Bang!
Just as the water pressure within the sphere plummeted and streams of water shot outward like arrows, two fists collided heavily.
Boom!
The instant the fists met, the upper slanted portion of the water sphere—compressed from an oceanic volume of lake water—exploded. Water burst apart like blossoming flowers, spraying outward.
As that enormous spray erupted, the point where the two fists met instantly became a circular waterless zone. The entire water sphere seemed to have had a chunk violently bitten out of it, turning into a crescent shape. Yet above that crescent-shaped gap bloomed a gigantic Water Lotus, its spray cascading like a waterfall.
He still had strength to spare? The Third Raikage's eyes widened slightly, reflecting the figure of the boy who had punched down at him from above. He had only just broken free of the water pressure and was about to step on the high-density water current to launch himself diagonally upward out of the sphere.
Crack!
At that instant, cracks suddenly split across the Third Raikage's right hand, which he had instinctively thrown out in a punch. They spread from his fist all the way up his forearm, only stopping at his shoulder.
Splat!
At that same instant, the boy's right fist in his eyes also suddenly split apart. Faintly blue cracks burst across skin that otherwise looked no different from normal. Blood mixed with traces of blue water sprayed into the air, splashing across the Third Raikage's cheek.
I see. His new defense uses Water Style Jutsu? The principle should be the same as the Rock Hardening Technique, except Earth Style Jutsu naturally possesses the quality of "hardness," so it only needs to coat the body's surface.
*With Water Style Jutsu, however, he has to compress massive amounts of water to make it "hard."