Chapter 249: Ch-249 Inoiki Kabuto Confrontation.

As soon as Inoiki heard Itachi’s words, he knew that Itachi had a way to free everyone from the binding of the Reanimation Jutsu.

Inoiki was a transmigrator to this world and knew the story of Naruto. Still, maintaining his curiosity, Inoiki asked through the Mind Body Transmission Jutsu, "Do you have a certain method using which you can do that?"

As soon as Itachi heard this, he replied without hesitation, "Yes, I can definitely do it."

Inoiki’s voice echoed calmly inside Itachi’s mind. "Yes, I can see that you were able to free yourself from Kabuto’s orders. Although you are not exactly free from his control, you no longer have to follow his commands mindlessly. So you must have a method."

For a brief moment, Itachi remained silent as the cold wind swept past him.

"Very well," Inoiki continued inside his mind. "You wait there on the First Division battlefield. I will bring Kabuto to you."

Hearing those words, Itachi’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Until then, I would like you to deal with Dan Kato. He specializes in spiritual attacks, and he can become a disaster on the First Division battlefield if left unchecked. With your genius, you should be able to restrain him. Please do that."

After hearing Inoiki’s words, Itachi did not doubt that Inoiki would be able to locate Kabuto. If Inoiki said that he would bring Kabuto, then that meant Inoiki already knew where Kabuto was hiding. And if Inoiki already knew Kabuto’s location, then he must also be confident that he could drag Kabuto to the battlefield itself.

As expected of Inoiki.

Thinking of this, Itachi stopped in his tracks. The loose dirt beneath his sandals shifted slightly as he turned around. Without another word, he changed directions and began heading back toward the First Division battlefield, his cloak fluttering faintly behind him in the wind.

Inoiki, who was flying through the sky on his sword, was using a method similar to the one Itachi had used in the original story to locate Kabuto—or rather, the same method that Itachi was using right now to locate him.

Kabuto was controlling the reanimated bodies scattered all around the battlefield. Naturally, he had to maintain some kind of connection with those bodies. By following the chakra lines that connected Kabuto to the reanimated ninjas under his control, Inoiki was tracing the path back to its source.

The wind howled past his ears as his sword cut through the sky at tremendous speed. Below him, forests and plains flashed by one after another.

He was getting closer and closer to Kabuto’s base.

Then suddenly, three figures entered his field of vision.

When Inoiki looked carefully, he saw that they were Chiyo, Kimimaro, and Hanzo.

As soon as Inoiki located them, they also noticed him flying in the sky above them.

Chiyo, who had already met Inoiki before, immediately recognized him. Kimimaro also knew Inoiki, so he instantly understood who the approaching person was. Hanzo, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes beneath his mask as he watched the sword-riding shinobi descend from the sky.

Just as all three of them were preparing to fight Inoiki because of the orders imposed upon their minds—to attack anyone from the Allied Shinobi Forces—something changed.

Suddenly, the gravity around them thickened tremendously.

The air itself seemed to grow heavier.

Before any of them could react properly, an invisible force slammed down onto their bodies and suppressed all three of them to their knees. The ground beneath them cracked with loud sounds as stone and dirt caved inward under the immense pressure.

Hanzo planted his hands against the ground and tried to rise.

Kimimaro gritted his teeth and forced his muscles to tense.

Chiyo tried to move her fingers to summon puppets.

But the more they resisted, the greater the force Inoiki exerted upon them.

The pressure became heavier and heavier, as though an entire mountain had been placed on their shoulders.

Chiyo, who had seen Inoiki fight at his full strength before, felt her eyes widen slightly.

At this moment, she understood that Inoiki had become far more powerful than before.

Inoiki said, "Although I do not know any better sealing techniques to seal all of you, simply sealing your movements should be enough."

After saying this, he raised his hand slightly.

Suddenly, the ground all around Hanzo, Chiyo, and Kimimaro began to tremble violently. Cracks spread across the earth in every direction, and massive blocks of stone and dirt tore themselves free from the ground before rising into the air around them.

The floating earth quickly gathered together and compressed itself with tremendous force.

Within moments, three giant condensed pillars of earth had formed around them, pressing heavily onto their bodies from above and from all sides.

The sound of cracking stone echoed continuously.

Hanzo’s shoulders sank deeper into the ground beneath the crushing weight. Kimimaro’s arms trembled violently as he tried to move, while Chiyo could not even lift a finger anymore.

The weight of those condensed earth pillars was more than enough to completely suppress the movements of Hanzo, Chiyo, and Kimimaro.

Inoiki looked at them for a brief moment to confirm that none of them would be able to break free anytime soon.

Once he confirmed that was indeed the case, he immediately flew away toward Kabuto’s location, his sword slicing through the air as he vanished into the distance.

...

Far away from the battlefield, Kabuto was sitting calmly inside his hidden base.

In front of him was a Shogi board.

Clearly, the Shogi game represented the battlefield that was currently unfolding outside. The pieces of his opponent symbolized the Allied Shinobi Forces, while his own pieces represented the reanimated ninjas under his control.

Kabuto’s fingers lightly tapped one of the pieces before he moved it across the board.

Then suddenly, a smile appeared on his face.

"I was not expecting you to be able to find my base so quickly after the battle had begun," Kabuto said calmly. "Within just a few hours, you have already managed to locate me."

As he spoke, he slowly stood up from where he was sitting.

At that moment, Inoiki entered the base.

The dimly lit cave-like hideout fell silent as the two of them looked at each other.

Inoiki looked toward Kabuto and said, "If you truly never wanted to be found, then you should not have maintained connections with those reanimated ninjas while controlling them from here. I was able to locate you by following that trail."

Kabuto turned around fully and faced Inoiki directly.

He looked straight into Inoiki’s eyes while adjusting his glasses. A sharp gleam flashed across the lenses.

"Well, that is to be expected," Kabuto said calmly. "But only very few shinobi would be able to backtrack that connection all the way to this location. Only an elite and powerful ninja like you would be capable of doing something like that."

Inoiki gave a small nod after hearing Kabuto’s words.

"Well, you have created quite a lot of nuisance on the battlefield," Inoiki said. "Our world is already in danger, and yet you are creating even more problems for us."

Kabuto gave a low chuckle.

"I do not care," he said.

His smile remained on his face, but there was bitterness hidden underneath it.

"You know, I was once someone who was forced into becoming a medical ninja. Not only that, I was used and discarded by this world like some worthless piece of trash. So why should I care about this world?"

For a moment, the cave became silent except for the faint dripping of water somewhere in the darkness.

Inoiki looked at Kabuto quietly.

"Yes," Inoiki said, "what happened to you is something I can definitely sympathize with. From your point of view, your hatred toward the shinobi world may even be justifiable."

Kabuto’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"But you could have focused that hatred on the person who was actually responsible for all of this—Danzo. You never had either the audacity or the strength to go against him. And now that you finally have that strength, Danzo is no longer here."

Kabuto’s expression darkened slightly at those words.

Inoiki continued, his voice calm but firm.

"But whatever the case may be, the fact remains that right now, you are a nuisance to this world. And I am not going to let you do whatever you want just for the sake of your vengeance."

The air between them grew heavier as the two of them stood there facing each other in the dim cave, neither willing to back down.

Kabuto gave a wide grin and said, "And what exactly will you be able to do? You cannot do anything. Even if you kill me, the Reanimation Jutsu will not be removed at all."

Inoiki nodded calmly.

"You are definitely right about that," he said. "And I also know that with your twisted nature, you must have already expected that I would eventually find you. Even then, you still went ahead with this plan."

Inoiki’s eyes remained fixed on Kabuto.

"That means you are confident that your plan will continue even if something happens to you. You are confident that you can drag the entire world into the abyss."

Kabuto’s grin widened further at those words.

"So even if you die, your plan should not fail. I understand that," Inoiki continued. "And honestly speaking, with my mental strength and soul power, I can definitely take over your body and thoroughly search through your soul and your memories. If I do that, then I will definitely be able to find the method to remove the Reanimation Jutsu and free everyone. You would definitely have that method inside you."

For the first time, Kabuto’s expression changed slightly.

"But let us just say that if I do that, I might make a mistake somewhere," Inoiki said. "And if that happens, it will definitely be disastrous."

The cave remained silent except for the faint hiss of snakes slithering across the ground.

"I would then have to focus completely on suppressing all of those reanimated ninjas at once. That would not be good for me at the moment. So instead, I will be taking you to someone who can definitely do something about it."

After saying this, the sword resting on Inoiki’s back suddenly trembled.

Then, under the control of his psychokinesis, it unsheathed itself automatically with a sharp metallic sound.

The blade floated through the air for a brief moment before landing firmly into Inoiki’s right hand.

A cold glint flashed across the edge of the sword.

Clearly, Inoiki was about to attack.

Kabuto only grinned in response.

From around his body, multiple serpents suddenly emerged. They slithered out from his sleeves, around his shoulders, and from beneath his clothes, their tongues flicking through the air as they hissed menacingly.

In the dim light of the cave, the snakes coiled around Kabuto like living armor, ready to strike at any moment.