"Phew... phew..."
On the rolling water surface, heated to the temperature of a hot spring, Chiba lay afloat, breathing lightly. His hands, which had been changing through seals, finally stopped at the Tiger seal.
"Ha—!"
With a sudden gasp, like someone who had gone too long without air finally drawing breath again, Chiba abruptly sat up.
"Splash!"
Water sprayed everywhere. Faint white steam rose from Chiba's face and body as he instinctively opened his eyes and looked around.
At this moment, aside from the sound of the water rolling, the lake was already filled with white vapor. As far as Chiba could see, visibility was less than a meter.
"This... seems like it really went a little overboard."
Then, he raised his head and looked at the pale blue-white sphere overhead, which shone like the sun and illuminated the surroundings as brightly as day.
Fire rode the wind's momentum, oil fueled the fire, and the fire in turn strengthened the wind. In the end, the temperature was raised to the limit of a certain Fire Style Ninjutsu. Then, Chakra Shape Transformation was used to compress the entire combined Fire Style Ninjutsu, drawing all the heat inward. At the instant of compression, the internal temperature was raised to a terrifying degree.
Then, that terrifying heat burned every non-fire substance inside into ashes.
This had been Chiba's concept for an S-rank combined Fire Style Ninjutsu after he had learned Fire Release, Wind Release, and a secondary transformation of Water Nature Transformation—Water Nature Transformation into Oil.
It was also the most powerful offensive S-rank ninjutsu Chiba could currently use. Compared to S-rank Water Release and S-rank Earth Release, it had greater, more direct, and more effective destructive power.
Though it was a combined ninjutsu and far more troublesome than directly casting a ninjutsu,