Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression remained unchanged as he formed a hand seal with two fingers. In an instant, blinding electric light erupted from the chakra around his body.
"Lightning Release: Thunderclap!"
With his low shout, thunder condensed from deep within his throat, transforming into a dazzling blue-white spear that shot rapidly from his mouth!
The air was torn apart as the thunder roared like an angry dragon, carrying destructive high heat and penetrating power, sweeping from near to far toward Jiraiya and Marshtopp across from him.
The electric light instantly illuminated the entire training ground, its heart-palpitating momentum making even Tsunade, who was watching, hold her breath.
Boom!
The thunder spear struck the surface of the Crystal Barrier.
Logically, this attack should have been enough to pierce through steel and shatter mountains, yet the result shocked everyone!
The lightning didn't shatter the golden Crystal Wall.
Instead, it seemed to be absorbed by some kind of power, silently swallowed into it.
In the air, the crackling sound of thunder gradually weakened as the originally transparent Crystal Wall flashed with blue patterns before returning to calm!
As if nothing had happened.
"...Absorbed?" Hiruzen murmured to himself, his gaze slightly darkening.
Orochimaru, watching from the side, narrowed his sharp eyes. "Heh... Even Lightning Release can't break through?"
Lightning Release should logically counter Earth Release... yet this crystal defense not only blocked the attack but absorbed it in reverse?
Jiraiya himself possessed formidable raw strength and exceptional combat awareness. With just one Wide Guard technique, he had significantly enhanced his overall combat capability.
Tsunade glanced at the dull Marshtopp. "So that Marshtopp has already transcended the traditional Five Elements Release system?"
Dangerous excitement flickered in Orochimaru's eyes.
"Indeed... new techniques derived through Ninja Beasts as mediums are truly more mysterious than we imagined."
On the field, the thunder light gradually faded.
Marshtopp still stared blankly ahead, its round eyes completely motionless.
The corner of Hiruzen's mouth twitched upward as he rotated his hands, causing the wind to suddenly pick up.
The chakra around him churned violently.
"Wind Release: Cyclone!"
The next instant, an invisible wind pressure erupted from beneath his feet, wind blades weaving into a vortex that howled through the air, sweeping toward Jiraiya's position!
The sharpness carried by the Wind Release could almost tear the air itself to shreds.
Yet this time, Jiraiya didn't have Marshtopp deploy its defense.
He abruptly leaped backward, taking Marshtopp with him as he dodged away from the attack path.
The ground swept by the wind blades was instantly carved with several deep grooves, sending shattered stones flying and dust churning.
Hiruzen frowned.
He dodged?
He's no longer using the crystal defense...
Could it be that Wind Release can cut through the crystal defense?
He pondered for a moment before suddenly narrowing his eyes, a deeper suspicion rising in his heart.
...Perhaps it's not about elemental compatibility. Thinking this, the Professor of Ninjutsu raised his hand again, chakra surging.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Another violent gust of wind erupted as he deliberately released consecutive Wind Release techniques, observing Jiraiya's reactions.
Jiraiya swiftly evaded, narrowly avoiding the wind blades several times.
"Marshtopp, now!"
Jiraiya suddenly formed hand signs as the Marshtopp opened its mouth and inhaled.
The surrounding air abruptly solidified, humming!
The golden crystal array expanded once again!
This time it enveloped not only Jiraiya himself, but instantly absorbed even the sharp edges of the Wind Release technique.
The roaring sound ceased abruptly.
The violent winds dissipated, leaving only that golden light barrier steadily suspended.
"It appeared again..." Tsunade murmured, "And it absorbed the Wind Release too!"
Now both of them could see it clearly.
"There's a time interval. After the technique activates, it can absorb chakra attacks of any nature, but there's a time limit."
Jiraiya heard their discussion but didn't offer any explanation.
In truth, Wide Guard simply had a high failure rate when used consecutively.
But if he gambled desperately on probability once, he might achieve unexpected results.
Ninja combat was a process of mutual intelligence gathering, so Jiraiya naturally wouldn't reveal too much about his technique's hidden capabilities.
Within the training ground, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as the barrier regained its luster,
a complex expression appearing on his face.
He slowly lowered his hand, withdrawing his chakra. "...Let's stop here."
Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled easily.
"I thought I was going to be fried to a crisp by you, old man."
Hiruzen remained silent, simply gazing into Marshtomp's round eyes.
After a moment, he gently exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Truly astonishing test results."
Now Hiruzen needed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of these Ninja Beast Eggs.
Within one month, he hoped to see more of Hidden Leaf's new generation and the new Ninja Beasts display their capabilities.
Meanwhile, at White Fang's frontline camp.
The turmoil was intensifying.
Sunagakure's movements were more aggressive than ever before.
Although they had already obtained one Ninja Beast Egg from Hanzo, Sakumo Hatake soon received new instructions from Hidden Leaf.
They were to remain stationary as much as possible and observe the Land of Rain's war potential.
After all, the Land of Rain possessed a fully organized Ninja Beast Corps Beedrill formation.
And Hanzo had some strange, highly poisonous Ninja Beast.
As the strategic value of Ninja Beast Eggs was being developed at the Ninja School, neither the Hokage nor Danzo wanted the Land of Rain to control too much of this power.
Especially Hanzo.
Therefore, using Chiyo's hand to further weaken Hanzo had become the consensus throughout Hidden Leaf.
Simultaneously.
At the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind, howling winds whipped yellow sand and rain mist into chaotic swirls.
Hanzo stood silently atop a cliff peak, his cloak flapping loudly in the wind.
Behind him, a dark purple Koffing materialized, slowly hovering in the air.
Bubbles churned across its surface, emitting a nauseatingly sweet, fishy odor.
This was his newly reformulated poison - more potent and harder to analyze than before.
Last time, using Koffing's deadly poison, he had set a counter-trap that severely damaged Sunagakure.
Now he had improved its dietary structure, enabling it to consume residual chakra from the battlefield air,
releasing new toxic vapors imperceptibly to opponents. Further away, in the shadows, dozens of Beedrill buzzed low as they circled,
their tail stingers gleaming, awaiting only Hanzo's command.
Since the Land of Rain was the first nation to deploy actual Ninja Beast troops,
in fact, during this period as the influence of Ninja Beast Eggs spread, besides the three parties of Hidden Leaf, Sunagakure, and Rain Ninja,
ninja from Stone, Cloud, and Mist had all sent sensory ninja to investigate the new Ninja Beast Eggs.
Moreover, Cloud ninja who had obtained top-secret intelligence seemed to be planning some operation.
Because they had received intelligence indicating that Hidden Leaf Village had a Breeding House located within the Land of Rain.
It served as an area for arms trading.
Inside this Breeding House, a large quantity of Ninja Beast Eggs were also stored and sealed.
Therefore, the Cloud ninja were preparing to investigate this location.
Not only the Cloud ninja, but the Rock ninja and Mist ninja had also obtained this intelligence.
As for who leaked the information, it remains unverifiable at present.
Danzo, Hanzo, the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and even Black Zetsu, Uchiha Madara, among others, were all possible suspects.
After all, the Ninja World War in this era was nothing but a chaotic mess.