The smoke slowly cleared, and Tsunade narrowed her eyes, trying to confirm Ōnoki's location.
How could such a simple strike possibly kill the renowned Third Tsuchikage on the spot?
After all, Ōnoki was a veteran powerhouse who had weathered countless battles.
Sure enough, as the smoke gradually dispersed, Tsunade was not overly surprised. There was no sign of Ōnoki's corpse where he had stood; instead, a clay figure was slowly crumbling away.
"So that's it. He used an Earth Clone to dodge that fatal blow?" Tsunade muttered, still feeling somewhat displeased.
Although Tsunade had not held much hope for Ōnoki's death, she had sincerely wanted the old man to die here and now.
This sudden turn of events brought Tsunade tremendous shock and pressure.
After descending from the sky, Tsunade immediately began healing herself.
During the battle just now, she had not only endured Ōnoki's fierce attacks, but had also expended a great deal of chakra when using the Summoning Technique.
Even as a descendant of the Senju Clan with powerful bloodline strength, the chakra within Tsunade had been depleted to a rather alarming extent.
And at that moment, Tsunade nimbly dodged backward once more.
The clay figure had already vanished, and beneath where it had stood, Ōnoki slowly revealed himself.
At the same time, another charged Dust Release attack shot toward Tsunade.
This was a battle between two Kage-level fighters. Both had pushed every available tactic and advantage to the limit.
Whether it was Tsunade's decisive approach at the start, choosing to close in for hand-to-hand combat, or Ōnoki's extreme hit-and-run tactics, taking full advantage of his ability to fly to weaken Tsunade from afar.
Though they were fighting each other, both were determined to kill, intending to leave the other behind on this land forever.
After another brief