The next instant, the thousand-meter-long sea of fire crashed against what seemed like a white wall, flattened into a giant pancake.
Then, under the frantic gazes of everyone, it was frozen by the hurricane-like wave of freezing air, forming a colossal, coral-like ice sculpture of fire in mid-air.
However, the fiery coral ice sculpture had just taken shape when several black Tailed Beast Bombs came roaring in, slamming into it and triggering a dreadful chain of massive explosions.
Boom!
Boom!
Amidst the earth-shattering roars, the detonating Tailed Beast Bombs split into a net of light spreading across the sky, rapidly passing through the giant fiery coral ice sculpture, dividing it into countless tiny grids.
The terrifying energy contained within the light net instantly blasted the ice sculpture into sky-blotting fragments.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Fierce winds whipped up the scalding ice shards, cascading down from the heavens, filling the entire battlefield with piercing shrieks and thunderous explosions. The countless falling ice shards turned into the most merciless blades, madly reaping the lives of Konoha's Ninjas.
Clearly, in this god-like clash, Sora still held the absolute upper hand. He even had the spare capacity to direct the residual effects of the battle's explosion towards the Konoha's ranks.
Swipe swipe swipe!
The scalding ice shards fell like countless shuriken, tens of thousands of them raining down on the Konoha positions.
In just a second, they killed over a hundred Konoha Ninjas, with the number of injured being countless.
The Konoha's Ninjas who reacted quickly enough and were fast enough to escape the affected area looked back to see their comrades caught in the aftermath of the sky battle, dying violently.
They couldn't help but feel horror in their hearts, stumbling backward again.
In a short moment, the situation on the battlefield had changed dizzyingly.
First, Sora used a mysterious silvery membrane to disperse Kushina's Tailed Beast Bomb. Then came Jiraiya's summoning sneak attack and the toad's powerful fire assault. The aces of both sides had suddenly engaged in a life-and-death duel.
Next, Kushina, having activated the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, used an unbelievable consecutive Tailed Beast Bombs.
The overwhelming power of those Tailed Beast Bombs, capable of tearing the sky, filled countless Ninjas on the battlefield with awe and terror.
Even more terrifying was that Sora, fighting one against three, had perfectly withstood the combined toad fire assault and Tailed Beast Bombs.
Scene after scene, spectacular and magnificent, shook people's minds to the core, just like legendary gods fighting.
"Was this what the battles between the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara were like?"
Many Jonin from Konoha's Ninja Clans couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
In the sky, Sora stood poised in the void, ice wings on his back. His face was as calm as still water, his figure ethereal and elusive, appearing as sacred as an ice angel to mortals.
In the distance, Jiraiya looked somewhat disheveled.
Even though his reaction was fast enough, using the Needle Jizo to defend his entire body the moment the Tailed Beast Bombs exploded, the terrifying explosive shockwaves still tore numerous bloody wounds on his body.
The giant summon, Gamabunta, beneath his feet, also spat out a mouthful of black smoke, its voice muffled: "Jiraiya, you really picked a fine opponent for me this time!"
Its size was the largest, so it naturally received the highest impact damage.
"Are you alright, Jiraiya-sensei?"
Kushina, also standing on Gamabunta's head, seemed to be in better condition. Protected by her Chakra Cloak, she didn't suffer any injuries.
However, after using the consecutive Tailed Beast Bombs, clear fatigue was visible on her face.
The consumption was too great!
Firing seven consecutive Tailed Beast Bombs, even for her, who could now borrow the Nine-Tails' Chakra, was still somewhat overwhelming for her body.
"I'm fine!"
"I can still fight!"
Jiraiya retracted his protective white hair, shook his head, and stretched his body.
His joints and bones instantly emitted a series of cracking sounds.
During the previous toad fire assault, most of the Chakra was handled by Gamabunta, as he was only responsible for igniting it with Fire Release. So, despite the numerous wounds on his body, his Chakra Reserves were still quite good.
'Fortunately, during the fight with Yagura earlier, I intentionally didn't consume too much Chakra. Otherwise, facing this monster now would probably cost me dearly!'
Jiraiya looked up towards the sky.
High in the distant sky, a figure like an ice angel stood poised. He knew that was the most powerful enemy he, or rather, Konoha, had to face.
Yuki Sora is an unprecedented powerful enemy!!!
"Kushina, although saying this might boost the enemy's morale and dampen our own, I believe this Yuki Sora might be stronger than Hanzo!"
Jiraiya said with a completely solemn face.
"Stronger than Hanzo…"
"?"
Hearing this, Kushina showed slight surprise, then nodded in acknowledgment.
Amegakure's Hanzo the Salamander.
This Ninja, known as the [Demigod], had long held the title of the strongest in the Ninja World after Hashirama's passing. He was a powerhouse among powerhouses, an almost invincible existence among Ninjas.
Back then,
During the Second Great Ninja War, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru merely survived their defeat against Hanzo the Salamander, and their title [Konoha's Sannin] resounded throughout the Ninja World, their strength praised by countless Ninjas.
Defeat…
But survival.
That was a great honor!
From this, one can see the sacred status Hanzo the Salamander held in the hearts of Ninjas.
And now,
Jiraiya actually said that Sora was stronger than Hanzo, which also reflects just how apprehensive he was when facing Sora now.
"Yuki Sora…"
Kushina, clad in her pale red Chakra Cloak, had an uncertain expression.
She couldn't understand how her consecutive Tailed Beast Bombs had been so stubbornly neutralized by Sora.
'If even Kurama's power can't defeat this guy, then things are really troublesome!'
Kushina's small, pale hands clenched into fists, her heart very unsettled.
'Minato, Jiraiya-sensei, and myself were already the strongest combat force Konoha could deploy on the battlefield.'
'Above us…'
'There was probably only Hokage-sama himself.'
For well-known reasons, the Hokage, as the village's [King], cannot easily leave the village and appear on the battlefield.
Because if anything unexpected happened, it would deal a devastating blow to Konoha's Ninjas' morale.
Therefore, she and Jiraiya were already Konoha's final trump cards on the front line against Kirigakure.
If they lost…
The consequences would be simply unimaginable!!!
Screech!
Just as Kushina was lost in thought, a light sword cry suddenly sounded before her.
A flash of snow-white sword light, tracing a hazy, crescent-like trajectory, appeared in front of Kushina.
"What!?"
Kushina instantly bristled. The Chakra Cloak behind her instantly transformed, sprouting several Chakra Hands that spontaneously reached out to block the descending sword light.
"Bastard!"
"Be more careful!"
Kushina's ears rang with the Nine-Tails' furious roar: "I don't want to die for no reason because you spaced out on the battlefield!!!"
The Nine-Tails was also furious, 'This unlucky woman had already been sent flying by that monster Yuki Sora several times and still hadn't learned her lesson. So infuriating!!!'
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Immense force surged.
Just like their first encounter, Sora and Kushina were once again locked in close combat.
Only this time, what blocked his slashes were not the Adamantine Sealing Chains, but the Nine-Tails' Chakra Hands.
Trembling, struggling.
Kushina also fought back fiercely against Sora, the tremendous force erupting from the pale red Chakra Hands clearly aiming to break those ice wings.
The previous consecutive Tailed Beast Bombs had consumed a great deal of her Chakra.
She needed a short rest to recover her Chakra before she could use Tailed Beast Bombs again.
However, even so-
Kushina still did not retreat half a step before Sora. Gritting her teeth, she tried to press Sora down to the ground using the Tailed Beast's power.
"I…"
"Even if I burn out the Will of Fire within me, I must defeat you!"
Kushina roared like a wild beast.
She frantically refined Chakra, causing the light on her body to flare up once more. Two more Chakra Hands burst from her back, clasped together into a fist, and slammed down fiercely towards Sora's face.
"Haaah!"
However, Sora's body remained unmoved.
The frost ice dragon coiled around him roared and charged towards the descending Chakra Fist.
Boom!!!
The pale red Chakra Fist and the frost ice dragon collided. The energy released shattered the very air, exploding out in astonishing shockwaves.
Bang!
Right at that moment, Jiraiya, standing beside the two, suddenly vanished from his spot in a puff of white smoke.
The next moment, from the completely opposite direction, a sharp shout suddenly rang out.
"Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"
Somehow, Jiraiya, his face now covered in red markings, was crouched on the ground like a toad.
His hair rapidly hardened and shot towards Sora like a storm of needles.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
Tens of thousands of hair senbon were fired rapidly, completely enveloping Sora like a sudden downpour.
However, Sora didn't even bother to look.
Before those hair needle senbon could even get close, a silvery membrane appeared, instantly swallowing the downpour-like senbon and neutralizing them completely.
'That technique again!'
Kushina's eyes moved. It was this same silvery membrane that Sora had used to directly neutralize her Tailed Beast Bomb sneak attack earlier.
"Curious?"
Sora gave a light laugh and said slowly, "You can call it Blut Vene. The silvery membrane has quite good defensive power. Of course, there's a corresponding move to it. I call it…"
"Blut Arterie."
The next instant, a golden pattern suddenly appeared on Sora's handsome face.
Then, under Kushina's disbelieving gaze, he instantly shattered the Chakra Hands that had been restraining him.
Following that, he grabbed Kushina's head with his right hand, pulled her forward, and drove his knee into her face.
Bang!!!
With the activation of Blut Arterie, a golden membrane instantly coated Sora's knee.
And it was this membrane that directly shattered Kushina's Chakra Cloak.
The dispersing Chakra Cloak lost its defensive capability, so Sora's knee strike landed squarely on Kushina's face.
Blood gushed out wildly.
Kushina's eyes were struck until they filled with blood, and soon blood sprayed from all seven orifices.
"Pfft!!!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Kushina's vision went black, and she fell backward.
This utterly astonishing scene was clearly witnessed by Jiraiya.