High in the air, Mu looked down at the circular crater blasted into the ground, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. Beside him, the sixteen-year-old Ōnoki, twelve-year-old Han, and fourteen-year-old Purple stood with their mouths wide open in utter shock. Their young minds simply could not comprehend it. Was this really something ninja could do?
"Sensei? Was that a ninjutsu?"
Ōnoki asked hesitantly.
"This..." Mu was momentarily speechless.
Although he had been mentally prepared for them to be strong, he had never expected such a horrifying sight. Judging by the chakra fluctuations, compared to ordinary battles between ninja, the two in the field were still only in the stage of probing each other with conventional ninjutsu.
Most of Mu's sweat glands had been destroyed, and his entire body was wrapped in bandages, leaving him unable to sweat. Still, his eyes remained fixed on the battlefield.
Both sides' chakra signatures were exceptionally vigorous and healthy.
Neither of them had suffered even the slightest injury from an attack like that.
No, my Dust Release must become stronger! The fusion of three chakra natures is far from enough. I need four!
Mu was far from the only one who had been shaken. Elsewhere in the sky, four cubic blocks of black Iron Sand rolled together and reformed into a dark cloud. The three from Sunagakure watched the distant smoke and dust with grim expressions.
"As long as Senju Hashirama lives, we of Sunagakure will never be able to rise again," Reto said in a low voice.
Within a valley, a gigantic ball of yellow slime stopped rolling. As it melted away, seven figures—six men and one woman—emerged. B withdrew his Lava Release and looked at the barren hollow around them, his eyelids twitching.
Even from so far away, the aftershock alone had destroyed the nearby