Faced with the signature Wood Release jutsu, Nativity of a World of Trees, Ōnoki chose to take to the air, while the Fourth Raikage A's speed was simply too fast; the spreading trees couldn't hope to catch him.
However, once this technique was deployed on too large a scale, it would inevitably cause Tsunade to consume even more chakra.
Confronted with this situation, Tsunade could only choose her next move.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Perhaps because it was inherited from Hashirama, this Wood Human had a large, stout build, looking somewhat like the Maitreya Buddha, with a wooden dragon coiled around its shoulder.
Tsunade, who had vanished earlier, now appeared atop the Wood Human's head.
"Raikage, this is troublesome now!"
Ōnoki knew a fair bit about Hashirama's jutsu. He wasn't worried when Nativity of a World of Trees was used, but once this Wood Human Technique came out, the situation became truly problematic.
Due to its immense size, a single step from the Wood Human covered a distance that would take an ordinary person over ten seconds to run. Even for shinobi, reacting required a few moments. Its massive frame made it nearly impossible for most to land an attack on the technique's user.
"No way around it, huh?" Raikage A sighed, eyeing the dozens-of-meters-tall Wood Human. Even if he could wrestle with the Eight-Tails, he wasn't sure he could withstand the Wood Human's attacks.
He had vaguely sensed it since earlier—this Wood Release seemed to have the ability to absorb chakra. If his suspicions were correct, this Wood Human's endurance would be formidable.
"I'll break the Wood Human, you attack Tsunade." Ōnoki proposed his plan.
"Fine, let's do that!"
A agreed with Ōnoki's approach.
Before, he had seen Tsunade as a shinobi on his level and was reluctant to team up against her. But now, it wasn't about whether he wanted to join forces—it was about surviving her attacks while protecting himself.
If Ōnoki's attack worked, everything would be fine.
If it didn't, A would need to start thinking about negotiation.
The sheer power of Wood Release was one thing; more importantly, this kind of jutsu was an instant kill against lower-level shinobi.
Once Nativity of a World of Trees was unleashed, those whose strength wasn't at the Jōnin level couldn't even escape, let alone mount an attack.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
This was Ōnoki's third time using Dust Release, and even for a veteran like him, he was starting to feel the strain.
The power of Dust Release was undeniable.
But its immense strength came with an equally immense chakra cost.
This was a common drawback of all powerful techniques.
Why was Naruto's Rasengan so effective? Because he had a "hundred Kage's worth" chakra reserve, plus the Nine-Tails as a cheat code, letting him spam moves that others would find too costly.
A massive beam of white light shot forth from Ōnoki's hands, cleanly slicing the Wood Human in half at the waist.
Tsunade, who had been standing atop its head, was forced to form hand signs again, summoning a wooden dragon to catch her.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Two wooden dragons emerged from the lower half of the Wood Human. One charged towards the Fourth Raikage, while the other caught Tsunade. As the wooden dragon swallowed Tsunade into its belly, she vanished from sight once more.
The Raikage was not having an easy time now. The wooden dragon was pierced through by his attack, but he himself became entangled by vines that sprouted from the dragon.
The moment he released his chakra, the vines absorbed half of it. The remaining half was just enough to break free temporarily, but the ground below was Wood Release's domain. Once caught in it, he had nowhere to run.
"Raikage, be careful!"
At the critical moment, Ōnoki, unwilling to accept defeat just yet, manipulated his rock platform to catch Raikage A. After that, the two of them could only stare grimly at the Wood Release covering the ground below.
"This is troublesome. I never imagined Tsunade's Wood Release would be so powerful." Ōnoki lamented.
Raikage A's face showed his displeasure. "If she's a real man, she should fight me head-on! Hiding like this is no true skill!"
"She's a woman!" Ōnoki reminded him, only to be met with a look of disdain from the Raikage.
"So what if she's a woman? Women hold up half the sky! Right now, it's the two of us who are at a disadvantage. Do you have any good ideas?"
(Ōnoki: The way you put it, I actually have no retort!)
He had thought that teaming up with the Raikage would be enough to bring down Tsunade. But now that her trump card — Wood Release — was revealed, it was they who had been pushed back.
"It seems we have no choice but to use our ultimate move!"
With that, Ōnoki bent down and shouted toward the ground.
"Tsunade! The Raikage says he wants a fair fight! He expects you to show him some respect!"
'Damn it, you old bastard!'
The Raikage thought, barely restraining the urge to lash out.
Facing Ōnoki, who had killed his father and now kept dragging him into messes, the Raikage wanted nothing more than to ram a Hellstab through Ōnoki's gut.
But since the words were already out, he had no choice but to swallow his anger.
As the Fourth Raikage, he had his pride to maintain.
However, there was no response. The entire forest was dead silent, without even a single bird passing by.
"You don't think Tsunade is waiting for us to come down so she can ambush us, do you?" Ōnoki whispered, casting a wary glance at Raikage A's burly frame.
His Light-Weight Rock Technique certainly allowed him to fly, but its effectiveness was also related to the size of the object he was carrying. A big guy like the Raikage was somewhat over the limit for him.
"If you dare throw me down, you're dead!" the Raikage threatened, standing on the edge of the rock and constantly scanning below, seemingly trying to find Tsunade's hiding place.
But the area affected by the Wood Release was too vast. Without special dōjutsu, even Sharingan users would have trouble spotting her presence here.
Wood Release was a technique imbued with vitality. Through the transformation of Yang Release, the trees it created were indistinguishable from real ones. They could even continue growing on their own after the user's death.
Under Tsunade's chakra control, the forest had become a magnified chakra source, making it impossible to distinguish by ordinary sensing techniques.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
As Tsunade's voice rang out, nine wooden dragons soared into the air from the ground, forming an encirclement around the area where Ōnoki was flying.
"Tsuchikage, quick, hit them with one of your shots!" Raikage A urged.
"Do you really think my chakra is free?!" Ōnoki nearly choked on his own saliva upon hearing Raikage A's words.
Dust Release was a Kekkei Tōta; it consumed a huge amount of chakra! He was just an ordinary shinobi, not a chakra powerhouse like the Uzumaki clan, and he was being asked to fire off another shot. Even if he wanted to, his body wouldn't allow it.
"If I could use Dust Release, would I need you?!" A shot back confidently.
Right now, he was acting like a thug — unable to do it himself, but still demanding that Ōnoki handle it. After all, he wasn't the one putting his life on the line up there.
Meanwhile, the nine wooden dragons had completed their encirclement, their colossal heads silently roaring at them. Once Tsunade gave the order, their situation would truly become dire.
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