To be honest, both Ōnoki and Hiruzen Sarutobi had overestimated Ryūjin's strength. Ryūjin was nowhere near as powerful as they imagined.
Facing Ōnoki head-on, Ryūjin knew very well that he had no real certainty of being able to suppress him.
Putting aside the Six Paths abilities for a moment, the strongest move Ryūjin could currently use was Chibaku Tensei, and Ōnoki could directly destroy it with Dust Release. Chibaku Tensei was never a flawless technique.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Uchiha Itachi, Naruto, and Killer Bee had joined forces to break the Reanimated Nagato's Chibaku Tensei. With the current gap in strength between Ryūjin and Ōnoki, it would not be difficult at all for Ōnoki to shatter it.
As for the other Six Paths abilities, they would not play a very decisive role either.
Take the Deva Path as an example. Shinra Tensei and Universal Pull looked invincible, but they were still limited by the same fundamental principle. At the end of the day, they were just powerful forces. And any force could be countered.
When Uchiha Madara successfully cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Tsunade's dream world included a scenario where the Six Paths of Pain attacked Konoha. In that dream, Naruto in his Nine-Tails form clashed with the Deva Path Pain, who used Shinra Tensei on him.
The result was almost embarrassing.
Not only did the Deva Path fail to repel Naruto, he was instead sent flying by Naruto's overwhelming momentum. Later on, when the two halves of the Nine-Tails' chakra were united, Naruto did not even need to transform. He broke through Shinra Tensei head-on with raw power alone.
Although those events happened in a dream world and not in reality, the Ninjutsu system itself followed real logic. The Infinite Tsukuyomi only altered identities and storylines, not the underlying power structure.
So it was still useful as a reference.
In short, no matter how impressive your abilities or how broken your techniques were, if you ran into someone far stronger than you, you still had to bow your head.
The reason Ōnoki had suffered such a heavy loss at Ryūjin's hands earlier was partly because Ryūjin's missile attack was completely unexpected, and partly because Ōnoki had been in the air, unable to use many defensive Earth Release techniques.
If Ōnoki had been on the ground, even a casual Earth Release defense would have easily blocked Ryūjin's missiles.
But then again, once Ōnoki took to the sky, most enemy attacks became meaningless.
The fact that Ryūjin could still threaten him from the air was already proof of Ryūjin's own capability.
"Summoning Technique!"
After a brief exchange with Ōnoki, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not hesitate. He bit his finger and slammed his palm onto the ground.
A summoning formula spread outward in a circle.
With a loud bang and a puff of blue smoke, Enma appeared in front of him.
"This is… Ōnoki?" Enma's pupils shrank slightly.
He knew exactly how terrifying Ōnoki was. Without waiting for further explanation, Enma immediately transformed into the adamantine staff and flew into Hiruzen's hands.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the staff tightly and thrust it toward Ōnoki in the sky.
The adamantine staff extended at an absurd speed, reaching Ōnoki almost instantly.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
Ōnoki quickly formed hand signs. A massive amount of mud surged out from his hands, wrapping around his right fist and forming an oversized earthen gauntlet.
He swung the huge fist and smashed it straight into the staff.
Boom!
Earth and stone exploded in all directions as the adamantine staff was knocked aside.
"Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique!"
Ōnoki formed another one-handed seal. The staff suddenly became several times heavier and crashed to the ground with a loud clang.
Hiruzen could not even hold onto it.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Ōnoki descended from the sky, swinging that massive fist as he rushed toward Hiruzen and threw a punch filled with terrifying force.
The two of them instantly entered a brutal close-range battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same time, explosions and chaotic sounds echoed from several other parts of the village. Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened, his brows tightening.
It was clear that there was more than one enemy. Iwagakure had taken advantage of Konoha's weakened defenses to launch a full-scale invasion.
In that instant, Hiruzen realized the truth. The battle in the Land of Grass had been nothing but bait.
"Leave this place to me. All of you, go support the other areas!" Hiruzen shouted deeply toward the surrounding Anbu. "And find Danzo and Orochimaru immediately!"
"Yes!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Anbu moved without hesitation. Using the Body Flicker Technique, they disappeared in flashes of movement.
Only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Ōnoki remained.
Ōnoki's eyes flashed. This was his chance. If he could capture or kill Hiruzen before Konoha's reinforcements arrived, then this entire operation would be a success.
But would it really be that easy?
Even though Hiruzen was old, he had once been the strongest Hokage of Konoha. He possessed all five elemental chakra natures and mastered countless Ninjutsu, earning him the title Professor of Ninjutsu.
Although Ōnoki had acted dismissive during his planning back in the Tsuchikage's office, in truth, he did not dare underestimate Hiruzen at all.
The great clash between Konoha and Iwagakure had officially begun, starting with the battle between the Hokage and the Tsuchikage.
At this moment, Konoha had fallen into the trap. Its main forces were deployed elsewhere, leaving the village itself dangerously exposed.
Soon, the entire village was swallowed by smoke and flames.
The situation was extremely unfavorable.
The Anbu and the Konoha Military Police Force were locked in bitter battles. Even that old fox Danzo had no choice but to mobilize the elites of Root.
Originally, Danzo wanted Konoha to suffer some losses so that Hiruzen and Minato would carry permanent stains on their reputations. That would make it easier for him to seize the Hokage position later.
But reality forced his hand. If he stayed hidden any longer, Konoha might actually be destroyed.
And if the village was gone, what kind of Hokage would he even be?
"What a disaster… this is a complete disaster."
Looking at Konoha engulfed in smoke, Ryūjin felt like crying inside. He had thought staying behind in the village would be a relaxed assignment.
Instead, the enemy had come knocking directly at the door.
Fortunately, Ryūjin had already mastered the Flying Thunder God. Facing the invading jonin and chunin, he remained calm and composed, advancing and retreating freely.
By logic, Ryūjin should have joined the Konoha Military Police Force in evacuating civilians.
But he did not.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sharpen his combat abilities.
Real growth came from real battles. Ryūjin did not want to become someone who only studied theory, all talk and no results.
And this was not a massive battlefield where chaos limited individual performance. This was scattered combat across the village, the perfect environment for practice.
With the Flying Thunder God as a safety net, Ryūjin was not afraid at all.
The only problem was chakra consumption.
It was draining far too fast.
So he could only swallow more soldier pills and keep pushing forward.
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Milestone
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
200 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters