Crystal Release: Mirror Palace Demon Slaying Formation!

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

But before Torifu could reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "But the fight isn't over! I know you haven't used your full strength yet!"

Torifu was taken aback, then nodded. Seeing this, Hiruzen smiled.

Utatane Koharu put a hand to her forehead. She'd thought the match was over, but apparently Hiruzen had really gotten carried away.

Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses, looking as if he'd seen this coming. "It can't be helped. You've known Hiruzen long enough to know what he's like."

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

Today, Torifu had given him a whole new impression. He stayed calm and collected in battle, and even when at a disadvantage, he didn't lose his composure. Instead, he calmly assessed the situation and looked for an opening.

Chirori watched Torifu and Hiruzen's match from the side, brimming with enthusiasm. At first, she'd been the most nervous of them all.

But in the end, she realized Torifu was even more capable than she'd imagined, so she stopped worrying.

Hiruzen rolled his joints. Once the chill had eased a little, he prepared to continue fighting.

He had Enma end the summoning. It seemed he was planning to decide the match with ninjutsu. After all, ninjutsu was his strongest means of attack; Taijutsu was merely a bonus.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"

In an instant, the ground beneath Hiruzen turned entirely to mud, surging toward Torifu. It moved incredibly fast and covered a vast area, coating half the field in mud before long.

There was nowhere to dodge.

Torifu rapidly formed Hand Seals, then slapped his palm against the ground. Countless massive crystal spikes burst out of the earth, forming a protective wall that held back the mud without letting a drop through.

Hiruzen smiled at the sight. "Raising a Crystal Wall in the middle of all that mud just makes it a bigger target!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

A fearsome dragon's head burst out of the ground, opened its jaws, and spat countless earthen projectiles at the glittering Crystal Wall.

The crystals were tougher than the projectiles, but the relentless barrage against a single spot still caused cracks to appear in the wall.

Even so, the Crystal Wall held firm, and Kumonaka Torikaze kept releasing Chakra to repair it. For the moment, the two sides were locked in a stalemate.

A bead of sweat ran down Hiruzen's temple. He'd clearly underestimated the Crystal Wall's defensive power, but if he gave up his attack now, he'd lose for sure.

He steeled himself and began forming Hand Seals at high speed.

Danzo, who'd been driven up into a tree by the mud, saw the seals Hiruzen was forming and realized something was wrong. He shouted, "Hiruzen! You can't control that technique yet!"

But it was too late.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Flames poured from Hiruzen's mouth, taking the form of a snarling dragon. Together with the surging mud, they slammed into the Crystal Wall.

Hiruzen struggled to control the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet's path, keeping it from setting the whole forest ablaze. He'd been working on this combination technique for a long time, but had never managed to complete it.

He hadn't expected to pull it off now!

The combination of mud and fire, one cold and one hot, covered the Crystal Wall with countless tiny cracks. At last, under the Earth Dragon Bullet's continuous barrage, it came crashing down!

It shattered into a shower of fragments, which sank into the mud and disappeared.

In an instant, the mud and flames swept into the clear space that had been inside the Crystal Wall.

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

Only then did Hiruzen suddenly realize he might have gone a little too far.

He immediately stopped all his ninjutsu. The flames and muddy current died down, and Hiruzen quickly scanned the area.

But he couldn't see Torifu anywhere. Just as panic began to set in, a voice came from the mud.

"Crystal Release: Mirror Palace Demon Slaying Formation!"

Before Hiruzen could figure out where the voice had come from, countless crystal plants resembling vines suddenly burst from the surrounding earth!

They enclosed Hiruzen like a giant cage. Then countless flower buds sprouted from the vines, opened, and turned into crystal mirrors.

The succession of changes left Hiruzen reeling. He could only feel that he was in terrible danger—his life could be snuffed out at any moment!

Then the formation changed again. Torifu appeared in every mirror, slowly emerging with only his lower body left inside.

He formed Hand Seals, and a crystal lotus bud appeared in his palm.

"Crystal Release: Lotus of One Arrow!" Torifu's reflections cried out in unison, then hurled their flower buds toward Hiruzen.

With a rain of arrows' worth of flower buds about to turn him into a pincushion, Hiruzen shouted, "I surrender!"

In that instant, the flower buds all bloomed into deadly, razor-sharp crystal lotuses. Sunlight streamed down from above, and the entire cage seemed to transform into a dazzling palace.

Hiruzen's throat was only a shuriken's length from the lotus petals. He was drenched in sweat.

But moments later, the entire cage and its crystal lotuses shattered and collapsed, turning into a shower of crystal fragments before vanishing.

Hiruzen dropped onto his backside and panted heavily. It wasn't just that Torifu's ninjutsu had scared him.

More than that, he'd maintained his techniques for a long time, burning through too much Chakra.

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

Hiruzen asked with irritation. For a moment, he'd thought Torifu really meant to kill him.

Torifu climbed out of the ground and scratched his head. "Of course not. Big Brother Hiruzen was just too strong, so I had to scare you a little."

Hiruzen's face plainly showed that he didn't believe him. Still, he had to admit that Torifu was incredibly strong. He was only six years old!

Like Hiruzen, Torifu had also staked everything on that final move. He'd only developed it in theory and had never actually used it before.

He'd only resorted to it today because he'd had no other choice. The Crystal Release: Mirror Palace Demon Slaying Formation was actually a combination of several techniques.

It should count as a combination technique. The crystal vines that had sprouted at the start, however, were the new technique Torifu had developed.

He'd named it Crystal Release: Crystal Creation.

It worked by scattering Crystal Seeds, which then germinated and grew.

The seeds that had trapped Hiruzen had been planted in the Crystal Wall beforehand. When Hiruzen shattered the wall, the seeds fell with its fragments and were buried in the soil.

Torifu had been lucky. If he'd scattered the seeds farther from Hiruzen, he would've been the one to lose today.

"Big Brother Hiruzen, I can come with you now, right?" Torifu asked with an awkward chuckle, scratching his head.

Hiruzen wasn't one to hold a grudge. He'd already put their fight behind him and slung an arm around Torifu's shoulders. "Of course, Torifu! Hiruzen Sarutobi always keeps his word."

Torifu finally felt at ease. He'd pulled out all the stops just to earn some Calmness Points. It hadn't been easy!

Just then, the system's voice suddenly rang out in Torifu's mind.

[Ding—congratulations, host! You've unlocked a new feature.]