Li Yu activated the Flying Thunder God and vanished from the spot again. This time, he set his sights on the Third Kazekage and Hanzō the Salamander's forces.
He appeared atop a mountain, looking down over the battlefield. Li Yu quickly formed Hand Seals, crossing his hands in front of him.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
The trees surrounded all the ninja in the center. Massive trunks burst from the ground, splitting mountains, piercing through rocks, and covering the entire landscape.
The hundreds of ninja caught in the middle shouted and scattered in every direction.
"Help!"
"What is this thing?"
"Stay away!"
They frantically swung the Kunai and Shuriken in their hands.
The elite ninja who had barely managed to dodge were still congratulating themselves on not getting caught.
Trees spread across the whole area, and several enormous flowers bloomed on their branches. The vivid red blossoms slowly opened, releasing vast amounts of poisonous pollen.
Everyone in the area collapsed. Only a few guards near the Hokage escaped, having made it out of the affected area quickly enough.
A ninja from Iwagakure pointed at the neighboring battlefield in amazement and shouted,
"Look! What's that?"
"Those flowers are huge!"
"That Wood Release is terrifying! Its range is enormous!"
Roshi said to Han,
"That kid's used two enormous techniques. He must've burned through most of his chakra."
"Let's go over there. We'll use Tailed Beast Transformation together and take him out."
He turned and ordered, "Get the Tsuchikage out of here. Keep your distance."
Li Yu knew that he was running low on Natural Energy too. He ought to finish off the Third Kazekage and Hanzō the Salamander.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower!"
"Fire Release: Explosive Flame Formation!"
The two attacked Li Yu without hesitation. The Kazekage's iron sand, shaped like flying stones, shot toward him at incredible speed, making it very difficult to dodge.
The ground slowly sank, revealing numerous Explosive Tags.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"Boom! Boom!"
The iron sand struck, and the Explosive Tags beneath his feet detonated. Li Yu's body turned into a pile of dirt, then disappeared.
"Earth Clone!"
Li Yu landed in the distance and formed Hand Seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Hand Jutsu!"
He slapped both hands against the ground and poured chakra into it, creating countless wooden hands that he could control at will.
They quickly grabbed for the Third Kazekage and Hanzō the Salamander.
The Third Kazekage failed to react in time and was seized by an enormous wooden hand.
Thanks to his respectable Taijutsu, Hanzō the Salamander narrowly dodged more than a dozen grasping wooden hands.
Li Yu used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the captured Kazekage and struck him with a Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan, sending him flying.
Seeing this, Hanzō the Salamander bit his finger.
"Summoning Technique: Ibuse!"
When Bunpuku, the One-Tail Jinchūriki, saw the Kazekage knocked away and injured, he could no longer afford to suppress the One-Tail. He transformed into a Tailed Beast in an instant.
He became a gigantic yellow tanuki, surrounded by black Curse Marks.
"Ninjutsu: Feigning Sleep Technique!"
"Wahahaha! I'm finally free! I'll kill you little ants!"
Just then, the Five-Tails and Four-Tails Jinchūriki arrived. Seeing that the One-Tail had already transformed, they exchanged a glance.
They communicated with the Tailed Beasts inside them, then transformed as well. Two clouds of white smoke appeared, revealing a horned white horse and a red-furred great ape.
Seeing this, Li Yu used the Flying Thunder God to put some distance between them.
Then he suddenly realized that his eight minutes in Sage Mode were up. The green markings on his face and his eyeshadow had vanished.
"Looks like I'll have to show you how the First subdued the Nine Tailed Beasts."
He formed Hand Seals. A Wood Clone inside the Land of Bears burst into a log with a pop.
Li Yu entered Sage Mode again.
"This battle was too rushed. I'd prepared one last use of Sage Mode, so I'll finish all three of you in one go."
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!"
He transferred chakra into the trees, making them grow at incredible speed until a colossal Wood Man emerged. A Wood Dragon coiled around its body, and its size and combat power rivaled those of the Complete Body Susanoo.
Li Yu stood atop the giant Wood Man's head and controlled it. With a mighty leap, it swung its enormous fist at the One-Tail's head.
The three Tailed Beasts froze at the sight of the Wood Man. They recognized it all too well. They had once known the terror of being dominated by the First, Senju Hashirama.
As the massive fist drew closer, the One-Tail spoke in a hoarse, unpleasant voice.
"Bunpuku, let me back in! Wake up, now!"
Down below, Hanzō the Salamander watched his allies' antics, completely unable to make sense of what was happening.
He had just summoned Ibuse and was ready to go all out, but the battle had escalated in an instant. Even he, the demigod, had been reduced to a bystander.
The gust of wind from the One-Tail's transformation sent the summoned Ibuse flying. No one knew where it had landed.
Hanzō didn't hesitate. He fled in a panic with the rest of his men.
"When immortals fight, ordinary people suffer."
Ninja from Sunagakure carried the Kazekage away.
"Boom! Boom!"
One punch knocked the One-Tail to the ground. The earth shook violently, and dust billowed into the air.
Controlling the Wood Man, Li Yu grabbed the One-Tail by its tail with both hands, swung it around, and hurled it toward the Four-Tails.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
The Wood Dragon coiled around the Wood Man surged toward the Five-Tails, easily binding it and restricting its movements.
The Five-Tails cried out in pain. "Aah!"
The Wood Dragon was covered in spikes and could absorb its target's chakra. The more it struggled, the tighter the coils became.
This was a technique capable of binding the Nine-Tails. Binding the Five-Tails was nothing difficult.
The giant Wood Man leaped again and punched the One-Tail and Four-Tails, one with each hand.
"Bang! Bang!"
Both Tailed Beasts, already dazed from their collision, took a punch.
The earth shook several times in succession. Unable to withstand the tremors, several nearby mountains crumbled.
The surviving ninja in the distance swallowed as they watched.
"All three Tailed Beasts are getting beaten down!"
"They can't fight back at all!"
"So this is Wood Release..."
Seeing the two Tailed Beasts lying on the ground, Li Yu clenched his fists and pummeled them until they howled in pain.
Once he figured they'd had enough, it was time to get down to business.
He withdrew the Wood Dragon from the Five-Tails and formed Hand Seals once more.
"Sage Art: Gate of the Great God!"
Thirteen red torii gates—traditional Japanese structures made of two upright pillars and a crossbeam—fell from the sky, pinning the three Tailed Beasts' tails and necks to the ground.
A dozen thunderous crashes rang out.
Satisfied, Li Yu pulled three Sealing Scrolls from behind his back and formed Hand Seals.
After sealing half of each Tailed Beast's chakra into a scroll, he put them away with satisfaction.
"Heh. I wasn't going to fight for nothing."
The three Tailed Beasts were gravely injured and reverted to their human forms. Three figures lay on the ground.
Li Yu glanced at them, dispelled all his Wood Release techniques, and raced toward Konoha without looking back. While Sage Mode still lasted, he wanted to find somewhere to rest.
In this battle, Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was severely injured, the Third Kazekage was badly wounded, and the three Jinchūriki were so weakened that they couldn't draw on their Tailed Beasts' power for some time.
By a twist of fate, the battle also delayed the One-Tail Shukaku's rampage. Sunagakure ought to thank Li Yu.
After this battle, Ziyu's name spread throughout the Shinobi World. After the First, a new Beyond Kage Level powerhouse had emerged in Konoha.