Crystal Release: Mirror Palace Demon-Slaying Formation!

"I admit you're strong. You can come with us!"

But before Torikaze could speak, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "But the battle isn't over yet! I know you haven't used your full strength!"

Torikaze was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at this.

Utatane Koharu held her forehead with one hand. She had thought the match would end just like that, but Hiruzen had really gotten fired up.

Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses, looking as though he had seen this coming all along. "Can't be helped. It's not like this is your first day knowing Hiruzen. That's just his personality."

Kagami Uchiha chimed in from the side, a faint smile on his face.

Today had given him a new impression of Torikaze. He was calm and composed in battle; even when at a disadvantage, he would not panic, instead coolly judging the situation and searching for opportunities.

Chisato watched Torikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi's match from the side, brimming with enthusiasm. At first, she had been the most nervous one.

But in the end, she discovered that Torikaze was even stronger than she had imagined, so she stopped worrying.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stretched his joints. Once the cold feeling had eased a little, he prepared to continue the fight.

He had Enma end the summoning. It seemed he was preparing to settle the match with ninjutsu. After all, ninjutsu was his greatest offensive method; taijutsu merely added icing to the cake.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"

In an instant, the ground beneath Hiruzen Sarutobi's feet completely turned into mud and surged toward Torikaze. It was incredibly fast and covered an enormous area. In the blink of an eye, half the field was blanketed in mud.

There was nowhere to dodge.

Torikaze rapidly formed hand seals, then slapped his palm against the ground. Countless enormous crystal spikes immediately burst from the earth, forming a protective wall that blocked the mud outside without letting even a drop seep through.

Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed instead. "Raising a Crystal Wall amid such an enormous flood of mud will only make you a bigger target!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

A ferocious dragon head burst from the ground, opened its jaws, and fired countless earthen bullets at the dazzling crystal wall.

Though crystal was tougher than the earthen bullets, such continuous concentrated attacks still caused cracks to appear in the Crystal Wall.

Even so, the Crystal Wall remained solid, while Torikaze continuously released Chakra to repair it. For a while, the battle reached a stalemate.

A bead of sweat ran down Hiruzen's temple. He had clearly underestimated the Crystal Wall's defense, but if he gave up his assault now, he would lose completely.

Gritting his teeth, he began rapidly forming hand seals.

Danzo, who had been driven up a tree by the mud, saw the seals Hiruzen was forming and immediately sensed trouble. He shouted, "Hiruzen! You still can't control that technique!"

But it was already too late.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Flames poured from Hiruzen's mouth, transforming into a ferocious, roaring dragon that struck the Crystal Wall alongside the surging mud.

Hiruzen struggled to control the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet's direction, preventing it from following the mud and setting the entire forest ablaze. He had contemplated this combined ninjutsu for a long time, but had never managed to complete it.

Yet he had actually succeeded in using it now!

The combination of mud and flames, one cold and one hot, covered the Crystal Wall in countless tiny cracks. Finally, under the Earth Dragon Bullet's relentless assault, it collapsed with a thunderous crash!

It shattered into fragments that filled the sky before sinking into the mud and disappearing.

In an instant, the mud and flames occupied the safe ground within the Crystal Wall.

For a time, the entire field was nothing but blazing fire and mud.

Only then did Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly realize that he might have overdone it today.

He immediately ended all his ninjutsu. The flames and mud flow subsided, and Hiruzen rapidly swept his eyes across the surroundings.

But Torikaze was nowhere to be seen. Just as Hiruzen began to panic, a voice came from within the mud.

"Crystal Release: Mirror Palace Demon-Slaying Formation!"

Before Hiruzen could determine where the voice had come from, countless vine-like crystal plants suddenly grew wildly from the surrounding earth!

They enclosed Hiruzen like a massive cage. Then countless buds sprouted from the vines, blooming and transforming into Crystal Mirrors.

The rapid succession of changes left Hiruzen Sarutobi dizzy. All he could feel was immense danger! He could lose his life at any moment!

Then another change occurred. Torikaze's figure appeared in every mirror, slowly emerging while his lower body remained inside the mirrors.

As he formed hand seals, a crystal lotus bud appeared in his palm.

"Crystal Release: One Arrow Lotus!" Torikaze's voices rang out from the countless mirrors at once. Then he violently hurled the buds in his hands toward Hiruzen.

Seeing the flower buds descending like a rain of arrows, about to turn him into a sieve, Hiruzen immediately shouted!

"I surrender!"

In that instant, the countless buds bloomed simultaneously into sharp, deadly crystal lotuses. Sunlight shone down from above, and the entire cage seemed to become a dazzling palace.

Hiruzen's throat was only a shuriken's length away from the petals of a crystal lotus. By then, he was drenched in sweat.

But moments later, the entire cage, along with all the crystal lotuses, shattered and collapsed, becoming crystal fragments that filled the sky before vanishing once more.

Hiruzen Sarutobi dropped onto the ground and panted heavily. It was not only because Torikaze's ninjutsu had frightened him.

More than that, maintaining his ninjutsu for so long had consumed too much Chakra.

"Tell me... were you... trying to kill me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke irritably. For one brief moment, he had truly believed Torikaze was going to kill him.

Torikaze emerged from the ground as well and scratched his head. "How could I? It's because Big Brother Hiruzen is too strong. I could only try to scare you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was full of disbelief, but he had to admit that Torikaze really was strong. He was only six years old!

In truth, like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Torikaze had gone all out with that final move. He had only developed the technique in theory and had never used it in practice even once.

Today, he had truly been left with no choice and forced into using it. This Crystal Release: Mirror Palace Demon-Slaying Formation was actually composed of several ninjutsu.

It should be considered combined ninjutsu, while the Crystal Vines that had grown at the beginning were Torikaze's newly developed technique.

He had named it Crystal Release: Crystal Creation.

By scattering Crystal Seeds, he could make the seeds sprout and grow.

The seeds that bound Hiruzen Sarutobi had been buried in the Crystal Wall beforehand. When Hiruzen shattered the Crystal Wall, the seeds were buried in the soil along with the fragments.

Torikaze had also been lucky. If the seeds had been scattered farther from Hiruzen Sarutobi, then he would have been the one to lose today.

"Big Brother Hiruzen, I can go with you now, right?" Torikaze scratched his head and chuckled.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not one to hold grudges. He no longer cared about the fight they had just had and slung an arm around Torikaze's shoulders. "Of course, little brother Torikaze. I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, always keep my word."

Hearing this, Torikaze finally relaxed completely. He had used every trick he had just to gain some Tranquility Points. It had not been easy!

Just then, the system's voice suddenly sounded in Torikaze's mind.

Ding—Congratulations, host. You have unlocked a new function.