Chapter 175: Massive Eruption

That pressure—almost like a physical blow—made both Yuto and Madara’s expressions change at the same time.

Boom! Boom!

They both erupted with a terrifying aura to resist the crushing force.

Yuto’s face turned solemn. His hands formed seals rapidly as he gave a sharp shout:

“Senpō: Suiton: Mugen Dan (Sage Art: Water Release: Infinite Bullets)!”

Massive streams of water manifested out of the air itself, instantly condensing above everyone into fist-sized water orbs.

In almost no time at all, the entire sky was filled with countless fist-sized spheres.

The next moment, those water orbs fell like artillery shells, slamming down toward the Slug Sage.

Some of the “shells” hit the ground, blasting out craters several meters deep.

But when those cannonball-like water spheres struck the Slug Sage’s body, they didn’t deal any damage at all—only a ripple so faint it could be ignored spread across its skin.

After finishing the technique, Yuto didn’t pause for even a second.

Vast chakra chains surged out from the back of his Kongō Fūsa: Kyōjin-ka (Adamantine Sealing Chains: Giant Form), forming a pair of enormous wings made entirely of massive links.

With a powerful flap—

A gale exploded outward, and Yuto’s giant body shot up into the air.

Whether the Slug Sage was truly strong or not, Yuto didn’t know.

But he knew one thing for sure: if Hashirama died, then no matter how strong the Slug Sage was, it would vanish.

So Yuto surged straight toward Hashirama, who was perched atop the Slug Sage’s head.

Gurururu—

The instant Yuto took to the air, the Slug Sage’s skin writhed.

Then slugs of all sizes burst out from holes in its surface, rapidly assembling into a gigantic palm that slapped down toward Yuto in midair.

“Cut.”

A low shout thundered from the horizon.

Madara, controlling Kanzentai Susanoo (Perfect Susanoo), drew an enormous blade and chopped down at the massive hand that had formed from the Slug Sage’s body.

Ssshhh—Ssshhh—

A corrosive liquid surfaced across the hand’s skin.

The chakra blade of Susanoo began to corrode the instant it made contact.

In a near-instant, the massive chakra sword had already been eaten away by almost half—by nothing more than that thin film of corrosive fluid.

And Madara’s blade hadn’t even cut through the hand’s outer skin.

Madara’s face flashed with shock—then anger.

A torrent of ocular power poured into Susanoo, and the corroded chakra blade rapidly began to regenerate.

Pff!

Finally, the chakra blade broke through that thin corrosive layer.

In that split second, Madara forced the swing through—

And severed the giant hand completely.

The enormous arm crashed to the ground, blasting out a pit and throwing up clouds of dust.

But as soon as the whole arm hit the earth, it reformed into a huge slug again—then melted back into the Slug Sage’s body.

“Not bad strength.”

A calm—almost soft—voice sounded in both Yuto and Madara’s ears.

But in the very next instant, both Yuto and Madara’s hearts jumped.

The Slug Sage moved.

That enormous body wasn’t sluggish at all—in fact, its reaction speed felt beyond normal comprehension.

The Slug Sage suddenly shifted forward.

Maybe that distance wasn’t much for the Slug Sage—

But for anyone else, that casual motion was the equivalent of moving hundreds of meters.

Its colossal bulk slammed straight into Yuto midair, and a terrifying impact detonated.

Yuto’s Kongō Fūsa: Kyōjin-ka (Adamantine Sealing Chains: Giant Form) collapsed instantly under the collision.

And it wasn’t just Yuto—

Madara below was also caught in the shockwave; half of Susanoo’s body was smashed apart on the spot.

Black King’s ability flared, instantly absorbing the remaining force of the impact.

Yuto’s eyes gleamed—then he lightly stepped onto the Slug Sage’s soft body, steadying himself with ease.

“I don’t have much time to play games with two juniors.”

The Slug Sage’s soft voice came again.

Boom! Boom!

Its massive body suddenly twisted, and in the next instant, an overwhelming burst of brute force—mixed with senjutsu chakra—smashed into Yuto.

Even though Black King could absorb force, Yuto was still blasted off the Slug Sage’s body in an instant.

The monstrous power drove him straight into the ground, burying him several meters deep.

Madara leapt up, trying to launch an attack—

But he couldn’t even see the Slug Sage’s movement clearly.

A huge cylindrical mass snapped out from the Slug Sage’s body and smashed into Madara’s chest.

Madara’s eyes widened violently. He spat a mouthful of blood, his body slammed down and crashed into the earth as well.

Boom!

The ground split.

Yuto burst out from underground, turning into a streak of black light as he charged straight toward the Slug Sage.

Black King’s ability—fully unleashed!

The air around Yuto thundered as if it were tearing apart.

“So I can’t kill Hashirama unless I get past you first… fine.”

“In that case, let me properly test one of the Three Great Sacred Lands’ sages!”

Yuto’s voice was icy.

Whoosh!

Another cylindrical mass shot out from the Slug Sage—appearing in front of Yuto in an instant.

A cold glint flashed in Yuto’s eyes. He raised his fist and smashed forward.

But the moment the cylinder touched Yuto’s fist, there was no dull impact sound at all.

Instead, it softened instantly—wrapping around Yuto’s entire hand like living sludge.

Yuto’s expression changed.

A sharp agony surged from the arm being wrapped.

“Get off!”

Yuto roared.

A violent burst of chakra erupted from his trapped arm, blasting outward in all directions.

Under that explosion, the substance wrapping him was blown away.

Only then did Yuto see it—

In just that blink of time, the skin on the arm that had been wrapped was already corroded clean through.

At the wrist, he could even faintly see white bone beneath.

What terrifying corrosion!

Any strike from the Slug Sage was no weaker than an ordinary senjutsu attack—because its body was saturated with enormous amounts of senjutsu chakra.

“What a loud-mouthed little junior.”

“If that’s how it is… then melt everything.”

The Slug Sage’s voice slipped into Yuto’s ear, casual to the point of indifference.

Up to now, it clearly hadn’t taken either Yuto or Madara seriously.

Rumble!

The earth boomed again.

The Slug Sage’s lower body suddenly stretched and elongated.

In the next moment, that extended mass had already looped around Yuto—along with Madara below—circling them both.

“Senpō: Yūseki Ame (Sage Art: Meltstone Rain)!”

A sky-filling cascade of white pillars dropped all at once, instantly engulfing Yuto and Madara.

Having already witnessed the corrosion of those white pillars, Yuto’s face changed drastically.

He didn’t care about raw impact—

But corrosion strengthened by senjutsu chakra was something he couldn’t treat lightly.

“If you keep watching like it’s a show, you’ll be watching from underground forever!”

Yuto barked without turning his head, shouting at Madara—who had just been blasted into the ground.

Yuto spread his hands, forming seals one-handed with each side, and roared:

“Senpō: Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha (Sage Art: Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave)!”

“Senpō: Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Sage Art: Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)!”

Rumble!

Torrential water surged upward like a violent flood, as if Yuto had dragged an entire river into the sky.

Wave after wave stacked into layered defenses, forming an unbroken wall.

Even so, Yuto could only block part of the sky-covering assault.

“The Slug Sage, huh? You actually summoned that old monster.”

“If that’s the case… then I can’t hold back either!”

Madara wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and jumped out of a deep crater.

“Banshō Ten’in (Universal Pull)!”

With a low shout, a terrifying gravitational pull erupted from Madara.

The sky-filling barrage began to curve under that overwhelming force, its trajectory bending as it rapidly gathered toward Madara’s front.

Watching the attacks cluster in front of him, a cold light flashed in Madara’s eyes.

“Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation)!”

A black chakra sphere appeared in Madara’s hand.

He threw it into the air.

And the attacks that had been drawn in by the pull immediately began sticking to that sphere, rapidly accumulating.

Madara narrowed his eyes, guiding that gravitational force upward.

“Hm? Those eyes… the Rinnegan?”

At that moment, the Slug Sage saw the familiar style of attack and let out a puzzled sound.

When its gaze landed on Madara’s eyes, the Slug Sage was visibly surprised.