Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 552 Astounding Strength (The End)

These cracks continued to spread and intertwine, multiplying until the entire space was covered by these crisscrossing fissures. With a crisp "crack," this seemingly impenetrable space shattered completely, like a mirror being struck by a heavy hammer!

As space crumbled, a jaw-dropping sight appeared before everyone's eyes—a clam of unimaginable size appeared out of thin air! This clam was like a small mountain, its hard shell shimmering with a mysterious light, and covered with strange patterns and designs.

What's even more surprising is that a figure stands firmly atop this giant clam. Upon closer inspection, it's none other than the Second Mizukage, who just launched a fierce attack on Hyuga Neji!

After shattering this space, Hyuga Neji stood with his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering, exuding a powerful and majestic aura that sent chills down one's spine.

The Second Mizukage's eyes were like bottomless, icy pools, devoid of any life or emotion, only coldness and indifference, lifeless and dull as if devoid of a soul. When his figure was fully revealed before Hyuga Neji, his hands moved swiftly, changing hand seals with fluid, effortless grace. In the blink of an eye, a puff of smoke rose, and then another identical clone appeared beside him.

The newly appeared clone charged towards Hyuga Neji without hesitation, its speed as fast as lightning, creating a sharp gust of wind. However, a glint suddenly flashed in Hyuga Neji's unique Byakugan eyes, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky. Almost simultaneously, his body moved with ghostly speed, dodging the clone's rapid attack with a dazzling agility.

Despite the Second Mizukage's clone launching a barrage of attacks, Hyuga Neji effortlessly evaded them all thanks to his exceptional reflexes and agility. He was like a nimble swallow, soaring freely through the air, untouchable by the clone's relentless pursuit and deadly strikes. Furthermore, throughout the entire ordeal, Hyuga Neji only dodged, never employing any counter-attacks against the relentlessly attacking clone.

With his Byakugan's incredibly sharp perception, Hyuga Neji had already taken in the peculiarities of the Second Mizukage's special clone. This seemingly ordinary clone was actually like a mysterious jar filled with immense pressure, its internal power maintaining a delicate and astonishing balance. From the outside, it appeared to be just an ordinary, unremarkable clone, but in reality, it concealed profound mysteries.

With just the slightest external attack, this fragile balance would be instantly shattered. Once the balance was broken, this clone would be like a powder keg with its fuse lit, unleashing a massive, earth-shattering explosion due to the uncontrolled, long-accumulated internal pressure. The power of that explosion would be awe-inspiring, seemingly capable of swallowing everything around it into an endless abyss of destruction.

Hyuga Neji moved with ghostly speed, skillfully dodging the Second Mizukage's relentless barrage of attacks. His gaze was fixed on every movement of his clone, his mind racing as he considered how to break free from this troublesome ninjutsu.

Although these attacks posed little threat to the battle-hardened and powerful Hyuga Neji, they still bothered him from time to time like annoying mosquitoes, causing him minor troubles.

After the brief but intense exchange, Hyuga Neji had already grasped the level of strength displayed by the Third Raikage and the Second Mizukage. He knew very well that with their current abilities, it was simply a pipe dream to put heavy pressure on him or even cause him a fatal shock. Although his opponents were not to be underestimated, there was undoubtedly an insurmountable gap between them and himself.

Just then, Hyuga Neji suddenly changed his strategy. Since his opponents couldn't be a powerful adversary to unleash his full potential, he decided to try a different approach—to learn from their strengths. Therefore, he decided to stop relying solely on his own superior power to overwhelm his opponents and instead treat this battle as a valuable opportunity for training.

At this moment, Hyuga Neji's only thought was to improve his combat experience while learning as many strange and unusual ninjutsu as possible. He hoped that these unique ninjutsu would bring him unexpected sparks of inspiration, thereby elevating his strength to a higher level.

Just as Hyuga Neji was fiercely clashing with the Second Mizukage's clone, the Third Raikage, whose body had been shattered earlier by Neji's Edo Tensei, had already completed his physical restoration. With a flash, he acted again without the slightest hesitation. In an instant, dazzling lightning erupted from his body, appearing even more violent and ferocious than before.

Immediately afterward, the Third Raikage slowly raised his hand, leaving only his index finger standing upright. At the same time, a torrent of lightning-attribute chakra surged from within him towards that finger, and in the blink of an eye, the entire finger was enveloped in an extremely dense layer of lightning-attribute chakra, taking on a deep, dark blue hue. Moreover, as the chakra continued to gather, the blue color deepened, as if it were about to devour everything around it.

Clearly, the Third Raikage had unleashed his full power, concentrating the vast majority of his chakra into this devastating strike. This technique was the Third Raikage's most powerful attack, the reason he was revered as the "Strongest Spear" by the Cloud Village ninja. Since the Third Raikage successfully created this technique, no ninja had dared to directly confront his onslaught. This was the ultimate killing move within "Hell Thrust," possessing unparalleled piercing power, capable of piercing through anything in the world!

Without the slightest hesitation or pause, the Third Raikage sped towards Hyuga Neji, who was engaged in a fierce battle with a clone of the Second Mizukage, at an astonishing speed, like an arrow released from a bow!

This time, the Third Raikage's attack speed was much faster than ever before, it could only be described as lightning fast. His immense power seemed to have exceeded its limits, so much so that the air around his movement was violently compressed and rubbed together, faintly emitting a heart-stopping hissing sound.

At the same time, as the Third Raikage charged forward at incredible speed, tiny cracks began to appear in the space along his path, as if unable to withstand his terrifying impact. These cracks spread out like a spider web, sending chills down one's spine.

Just then, Hyuga Neji, who had just successfully dodged another fierce attack from the Second Mizukage's clone, was preparing to take the opportunity to create distance between himself and the enemy in order to readjust his tactics and stance. However, the instant he turned around, a deafening roar suddenly came from not far behind him.

The sound was sharp and piercing, like the deafening roar of a lightning bolt tearing through space. Thanks to his clan's unique Byakugan ability, Hyuga Neji sensed the Third Raikage's thunderous attack approaching almost simultaneously.

What shocked Hyuga Neji even more was that, merely by observing the power contained in the Third Raikage's attack through his Byakugan, he could clearly feel an intense sense of oppression bearing down on him. That stinging sensation was something even he, a veteran of countless battles, had rarely experienced, and his heart sank inwardly.

"It seems these renowned ninjas are indeed not to be underestimated!" Hyuga Neji thought to himself, his gaze fixed on the two figures before him. The powerful aura emanating from them seemed to freeze the surrounding air.

"Everyone has a trump card... It seems that continuing to learn from and understand their combat experience won't be so easy." Hyuga Neji took a deep breath, trying to calm his somewhat scattered thoughts. Even so, his brain was working at a rapid pace, considering countermeasures.

At the same time, Hyuga Neji felt the energy within his body surging rapidly like a tidal wave. He concentrated, guiding this powerful force throughout his body and gradually gathering it in his hands. As the energy flowed, a strange feeling welled up inside him—the power of the rules he had sensed was being awakened.

This was the first time Hyuga Neji had ever attempted to harness this mysterious and powerful force to deal with an enemy. In the past, he had only dabbled in the edge of the power of rules during his training and exploration, but he had never devoted himself to it so wholeheartedly as he had at this moment.

When the power of the rules was truly activated, Hyuga Neji could clearly feel the changes it brought. The surrounding space seemed to distort, and the passage of time seemed to slow down considerably. He was able to more keenly perceive every movement of his opponent and every subtle fluctuation of their aura.

"Let me show you my strength!" Hyuga Neji shouted, taking a sudden step forward and rushing towards the two like lightning.

The Third Raikage moved with lightning speed, his movements beyond imagination! In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Hyuga Neji like a ghost. His raised finger, seemingly imbued with boundless power and the force of thunder, thrust straight towards Hyuga Neji's chest with a chilling aura. Completely disregarding the threat of a counterattack, he charged relentlessly towards his opponent.