding!
A sharp clang of metal rang out as sparks flew from the point where the blades clashed with the fingertips, illuminating the faces of the two men who were so close together.

Beneath a bone horn resembling a headband, Neji saw those double pupils so close to his eyes, reflecting his own Byakugan, which shimmered with a deep blue light.

The moment their eyes met, a tremendous force erupted through the collision of the blade and the finger.

boom!
Hyuga Neji slid backward, his feet carving deep furrows in the ground, sending pebbles flying. He retreated more than ten meters before regaining his footing.

Neji's right arm holding the sword trembled slightly. 'Caged Bird' glanced at his index and middle fingers, which had collided with the blade, and the wounds he had suffered had healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"you……"

Neji Hyuga's slightly panting voice came from behind. 'Caged Bird' raised her eyes and looked at him, her face expressionless.

"Are you Hyuga Hizashi...?" Hyuga Neji stared intently at that familiar yet unfamiliar face, his voice hoarse, "or..."

(End of this chapter)