Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 48: The Limits of Dark Release

Countless ice crystals exploded like fireworks under the sunlight, appearing extraordinarily beautiful to outsiders.

But to the Cloud ninja, it was utterly terrifying.

As Hagoromo Gengetsu dispatched one Cloud ninja after another, like a Grim Reaper knocking on their doors, a sudden sound of "boom" was heard.

The Fourth Raikage, A, shuddered violently as his massive Lightning Release chakra, comparable to a tailed beast's, erupted. The thick ice layer within a five-meter radius shattered with cracking sounds.

"B!"

The Fourth Raikage, A, shouted, transforming into a blue lightning bolt, and charged towards Hagoromo Gengetsu with great speed.

Killer Bee, in sync with A, quickly reverted to human form, his body wrapped in the deep red chakra of the Eight-Tails. He also rushed towards Hagoromo Gengetsu like a red lightning bolt.

The two flanked Hagoromo Gengetsu, accelerating so fast that even he struggled to keep track of their movements.

Just as Hagoromo Gengetsu formed a seal with one hand, preparing to do something, A and Killer Bee shouted in unison, "Double Lariat!"

The duo raised their thick arms in perfect harmony, closing the final distance in an instant, and smashed down on Hagoromo Gengetsu's head like giant war hammers with tremendous force.

Hagoromo Gengetsu couldn't react in time, and his head flew off, as had happened to other ninjas facing the A-B combo's deadly move.

However, A and Killer Bee did not show a hint of joy.

"When?!"

Staring at the headless body of "Hagoromo Gengetsu" that turned into an ice clone, and the flying head that also transformed into an ice sculpture, A's eye twitched hard.

"Ah!"

The last Cloud ninja screamed in agony.

A quickly turned his head to see Hagoromo Gengetsu's figure emerging from an ice sculpture of a Cloud ninja. Taking a step forward, he walked out of the ice.

Glancing at the decapitated ice clone, Hagoromo Gengetsu, slightly surprised, said, "Not a bad technique. It seems that Kumogakure hasn't been standing still all these years."

With all his subordinates taken out, A clenched his fists in fury, shouting, "You bastard! Stop acting so high and mighty!"

Boom!

Thunder roared in the sky as A stomped his right foot hard. The ground, along with the ice layer, cracked, and he charged towards Hagoromo Gengetsu like an unstoppable tank.

Seeing this, Killer Bee, cloaked in the tailed beast's chakra, moved in tandem with A.

"Ice Release: Ice Pillar Spears!"

Hagoromo Gengetsu's calm voice rang in their ears.

In an instant, sharp, thick ice spikes emerged from beneath them, aiming to impale their bodies.

A and Killer Bee's movements faltered for a moment; they either dodged or faced the spikes head-on.

Taking this opportunity, Hagoromo Gengetsu moved, seemingly gliding across the ice at unprecedented speed, charging towards A and Killer Bee.

A few minutes later, A and Killer Bee were thrown back, looking a bit disheveled.

Although Hagoromo Gengetsu's chakra seemed somewhat depleted, he appeared to grow more formidable with each passing moment.

"Gyūki!"

Sensing the increasingly dire situation, Killer Bee shouted in his mind.

Gyūki sighed, though somewhat reluctant, he decided to help his partner.

"Roar!!!"

As Hagoromo Gengetsu was about to continue his attack, a massive figure suddenly descended from the sky.

Hagoromo Gengetsu quickly halted and retreated.

Boom!!!

In the next second, the ground was blasted into a massive crater.

As the dust surged around like ocean waves, Hagoromo Gengetsu looked up to see the fully formed Eight-Tails.

"The perfect jinchūriki."

Hagoromo Gengetsu observed while sliding to the left.

Accompanied by a fierce wind, a massive, elongated octopus tentacle suddenly lashed out, striking where he had been standing.

Having missed its mark, and not waiting for the Eight-Tails to make another move, Hagoromo Gengetsu leaped onto the tentacle, running along it towards the Eight-Tails' head, as if walking on flat ground.

Realizing something was wrong, the Eight-Tails quickly retracted its tentacles, covering its body and forming a completely sealed ball that began to spin at high speed.

Tailed Beast Spin!

A powerful storm exploded around the Eight-Tails, with such force that it not only blew Hagoromo Gengetsu away but also completely destroyed the icy world he had created.

At the same time, seizing the opportunity, A flashed and suddenly appeared beside the airborne Hagoromo Gengetsu, delivering a heavy punch.

Whoosh!

Hagoromo Gengetsu was sent flying again like a cannonball.

"Now's the time!"

The Eight-Tails raised its head, and a massive Tailed Beast Ball formed in front of its mouth.

In that instant, the world seemed to change color.

With a single strike, the earth crumbled and mountains shattered. The Tailed Beast Ball, arguably the most destructive force on the planet, shot forward and rapidly closed in on Hagoromo Gengetsu.

In the next moment, under the Eight-Tails' expectant gaze, the Tailed Beast Ball dissipated, and everything fell silent.

"What?!"

White smoke sizzled from Hagoromo Gengetsu's outstretched hand.

Feeling the surge of new chakra within him, he looked up and smiled slightly, "That tasted pretty good. Got any more?"

Gyūki and Killer Bee's faces were filled with disbelief:

"He can absorb a Tailed Beast Ball?"

They naturally knew about Dark Release.

After the battle at Shenyin Valley, Kumogakure had specifically sought out Dark Release users to test the limits of its chakra absorption. They conducted numerous experiments and documented the findings.

It was confirmed that while Dark Release could absorb ninjutsu, it had a fixed limit.

A Tailed Beast Ball at full power, like the one released by the Eight-Tails, was beyond the capacity of Dark Release to absorb; it would even cause the user to burst.

Unlike other kekkei genkai, which could unleash greater power by consuming large amounts of chakra, Dark Release had a hard limit on what it could absorb. It couldn't grow indefinitely with more chakra.

If that weren't the case, Dark Release users would have long dominated the ninja world, rather than being almost unheard of apart from Hagoromo Gengetsu.

That's why the Eight-Tails had released the Tailed Beast Ball, hoping to finish off Hagoromo Gengetsu.

But things had turned out far differently than they expected.

Hagoromo Gengetsu was clearly different from other Dark Release users.

"No wonder he's mentioned alongside Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Though I don't know why he's in such poor condition now. But Bee, given the situation, we should prepare ourselves," Gyūki said.

"Big Brother is still up there," Killer Bee said with a determined look.

"Gyūki, let's keep going!"

"..."