Ino continuously increased her power, and by the fourth second, she had gained the upper hand. Her Big Ball Rasengan slowly pushed back the opponent's Chakra vortex, which visibly shrank.
By the fifth second of the stalemate, she realized that the opponent was much weaker than she had anticipated. Just as she was about to press her advantage, a dangerous premonition arose in her heart. She looked up and saw no panic in the silver-haired man's eyes. Realizing something was wrong, she used the entangled power of the two Rasengan to apply a pushing force forward, then quickly pulled back.
Less than five steps back, she saw the silver-haired man form a special hand seal. Immediately after, his Chakra underwent a qualitative change. He merged with the surrounding environment, as if he were originally a part of the trees, houses, and streets, while Ino was now a complete intruder.
The silver-haired man honestly formed the hand seals this time. In their previous contest, their Chakra was evenly matched, but as he entered a strange state, the Chakra he could mobilize instantly became immense, far exceeding the limit Ino could mobilize.
"Sage Art: Five Fire God Flame Fan!" At this moment, the silver-haired man seemed to transform into a rising sun. Massive flames descended from the sky, instantly turning into a raging sea of fire. All matter within the Sage Art's range burned fiercely, with Ino, five steps away, bearing the brunt.
Ino's movements were equally swift upon realizing the opponent was using a powerful technique.
She immediately unleashed her strongest technique.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
The surrounding plants converged through the sea of fire, and a giant green Wood Human rose from the ground.
Many Bloodline Limits, including Wood Release, are not within the scope of elemental counter-affinities for the five common Chakra natures (Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, and Fire). They neither suppress nor are suppressed by specific Chakra natures.
Ino dared not stand outside showing off. She quickly sank into the Wood Human's body, simultaneously activating her Three-Tomoe Sharingan, staring at the surging Chakra within the opponent.
The half-body Wood Human spread its two massive, sky-reaching palms like a wooden wall, blocking the dazzling sea of fire.
"Those who can run, run now!" Her voice emanated from the Wood Human.
At this moment, the civilians, soldiers, and merchants in the Land of the Moon's capital, including Sakura who was in combat, were all stunned.
Some civilians were too close to the battlefield. As soon as the silver-haired man's Sage Art: Five Fire God Flame Fan descended, they were burned to ashes. A second later, even the ashes were gone.
He had killed at least a hundred people with that attack.
The heat of the sea of fire could be felt from a distance. Sakura stared blankly at the scene. Many people said Ino was very strong, but Sakura had no concrete idea until this very moment.
The twenty-meter-tall, fragile half-body Wood Human seemed shabby to Ino, but to Sakura, it was no different from a god descending. Is this a Ninja's Ninjutsu? Are you kidding me?!
With her Sharingan activated, Ino had excellent vision inside the Wood Human. Relying on the Wood Human's powerful defense, she also had time to observe the enemy and the battlefield.
Seeing Sakura in a daze, she knew her old problem of poor psychological fortitude had resurfaced. She couldn't use "Summoning Technique: Naruto" right now, so she decided to help her out.
"Go save people, stop spacing out!"
The Wood Human clapped its hands on the ground, and a Wood Dragon soared into the sky. It spiraled and carried Sakura and Pakkun, breaking through the encirclement. Then, the Wood Dragon crashed through the melting iron door of a warehouse.
Sakura forced herself to calm down. Looking at the room full of large jars and transparent sealed bags, she quickly searched and saw about four or five children still alive. She threw a Kunai, cut open the transparent sealed bags, and rescued several children, including Koharu.
The other children were unconscious; only Koharu, after being freed from the transparent sealed bag, awoke with a gust of wind.
"You are...? You're that Konoha Ninja? Wow! Are we flying in the sky?!" The Wood Dragon carried them out of the sea of fire's range. It was Koharu's first time flying in the sky, and he was extremely surprised.
But before he could fully experience the joy of flying, Ino withdrew the Wood Dragon's Chakra after they left the sea of fire's range, and the Wood Dragon became inanimate.
"Can't we fly anymore? It's not moving. Why?" Koharu asked Sakura.
Sakura answered honestly: "Because Ino is still fighting. She withdrew the Chakra maintaining this Ninjutsu."
"Is Ino that very greedy and fierce older sister? Aren't you a Ninja too? Can't you make this dragon fly again?" Koharu hit a sore spot.
Sakura's expression wasn't so good.
"Sorry, I can't."
"You're so lame."
Sakura clenched her fist, and a 'well' symbol popped up on her forehead. No wonder Ino was so angry that day; this little brat truly deserved a beating!
Sakura summoned the Eight Ninja Hounds, ordering the largest hound, Bull, to carry Koharu, while the other hounds carried the still unconscious children away, then quickly retreated from the battlefield.
Ino's Sharingan, from within the Wood Human, stared at the silver-haired man, then at his Sage Art, quickly noticing a problem.
The flames adhered heavily to the Wood Human's palms and did not get absorbed by the Wood Release as expected; instead, they burned even more intensely.
The Sharingan's observation power was extremely strong. After two glances, she understood.
This was not Fire Nature Chakra flames; it also contained a significant amount of natural flames.
Wood Release could absorb Chakra because it carried a bit of the Divine Tree's essence, but it could not absorb things from the natural world.
She controlled the Wood Dragon Technique to save Koharu and simultaneously tried to extinguish the fire. At this moment, the silver-haired man formed hand seals again, his chest and abdomen puffed out, and he violently spewed out a large mass of flames: "Sage Art: Fire Release: Samadhi Fire!"
The flames surged like a giant wave. This included natural flames, Chakra flames, and flames imbued with Sage Art Chakra, mixed with the previous "Five Fire God Flame Fan." The two Sage Art Fire Release techniques stacked together. The intense heat caused visual distortion in her Sharingan. Ino had no choice but to increase her Chakra output, making the Wood Human's arms guard its chest, vigorously resisting the opponent's Sage Art.
The Wood Human's arms were scorched by the Sage Art, and large amounts of wood chips fell off.
This silver-haired man was the strongest Fire Release Ninja Ino had ever seen, without exception.
With three types of flames mixed together, Ino was ultimately not Senju Hashirama. Tsunade couldn't use Sage Mode, so naturally, Ino couldn't either. A simple Wood Human Technique faced with Sage Art was extremely difficult to handle. She had no choice but to control the Wood Human to open its mouth and reveal a trump card.
"Yin Release: Yellow Springs Water Shockwave!"
An overwhelming flood of water spewed from the Wood Human's mouth. From a twenty-meter height, the flood crashed down upon the sea of fire.
A death god rosary appeared in the Wood Human's hand. The already green-skinned Wood Human now looked eerie. As the Wood Human shook the death god rosary, the flood turned into murky black dead water, seemingly creating countless large and small whirlpools within it. Buildings, trees, and even the flames were pulled and dragged towards the depths of the water.
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