"But that's enough for now. Witness the true power of Wood Release."
Kōki felt a little admiration for Rasa's strength, but as a user of Wood Release, he couldn't be outdone by Rasa; the reputation of Wood Release couldn't be tarnished by him.
Suddenly, Kōki's body erupted with a powerful Chakra, and his hands swiftly Hand Seals. Countless tree roots sprouted from the ground and rushed straight towards Rasa.
These tree roots are quite unique; their dark surfaces gleam with a cold, steel-like light, and they are incredibly hard, capable of easily crushing rocks. The root tips are also extremely sharp; if an enemy were to accidentally touch them, they would be cut with a sizable wound.
This was created by Kōki based on the Wood Release secret technique. Because its origin is the Advent of a World of Trees Technique, it was directly named " Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence - Modified ".
On the other side, Rasa watched the swarming roots and manipulated the Gold Dust beneath his feet to defend himself.
But that's when the terrifying power of Wood Release came into play. The seemingly powerful Gold Dust scattered like tofu hitting a rock after colliding with Wood Release, without any sense of power whatsoever.
This situation is a manifestation of Wood Release's ability to absorb Chakra. It is for this reason that Wood Release is effective against most Release Technique in the Shinobi World, which is why the Shinobi World fears Wood Release.
Although Rasa's Gold Dust is unique, it still contains Chakra.
Therefore, after Rasa's Gold Dust Advent of a World of Trees - Modified, it quickly lost much of its power and was shattered by the roots.
Seeing his Gold Dust so easily destroyed by Wood Release, Rasa frowned. In his mind, no matter how strong Wood Release was, his Gold Dust would still have a fighting chance, but the reality was clearly different from what he had imagined.
Wood Release techniques that the Konoha kid has shown so far, his Gold Dust is definitely no match for him.
Should we... give up again?
While Rasa was pondering the situation, Kōki wasn't about to let such a good opportunity slip by.
His body trembled, and a large amount of Chakra was poured into the Wood Release he was using.
With the support of Chakra, the power of Wood Release was even greater, and the attack speed was even faster. In the blink of an eye, it broke through Rasa's Gold Dust defense and arrived in front of Rasa.
Rasa was startled by the sudden burst of Wood Release and tried to dodge, but he was still too late and his arm was grazed by sharp tree roots.
With just such a light touch, Rasa's arm developed a wound that bled profusely.
Clutching his wound, Rasa looked at Kōki's Wood Release with great apprehension.
The Wood Release technique, which can cause injury even from a mere graze, is truly terrifying. Once it appears on the battlefield, it becomes an invincible weapon, capable of taking on a thousand men single-handedly.
With this in mind, Rasa decided that he absolutely could not allow such a Wood Release to appear on the battlefield, and he must do everything in his power to hold off Kōki.
That's right, the only word that can be used to describe Rasa now is "holding him off." It's not that he's trying to boost the morale of others while diminishing his own, but rather that what Kōki has shown has made him lose all desire to defeat Kōki. In fact, he feels that just being able to hold Kōki off is already quite an achievement.
Imagine, Taijutsu powerful enough to shatter special puppets, Wood Release that ignores most Release Technique, and outstanding combat talent—the combination of so many factors in one ninja makes it all the more despair-inducing.
Moreover, this ninja is a boy of eight or nine years old, who is constantly growing.
Wait, a teenage ninja?
Rasa suddenly thought of a way to deal with Kōki: stalling.
He realized that the Wood Release Wood Release kid was only eight or nine years old, which meant that the kid's body had not yet fully developed.
The fact that the body is not fully grown means that the amount of Chakra in the Wood Release brat's body is definitely insufficient. Especially since that brat had experienced many battles before fighting him, and is still constantly squandering his Chakra. No matter how much Chakra the Wood Release brat has, it cannot be endless.
If he continues to delay, he could very well exhaust that Wood Release brat's Chakra.
At that point, not only will we be able to stop this Wood Release brat, but we might even be able to kill him.
The thought of Kōki having such a flaw filled Rasa with joy, and the gloom that had been on her face vanished instantly, replaced by excitement.
He immediately manipulated the Gold Dust to lift himself from the ground and into the air.
The best way to wear down the Wood Release imp is to stay in the air. This way, you can have a general view of the situation, prevent the Wood Release imp from escaping, and ensure your own safety—a win-win situation.
The only drawback is that it consumes more of his own Chakra, but in order to wear down Kōki, Rasa doesn't care about that.
When Kōki saw Rasa suddenly ascend into the air, he immediately tried to stop him. His combat instincts told him that Rasa's actions definitely had a deeper meaning, so adhering to the idea of destroying what the enemy wanted, he tried to Teuchi Rasa's ascent.
However, he was a bit far from Rasa, and by the time his attack reached Rasa, Rasa had already successfully risen into the air.
Moreover, because Rasa had risen into the air, his attack was significantly less powerful due to the increased distance, and was easily blocked by Rasa.
This left Kōki somewhat frustrated and speechless. Ninjas with the ability to fly were truly shameless; if they couldn't win, they would just run away. Ordinary Ninjutsu rarely hit them, and even if they did manage to get close later, it wouldn't have much power. It could be said that they were basically invincible.
In the original story, Deidara used his ability to fly to openly enter Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, kidnap Gaara, and then brazenly leave. The Sunagakure were helpless and could only watch as their leader was captured, losing face completely.
Right now, Kōki feels much like the Sunagakure in the original story—powerless and distressed.
Kōki wasn't as distressed as they were by Gaara's capture; in fact, he was somewhat pleased. The reason was simple: in Kōki's view, Rasa had clearly chosen to go to the sky because he had no other way to deal with him.
In other words, in his first confrontation with the Kage Level powerhouse Rasa, he successfully repelled Rasa, forcing Rasa to resort to such underhanded tactics against him, which inevitably made him proud.
The only problem now is how to get Rasa down. Kōki is a little troubled; most of his Ninjutsu are ineffective against flying enemies.
Those techniques that can threaten flying enemies, such as the Wood Dragon Technique and the Wood Human Technique, consume a huge amount of chakra; using them once would drain all the Chakra he currently has in his body.
Furthermore, after using up Chakra, the body becomes relatively weak, making it easier to put oneself in a dangerous situation.
Although the Yin Seal Yin Seal can replenish Chakra, it is a trump card and cannot be used lightly. Therefore, we must think of other ways to make Rasa come down on his own.