Chapter 261: Unveiling the Hidden Dagger
The black rod pierced the Great Toad Sage's forehead, causing a drop of blood to flow.
Hagoromo Gengetsu exerted more force with his right hand, intending to completely impale the Sage's massive head. At the same time, the two Truth-Seeking Balls he had previously launched began to rapidly return on his command, aiming directly at the toad from both sides.
On the brink of life and death, the exhausted Great Toad Sage shrank his entire body. In an instant, the black rod missed its target. The Sage, now reduced to the size of Fukasaku and Shima, landed on the ground and grabbed the beads around his neck, pulling them forcefully.
All the beads, except the one sealing Naruto, scattered and transformed into identical-looking Great Toad Sages through the Frog Transformation Technique.
A chorus of croaking resonated in the air.
"Trying to escape?"
Hagoromo Gengetsu noticed this and commanded the nearest Truth-Seeking Ball to elongate and expand into a dense net, attempting to ensnare the toads.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Most of the toads were caught by the net and reverted to their bead forms, which then shattered into nothingness. The real Great Toad Sage was not among them.
Hagoromo Gengetsu moved to deal with the remaining toads. Just then, the supposed fleeing Great Toad Sages turned back, and in a moment of surprise, a peculiar frog chant emerged from their mouths.
"Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant!"
This powerful genjutsu, known as the strongest illusion technique of Mount Myoboku, was instantly executed by the real Sage and his bead duplicates, doubling its potency.
Within the radius of a hundred meters, the space twisted under the influence of the chant. At the center, Hagoromo Gengetsu managed to form a protective sphere using one of his Truth-Seeking Balls before he was drawn into the illusionary world of Mount Myoboku's unique genjutsu.
Normally, Hagoromo Gengetsu, with his Rinnegan, mastery over Yin Release, and Sage Mode, would be immune to most genjutsu, even powerful ones like Tsukuyomi. However, this was the Great Toad Sage, an ancient figure from the ninja world, using the strongest illusion technique.
Despite his high resistance to genjutsu, Hagoromo Gengetsu was caught.
But being trapped in a genjutsu was one thing, breaking free from it was another. In an instant, Hagoromo Gengetsu opened his eyes again and found himself in a black square barrier.
Outside the barrier, four giant toads, each inscribed with the characters "No", "Move", "Underworld", and "King", surrounded him, holding short swords and maintaining the barrier.
Hagoromo Gengetsu calmly observed the scene. Protected by the Truth-Seeking Ball, the Great Toad Sage couldn't pierce his heart with a stone sword.
The influence of the Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant had reached its limit. Now, it was time to break free.
Normally, disrupting the flow of chakra within his body would suffice to break the genjutsu. However, the stronger the genjutsu, the harder it is to shake off.
Hagoromo Gengetsu formed a hand seal, choosing to disrupt his chakra flow. Just as he had once broken Itachi Uchiha's Tsukuyomi.
Hagoromo Gengetsu separated a portion of his Sage chakra into chakra and natural energy.
Boom!
In an instant, the violent natural energy surged uncontrollably within his body.
This method of breaking the genjutsu was much faster than the usual chakra disruption.
The next moment, Hagoromo Gengetsu opened his eyes again, seeing the darkness of the protective sphere.
As his body healed from the internal injuries caused by the rampaging natural energy, Hagoromo Gengetsu's gaze shifted.
At the same time, the Great Toad Sage, who had been trying to pierce the protective sphere with a stone sword, saw a small opening appear in the black membrane.
Before he could react, a black rod shot out from within, piercing the Great Toad Sage. The Sage reverted to a bead and the stone sword fell to the ground with a clang.
"Already broken free from the genjutsu?"
The remaining Great Toad Sages panicked and scattered once again.
The protective sphere around Hagoromo Gengetsu retracted, forming a Truth-Seeking Ball that floated around him. He scanned the area and commanded one of the Truth-Seeking Balls to expand into a net, aiming at the direction with the most Great Toad Sages.
Meanwhile, the other Truth-Seeking Ball transformed into an arrow, targeting another toad holding the bead with Naruto's seal.
It didn't matter if the toad was real or not; the bead was genuine.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One after another, the toads were struck down.
Seeing that the toad holding the bead also reverted to a bead and vanished, Hagoromo Gengetsu quickly moved the Truth-Seeking Ball away to avoid accidentally destroying the bead and the beings sealed within.
At that moment, a small figure emerged from Hagoromo Gengetsu's shadow.
The real Great Toad Sage, who had been holding his breath and concealing his presence, finally appeared.
"Toad Flat Shadow Manipulation Technique!"
In an instant, Hagoromo Gengetsu felt his body stiffen. He tried to turn around but couldn't move.
He spoke with a hint of surprise, "You…"
Standing on Hagoromo Gengetsu's shadow, with his right hand raised to mirror Gengetsu's movement, the weary but composed Great Toad Sage replied,
"It seems I have won in the end."
Aware of the significant shift in balance with the appearance of the Truth-Seeking Balls, the Great Toad Sage neither panicked nor gave in. His long years had tempered his resolve.
Even the once-invincible progenitor of chakra, Kaguya Otsutsuki, had fallen, so why not anyone else?
During their confrontation, the seemingly deadly Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant was just a distraction. The Sage's true intent was to blend into Hagoromo Gengetsu's shadow while he was momentarily distracted.
After silently achieving this, the Sage had planned to act immediately, but was surprised by how quickly Gengetsu broke the genjutsu.
Thus, he had his clones scatter, using even the bead with Naruto's seal as bait, to divert Gengetsu's attention and distance the Truth-Seeking Balls.
Now, it was time to unveil the hidden dagger.