Amaterasu

The Five Kage had changed their opinions of Ruri once again. Previously, they had only seen Ruri's Wood Style and sealing techniques, and had assumed those were already his strengths. They never expected him to develop Ninjutsu without hand seals. His attainments in ninjutsu were clearly extraordinary, making his true strength even more unfathomable.

Hashirama naturally heard the conversation over here. The moment Kakuzu's attack struck him, "Hashirama" turned into a Wood Golem. It was merely a Wood Clone.

Hashirama used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before Kakuzu and asked curiously, "Water Style, Lightning Style, Fire Style, and now Wind Style—that makes four different chakra natures. Yet I can sense that you only possess Water and Earth chakra natures. Are all ninjas from the Land of Waterfalls blessed with such astonishing talent in ninjutsu?"

"That's not even the half of it. My attainments in ninjutsu aren't even one ten-thousandth of Big Brother's! Earth Style—Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!" Kakuzu had not come here to chat with Hashirama. A fierce-looking earth dragon surged toward Hashirama at his command!

Byakuren saw this and fixed both eyes on Ruri. Earth Dragon Bullet Technique? How dare you claim this thing's principles weren't copied from Water Dragon Bullet? Even Ishikawa doesn't know this technique, and it had never appeared in the Shinobi World before! It must be that the ninjutsu of my Kirigakure was leaked, or someone went to Kirigakure and stole it!

How shameless! Stealing a ninjutsu was one thing, but he had actually changed Water Style into Earth Style. I've never seen anyone so shameless!

Ishikawa's eyes lit up when he saw the Earth Dragon Bullet Technique. As an expert in Earth Style, he immediately grasped its principles. It was indeed similar in function to the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, and it gave him considerable inspiration. Earth Style and Water Style were extremely similar in many techniques, such as Water Style Wall and Earth Style Wall. Many techniques could be adapted for use with either nature!

Besides, the Shinobi World was at peace now. Maintaining peace on the surface required contact between nations. Ishikawa had already decided to send a diplomatic delegation to Kirigakure as soon as he returned to his village, to see whether he could conveniently—no, borrow some Water Style techniques for reference.

"All five chakra natures! What astonishing talent!" Hashirama slapped the earth dragon apart with one hand and clicked his tongue in amazement.

Ruri nodded. Kakuzu had already done very well, but the only techniques Ruri could teach him were the original Unrestricted Spiral Sphere and Wind Style—Rasengan. Once Kakuzu fully mastered all kinds of sphere-based ninjutsu, he would possess combat power infinitely close to the Kage level even without relying on Earth Grudge Fear. Whether it was Fire Style—Rasengan, Water Style—Rasengan, or even more advanced techniques such as Lightning Style—Spiral Shuriken and Earth Style—Spiral Shuriken, Kakuzu's talent in ninjutsu meant that even without Earth Grudge Fear, an ordinary Kage would gain nothing from fighting him.

"Wood Style—Deep Forest Emergence!" Hashirama seemed to have gotten carried away. Perhaps it had been too long since he had fought, because he released his ultimate technique without hesitation. In an instant, towering trees burst from the earth in every direction and swallowed Kakuzu!

It was collateral damage... pure collateral damage! The range of Deep Forest Emergence was simply too vast. No one had imagined that Hashirama would use such a powerful Wood Style technique against a mere Takikage guard, so they had not taken the slightest precaution. Everyone was caught in it!

Fortunately, they were not the primary targets. They reacted in time and quickly leaped onto the treetops.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't control my chakra properly!" Facing Tobirama, who was storming over to question him, Hashirama could only scratch his head and laugh. There was nothing he could do—he had too much chakra, and it was easy to lose control of the range if he was careless.

"Fighting so fiercely inside the Land of Iron is already a bad influence, and Lord Hokage has damaged the environment..."

Ruri had just begun speaking when Hashirama interrupted him. "Damaged the environment?" He looked around, then continued, "Isn't this afforestation? During the talks just now, the Kazekage even offered to fund my trip to the Land of Wind to green the environment!"

"Look at the situation... Your Wood Style has already blocked someone else's city gate..." Ruri rubbed his forehead helplessly. Their most urgent task now was to break Deep Forest Emergence. Kakuzu was still trapped inside.

"Amaterasu!" With a soft shout from Ruri, a tiny flame landed on one of the trees created by Deep Forest Emergence. It immediately swallowed the tree whole.

Ruri felt a sharp pain in both eyes as his chakra rapidly drained away. Aside from the pain, however, there was no other abnormality, and the chakra he had expended was quickly replenished by the Seven-Tails' chakra. It seemed there were no drawbacks. Perhaps Amaterasu released without the Sharingan would not cause blindness after all. He did not possess Dojutsu Power, to begin with...

The black flames of Amaterasu swallowing one tree was not enough. They rapidly spread, and in less than a minute, they burned the entire forest created by Deep Forest Emergence to nothing. Kakuzu, who had been trapped inside, did not even have the hem of his clothes singed.

Was this Fire Style? No one present was proficient in Fire Style. Even First Hokage Hashirama and prospective Second Takikage Tobirama were no exception, but that did not stop them from understanding how powerful Amaterasu was.

Hashirama watched solemnly as the Black Flame of Amaterasu dissipated. The technique looked like Fire Style, but he had never seen such powerful Fire Style before. It had effortlessly burned his Deep Forest Emergence into nothingness, without leaving even a trace of ash. Perhaps even Madara's Fire Style would be a level weaker!

The other four Kage also watched everything with complicated expressions. The Black Flame just now had made them feel a chill in their hearts. That flame seemed capable of burning everything. Even after countless battles, they had never witnessed Fire Style with such power. There were not many people in the Shinobi World who excelled at Fire Style, and Uchiha Madara was the strongest. Yet his Fire Style had never made them feel such terror. Even more frightening was Ruri's control over his chakra. The more powerful a ninjutsu was, the harder it was to control, just like Hashirama's Deep Forest Emergence. Unless Hashirama released it with all his strength and full concentration, controlling its range was difficult. Yet Ruri had precisely controlled Fire Style of this magnitude so that it burned only the Wood Style and not Kakuzu. Within the entire area covered by the flames, nothing other than the trees had been touched!

Ruri certainly was not going to explain that although Amaterasu was Fire Style, it was also a special dojutsu and did not require much chakra control. Wherever he glared, it burned, and it never burned more than that. The mysterious aura created by this misunderstanding was quite impressive.

"Why don't we end things here? Lord Takikage truly is very strong!" Hashirama used the Body Flicker Technique to approach, his face filled with admiration for Ruri. There were not many people in the Shinobi World who could easily break through his Wood Style.

Ruri nodded. His goal of making a name for himself had essentially been achieved. Hashirama's use of Wood Style had already attracted many samurai to watch, and Ruri's subsequent one-move defeat of Hashirama's most famous technique, Deep Forest Emergence, was enough to make the Daimyo take notice.

Besides, if he really continued fighting Hashirama, Hashirama would activate Sage Mode, and eighty percent of Ruri's true strength would likely be exposed. That would cause some trouble.

Thus, Ruri waved his hand and said to Hashirama, "If I get the chance in the future, I'll definitely visit Konoha."

At present, even with all his trump cards revealed, he was no match for Hashirama. But things would be different after some time. Hashirama's strength had already reached its peak, while he was still improving.

"I look forward to your grand arrival, Lord Takikage!" This battle had not been without gains for Hashirama either. He now knew that Takigakure had deep reserves of strength, and that guard was already no weaker than Tobirama.

"Big Brother, are we really letting him go?" Tobirama asked unwillingly as he watched Ruri and Kakuzu's retreating figures.

"Takikage? You can't put it that way. He's an interesting person. The policies in his heart can help the Shinobi World develop. He's someone who hopes for peace, just as I do." Hashirama seemed to have found a kindred spirit. There were not many people who hoped for peace in the Shinobi World as he did, and there were even fewer who would openly provide plans to help other nations develop harmoniously.

Tobirama frowned. Hashirama clearly had not understood what he meant. Watching Ruri and Kakuzu grow farther and farther away, he hardened his heart and flung a Kunai at Kakuzu's back.