The ground within a few hundred meters instantly turned into a muddy swamp, then rose high on one side and quickly slid down on the other.
Using the elevation difference, a large amount of mud and sand converged into a torrent, attempting to wash away Kitsuchi, who stood like a rock.
Earth Release Lv5, Ninjutsu 10, Stamina 10. Even if the Third Hokage were brought over, in terms of Earth Release: Earth Flow River alone, he wouldn't be much better than Ino.
A true master is known by their first move.
Her single Earth Release revealed her true skill to Kitsuchi.
The giant-like Ninja's expression turned serious.
He knew he couldn't treat his opponent as a junior; in fact, there were only a few Earth Release masters of this caliber left in Iwagakure now.
Kitsuchi roared, clapped his hands on the muddy ground, and the mud and sand beneath his feet quickly hardened, turning into solid earth.
Then, he charged like a war chariot, without any fancy moves, throwing a punch directly at Ino's face.
This punch was powerful and heavy. He was 2.17 meters tall, and Ino was 1.67 meters, a full half-meter shorter.
Kitsuchi's arm was thicker than Ino's waist, and his charging figure produced a sharp whistling sound.
It's like playing basketball; skill is one thing, but in physical confrontation, the stronger person definitely has the advantage.
Kitsuchi's strong body was a weapon, and Ino, with her 6 points in'Strength' and 7 points in'Stamina,' dared not take the hit head-on.
Intensive training in Flying Thunder God and Body Flicker Technique didn't show much on her stats, but in actual combat, Ino felt her body was much more agile.
She shifted her feet, her body gliding effortlessly over the mud, circling halfway around to appear behind Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi thought she was going to use Rasengan, so he clenched his fist and swept his arm sideways, but he hit nothing.
Ino merely threw a Shuriken in his direction, then quickly formed hand signs; one Shuriken became two, two became four, four became sixteen, and in the blink of an eye, there was a dense cloud of them!
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
From Kitsuchi's perspective, a large dark shadow appeared in his peripheral vision.
His combat experience was indeed rich; most importantly, he had fought against the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, on the battlefield and had seen Rasengan and Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
At this moment, he shielded his face with his arms, and a thick layer of Earth Release Chakra simultaneously appeared on his arms, torso, and legs, which then transformed into rock.
The dense Shuriken struck him like hitting a stone, sparks flying everywhere, leaving countless shallow and deep scratches on the rock's surface.
Kitsuchi did not dodge; he fiercely defended his vital points, enduring her Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
Ino's relentless assault lasted for twenty seconds, with thousands of Shuriken hitting him, yet he didn't retreat a single step.
"Lady Tsunade, Ino is gaining the upper hand now, right?" Shizune asked anxiously, holding Tonton.
Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "This is still the probing stage for both sides; it's too early to say she's gaining the upper hand."
"This is just probing?"
"For them, yes, it's just probing."
Ino was casually unleashing A-Ranked Ninjutsu; Water Release: Heavenly Weeping was defended by Kitsuchi, so she swiped her hand, and a water blade glowing with a faint blue light stabbed towards Kitsuchi's neck.
The giant-like strong man clenched his fists, using an Earth Release: Rock Fist to shatter her water blade slash.
Taking advantage of the flying water blade fragments to obstruct his vision, Ino used Super Strength Fist to strike his elbow joint from the side, while her right hand's Rasengan also pressed towards Kitsuchi's armpit.
"Poof!" The Rasengan didn't smoothly sink into flesh; instead, it churned up a pile of mud.
Kitsuchi dodged this attack with an Earth Clone, suddenly appearing behind Ino and striking her nape with an elbow.
In a flash, they exchanged over twenty moves.
Ino released many high-level Ninjutsu, while Kitsuchi's responses were quite simple: defend two attacks, then attack once.
His combat rhythm was unusually stable.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Water is best for dissipating force; you can use ten-tenths of your strength when your feet are on the ground, but in water, you can't even use three-tenths.
The flood-like water roared, crashing head-on into Kitsuchi.
Years ago, the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage died together, and the relationship between the two Villages was extremely hostile.
Kitsuchi, in his youth, also spent his days eating, sleeping, and fighting Hidden Mist Ninja, so he was very knowledgeable about Water Release Ninjutsu.
At this moment, he let out a loud shout, like a nail, firmly planting his feet on the ground, allowing the flood to impact him, like a reef.
This Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave was different from Earth Flow River.
Ino's Water Release, guided by the Second Hokage and with her 10 points in Stamina, produced an endless flow of water.
Kitsuchi was fully prepared, but he was still pushed back half a step.
Unsteady on his feet, facing the surging flood, he could only use Ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Kitsuchi's Earth Flow Wall was thick, high, and extremely hard.
The flood caused by the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave was cut off at the waist.
Kitsuchi clenched his fists, forming the'Snake' hand sign; with just one sign, he activated a Ninjutsu with immense effect.
"Earth Release: Mountain Sand Technique!"
This was Kitsuchi's most proficient Earth Release Ninjutsu.
He manipulated the earth, causing two gigantic hemispherical spheres to rise from underground, attempting to sandwich Ino like a cream-filled cookie.
Ino had no choice but to use Big Ball Rasengan to force her way through, bursting out from the gap.
Greeting her was Kitsuchi's iron fist.
She also used an "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall" to block, but her Earth Flow Wall was shattered by Kitsuchi's bull-like immense strength.
By the time Kitsuchi rushed in front of her, a pale blue Big Ball Rasengan reappeared in her palm.
Kitsuchi was confident in shattering some C-Ranked Ninjutsu and D-Ranked Ninjutsu with his fists, but he wasn't confident against Big Ball Rasengan.
They had exchanged over fifty moves by now, and he also wanted to test the true power of Ino's Big Ball Rasengan.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist!" He covered his right fist with dense rock.
Ino's Big Ball Rasengan also pressed forward.
With a loud "boom."
Ino, to the astonished gazes of the Iwagakure Ninja, suddenly appeared at the top of the sphere Kitsuchi had created with "Mountain Sand Technique" earlier.
Her steps were a bit wobbly, and her posture wasn't entirely stable, but it was indeed a successful teleportation.
"Flying Thunder God Technique?!"
As the smoke and dust cleared, Kitsuchi strode out.
He had no injuries on him at all.
"Pfft," Ino stood up, spitting out a mouthful of blood; she had sustained a slight injury from that last exchange.
She thought Kitsuchi would directly clash with her fist, but she didn't expect that honest people's deception was the most deadly.
This guy, using the previous Earth Flow Wall as cover, secretly created an Earth Clone.
The second before the Big Ball Rasengan and Rock Fist were about to connect, the Earth Clone rushed out from the side to attack her.
Most of her Big Ball Rasengan's attack power hit the Earth Clone, and facing the Rock Fist, she could only use the extremely unpracticed Flying Thunder God to dodge.
While moving at high speed, she couldn't achieve precise teleportation, but teleporting to the top of a fixed target was still not a problem.
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