CHAPTER 179: CHAPTER 179

"Water Style: Water Surge!"

Along with a huge blast of black smoke and a loud explosion, a spinning vortex of water twisted up through the flames like a tornado.

The whirlpool swept up Hozuki Mangetsu, who was holding his massive sword.

This chakra-infused water wasn’t a real threat to Mangetsu. If anything, it actually made the battlefield even better for him.

But Water Style jutsu usually depend a lot on the environment.

There wasn’t even any water source inside this barrier. How did he manage to create such a huge wave here?

Is this guy a Sea Release ninja or something?

Meanwhile, water clones holding other ninja swords were doing their best to keep Namikaze Minato busy. If that guy flying all over the place got through, it would be a huge problem.

Even though Minato didn’t seem to be at full power due to the failed reanimation, his use of the Flying Thunder God was still like a cheat code.

The whirlpool quickly turned into a giant wave and crashed straight toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly formed hand signs, and a patch of mud suddenly rose up from the roof tiles. A moment later, a wall of earth shaped like a mountain ridge shot up from the mud.

The entire rooftop shook slightly as the Earth-Style Wall blocked out a large area from the overwhelming flood of water.

Sarutobi Hiruzen ducked behind the wall for cover, then leapt onto the top of it, which now looked like a miniature mountain.

Waves of water rushed toward the edge of the barrier. The rooftop wasn’t small, and the water had gathered in the lower parts, rising almost to a person’s height.

Orochimaru was still standing where he had been, the water swirling around but not touching him. You could clearly see that the water level had risen above his head.

No doubt about it—Second Hokage’s Water Style is seriously powerful.

Orochimaru looked around with a bit of caution.

But just now, he had clearly seen Hozuki Mangetsu vanish into a whirlpool of water right before his eyes.

This battlefield had suddenly turned into the perfect setup for a Mizukage.

As the flood passed, the First Hokage charged in by stepping on the water, splashing waves around him as he rushed toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and spit out a blast of fire.

But in this much water—and with the First Hokage being a reanimated corpse—it did pretty much nothing.

The First Hokage instantly closed the distance and launched a flying kick at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Hiruzen raised both arms to block it head-on and only managed to stumble back half a step.

The Hokage landed, and in the moment Hiruzen lowered his arms from his face, he kicked again, sending another spray of water into the air.

Hiruzen instinctively squinted and tilted his head, and just then, the First Hokage went in for a punch.

*Glug.*

With a few bubbles rising, Hozuki Mangetsu suddenly popped out of the water, grabbing the Hokage’s ankle and yanking hard to pull him down.

But the First Hokage reacted by swinging his leg and kicked Mangetsu straight out of the water.

"!? What kind of insane strength is that..."

Even after being sneak-attacked, the guy still had enough power to launch Mangetsu into the air. Mangetsu didn’t expect that at all.

"But that’s fine too."

Mangetsu’s eyes turned serious as he flew out of the water, now holding a different executioner’s blade.

He’d swapped weapons—was it a water clone that did it while they were fighting?

Orochimaru looked over at the other side, where another Hozuki Mangetsu was blocking the Fourth Hokage with the explosive blade.

This kid wasn’t bluffing when he said he could use six swords.

The water clones didn’t have much power on their own, but since each one had a different ninja sword, their attacks actually got stronger.

The five water clones were holding their own against the Fourth Hokage, who was using Flying Thunder God.

Mangetsu suddenly crouched low, gripping his sword with both hands, and swung it sideways. He sliced the First Hokage clean in half at the waist.

The fact that he could actually cut him like that left Mangetsu slightly stunned. That was way too easy...

People brought back with Edo Tensei usually aren’t at full strength, especially with the current version of the technique being incomplete. That’s why neither the First nor Second Hokage could use their full power.

So it wasn’t too surprising that Mangetsu could cut the First Hokage in half.

But Edo Tensei wasn’t really about fighting power—it was about using the past’s abilities, and more importantly, the undead bodies and nearly endless chakra.

Behind Mangetsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen was holding off the Second Hokage. Their fight had gone from the water’s surface up to the Earth-Style Wall.

But Hiruzen didn’t really have the upper hand.

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After all, he was fighting the Second Hokage—definitely not someone easy to take down.

Mangetsu leapt back and landed on the water’s surface. He barely had time to enjoy his little win before his face turned serious again.

Even cutting him in half didn’t work.

The ash-like fragments floating in the air quickly pulled together and reformed the First Hokage’s body.

"What kind of messed-up forbidden jutsu are you guys in Konoha working on...?!"

Mangetsu hadn’t even finished complaining when a kunai suddenly pierced through his back and straight through his chest.

"Crap...!"

Hozuki Mangetsu tilted his head slightly—sure enough, Orochimaru was standing right next to his water clone in the distance.

If that guy gets involved, they really won’t be able to stop the Fourth Hokage.

Even though Mangetsu had trained himself to react quickly to fast opponents, he didn’t expect Minato to come at all, so he wasn’t ready.

Luckily, he managed to turn into water just in time, or else Namikaze Minato’s kunai really might’ve gone straight through his skull.

But the sudden attack still managed to stab him in the back.

The situation they thought was under control instantly turned chaotic.

The First Hokage suddenly moved away, keeping some distance from everyone else as his hands formed hand signs at lightning speed.

Then, from under the rooftop tiles, branches and vines started growing and spreading.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was dragging the Second Hokage on his own, while staying alert for Minato who could pop out at any second.

There were just too many enemies...

Even if their power was weakened by Edo Tensei, this number was overwhelming.

Both Hozuki Mangetsu and Sarutobi Hiruzen were thinking the same thing.

Before they could come up with any countermeasures, a massive tree suddenly grew up from the ground, breaking through the tiles.

The winding vines wrapped around both Mangetsu and Hiruzen, lifting them up into the air.

"No way~ You guys are really just getting stomped like that?"

A carefree voice rang out nearby. Everyone in the middle of the chaos instantly looked up.

Hatake Satoru was calmly floating in mid-air, wearing his blindfold and looking down at them.

"How the hell did you get inside the barrier?!"

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