Chapter 50
The vine attacks fell on empty air!
One by one, the vines passed through the body of the mysterious masked man, as if passing through air, not harming him in the slightest!
Akihara Kagura's Wood Release ninjutsu had no effect on the mysterious masked man!
The phasing ability possessed by the mysterious masked man's Mangekyou Sharingan allowed him to dodge any attack, making him virtually invincible in battle!
"Do you plan to stand your ground and wait for reinforcements with such a tactic?"
Ignoring the vines penetrating his body, the mysterious masked man charged toward Akihara Kagura, "Brat, the Leaf always arrives late. Before they get here, I'll capture you first, to prevent the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails from falling into danger again!"
"You are the biggest danger, aren't you?"
Akihara Kagura's fingers were in front of his chest, a vine drilled out from beneath his feet, propelling him to retreat quickly!
Even if Akihara Kagura knew the weakness of the mysterious masked man, it wasn't so easy to break his ability, as the opponent could easily grab him using the phasing ability!
The mysterious masked man fell into the void, catching the retreating vine with one hand, his right eye spinning rapidly, and a space-time vortex instantly appeared!
The vine was dragged swiftly into the space!
Akihara Kagura's body was involuntarily dragged towards the mysterious masked man. If he were to be caught, he would fall into a helpless situation!
However...
This was also an opportunity!
When the mysterious masked man used his space-time eye technique to absorb objects, his body would cancel the phase and enter the physical state!
Akihara Kagura quickly formed a wood spike and swung it at the mysterious masked man, but he could only force the mysterious masked man to give up absorbing the vine and re-enter the phase state!
"What a nuisance..."
Akihara Kagura's eyebrows furrowed.
Without a space-time jutsu, it was somewhat troublesome to combat the mysterious masked man. He could only attempt to lay some traps. After all, the most important part of the opponent's eye technique was a space. If he could hide a clone in the opponent's space...
"Under the gap in strength, you can only experience the harshness of reality."
The mysterious masked man's body once again rushed towards Akihara Kagura, speaking coldly, "No matter how you resist, it's all in vain..."
"I don't care."
Akihara Kagura took a deep breath, as if reigniting his fighting spirit, but his words were somewhat dispiriting, "I just need to hold out until the reinforcements arrive..."
Akihara Kagura seemed to want to muster up some energy, "As long as Captain Kakashi gets here soon, everything will turn around..."
"Hmph, Kakashi is nothing more than a waste!"
The mysterious man in the mask scoffed, as if the name had triggered his rage, "In this desperate reality, Kakashi, that waste, cannot change anything!"
"..."
Kagura Akihara paid him no mind, simply holding up his fingers and making hand signs.
Vines grew rapidly from the ground, spiraling into a massive sphere, within which Kagura Akihara hid himself!
"Wood Release: Wood Clone!"
Utilizing the covering of the vines, Kagura Akihara quickly created a wood clone. Compared to other clone techniques, the Wood Clone is no different than the Shadow Clone Jutsu and can be used for attacks!
"Little brat, you think hiding inside will help you escape?"
The mysterious masked man reached out and touched the giant sphere of vines. His Mangekyou Sharingan began to spin rapidly, and he activated his Space-Time Ninjutsu!
An average ninja might not know how to deal with Kagura Akihara's defense, but for the mysterious masked man, Kagura Akihara's behavior was no different from an ostrich hiding its head in the sand - he was only fooling himself!
If he tried to go into the vine sphere to find Kagura, it might be a waste of time, so the masked man simply absorbed the entire vine sphere, along with Kagura Akihara, into his space!
The enormous vine sphere was entirely absorbed by the masked man!
"Mission accomplished."
The masked man nonchalantly scanned the battlefield, looked at Naruto Uzumaki, who was still pinned to the ground, and then glanced at Kagura Akihara, who was standing next to Naruto.
Huh?
Kagura Akihara?
Didn't the brat get absorbed into the space along with the vine sphere?
The masked man's eyes widened in shock, somewhat doubting what he had just done. When did this little devil escape to Naruto's side?
"I said it before..."
Kagura Akihara chuckled lightly, his gaze shifting towards a leaping figure in the distance, "I just need to buy time, delay until reinforcements arrive..."
A white-haired ninja wearing a mask leaped into view from afar, and other ANBU members were also rushing over quickly. Reinforcements were about to arrive!
"Hmph, what can a useless person do?"
The masked man spoke harshly, but the Mangekyou Sharingan in his eye socket was spinning rapidly, intending to use his Space-Time Ninjutsu to escape into his space!
Now that Kakashi Hatake had arrived, Kagura Akihara probably wouldn't dare to harm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so he would let Kagura Akihara, this little brat, go for once!
Just three seconds...
The masked man could escape using his Space-Time Ninjutsu!
Boom!
A vine from the ground blocked his movement!
"When I saw you appear using your Space-Time Ninjutsu, it took you three seconds. I only managed to strike your body with my Piercing Strike after those three seconds. I guess it will take at least three seconds for you to use your Space-Time Ninjutsu to escape, right?"
Kagura Akihara held his fingers up to his chest, a devilish smile in his eyes, "My Wood Release only requires one hand sign, and the longest it takes to activate the technique is one second..."
"..."
The masked man for the first time realized the problem.
This little devil wasn't as impulsive and bloodthirsty as he thought, he actually paid attention to such details, and even found his weakness!
"Don't be in a hurry to leave..."
Kagura Akihara looked at the mysterious masked man and spoke in a persuasive manner, "Didn't you say that Captain Kakashi was useless? When I was under Lord Danzo, I always wanted to kill him. Can you help me do it?"
After Kagura Akihara finished speaking, he didn't wait for the mysterious masked man's reply and shouted towards the rushing Kakashi Hatake, "Captain Kakashi, there's an intruder here who is trying to kill Naruto. Come help quickly!"
"This brat..."
The mysterious masked man muttered under his breath.
It was clearly this brat who wanted to kill Naruto Uzumaki, and he himself appeared here to prevent the Nine-Tails from dying!
However...
Kakashi Hatake wouldn't care about these!
Upon hearing someone was trying to kill Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake's mood suddenly became tense, and he quickly spotted the masked man!
"Who are you?"
Kakashi Hatake rushed towards the mysterious masked man, his hand reaching out to grab the mask, wanting to see who this person was!
The body of the masked man became intangible in an instant!
Kakashi Hatake's hand landed on empty space!
However, the most bizarre thing happened. The masked man, who had clearly evaded the attack, couldn't help but widen his eyes as if he saw something terrifying!
Within a strange space.
Every time the masked man's body became intangible, part of his body or the whole body would appear in this space. Everything he absorbed using his eye technique, including his enemies, would be placed in this space.
For instance, a sphere wrapped in vines.
And a wood clone hiding within that sphere.
When the masked man became intangible to face Kakashi's attack, his head appeared in this strange space!
Kagura Akihara's wood clone stood in front of the masked man's head, ignoring the terrified eyes on it, and forcefully pulled off his mask!
In the real world.
The mask of the mysterious man suddenly disappeared!
As if it had been abruptly yanked off by someone!
Kakashi Hatake was initially surprised that his hand found empty space, but then he saw the mask fall off. He was already looking at the true face of the masked man!
"You are..."
--x--
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