At a critical mont, Satoru and Raiga each unleashed a long-range attack with their swords toward Ryouma.
"Fangs of Lightning!"
"Hirakarei: Release!"
Both Kiba and Hirakarei allowed their wielders to use non-hand seal ninjutsu. For ordinary ninjas, facing such an attack out of the blue would leave them flustered and without a chance to counter.
But Ryouma was no ordinary ninja. Non-hand seal ninjutsu? He'd long since mastered such things.
Instead of using Full Counter, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished in an instant, reappearing at the location of a kunai he had thrown so distance away.
Just as he completed the teleportation, he raised his Rasenshuriken.
Boom!
That's right, he had only teleported himself. He left behind the Rasenshuriken, which rapidly expanded with a loud hum, its countless fine internal blades gleaming coldly, sending chills down anyone's spine.
When Jūzō and Kushimaru saw this, a surge of fear welled up in their hearts, and they felt their scalps go numb. Kushimaru, using all his strength, hurled Nuibari and pinned it to a nearby large tree. He then tried to pull himself away using the wire, attempting to escape the deadly range of the terrifying blue orb.
Seeing this, Ryouma imdiately ford a one-handed seal and slamd his hand to the ground. Blue lightning surged across the ground and ford into a lightning wolf that darted at Kushimaru.
"Lightning Release: Chasing Wolf!"
In less than the blink of an eye, the lightning wolf clamped down on Kushimaru's right leg, extinguishing his final hope of escape.
The storm of blue blades rcilessly consud him.
Unfortunately, the Rasenshuriken only took out Kushimaru, it wasn't a double kill.
Jūzō lived up to his na, showing his wealth of battle experience. After his enemy used the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape, he quickly recovered from the paralysis inflicted by the lightning chakra.
Then, placing Kubikiribōchō horizontally in front of him, he launched himself away using the chakra energy blast fired by Satoru.
This was certainly a novel way to dodge an attack, but the price was that one-third of Kubikiribōchō snapped off.
Moreover, his internal organs seed to have taken a serious hit, he was now leaning heavily on his sword, gasping for breath.
Since Ryouma appeared on the battlefield and instantly killed Jinpachi, the battle hadn't lasted more than three rounds, yet two mbers of the Seven Ninja Swordsn had already been eliminated. This level of efficiency left the remaining ones like Fuguki visibly shaken.
This Leaf's Gale... really had so skills.
Beyond the current five Ninja Swordsn, even Guy and the others outside the Four Red Yang Formation were left speechless in shock.
They had certainly heard tales of Ryouma: his exploits on the Land of Rivers, his killing of Rasa and Pakura, and even the jinchūriki.
But seeing it in person was a different matter entirely.
"A-Amazing..."
"It feels like he has the upper hand!"
Hearing his teammates marvel at Ryouma's strength, Guy felt a sense of pride. Ryouma had once told him personally that he believed he would beco an outstanding ninja, and he had always strived to live up to those words.
He wanted to prove that his perseverance and hard work wouldn't go to waste, and that Ryouma's belief in him wasn't misplaced.
Compared to the youthful innocence of the kids, Duy, however, was not letting down his guard, even in the face of what looked like a favorable situation on the battlefield.
Leaving aside the onlookers outside, within the Four Red Yang Formation, Fuguki gave Satoru a aningful glance, and Satoru imdiately understood. He ford a seal with both hands.
Seeing Satoru's hand seals, Ryouma instantly grasped his intention.
Considering the Hōzuki clan's secret Hydrification Technique, he chose not to use the Rasenshuriken. Instead, just like he had done against Satoru's brother before, he began condensing a Rasengan infused with lightning chakra at his fingertip. Without hesitation, he pointed forward with one hand, aiming it at Satoru and fired it.
However, the other enemies on the field weren't just going to stand by and watch him interrupt Satoru's technique.
Raiga once again used the power of Kiba to convert his chakra into a non-hand seal Lightning Release, launching an intercepting blast from another angle to block Ryouma's attack.
That brief delay gave Satoru enough ti to complete his jutsu. His chest expanded, and then, a massive surge of water gushed from his mouth, quickly filling the entire space within the Four Red Yang Formation with thick mist and vapor.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Thanks to the presence of the Four Red Yang Formation surrounding them, he didn't need to expend excessive chakra to generate such a large volu of water. He simply flooded the field, stopping once the water level reached about a ter above the trees.
Fuguki stared coldly at Ryouma, who was now standing on the water's surface like him, and gave a confident smirk.
"With this, you won't be able to use that space-ti jutsu anymore."
At this point, Jūzō had also recovered. The five remaining swordsn began to close in on Ryouma in a pincer formation.
Sensing that they had the advantage, Jinin shouted excitedly, "Even though I'm glad you took out that annoying guy, I didn't like your tone just now. So, sorry, your head still belongs to !"
Fuguki wasn't interested in chatter. He cut straight to the point, "Attack together. Don't give him a chance to use any ninjutsu!"
He then crouched and shot forward, his massive body moving at a speed that belied his size. The massive blade Sahada, gripped tightly in both hands, shimred under the sunlight, each of its sharp scales reflecting a deadly gleam.
The rest of the remaining Seven Ninja Swordsn also charged in with their respective blades, all except Raiga.
Unlike Hirakarei, which could be used for both close and ranged combat, Kiba was most effective at mid-range. Even in past missions, his usual positioning was more toward the rear lines.
Faced with this coordinated assault, Ryouma clapped both hands together.
In an instant, strands of chakra erged around him, condensing into several glowing orbs, each the size of a fist.
These glowing blue spheres began to orbit him, circling once before floating neatly behind his back.
It was his Rasengan Spheres.
The nine spheres had just appeared, and he imdiately used four of them. One of the spheres rapidly expanded and, in the blink of an eye, transford into a storm of violent purple lightning.
Under his exquisitely precise chakra control, this raging current quickly contracted and condensed, ultimately forming a lightning-glowing spear.
The spear sparkled all over with thunderlight, and the tip radiated a heart-piercing glow, as if it could pierce through any obstacle.
With a change in his hand sign, the lightning spear shot at blazing speed toward Satoru.
Another two sphere were respectively transford into a Rasenshurken and a Grand Fla Rasengan, which were launched at the enemies on both sides, Jinin and Jūzō.
The last sphere was enhanced further by Ryouma. He infused it with even more chakra, causing it to beco a dark purple arrow.
The body of the arrow sparkled with destructive energy, countless tiny flas dancing along its surface. A closer look revealed these were no ordinary flas, but ones condensed entirely from blaze chakra.
The chakra was so dense, it flowed like liquid, forming a rippling fire curtain that wrapped around the entire shaft of the arrow.
This devastating-looking arrow, seeming like it might explode just from a glance, was swiftly launched by him toward Fuguki.
In battles between ninjas, the transition between attack and defense happened in a flash.
Jinin had already witnessed the terrifying power of the Rasenshuriken and knew full well he couldn't take it head-on. He imdiately abandoned his offense and leapt backward to evade.
Jūzō was even more cautious. The mont Ryouma brought his hands together to summon the spheres, he had already started retreating.
That previous Rasenshuriken almost took him out. Now facing another unknown jutsu, he decided it was better to let his teammates test the waters first.
Ryouma didn't pay them much mind either. Since they weren't as key as soone like Chiyo, he simply focused his attention on Fuguki and Satoru.
As for Jinin and Jūzō, it was enough just to push them back.
Satoru, facing the charging lightning spear, couldn't rely on Water Release alone to defend himself, but he also didn't want to waste the opportunity.
So he activated another secret jutsu of the Hōzuki clan:
"Water Release: Tate Eboshi!"
This was the Hōzuki clan's most powerful defensive secret technique, allowing the user to manipulate a large amount of water to encase themselves, forming a highly durable defense.
At the sa ti, the water could be shaped into a monstrous form to launch counterattacks on enemies. The surrounding water seed to be drawn in by an unseen force and surged violently.
A massive amount of water gathered into a single sphere, constantly shifting and distorting, eventually transforming into a gigantic water monster on par with a tailed beast.
Although Tate Eboshi could still be countered by Lightning Release, it was far less vulnerable than standard Water Release techniques.
The spear pierced directly into the water monster created by Tate Eboshi. Violent currents and sharp chirping sounds spread throughout the beast's body.
Feeling the security brought by the technique, Satoru was filled with confidence. "You think just using Lightning Release will stop ? Let show you the true power of the Hōzuki clan."
The massive water beast endured the current and launched a headbutt straight toward Ryouma, who had been focused on controlling the Flaming Annihilation Arrow to chase after Fuguki, but now faced with the water beast's sudden attack, he had no choice but to cross Lostvayne in front of his chest and swing it outward.
"Full Counter!"
An invisible domain unfolded once again. The mont its edge touched the water monster created by Tate Eboshi, Satoru imdiately felt his jutsu going out of control.
The once ferocious water monster began to crack apart from the head, disintegrating bit by bit until it reverted back to liquid and splashed onto the watery ground beneath.
Because Satoru's body had been in a liquefied state due to using Tate Eboshi, he didn't suffer any recoil damage.
On the other side, the pressure on Fuguki surged. He had seen how Jūzō and Jinin had easily evaded Ryouma's ninjutsu, so he figured he could follow their lead and retreat from what seed like a straightforward attack.
But to his shock, Ryouma could actually control the trajectory of the arrow. With the attack on Satoru having failed, he now had no one else to rely on, he had to face the attack himself.
The dark purple arrow shot straight at him, carving a deep trench across the water's surface in its path.
A massive amount of steam erupted from the tail of the arrow, yet it did not dissipate. Instead, it acted like a booster, leaving behind a white streak between Ryouma and Fuguki.
Fuguki tightly gripped the hilt of Sahada, his arms bulging with veins. He raised it high overhead and, with every ounce of his strength, smashed it down toward the incoming arrow.
The force of the swing was like a wild beast unleashed, cleaving the arrow cleanly in half.
The surface of the water below exploded with a giant splash from the impact. Water burst upward like a fountain, forming a grand curtain of droplets. Sunlight refracted through the mist, casting a rainbow-like display across the scene.
He had relied on Sahada's ability to absorb chakra to just barely block this terrifying ninjutsu.
However, just as he was about to catch his breath, a loud, resonating buzz surged from the distance, growing louder by the second.
He quickly looked around, but his vision was blocked by the steam generated when Sahada absorbed the fla arrow.
Fuck, this is bad! He cursed inwardly. Drawing on years of battle-hardened instincts, he relied on his sharp hearing to pinpoint the source of the attack, it was coming from directly in front of him.
With all his might, he twisted his massive body and swung Sahada once more.
Whirrr—!
A blue chakra shuriken burst through the mist, spinning violently as it crashed head-on into Fuguki, only to be completely devoured by Sahada once again.
Turned out he had accurately predicted the second attack. It had co from directly in front of him.
That Rasenshuriken had been the one Ryouma originally used to intercept Jinin. After forcing the Kiri ninja back, he had stealthily hidden it within the steam trail left behind by the Flaming Annihilation Arrow.
The steam may have obscured the vision of ordinary ninjas, but for him, it was as good as nothing. He could see everything clearly.
"So many years of battle experience really did save your life… But what about the third attack, how will you dodge that?"
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