"What... is that?"
Ryūzetsu's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the monster whose body was rapidly expanding before her.
The creature was entirely black.
It had no eyes.
Two enormous fangs extended outward, wrapping around its entire face.
It possessed no visible neck or torso, only a slender waist and arms.
Behind it spread a pair of enormous black wings like those of a demon.
"Looks fairly strong."
Ning Feng nodded slightly.
The chakra fluctuations radiating from it were already comparable to those of a tailed beast.
Combined with Satori's unique abilities...
Even an ordinary Kage-level shinobi would find such an opponent extremely troublesome.
"Satori..."
The gigantic black monster stood motionless, blankly staring at the two humans who had already put some distance between themselves and it.
Night had fallen, and under the cover of darkness, its massive size seemed strangely fitting.
"When we start fighting, I won't have time to look after you."
"Use your head and stay far away."
"Don't hold me back."
Ning Feng looked eagerly at the monster in the distance and casually warned Ryūzetsu.
"Wait!"
"Is that... Muku?"
Grabbing his sleeve, Ryūzetsu asked hesitantly.
"I don't know."
Ning Feng shrugged.
"But judging from the way it's looking at me, it doesn't seem particularly friendly."
Of course, he knew perfectly well that this was Muku.
But if he admitted it, Ryūzetsu would immediately start begging him not to fight Satori.
The current Ryūzetsu wasn't the one from more than a decade later.
She hadn't yet gone through years of emotional struggle and acceptance.
Right now, even if Muku had become a monster, she still wouldn't be willing to hurt him.
"Then..."
Ryūzetsu wanted to say more.
But Ning Feng had already vanished.
"You are...?"
Seeing Ning Feng charging straight toward it, Satori finally spoke.
Its body was enormous, comparable to an ordinary tailed beast.
"I know you're the creation born from one of the Sage of Six Paths' treasures."
"I have a few questions I'd like to ask."
"But judging from your current state, I doubt you'll be answering them."
With a smile, Ning Feng drew the Kusanagi Sword from his back.
"The Sage of Six Paths..."
Satori let out a hollow laugh devoid of emotion.
Then it extended a long, sharp hand.
And thrust it viciously toward Ning Feng.
"Oh?"
Ning Feng raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected Satori to attack first.
Its ability allowed it to sense malicious intent, so normally it would evade attacks before retaliating.
Yet here it had chosen to make the first move.
What Ning Feng didn't know was that Satori instinctively sensed just how terrifyingly powerful he was.
The pressure he emitted was so overwhelming that Satori felt no confidence in resisting him.
To avoid being completely dominated by that aura, it had instinctively chosen to strike first.
CLANG!
Metal collided with metal.
Ning Feng raised the Kusanagi Sword before his chest.
The blade perfectly intercepted Satori's fingertip.
Its fingers were unbelievably sharp, resembling peerless spears.
"Terrifying ocular power..."
A flicker of red light flashed through Ning Feng's eyes.
Satori's heart shook.
Even though it could sense malicious intent, attacks that were too fast still left it little time to react.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Against giant monsters like this, Hashirama Senju's Wood Release was undoubtedly the most effective tool.
Ning Feng brought his palms together.
The previously barren coastline suddenly erupted with countless saplings.
Visible to the naked eye, they rapidly rooted themselves, growing into towering trees that surged toward Satori.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several branches lashed out.
Satori effortlessly dodged them.
Since the attacks carried hostile intent, it could detect them in advance and react accordingly.
This wasn't a conscious ability.
It was pure instinct.
"The Fire Release: Heavenly Prison seal is still working..."
Ning Feng frowned slightly.
He wanted to use even stronger techniques.
Unfortunately, the seal inside his body had never been removed.
It was still suppressing his chakra.
Even though it hadn't actually harmed him, it continued restricting his ability to use chakra.
Breaking the seal outright would still take considerable effort.
Even killing the caster hadn't dispelled it.
That made Heavenly Prison far more interesting than he'd initially thought.
The corners of Ning Feng's mouth lifted slightly.
No chakra?
No problem.
I'll do it like Naruto did in the original story—use natural energy instead.
With a thought, one of his shadow clones training on Mount Myōboku instantly dispelled itself.
Whoosh!
Dodging another barrage of black feathers launched by Satori, strange markings appeared around Ning Feng's eyes.
Sage Mode activated.
"Now I have enough chakra to use real techniques."
Looking at Satori hovering in the sky while continuously firing black feathers at him, Ning Feng smiled inwardly.
Earlier, because of the seal, he'd only been able to use low-consumption techniques like Chidori Blade and Chidori Sharp Spear.
Wood Release required an enormous amount of chakra.
Without tapping into Sage Chakra, his sealed reserves simply wouldn't suffice.
"What happened?"
Satori immediately sensed something different.
Something had changed.
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique!"
Standing atop the highest point of the forest created by Deep Forest Emergence, Ning Feng clasped his hands together.
A devastating Wood Release technique erupted forth.
Because all Wood Release techniques were enhanced within the domain of Deep Forest Emergence, this version of Cutting Sprigs was even more ferocious than usual.
Countless branches instantly wrapped around Satori's body.
Although Satori sensed the incoming attack, before it could properly react, the branches had already bound it tightly.
Crack!
The wood surrounding it suddenly hardened.
It was as though every branch had transformed into steel.
"What?!"
Satori struggled violently.
Yet the strength of the bindings far exceeded its expectations.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Its wings immediately folded before its body.
From within them, endless black feathers burst forth, attempting to sever the advancing branches.
"That's... Wood Release?!"
Ryūzetsu stared in shock.
Though Deep Forest Emergence had deliberately avoided harming her, the spectacle had completely stunned her.
A shinobi capable of using Wood Release?
Who exactly was this person?
Unfortunately, Ning Feng couldn't hear her thoughts.
He simply continued increasing his chakra output while tightening the restraints.
The enhancement provided by Sage Chakra to Wood Release was obvious.
If he had used ordinary Wood Release alone, Satori would probably have already broken free.
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