If Terado was truly burning his own life force, then everything made sense. At the cost of life, any extreme situation could be explained—even bringing someone back from the dead!
However, Haruto Saito still couldn't be certain if Terado was indeed burning his life force. Everything he saw was through his Byakugan, not through direct contact.
Haruto suddenly closed his eyes, his hands forming seals at a speed like an illusion.
"Secret Art: Marking Technique!"
Haruto activated an S-rank sensory forbidden technique. This jutsu was purely a spiritual perception technique and could only sense auras. From the perspective of aura detection alone, it was immensely powerful!
It was an intricate, microscopic level of perception! Even the weakest aura would be amplified countless times to form feedback.
Haruto fully sensed all the auras within Terado's body.
One second later, Haruto withdrew his perception.
That was enough!
Haruto had detected another kind of energy flowing through Terado's meridians—it was converted life force! It contained an incredibly pure life essence!
"A sealing forbidden technique that can only be activated by burning life force!" Haruto opened his eyes, his pupils glowing. He suddenly realized that the situation wasn't as dire as he had initially thought because a person's life force was finite. Continuously burning life force would lead to death quickly.
Life force can be observed in two primary ways: vitality and lifespan. Vitality refers to the body's energy. The two clans most famous for their high natural vitality in this world were the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan!
Historically, these two clans had close blood relations, and in modern times, they had even intermarried. Their genetic similarity was extremely high. The Senju Clan was born with vast chakra reserves, and the Uzumaki Clan was the same. This was a manifestation of strong life force. The stronger the life force, the greater the cellular vitality, the stronger the physical endurance, and the more chakra that could be converted.
The other way to observe life force is through lifespan.
This is the most direct indicator. An elderly person with no illness or injury will still die when their life force is exhausted. Anyone who dies of old age rather than unnatural causes perishes due to their life force running out.
And right now, Terado was burning his life force.
He was not only consuming the vitality of his body's cells but also his natural lifespan!
He appeared to be in his thirties. Normally, he would have around fifty more years of natural lifespan. How long could he afford to burn it away?
"If this fight continues, he doesn't even need to be killed—he'll die on his own! As long as Tsunade and Jiraiya hold out, victory is assured!" Haruto felt much calmer now.
Terado could maintain his combat ability and seal his wounds, but everything was based on depleting his lifespan!
Now that he understood, it wasn't as incredible as it initially seemed.
Tsunade and Jiraiya just needed to endure!
…
On the battlefield, Terado's attacks were ferocious. Though he had mastered many advanced ninjutsu, his specialty was close-range sword combat. Tsunade faced him head-on in melee combat and was forced to focus on defense. She knew that breaking through Terado's sealing defenses would be difficult, so she willingly gave up many opportunities to counterattack.
What she was doing now was creating an opportunity for Jiraiya to land a decisive blow against Terado!
…
Haruto remained hidden in the dark at the edge of the battlefield. He had become much more patient, constantly observing the situation. The moment Terado's life force depletion caused his strength to decline, Haruto would immediately join the fight!
He didn't want Terado to simply burn himself to death.
His determination to kill Terado remained unshaken!
If he could kill Terado and obtain part of his abilities through dropped skill cards, it would be like taking a giant leap forward! His strength would soar dramatically! Although Terado had not been converted into a boss-level opponent, and Haruto didn't have a double drop rate card, considering Terado's level and skillset, killing him should still yield more than one S-rank forbidden technique card!
Time flew by.
This battle had lasted longer than Haruto had anticipated.
Three full hours had passed. Terado, Jiraiya, and Tsunade had turned the surrounding area into a battlefield of ruins, yet they all remained fierce in combat. But then again, in a Kage-level battle, if both sides were evenly matched, fighting for three hours without a clear victor was completely normal.
Lower-ranked ninjas didn't have enough chakra to fight this long, but these three did!
Jiraiya was the first to show signs of fatigue. While his speed and reactions hadn't slowed down, he had started breathing heavily and had stopped using large-scale destructive ninjutsu… His chakra was running low!
Tsunade, on the other hand, had no such problem with chakra reserves. However, with Jiraiya's support weakening, the pressure on her increased significantly!
Haruto watched anxiously.
Terado was proving to be an incredibly tough opponent! And he was beginning to gain the upper hand.
"How much chakra does this guy have left? Can burning life force really sustain him for this long?" Haruto thought, forming a seal once again—Byakugan, activate!
His vision zoomed in instantly!
Haruto immediately saw that Terado's meridians were beginning to shrink, his heartbeat was twice as fast as normal, and the life force flowing through his system was noticeably less than it was three hours ago. Even the rate at which it circulated had slowed.
This guy only looked like he hadn't weakened!
Internally, his body was already deteriorating!
In other words, he only appeared strong, but in reality, he had overdrawn himself severely and was not far from death!
On the battlefield…
Tsunade, her face pale, launched a fierce assault on Terado, her eyes filled with determination.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!" Jiraiya charged in from behind, spewing fire once again.
Jiraiya continued harassing Terado with relentless attacks. Terado, fully aware of his worsening condition, had finally reached his breaking point. When Jiraiya launched his latest attack, Terado snapped!
Terado's body shuddered violently, and a burst of blood mist erupted from him. Two blood-red clones shot out from his body, rushing toward the nearby Tsunade, while Terado himself, shrouded in blood mist, charged straight at Jiraiya.
"Wind Release: Arcaro's Rend!" Without forming seals, Terado unleashed a massive, uncontrollable tornado that seemed capable of tearing through everything in its path.
Jiraiya's expression changed drastically!
This was an S-rank Wind Release forbidden technique! Because of its enormous attack range, it was nearly impossible to dodge. If Jiraiya were at full strength, he might have been able to defend against it, but now, with his chakra nearly exhausted, he couldn't use any strong defensive ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Heavy Rock Wall!"
Boom!
The sturdy rock wall was torn apart by the tornado the instant it appeared. Jiraiya was sent flying by the wind.
After unleashing his Wind Release technique, Terado staggered, nearly collapsing. He propped himself up with his sword and spat out another mouthful of blood.
He knew he was finished!
Even if he won this battle, he would die from his injuries.
Behind him, Tsunade swiftly eliminated the two blood-red clones and charged toward Terado!
At that moment, Haruto moved!
He executed a series of Black Weapon Flashes!
Terado was done for! Haruto had to reach him before Tsunade did—he couldn't let her steal the kill!