39 Chap 39 - Uzushio vs Konoha. (2)
Ryuuji, who was running towards the remaining Konoha shinobi, silently created some crystal clones that blended into Uzushio's army.
Even with the overwhelming attack by Mikoto and her squad, the number of shinobi alive in the Konoha army is still higher than Uzushio's.
Of course, the quality of Uzushio's shinobi is unparalleled thanks to the hellish training that has been routine for the past year, but Ryuuji still wanted to ensure that the loss of his army would be minimal.
It didn't take long for the two armies to start fighting and Ryuuji was playing the role of reaper, along with Kushina, Morgiana, and Benihime, who were already reaching their Kage level strength limit.
…
Orochimaru knew he couldn't let things go on like this. The number of Konoha shinobi dying was very large and it wouldn't be long before he and his army were completely wiped out.
The Snake-man ran across the battlefield, ignoring everyone and everything as he searched for Dan Kato.
It didn't take Orochimaru long to find the blue haired man fighting Ashina Uzumaki.
Orochimaru ignored the pain in his back and threw some snakes towards the former patriarch of the Uzumaki Clan.
Ashina had to step back to avoid the attack, which gave Orochimaru time to retrieve Dan and walk away.
Ashina wanted to go after the two of them, but Ryuuji appeared beside him.
" Grandfather, let them go ahead with their plans. I'm already ready to crush them with sheer brute force. "
Ashina, who trusted Ryuuji completely, nodded his head and changed the direction of his movements, heading towards any living thing that had a Konoha bandana on its body.
Ryuuji looked at Orochimaru and Dan and smiled slightly.
"Come on, Orochimaru…I can't wait to crush your last hope. "
…
" Dan-kun, you need to act now! "
Dan really was desperate to use his secret weapon. After seeing so many Konoha shinobi die beside him, the gentle-faced man was heartbroken, but also with a strong desire for revenge.
" Orochimaru-sama, please take care of my body. "
The man made a sequence of seals and in the next instant, his spirit flew out of his body and flew towards Ryuuji, who was killing Konoha shinobi without any restraint.
…
Ryuuji, feeling Dan Kato's spirit flying at high speed towards him, just smiled.
In the next instant, Dan's soul invaded Ryuuji's body. The red-haired boy simply let out a huff and closed his eyes, sending his awareness into his mindscape.
When Dan realized that his spirit was taken elsewhere and didn't take possession of Ryuuji's body, a strong fear began to well up in his mind.
" Did you want to possess my body? How naive. "
Hearing the voice behind him, Dan turned his 'body' and looked at the young man, who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen, with untamed red hair and mesmerizing red eyes.
Dan, realizing he couldn't take possession of Ryuuji's body, decided to go for his Plan B.
Bursting his spirit energy, Dan directly attacked Ryuuji's soul, aiming to utterly destroy the red-haired boy's existence.
Ryuuji remained calm and slightly shook his head in the negative.
" I admire your loyalty to Konoha, but unfortunately…your plans are doomed to failure, just like the Konoha led by Hiruzen Sarutobi. "
In the next moment, Ryuuji stopped holding back the power of his spirit and body, causing his entire Mindscape and even his body to emit a strong golden light.
Being bathed in that light, Dan began to scream.
" Oh! Wh-what is this?!?! "
Ryuuji just watched the man's soul being burned by the radiation from his body.
It didn't take Dan long to realize that he couldn't do anything with Ryuuji, so he was about to unleash his jutsu.
"Want to run away? "
A golden chain sprouted from the ground and grabbed Dan's arm, forcing the man's spirit to be bathed in the golden light that covered Ryuuji's Mindscape.
Dan looked at Ryuuji again and couldn't help but think that this young man was like the sun, destroying everything and everyone who goes against him, but still giving life and prosperity to those who faithfully follow him.
Dan gave up on those traitorous thoughts and growled in pain as he used his free arm to literally rip off his arm that was bound by Ryuuji's golden chain.
Ryuuji was slightly surprised by the resistance of the man in front of him.
Dan breathing heavily, looked at Ryuuji one last time and deactivated his ability, letting his spirit flow towards his body.
Ryuuji smiled lightly.
" Cutting out his own soul…I really need to learn the art of brainwashing from Hiruzen. "
…
Ryuuji opened his eyes and shifted his gaze to where Dan was breathing heavily.
" Mother, make our troops retreat. I don't want them to be caught in the crossfire. "
Benihime decapitated yet another Konoha Jonin and looked at Ryuuji.
" Count on me, Ryuuji. "
Benihime easily spread the retreat order and meanwhile, Ryuuji's Crystal Clones easily covered the escape of Uzushio's shinobi.
…
" D-Dan-kun? What happened?! "
Dan smiled bitterly and looked at Orochimaru.
" Orochimaru-sama…Ryuuji Uzumaki is more monstrous than we realize. "
Orochimaru, hearing Dan's words, started to think about how to deal with the current situation. If even attacking Ryuuji's spirit didn't work, then was the Land of Whirlpools Daimyo really invincible?
" N-No! I don't believe that! Dan-kun, you still have one more weapon in your arsenal, right? We must defeat Ryuuji, whatever the cost, otherwise we'll all be destroyed by him! "
Dan took a deep breath to ease the pain and slightly nodded his head. The gentle-faced, light-haired man looked at Ryuuji and closed his eyes.
Raising his working arm, Dan began to make a sequence of seals with just one hand.
" Fuuinjutsu: Shiki Fujin! "
It didn't take long for him to feel something link directly to his soul. An instant after that, a thin, translucent creature with a demonic face wearing loose white robes appeared.
Dan gritted his teeth and his mind filled with thoughts of ripping out Ryuuji's soul.
…
Benihime returned to her son's side and looked at him with concern.
" Ryuuji, are you sure you're ready for this? We're talking about the shinigami himself! "
Ryuuji just looked at his mother.
" You better get away. "
Benihime looked at Ryuuji and for a moment, she thought about ignoring his words, but seeing Ryuuji's determined gaze, she gave a slight nod and walked away.
Ryuuji locked his gaze on Dan and the demonic creature behind him.
In the next instant, Ryuuji blasted his chakra to the max, causing tremors throughout the Land of Whirlpools, shifting the gravitational force around and causing a very strong golden light to be emitted from his body.
Dan spat out some blood, but controlled his thoughts and ordered the Shinigami to attack Ryuuji.
The purple-skinned creature did as its summoner asked and advanced towards Ryuuji, crossing his arm across Ryuuji's abdomen, who remained steady with his determined gaze.
Feeling the Shinigami's arm about to touch his soul, Ryūji further blasted his chakra, causing the Space around him to literally distort.
With a guttural roar, Ryuuji focused all the energy his body had absorbed from the sun over the past few years on the spectral creature that was trying to harvest his soul.
The Shinigami, who seemed to act only on instinct, didn't care about Ryuuji's attacks and remained steadfast in their goal of harvesting the red-haired boy's soul.
Unfortunately for him, Ryuuji had no plans to die.
As the golden light covered the Shinigami's arm, the spectral creature screamed in pain, causing all living beings present to feel a shiver down their spine.
Ryuuji didn't give in and continued burning the Shinigami with his soul energy.
The Shinigami retreated to Dan's position, but now, the light-haired man could see that the creature was missing one of its arms.
Orochimaru fell on his butt on the ground and looked at the situation in front of him with a look of disbelief:
" H-How…what are you, Ryuuji Uzumaki! "
Ryuuji ignored the Serpent Man and kept his gaze on the Shinigami, who eventually began to see Ryuuji as a danger to their existence.
Ryuuji, realizing that the creature wanted to flee, used the Spirit Transformation Technique and controlled his spirit to approach the Shinigami.
A few meters from the creature, several golden chains came out of Ryuuji's spirit and trapped the Shinigami on the earth plane, preventing the God of Death from returning to the hole he came from.
Ryuuji looked one last time at the Shinigami and advanced with his spirit to attack the Shinigami with his own soul, thus being able to inflict damage from the inside out.
A few seconds after Ryuuji's soul 'entered' the Shinigami, the creature's body began to glow golden and in less than a second, it began to disintegrate, not holding up to the star power that Ryuuji's body and soul carry.
A few more seconds later and the translucent creature was completely gone.
Dan, realizing what Ryuuji had just done, just let out a bitter laugh.
In a way, he was just spared by the enemy. As Ryuuji literally killed the Shinigami, the creature would no longer harvest his soul.
Of course, as he had his soul damaged by Ryuuji and had to literally rip a piece of it off to free himself from Ryūji's restraint, he knew that his ambitions to become Hokage were erased along with the Shinigami.
Dan looked at Ryuuji one last time before losing consciousness.
The blue-haired, kind-faced man can't help but curse Hiruzen and Orochimaru, who have decided to fight a war against Uzushiogakure and the monster named Ryuuji Uzumaki.
…
Ryuuji opened his eyes, already being in his body again. The redhead looked around, causing the Konoha shinobi to simply fall to the ground in fear.
" H-He killed a God…a real God. "
Hearing the words of a Nara Clan shinobi, what was left of the Konoha army began to mutter words.
At the end of it all, Konoha's own army created a new nickname for Ryuuji, one he liked much better than his old ones.
" G-God Slayer! "
" R-Ryuuji Uzumaki is a God Slayer! "
Ryuuji, despite being pleased with his new nickname, knew that the war wasn't over yet.
Ryuuji slowly floated towards Orochimaru, who was still trying to accept the reality that unfolded in front of his eyes.
Standing in front of Orochimaru, Ryuuji began to emit strong pressure on the man's body, who couldn't help but think of Ryuuji as a god.
" Orochimaru, do you choose death or surrender? "
