As Hashirama's words fell, Hibari completed his hand signs. His chakra surged, and he shouted, "Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!"
With his words, the surrounding environment trembled violently, as if hit by an earthquake. Cracks appeared in the ground, and the recently restored riverbed was torn apart, forming small waterfalls.
"A jutsu I haven't seen before..." Hashirama murmured.
Hiruzen smiled and said, "Hibari has learned a lot from Tobirama-sensei, so it's normal for him to develop new ninjutsu, isn't it?"
"Hahaha, indeed, he has talent in that regard," Hashirama said with a laugh.
Meanwhile, as the ground and surroundings changed, the 'five' Hibaris carefully observed the situation, trying to find Tobirama's figure.
Sure enough, Hibari's actions were not in vain. From a crack in the ground, he spotted Tobirama's figure. Without bothering to confirm if it was a clone, Hibari quickly formed another hand sign and exhaled a stream of fire. "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
On the other side, Tobirama quickly stabilized himself amidst the earthquake. Looking at the oncoming flames, a smile appeared on his lips, and he murmured softly, "It seems this kid isn't so easy to deal with!"
Though he spoke casually, his movements were far from slow. With just two simple hand signs, the air around him became moist, and then a stream of water appeared out of nowhere, transforming into a dragon that surged towards the flames. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Watching Tobirama Senju use the Water Dragon Bullet, a smile appeared on Hibari's lips. He knew his grandfather was a 'Water Release master,' so why would he use a Fire Release that would be countered? Because he had anticipated this step; he was waiting for this very moment.
In an instant, fire and water collided, the high temperature immediately generating dense mist. At the same time, the five Hibaris moved in unison, engulfed in lightning, plunging into the misty water without hesitation.
Competing against his grandfather in ninjutsu seemed largely pointless, and it was difficult to gain an advantage in that area. After all, what jutsu hadn't a 'kinjutsu inventor' witnessed? Even if he hadn't, with his vast experience and intelligent mind, he would find countermeasures in an extremely short time.
As for Genjutsu, Hibari wasn't very skilled, and he was quite certain he was far inferior to Tobirama in that aspect, so there was no need to seek trouble.
Therefore, in Hibari's opinion, his only chance of winning was in 'taijutsu.' Relying on his strong physique, abundant vitality, and the protection of his Lightning Release Armor, if he could entangle his grandfather and engage him in a taijutsu confrontation, he could then drag out the battle and win by leveraging these advantages!
The moment the mist diffused, Tobirama also realized he had 'made a mistake.' A smile appeared on his lips as he said, "Arrogance is the original sin..."
As his words fell, he quickly released four Shadow Clones. Without any hesitation, they charged into the mist, following the faintly visible, rapidly approaching lightning.
From a distance, Hashirama, Hiruzen , and little Tsunade watched as bursts of lightning occasionally erupted from the mist, followed by soft 'pop!' sounds, signifying the disappearance of Shadow Clones.
The rest of the scene was unclear, so they didn't know what was happening inside. They also didn't dare to release any sensory abilities to probe, fearing it would affect the two's battle.
At this moment, within the misty environment, Hibari glowed with electricity, holding his sharp katana. He breathed lightly and heavily, calming his chest which had been rapidly heaving from the intense exchange.
Not far in front of him, Tobirama's figure was blurred by the mist. In that brief exchange, both of them had brutally dispelled each other's Shadow Clones with their own, finding the true body. Therefore, at this point, only the two of them remained.
"This time, I won't let you disappear from my sight so easily, Ojiisan, because that's truly terrifying," Hibari said in a low voice, calming his breath and slowly sheathing his katana.
Tobirama looked at Hibari and smiled, saying, "That depends on whether you can do it..."
As Tobirama's words fell, Hibari showed no intention of wasting more breath. His chakra suddenly exploded, becoming even denser. At the same time, he pushed off with his feet, using the Lightning Release power to accelerate to the extreme, charging towards Tobirama.
"Elbow Bolt!" Hibari roared, thrusting his elbow towards Tobirama's chest.
Tobirama seemed to sense the powerful attack. He showed no intention of meeting Hibari head-on. Just as Hibari's elbow strike was about to connect, he calmly bent his body, avoiding the attack. At the same time, he extended a hand towards Hibari's abdomen, which was surging with Lightning Release power.
"Monster Strength?" Hibari showed no panic, instead guessing with certainty. Simultaneously, his knee quickly rose, gathering a large amount of lightning there...
But unexpectedly, Tobirama did not, as Hibari anticipated, use Monster Strength to break through his Lightning Release Armor, then take a hit himself, trading injury for injury, giving his grandfather a taste of his knee.
In just an instant, a massive chakra sphere rotated and condensed in Tobirama's palm—it was none other than the Rasengan that Hibari had introduced early on!
All these years, although Hibari knew from the start that Tobirama had learned this jutsu, he had never seen Tobirama use it. He thought his grandfather disdained using this jutsu, so at this moment, he never expected his grandfather to suddenly use this ninjutsu at such a juncture.
Monster Strength only involves attaching chakra to the fist, with an attack range limited to the surface of the fist. But the Rasengan is different. Compared to other ninjutsu, this jutsu has a very short attack range, just the diameter of the ball, but compared to Monster Strength, its attack range is several times greater.
Therefore, it took even less time and was faster to make contact with Hibari's Lightning Release Armor on his abdomen.
A smile appeared on Tobirama's lips.
Before Hibari's knee could kick his chest from below, a Rasengan struck the Lightning Release Armor on Hibari's abdomen, and the powerful force caused Hibari to spin backward.
Just then, two vines suddenly grew from Hibari's other hand. In the instant before he was sent flying, they wrapped precisely and swiftly around the arm with which Tobirama had unleashed the Rasengan, pulling him back with sheer force.
Tobirama also hadn't expected such a sudden turn of events. His body was pulled by the force and tilted.
Using the two vines as anchor points, Hibari quickly stabilized himself. Enduring the force of the Rasengan, he managed to 'tank' the Rasengan with his abdominal strength combined with his Lightning Release Armor.
At the same instant, his other hand wasn't idle. He formed a 'hand blade' and fiercely chopped down towards Tobirama Senju's shoulder.
"Hell Stab!" Hibari roared fiercely, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, showing no intention of holding back.
Tobirama seemed to sense the danger. His expression wavered slightly, but just before the final critical moment, he used Flying Raijin Technique, retreating from Hibari and appearing outside the mist.
This was the first time he had used Flying Raijin to 'escape' during a fight with Hibari. This showed how critical the situation had become. If he had taken Hibari's 'Hell Stab' hand blade, his shoulder blade would probably have been shattered. Even as a master of the Senju clan with strong vitality, he wouldn't recover for three to five days!
As soon as he flew out of the mist, the next second, he heard an explosive sound, and the ground beneath his feet trembled. Clearly, inside the mist, Hibari's hand blade had struck empty air and hit the ground.
At the same time, Hashirama and Hiruzen, watching from a distance, looked at Tobirama's suddenly reappeared figure with some surprise. In their estimation, the first one to be forced out of the misty area should have been Hibari, not the esteemed Second Hokage!
That wasn't all. As soon as Tobirama stood still, the layered armor on his left shoulder fell to the ground, shattered into two halves.
Ultimately, he had hesitated for a moment. Although he himself was not injured, his shoulder armor had been 'grazed' by Hibari's hand blade and was directly shattered.
The scene quieted down for a moment, and the pervasive mist gradually dispersed. Hibari's somewhat disheveled figure emerged from within. The armor on his abdomen was also completely pulverized, indicating that the Lightning Release Armor was still unable to truly block Tobirama's Rasengan.
Tobirama looked at Hibari's figure at this moment, his mind filled with an unreadable mix of thoughts, though his expression showed considerable emotion.
Hibari also looked at Tobirama Senju, moving his lips slightly, as if to make some declaration.
Just as Tobirama was about to hear Hibari's thoughts after forcing him to use Flying Raijin for self-preservation for the first time, he realized that Hibari had only made a feint. His lips had moved not to speak, but to distract him.
The next moment, capitalizing on the opening created by Tobirama's momentary distraction, Hibari's lightning-imbued form streaked forward. He appeared before Tobirama with extreme speed, and at the same time, his arm bent into a hook, aiming directly for Tobirama Senju's neck.
"Lightning Release: Lariat!" Hibari roared, showing no intention of holding back.
Witnessing the 'Lightning Release: Lariat' about to connect with Tobirama's neck, this time, Tobirama's eyes showed no hesitation or doubt. He instantly activated Flying Raijin, disappearing into thin air once more, leaving Hibari's attack to strike nothing but air.
"Twice!" Hibari wasn't surprised; a smile simply played on his lips as he whispered.
Tobirama's figure reappeared on a rock where he had left a Flying Raijin formula at some unknown time. This time, he didn't wait for Hibari to speak first. Instead, he looked at Hibari with an expression full of admiration and said, "You brat, you've indeed become much stronger than before... I almost got taken out twice by you!"
Hibari smiled at these words and said, "Next, there will be a third time, a fourth time. Sooner or later, I will become even stronger than you, Ojiisan!"
However, he didn't become arrogant because of this. Although their spar seemed unrestricted, Tobirama had still been somewhat mindful, not using lethal moves from the start. Otherwise, he could have ended the fight in the very first moment he ambushed Hibari with an explosive tag.
After all, if he had directly used the 'Tandem Paper Bombs' and set off a string of firecrackers on Hibari, everything would have been over...
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