Chapter 59: Stalemate
After gloating at his catches, Eurus leaped back onto the roof where Gelato and the other Homunculi were still struggling to get out of the web.
"How bout a little game?" Eurus said after spitting up several barbed pieces of gum. "I know you're hiding among the Homunculi, but the question is…which one's the real one?"
He threw a barbed piece at the closest Gelato, but it dissipated. Irked, Eurus threw more but every single one turned out to be a Homunculus. Then Gelato suddenly came from out of nowhere and attacked him. Eurus blocked Gelato's fists and threw him to the side.
"So you let the Homunculi take your place and hid somewhere until an opportunity to strike me would present itself," Eurus realized, holding onto a piece of string. "Not a bad plan, but I've got the upper-hand here."
Looking down, Gelato saw a string wrapped around his right hand which connected to the one in Eurus' hand. As Eurus pulled Gelato towards him, Voluta appeared and cut the webbing with his palms. Nearby, Capriolo was standing on the roof after being released from the telephone poll while Zanna and Rosso had climbed up the fire-escapes onto their respective roofs.
"How?" Eurus asked, wide-eyed and glared at Voluta. "No one has ever gotten out of my cocoon before."
"There's a first time for everything," Voluta stated, with his Bianco Occhi eyes still activated. "Your webs are no match for my Blind Man's Fist (Gentle Fist Technique). The rest of you guys should go. Now!"
Surprised by Voluta's urgent tone, Capriolo left along with Gelato Zanna and Rosso.
"Think I'm gonna let you get away that easily?" Eurus quickly coughed up more webs and sent three strands with barbed edges towards Capriolo and the others.
Immediately, Voluta cut the webs with his palms as before which glowed with nature energy.
"You're not getting past this point," Voluta declared. "So long as I'm here."
"Fair enough," Eurus shrugged. "You seem like the strongest one in the group, so let's have fun to pass the time."
As Voluta observed the nature energy flowing through Eurus' body, he noticed a surge of it when Eurus started to chew in order to create more webs.
It's just as I thought, Voluta realized. This guy's webs are made from nature energy, and that's why they can't be cut so easily except by me.
Next, Eurus spat several small webs in Voluta's direction. Though Voluta blocked them to the best of his ability, a big one came his way which pinned him to a wall on the brick building across from the roof he and Eurus stood on.
"Father Typhonragazzo (Lord Orochimaru) told me about the Blind Man's Fist, but I've never seen it in action until now," Eurus admitted. "You're channeling nature energy through your fingers and using them as needles to cut through mine. But there's only so much you can use at once. Since it's only been a minute, maybe I should just kill you and end our little game now."
As Eurus chewed once more, Voluta closed his eyes and concentrated. Then just when Eurus send a solid barbed string, he was surprised to see Voluta free himself from the webs and run straight along the barbed string toward him. He stopped in front of Eurus and stretched his hands and feet in a defensive stance.
"I don't just channel nature energy through my fingers, but also through my entire body," Voluta explained, and shouted, "Twelve Zodiac Thirty-One Punches (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!"
After a series of relentless punches from Voluta, Eurus fell off the roof on the opposite side. Voluta watched the cloud of debris settle and was surprised to see Eurus covered in a gold-colored skin which immediately crumbled.
"Is that the same substance that comes from your mouth?" Voluta asked.
Eurus chuckled. "This stuff doesn't just come from my mouth, but also from my sweat glands."
To demonstrate, Eurus held up his hand as more of the yellow substance on the barbed webs appeared on it.
"The best part is that it keeps nature energy from penetrating my skin, so your attacks won't work on me," Eurus grinned.
Then in the blink of an eye, Eurus vanished causing Voluta to jump down and look around. A few minutes later, a throwing knife (Kunai) was thrown down. Fortunately, Voluta dodged it. But after that, several knives made from the same substance Eurus produced earlier came out of nowhere. Voluta held his palms out and began to spin.
"Twelve Zodiac Wheel of Fists (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!" Voluta cried as an aura of nature energy surrounded him causing the knives to go flying elsewhere.
Once he finished spinning, Voluta looked around and thew a throwing knife at a nearby building where a slight bit of movement was seen.
"Come out!" Voluta demanded. "I know you're there!"
"Fine," Eurus replied and came down on a string of web. As he did, black swirls appeared all over his body.
His nature energy level has increased significantly, Voluta observed through his Bianco Occhi eyes. And those marks…are similar to the ones that appeared on Tony in the Dead Man's Sewers.
Eurus then bit his thumb, made a series of hand-signs, and placed his hand in a spider-web he created. "I summon thee (Summoning Jutsu)!"
A cloud of smoke followed, and a giant spider appeared between two buildings suspended by a larger version of the spider-web Eurus made. Then it produced a large cocoon which Eurus slashed with another knife he coughed up from his mouth causing dozens of smaller spiders to rain down on Voluta. In turn, Voluta used the Twelve Zodiac Wheel again to repel the spiders. After cutting the webs from the spiders, Voluta was assaulted by dozens of yellow knives which he dodged with ease. But as more spiders rained down from the larger one, he made a slight change in his stance.
"Twelve Zodiac Three Hundred Sixty-Five Punches (Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)!" Voluta announced before spinning.
End of Chapter 59