Chapter 281: Ino vs. Kitsuchi
An area spanning hundreds of meters instantly turned into a muddy swamp. Then, one side rose high while the other quickly slid down. Aided by the drop, a large amount of mud and sand converged into a torrent, attempting to wash away Kitsuchi, who stood rooted like a rock.
Earth Release Lv5, Nin 10, Essence 10. Even if the Third Hokage himself were here, his Earth Release: Great Mud River Flow wouldn't be much superior to Ino's.
An expert reveals their skill with their first move.
Her one Earth Release jutsu allowed Kitsuchi to discern her true level.
This giant-like ninja's expression turned grave.
He knew he couldn't treat the opponent before him as a junior. In fact, even in Iwagakure today, it would be hard to find many Earth Release masters of this caliber.
Kitsuchi let out a great roar, slammed his hands onto the muddy ground, and the mud and sand beneath his feet rapidly hardened, turning into solid earth. Then, he charged like a war chariot, without any frills, straight for Ino's face with a punch.
This punch was powerful and heavy. He was 2.17 meters tall, Ino 1.67 meters, a full half-meter taller. Kitsuchi's arms were thicker than Ino's waist, and his rapid charge carried a sharp whistling sound.
It was like playing basketball; skills aside, in physical confrontation, the stronger one definitely has the advantage.
Kitsuchi's strong body was his weapon. Ino's 6 points in "Strength" and 7 points in "Stamina" dared not meet it head-on.
Practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique and Body Flicker Technique tirelessly didn't show much on the stats panel, but in actual combat, Ino felt her body had become much more agile.
She shifted her footing, her figure skimmed across the mud without any stagnation, circled half around, and arrived behind Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi thought she was going to use Rasengan, clenched his fist, and swept his arm sideways, but hit nothing. Ino had only thrown a shuriken in his direction, then quickly formed hand seals. One shuriken became two, two became four, four became sixteen; in the blink of an eye, it was a dense black mass!
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
From Kitsuchi's perspective, a large black shadow appeared in his peripheral vision.
His combat experience was indeed rich. Most importantly, he had fought against the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, on the battlefield and had seen both the Rasengan and Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. At this moment, he protected his face with both arms, and a thick layer of earth-attribute chakra simultaneously appeared on his arms, torso, and legs, subsequently turning into rock.
The dense shuriken struck him as if hitting a stone, sparks flying. The stone surface was crisscrossed with countless scratches of varying depths.
Kitsuchi didn't dodge, staunchly defending his vital points, taking her Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique head-on.
Ino launched a barrage for twenty seconds, thousands of shuriken hitting his body, yet he didn't retreat a single step.
"Lady Tsunade, Ino has the upper hand now, right?" Shizune asked anxiously, holding Tonton.
Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "It's still the probing stage for both sides. It's too early to say who has the upper hand."
"This is just probing?"
"For them, it is."
Ino casually threw A-rank ninjutsu. Water Release: Heavenly Weeping was blocked by Kitsuchi. She wiped her hand, and a water blade glowing with a faint blue light stabbed towards Kitsuchi's neck.
The giant-like strongman clenched both fists, and with a single Earth Release: Rock Fist, shattered her Water Blade Slash. Seizing the opportunity as the water blade fragments scattered, obstructing vision, Ino used Monstrous Strength Fist to strike his elbow joint from the side, while the Rasengan in her right hand also pressed towards Kitsuchi's armpit.
"Pfft!" The Rasengan didn't sink into flesh smoothly at all; instead, it stirred up a pile of mud. Kitsuchi had dodged the attack with an Earth Clone. He suddenly appeared behind Ino, smashing an elbow towards the back of her neck.
In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged over twenty moves. Ino released many high-level ninjutsu. Kitsuchi's response was rather simple: defend two moves, attack one. The battle rhythm was unusually steady.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Water was best at dissipating force. If you could exert ten-tenths of your strength stepping on the ground, in water, you couldn't even exert three-tenths.
A torrent comparable to a flood roared, crashing head-on into Kitsuchi.
Back then, the Second Tsuchikage and Second Mizukage perished together, and the relationship between the two villages was extremely poor. When Kitsuchi was young, he had also spent his days eating, sleeping, and fighting Kirigakure ninjas, so he was very familiar with Water Release ninjutsu.
At this moment, he let out a great shout, stood firm like a nail, firmly planting his feet on the ground beneath him, allowing the floodwaters to impact, like a reef.
This Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave was different from the Great Mud River Flow.
Ino's Water Release, guided by the Second Hokage, combined with her 10 points in Essence, converted into an endless stream of water. Kitsuchi was fully prepared, yet he was still pushed back half a step.
He lost his footing. Facing the surging flood, he could only use ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Kitsuchi's Earth-Style Wall was thick, tall, and extremely hard. The flood caused by the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave was cut in half. Kitsuchi clenched his fists, formed the "Serpent" hand seal, and with just one seal, activated a ninjutsu of enormous effect.
"Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique!"
This was Kitsuchi's most proficient Earth Release ninjutsu. He manipulated the earth, causing two giant hemispherical spheres to rise from underground, attempting to sandwich Ino like a cookie.
Ino had no choice but to use a Great Ball Rasengan to forcibly clear a path, rushing out from the gap.
Awaiting her was Kitsuchi's iron fist.
She also used an "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall" to block, but her Earth-Style Wall was shattered by Kitsuchi's bull-like brute force. By the time Kitsuchi rushed in front of her, a light blue Great Ball Rasengan had reappeared in her palm.
Kitsuchi was confident he could shatter some C-rank and D-rank ninjutsu with his fists, but he wasn't confident against the Great Ball Rasengan.
They had fought for over fifty moves by now, and he also wanted to test the true level of Ino's Great Ball Rasengan.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist!" He covered his right fist with dense rocks.
Ino's Great Ball Rasengan also pressed forward.
"Boom!" A loud crash.
Under the astonished gazes of the Iwagakure ninjas, Ino suddenly appeared atop the sphere Kitsuchi had previously created with the "Mountain Earth Technique." Her footing was a bit unsteady, and her figure wasn't stable, but it was indeed a successful teleportation.
"Flying Thunder God Technique?!"
The dust settled, and Kitsuchi strode out.
He was completely unharmed.
"Pei!" Ino stood up and spat out a mouthful of blood. She had suffered a slight injury from that previous exchange.
She thought Kitsuchi would clash head-on with her fist, but she didn't expect an honest person's deception to be the most lethal.
This fellow had used the previous Earth-Style Wall as cover to quietly create an Earth Clone. The moment before the Great Ball Rasengan and Rock Fist were about to make contact, the Earth Clone rushed out from the side to attack her. Most of her Great Ball Rasengan's attack power hit the Earth Clone. Facing the Rock Fist, she could only use the extremely unproficient Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge.
While she couldn't achieve precise teleportation during high-speed movement, teleporting to the top of a fixed target was still no problem.
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