Chapter 139 - 139 (2/2)

The Rock and the Sand began to move under the joint leadership of both Kages. The mighty spectacle rushed towards the newly founded Konoha camp.

As soon as they started moving, the Aburame and Hyuga Ninjas realized that, and they immediately informed Orochimaru and the others.

Ryo, and the rest if the Kage tiers were well prepared, and the battle of Kikyo Pass began.

As planned, everyone found their opponents, and Minato and Ryo summoned Gamabunta and Gamahiro to assist Konoha's troops.

Ryo's opponent was Onoki's son, Kitsuchi. Ryo's opponent didn't do much in the Manga, but he did leave quite the impression.

(Translator Note: ”According to the fourth databook, he's from the Tsuchikage's bloodline. While not stated expressly, since Kurotsuchi is the Third Tsuchikage's granddaughter, it's most likely that Kitsuchi is his son.” From Narutopedia.)

Unlike his father, Kitsuchi didn't have any Kekkei Genkai, let alone Dust Release. He mainly relied on his exceptional mastery of Earth Release.

Ryo already knew that this wasn't a great opponent for him to deal with. Ryo, being the speed-type, usually outpaced his opponents to get a chance at the kill shot. However, Kitsuchi's Earth Release was too strong, allowing him, paired with his great perception abilities to attack his opponent while remaining perfectly immune to their attacks.

While Ryo was moving with his Ice Lightning Chakra Mode, Kitsuchi was not able to see him. However, he could perceive his overall position. Whenever Ryo got too close, a Mud Wall would stand between him and delivering a fatal blow to his opponent.

For the first time, Ryo's Lightning Chakra Mode was countered in this way. He was surprised and somewhat excited.

Kitsuchi's defense opened Ryo up to a new style of counter fighting. This opponent didn't have to cope with Ryo's speed. He just needed to figure out how to make his attacks ineffective.

This was no small feat. The only reason why Kitsuchi was able to pull it off was his exceptional blend of exquisite perception skills and great mastery over Earth Release. It would be impossible for most Ninjas to do this.

This ”Absolute Defense” from Kitsuchi made Ryo give up on his usual style of winning with speed. Since speed can't be enough here, Ryo had to rely on strength to win.

Ryo condensed a massive Ice Bow, much larger than usual, almost the same as the one that he used to finish the 3rd Mizukage.

Seeing Ryo's bow, Kitsuchi didn't react much, he was still very confident in his Earth Release. No matter what Jutsu Ryo was about to use, it wasn't going to break through his defense.

Ryo used his Chakra to make the bowstring, and then made Natural Energy gather madly on a small Ice Arrow.

The amount of Natural Energy that gathered on the bow was getting exponentially higher. Even though Kitsuchi couldn't perceive Natural Energy, he felt eminent threat from this Ice Arrow.

The Ice Arrow shot right through those attacks, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front Kitsuchi. The latter quickly erected 3 consecutive Mud Walls, but they couldn't stop the arrow from landing.

The Ice Arrow was mainly formed out of Natural Energy. It was virtually unbreakable, and easily penetrated through the Mud Walls and hit Kitsuchi.

The Ice Arrow bloomed and finally broke into Ice Dust under Ryo's control, and Kitsuchi's figure disappeared all together.

Ryo wasn't confused by the scene in front of him. He easily perceived that Kitsuchi quickly formed a Mud Clone right before being hit, and flickered to a stone pile not too far away.

Kitsuchi looked at the Ice crystals in the air. They had only been in contact with his right hand, which got frostbitten in the blink of an eye.