Defeating Kitsuchi!

The massive rock-and-earth giant stood tall upon the ground.

The son of the Tsuchikage had been thoroughly consumed by rage after watching Sora brutally crush his comrades.

Yet a trace of disappointment appeared in Sora's eyes.

A low-budget Gundam of this level was nothing to him.

Not to mention the absolute elemental advantage between them.

Lightning Release overwhelmingly countered Earth Release, even more severely than water and fire restrained each other. This could be seen in Kakashi's Raikiri piercing Kakuzu's Earth Release and Sasuke's Chidori smashing Deidara to pieces.

He had originally thought that, driven to such extreme fury, this guy would bring out something different...

"Wind Release: Kamaitachi Armor!"

"Oh?"

Under Sora's surprised gaze, the rock-and-earth giant exhaled a sharp, frigid gale.

The airflow swirled, forming an invisible armor of wind around the rock-and-earth giant's body!

"Interesting. To stably fuse the chakra natures of wind and earth to this extent, you are indeed qualified to be my opponent."

Sora watched the rock-and-earth giant enhance itself with great interest, making no move to interrupt it.

His fists craved a worthy opponent.

If every enemy shattered at a single touch, he might as well stay in the arena and enjoy women and wine.

But in Kitsuchi's eyes, that appearance was the greatest mockery.

"You will pay for your arrogance, Yotsuki Sora!"

Kitsuchi shouted fiercely from within the giant, "Abandon Earth Release attacks! His Lightning Release Chakra Mode is practically immune to Earth Release ninjutsu. Attack with weapons and other releases!"

"Those who know Wind Release, take the lead!"

At his command, countless kunai, explosive tags, and ninjutsu flew forth, their momentum overwhelming.

Indeed.

Just as Kitsuchi had said.

In Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Earth Release ninjutsu had pitifully little effect on Sora.

But that did not mean other techniques would work either.

Before absolute physical strength, everything was meaningless!

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

"Fire Release: Great Flame Ball!"

"..."

Facing the incoming ninjutsu and weapons, Sora neither dodged nor evaded. He charged straight into them with Lightning Release Chakra Mode active.

In the blink of an eye, he broke through the barrage of combined ninjutsu. Wherever he passed, people were thrown from their feet, and without slowing, he charged toward the towering rock-and-earth giant.

Heavy Stream Burst!

Man!

At that moment, Sora was like an out-of-control dump truck. His elbow, wrapped in Blood Lightning, slammed viciously into the rock-and-earth giant.

The gale became both sturdy armor and sharp blades. The giant gale-wreathed rock fist swung high and collided with the elbow strike.

"Boom!!"

The shockwave from their collision swept dust across the ground, only for it to be blown away by the surging chakra aura.

Under the worried gazes of the surrounding Hidden Stone ninja, the large and small figures actually began wrestling against each other!

Though the rock-and-earth giant was enormous, it seemed to hold little advantage in this clash. The gale covering its fist had already been broken apart, while its surface was like shattered glass, covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

Kitsuchi gritted his teeth within the giant.

Although the rock-and-earth giant had fallen into a disadvantage in this contest of strength, it had at least blocked the attack.

As long as he stabilized his chakra or received support from the other ninja, he could continue fighting this guy.

Kitsuchi continuously squeezed the chakra from his body, rapidly repairing the damaged cracks on the rock-and-earth giant. He even enlarged its body to a certain extent, making it more towering and massive.

"What a great punching bag!"

Seeing this, Sora grinned.

The Blood Lightning flickering across his body shone brilliantly, and his already powerful muscles swelled even further.

One punch!

Then another punch!

The fierce left hook made the rock-and-earth giant's body tremble, while the Blood Lightning-wreathed right hook was several times more powerful.

Violent force surged through Sora's body to his knuckles. His bulging veins seemed to churn with scorching magma, lending his fists their fiercest heat and weight.

I! Am the scales of violence!

Under Sora's barrage of heavy punches, the newly repaired earth-and-rock giant quickly collapsed once more.

Faced with his swift, brutal fists, the earth-and-rock giant could not even launch a single effective counterattack.

Its thick earthen shell was blasted apart by Sora's fists, splitting into fragments and riddled with cracks.

Inside it, Kitsuchi felt as though his entire body was being relentlessly hammered by a thousand-pound sledgehammer. Indescribable agony spread through every inch of him.

"D-Damn it!"

"Looks like your turtle shell isn't as hard as I thought."

At one moment, Kitsuchi, inside the earth-and-rock giant, met Sora's wild gaze.

Beneath a bloodthirsty smile—

With a deafening boom, the fist wrapped in Blood Lightning tore through the earth-and-rock giant with unstoppable ferocity, shattering every rock around it and blasting Kitsuchi, along with the crumbling debris, flying away!

Amid a pained howl, Kitsuchi was embedded in a massive boulder. The earth-and-rock giant covering his body had completely shattered and collapsed.

"Urgh!"

Blood spurted from his mouth. The Tsuchikage's son was already barely breathing.

"Lord Kitsuchi!"

"Damn it!"

"Get Lord Kitsuchi out of here, now!"

The Hidden Stone ninja were frantic. The closest one hurriedly scooped up the severely wounded, blood-spitting Kitsuchi and retreated.

"Do you think you can get away?"

The others saw only a flash of blood-red light. The Hidden Stone ninja beside Kitsuchi had already been blasted into a spray of blood.

A large, rough hand gripped Kitsuchi by the back of his collar, dragging him along like a dead dog.

Kitsuchi struggled to remain conscious and rational, but the searing pain from his body gnawed at his nerves every moment.

"Retreat... cough, cough... retreat..."

"Lord Kitsuchi!!"

The Hidden Stone ninja were frantic with worry, yet none dared act rashly.

"Retreat... retreat... that is an order..."

Kitsuchi murmured twice before passing out completely.

Holding Kitsuchi, Sora walked step by step toward the interior of Rock Town Village. The Hidden Stone ninja around him did not dare approach. They could only scatter and watch unwillingly from afar.

"Yotsuki... Sora."

Having witnessed this utterly overwhelming battle firsthand, a strange light appeared in Samui's eyes.

In her view, Sora's fighting style was extremely bloody—one could even call it brutal and bloodthirsty.

Yet Cloud Hidden Village, which naturally revered the strong, instinctively viewed such combat through a special lens.

No wonder Lord Dodai had treated Yotsuki Sora that way. No wonder the higher-ups had even been willing to bring out a Six Paths ninja tool like the Amber Purifying Pot to persuade Sora to leave seclusion.

With strength like Sora's, any demand he made was reasonable.

"Why are you still standing there? Time to collect the spoils."

"C-Coming."

Sora's voice drifted over. Samui snapped out of her daze and hurried after him.