At the nearby hot spring, Hitenn, who was monitoring the surroundings with his Byakugan and carefully observing the battle, was stunned to see Hibari mercilessly pummeling Kinkaku.
He hadn't seen Hibari in action for a long time. As Hashirama had said, Hibari preferred to 'work behind closed doors.' The last time Hitenn saw Hibari fight was when he joined the Anbu. Like Kagami, he too had sparred with Hibari.
However, back then, Hibari was definitely not this fierce, and his fighting style was completely different. The current Hibari looked like a rampaging wild beast, incredibly volatile, relying on powerful nintaijutsu. The Hibari of before used various ninjutsu to secure victory.
Leaving aside the change in fighting style, while he had anticipated that three years would make Hibari stronger, he never expected Hibari to become this strong.
Who was Kinkaku? Kinkaku was revered by Kumogakure shinobi as one of the "Two Lights in the Clouds"! His reputation and prestige over the years were not exaggerated. In Konohagakure, the Gold and Silver Brothers were roughly on the same level as Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But now, Hibari was pressing him down and making him vomit blood twice. How could Hitenn not be shocked?
"The genius of the Senju clan truly stays silent only to astonish with a single burst... Is this worthy of being called the top clan?" Hitenn muttered to himself admiringly.
However, this was merely him being 'deceived' by the reputation of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Were Kinkaku and Ginkaku strong enough? Naturally, they were very strong, but not ridiculously so.
The strength of these two brothers primarily lay in their lineage from the Sage of Six Paths, giving them extremely powerful physical attributes and immense vitality. They could eat a Tailed Beast alive and survive, and they could also use the Tailed Beast's chakra.
But Hibari wasn't intimidated by this at all. As for the Six Paths bloodline, his Senju clan were the true inheritors of the Sage of Six Paths' physical prowess, with formidable vitality. And Hibari himself was even more of a cheat; he didn't even know how powerful his vitality truly was.
Another aspect of these brothers' strength lay in their exceptional proficiency in combined attacks. They were always inseparable wherever they went. If the two of them fought together against an enemy, Hibari truly couldn't defeat them, because it wasn't addition and subtraction, but multiplication.
When they teamed up, working in perfect sync, their strength could easily surpass that of ordinary Kage-level individuals. Even the Second Raikage and Tobirama, when faced with their combined assault, one was critically wounded on the spot, and the other died instantly.
Even if there was an element of surprise, it was still clear how high their combined strength was and how perfectly they coordinated!
But this point had been neutralized by Hibari from the very beginning. Ginkaku, as the 'bait,' went ahead, and Hibari didn't 'take' him. Why? For this very moment. Once one of them was alone, whether it was Kinkaku or Ginkaku, their strength would undoubtedly 'decrease' significantly, and that was the time to eliminate them!
Finally, the strongest aspect of these brothers was their ability to use multiple Six Paths Ninja Tools. These items were incredibly insidious; once caught by them, no matter how powerful you were, you would be sealed inside a gourd.
And similar to the previous reason, these Six Paths Ninja Tools also needed to be used in conjunction. Once Kinkaku and Ginkaku were separated, most of these tools' functions couldn't be fully utilized. Therefore, now was the best time to hammer him.
So, despite Kinkaku's widespread reputation and seemingly immense power, at this very moment, Hibari had caught him at his 'weakest'!
Kinkaku was struck in the chest by Hibari's 'Elbow Bolt' and was sent rapidly flying, soaring out of the vision-obscuring mist. He slammed heavily into a mountain rock, once again spitting out a mouthful of blood.
However, he didn't dare to relax his guard. He coughed up some blood stuck in his throat and forced himself to adopt a defensive stance despite his injuries. At the same time, the Tailed Beast chakra on his body was rapidly healing his wounds. Combined with his naturally powerful physique, this prevented him from losing combat effectiveness so quickly.
Before Kinkaku could figure out how to reverse this disadvantage, two identical figures charged out from the vision-obscuring mist again. It was the same bastard who had just beaten him so badly.
"Shadow Clone, huh?" Kinkaku murmured softly. Then, he saw both figures simultaneously begin to form hand signs.
One Hibari formed hand signs for a Water Release ninjutsu, while the other Hibari formed hand signs for a Lightning Release ninjutsu.
The next second, both figures simultaneously roared, "Collaboration Ninjutsu: Raisuiryūdan!" (Lightning Water Dragon Bullet)
A Water Dragon Bullet instantly formed, roaring through the air towards Kinkaku. At the same time, a bolt of lightning was transmitted from the other Hibari's hand into the Water Dragon Bullet, instantly transforming it into a water dragon bullet infused with lightning.
"Damn it, bastard!" Kinkaku quickly formed a hand sign, then slammed his hand onto the ground, roaring, "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
As his words fell, a thick wall of earth and rock rapidly rose from the ground, intending to block the impact of the 'Raisuiryūdan.'
Generally, under equal power, a Water Dragon Bullet cannot break through an Earth-Style Wall. However, the problem was that Hibari had infused it with Lightning Release ninjutsu, giving the technique the power of the lightning attribute, which happened to counter the earth attribute.
Kinkaku's Earth-Style Wall only held for a moment before being shattered by the lightning water formation.
But that was enough.
When the Earth-Style Wall shattered, Kinkaku's exposed figure had undergone a massive transformation.
If before he had only used the 'Tailed Beast Cloak' chakra energy mode, now he had entered a Tailed Beast transformation state. The initially orange-red Nine-Tails chakra energy had also transformed into a dark red, bloody hue.
"Bastard, no matter who you are, I'm going to eat you alive here!" Kinkaku said savagely. Using his brute strength in this wild state, he stomped his foot and directly charged into the Raisuiryūdan, forcefully shattering the collaboration ninjutsu.
However, his reaching this point did not surprise Hibari. Thus, Hibari did not stop his advance. He continued to surge forward, his body flickering with powerful Lightning Release chakra, heading straight for Kinkaku.
At this moment, Kinkaku's speed had become far greater than before. Before Hibari could even react, he had already reached Hibari with extreme speed and then launched a kick.
Although Hibari was slightly outmatched in speed this time, his reaction time was still very fast. Before the kick reached his chest, his arms instantly crossed, blocking his chest, and most of his Lightning Release Armor's power also converged there.
The next second, the kick, infused with the Nine-Tails' power, directly sent Hibari flying, crashing back into the mist, where he fell silent.
"A Shadow Clone?" Kinkaku's thoughts raced. He stopped his pursuit and turned to look at the other Hibari not far away.
At this moment, a resolute and ruthless glint flashed in the eyes of this Hibari. He used the lightning on his body to burst forward, shattering the ground into pieces, and his entire being transformed into a streak of light, attacking Kinkaku.
"Perfect timing!" Kinkaku roared and lunged towards Hibari.
The next instant, two beams of light—one red, one blue—collided, then both recoiled some distance before crashing together again, engaging in a fierce battle.
Perhaps coincidentally, as they fought, they seemed to be re-entering the misty area that had not yet dispersed.
Meanwhile, Hitenn, who was responsible for monitoring the surroundings, also noticed a change. The Kumogakure squad that had passed by earlier seemed to have detected the anomaly behind them and were rapidly returning.
Upon discovering this situation, Hitenn did not hesitate. He blew his whistle again, but this time, it was not the sound of a bird, but a piercing shriek.
Hibari, who was currently engaged in a fierce battle with Kinkaku, had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Upon hearing the piercing shriek, he realized the situation had changed.
Originally, Hibari's plan was to quickly defeat them here and then go back to deal with the returning individuals.
But now, it seemed they were returning too quickly, and Kinkaku, that bastard, wasn't as 'weak' as he had imagined. If they couldn't stick to the planned rhythm, their Anbu squad could easily find themselves caught between two forces, which would be very disadvantageous.
Thinking this, a ruthless glint flashed in Hibari's eyes. He charged at Kinkaku again. Kinkaku wasn't fazed at all. Now in his Tailed Beast transformation, he was extremely violent, and his own sanity was somewhat affected.
Just as the two were about to collide, exchanging blows with their fists, Hibari suddenly changed his move. He left his chest wide open, allowing Kinkaku to punch him directly in the chest. Then, Hibari's arms suddenly grabbed Kinkaku's shoulders, holding on tightly and refusing to let go.
Although Kinkaku didn't immediately understand why Hibari would do such a thing, the violent Tailed Beast energy had already affected his normal thoughts, preventing him from dwelling on the 'why.' Instead, he took the opportunity to change his punch into a claw. His other hand ruthlessly pierced through Hibari's Lightning Release Armor, then broke through his Anbu chest plate, bringing forth a spurt of blood, and his arm went straight through Hibari's chest.
"Die!!!" Kinkaku roared fiercely.
However, at that moment, he saw a triumphant smile flash in the eyes of the bastard he was about to tear apart. Then, an instinctive warning from the depths of his heart instantly sobered Kinkaku from the violent Tailed Beast energy.
Sure enough, a bolt of lightning, wielding the half-broken blade that he had just severed with the Shichiseiken, charged out from the mist, aiming straight for him!
"Impossible..." Kinkaku thought in disbelief. That guy just now should have been a Shadow Clone. After all, the person in front of him was the real one, and they had exchanged blows several times. He had even been impaled through the chest and back! Could that blood be fake?
Even if the blood was fake, he had fought on battlefields for so many years, experiencing countless battles large and small. Could this feeling in his hand be wrong?
But no matter the situation, there was no time for him to think further. He had to dodge quickly!
However, this time, because his shoulders were tightly gripped, his movements were a bit slower. A flash of lightning mixed with a sharp blade streaked past, and blood flew into the air...
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