With a loud 'rumble', boundless water surged into the arena, instantly transforming the football field-sized area into a watery expanse.
Shiranui Genma, the referee, moved swiftly, climbing a tree like a monkey, then looked down with lingering fear.
The water was surging and overwhelming, covering everything. Aside from the lack of living creatures, it seemed no different from a real ocean.
The spectators in the stands could only enjoy the show, but the Ninja, who were experts, were stunned.
One by one, they all stood up to get a closer look.
Could this young lady of the Yamanaka Clan have made a contract with the ocean? This is completely different from Water Release as we understand it!
Waves surged over ten meters high, crashing against the four walls of the arena with booming sounds, completely covering the entire venue.
The chatter of the crowd was drowned out by the roar of the waves.
Many Ninja rubbed their eyes; for many of them, this was truly the first time they had seen such a massive Water Release.
Old Man Kosuke, carrying his black pot, wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes. This familiar scene reminded him of the deceased Second Hokage.
Before, many Ninja's perception of Ino was that she was a genius of the Yamanaka Clan, but this was mostly flattery. Backed by the Yamanaka Clan, her starting point was naturally higher than ordinary Ninja. When talking about their daughter, a few commercial compliments were enough, and many Ninja didn't take it too seriously. Were there really so few genius Ninja of this age in the Ninja World? They were all just packaged!
Now, seeing the overwhelming water flow, they no longer thought that way. The Yamanaka Clan was being too conservative!
Is this within the realm of genius? This is a monster!
She seemed a little less than a Human-Tailed Beast, but she was already far beyond ordinary Ninja.
Inoichi commented on Ino's direction.
"This child, she just knows how to waste Chakra, truly without any method. I'll have to criticize her next time."
His old comrades, Shikaku and Choza, could only nod. Yes, you are right. Whatever you say now is correct.
Rino was also showing off to the wives of several Ninja clan leaders, talking about how 'our Ino only knows how to bury herself in books,' and 'our Ino isn't good at housework,' just spouting nonsense.
The wives could only play along. One said, "If only our daughter were half as smart as your Ino," and another said, "Our silly boy can't even use a C-Ranked Ninjutsu properly. I really envy you."
Gaara was swept into the water by the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave. The massive water pressure on his body made him feel like he was about to suffocate, so he had no choice but to use the Tailed Beast Chakra seeping from the seal's cracks to create a Sand Shield for defense.
Ino created eight Shadow Clones. Including her main body, she simultaneously used nine "Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave."
Water spouts surrounded Gaara from nine directions. The rotating currents crisscrossed, constantly pushing him deeper. Gaara held his breath, feeling water all around him—up, down, left, and right. The current squeezed him in the very center, making him unable to move an inch.
"Water Release: Great Water Prison Technique!" Ino had improved the Water Prison Technique.
At this moment, the nine Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave transformed into a fence. The water currents exerted suction on Gaara from nine directions, fixing him in place, neither touching the sky nor the ground. The Five Elements Seal had long since left a back door. As the Exploding Water Colliding Wave spun at high speed, the Chakra belonging to One-Tail Shukaku unknowingly dispersed, was absorbed by the seal, and then drawn out of his body by the Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
All around were water currents tainted with Ino's Chakra. Even the Byakugan couldn't see her subtle movements.
"Father, this Yamanaka sister who often comes to our house to play with Big Sister seems very strong?" Seven-year-old Hyuga Hanabi asked her father, Hyuga Hiashi.
The Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave and the subsequent Great Water Prison Technique greatly astonished Hyuga Hiashi. He had been on battlefields and fought Jonin from the Hidden Mist Village.
From his current perspective, the power of many so-called Jonin from the Hidden Mist Village when they used Water Release was only at this level, or even slightly weaker. Many of those Hidden Mist Ninja often needed to rely on terrain, using water from the natural environment to cast Water Release, whereas Ino was creating water currents out of thin air.
He had always thought his daughter and the Yamanaka Clan's daughter were similar, and usually, they would say they had their ups and downs in fights. But now? The Yamanaka Clan's girl actually possessed such massive Chakra? And you could still fight her to a draw? You must be joking!
Hyuga Hiashi mused to himself, if he closed the distance and used his superior Taijutsu to seize the initiative, he would have a chance of winning. He could probably defeat Ino within two or three moves. In his opinion, Ino's Taijutsu was still far from good enough. Conversely, if he let the opponent create distance and use Ninjutsu of this scale, the outcome would be hard to predict.
Shiranui Genma, the referee, also experienced the helplessness Gekkō Hayate felt earlier. With such a massive Ninjutsu, did he even need to be the referee? He had already jumped onto a tree, but the force of the water was too strong, and the tree under his feet was about to break.
He looked up at the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage nodded slightly, and Shiranui Genma quickly leaped onto the stands.
Many Jonin and dignitaries discussed animatedly. Ino, meanwhile, was operating at full power, extracting the Ichibi's Chakra.
The Akatsuki Organization used the Gedo Statue as a base and the Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals as the jutsu. Nine strong individuals toiled for three days and three nights to fully extract the Ichibi.
Ino was inferior to them in both'software' and 'hardware.' Pulling it out so forcefully was like a tug-of-war, actually very exhausting. The nine Exploding Water Colliding Wave kept spinning, and with the Five Elements Seal disrupting Gaara's original Sealing Technique, this two-pronged approach extracted only a fist-sized cloud of misty Chakra in just over a minute.
The amount of Ichibi's Chakra was incomparable to the Nine-Tailed's, where even a small leak would result in a Chakra vortex the size of a washbasin.
"Such a weak Tailed Beast," she cursed inwardly, then immediately sealed away that bit of Chakra.
In any case, the Ichibi's Chakra was now hers.
Releasing the Great Water Prison Technique's lock, she held the unconscious Gaara and gestured to Shiranui Genma.
Shiranui Genma understood her meaning and shouted loudly, "Ino wins!"
At this point, all three Hidden Sand Village contestants were eliminated. The remaining were all Konoha Village Ninja. Of course, this was also a very fair matter; the match order was random, with absolutely no foul play.
"strongman, here's your brother back." Ino threw Gaara to Temari.
Seeing Gaara, who never slept, unconscious, Temari still felt heartbroken. She called out to Ino, "Hey, unseal my brother!"
No benefit, and you want me to unseal him just like that? How can you be so brazen?
Ino picked at her ear, feigning ignorance, "Seal?"
"Unseal my brother!"
"Whose seal?"
"...My brother's seal!"
Ino looked at her as if nothing was wrong, "What's wrong with your brother?"
Damn it! Temari was furious, raising her Ninja fan to attack her. Kankuro held her back tightly. "Big Sister, don't cause trouble! You can't beat her!"
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