The water dragon bullet was entwined with violent lightning, truly resembling an electric dragon soaring through the sky, an utterly terrifying sight.
“Brother Hiruzen, truly a genius worthy of Second Uncle’s recognition.” Seeing this, Matsuake grew even more solemn, his grip on the short sword tightening further.
If Yoriichi Tsugikuni were here, he could likely slice through this thunder dragon effortlessly and emerge unscathed, thanks to Sun Breathing.
However, Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s swordsmanship had reached the pinnacle of perfection, far beyond what Matsuake could ever hope to achieve.
Yet even so, he would not back down.
Greed leads to indigestion, so before reaching the level of a Genin, Matsuake focused solely on mastering two elemental ninjutsu.
One was Water Release, primarily because Tobirama was exceptionally skilled in it and could provide him with considerable guidance.
The other was Earth Release, as it excelled in defense and complemented other ninjutsu.
After forming hand seals, a stone slab rose from the ground in front of Matsuake.
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!” This was a defensive Earth Release ninjutsu, the stone slab firmly shielding Matsuake behind it.
But he intended to do more than just defend.
With a powerful kick of his right foot, Chakra Enhanced Strength erupted.
The stone slab, standing upright on the ground, shattered into several pieces and flew forward.
Unless mixed with certain special minerals, stone typically does not conduct electricity.
Using this as cover, Matsuake showed no intention of evading, charging straight ahead with his sword raised.
At the same time, Chakra exploded throughout his body, causing the surrounding air to rumble with muffled booms.
“What enviable talent!” Outside the arena, Sasuke glanced at Hashirama and Tobirama standing beside him.
The sheer volume of Chakra possessed by the Senju Clan was one of their innate advantages.
Even within the Senju Clan, however, each individual’s physical prowess and Chakra capacity varied.
Hearing this, Hashirama and Tobirama merely exchanged a look.
Both saw surprise in each other’s eyes.
“At Matsuake’s age, we didn’t have this much Chakra.” “And in terms of physical prowess, he far surpasses what Brother and I were capable of back then.” On the field, with Enma having departed, Hiruzen had lost his trusty Adamantine Staff.
He had no choice but to draw a Kunai again while forming hand seals.
“Wind Release: Gale Palm!” Ninjutsu was not rigid; even the same Gale Palm could be used in different ways.
Earlier, Hiruzen had used Gale Palm to blast Matsuake away, creating distance between them.
This time, however, he harnessed the power of the gale to enhance the Kunai in his hand.
The once ordinary Kunai in his grasp was now enveloped in a layer of rapidly swirling violent wind.
Propelled by the Kunai and the ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen charged directly toward the oncoming Matsuake.
Meanwhile, Matsuake had already reached the Lightning Water Dragon Bullet in the blink of an eye.
Even with the Earth-Style Wall blocking its path, the Lightning Water Dragon Bullet’s momentum had diminished slightly, but it remained formidable.
The ferocious water dragon collided with the short sword imbued with immense force, delivering both impact and electric current.
Had Matsuake not used his released Chakra Enhanced Strength to counteract the powerful electric current, his body would likely have been charred black in an instant.
“Slash!” The sharp blade clashed with the head of the Lightning Water Dragon Bullet, the two locked in a brief stalemate for a few seconds.
Then, the Lightning Water Dragon Bullet finally began to lose momentum, its power gradually waning.
Matsuake’s blade sliced through the Lightning Water Dragon Bullet as if cutting through tofu.
The ferociously charging Lightning Water Dragon Bullet scattered into puddles on both sides, while the lightning, having lost its attachment, dissipated into the air without a trace.
In the next instant, Matsuake’s Monstrous Strength Slash was about to collide head-on with Hiruzen’s kunai, which was enveloped in raging wind.
By this point in the battle, both of them were somewhat carried away, their eyes fixed solely on their opponent.
Outside the arena, everyone unconsciously fell silent, their hearts in their throats as they awaited the outcome of this clash.
Yet, at that very moment, the white-hot battle on the field came to an abrupt halt.
The howling wind swirling around the kunai and the dull thud of Chakra clashing with air from the Monstrous Strength Slash— In an instant, all fell into silence.
On the field, the tall figure of Tobirama had appeared between the two without anyone noticing when.
His silver short hair was tousled by the wind stirred up by their Ninjutsu, his expression calm.
Tobirama’s left hand gripped Matsuake’s right wrist, forcibly halting his forward slash with the short sword.
His right hand seized Hiruzen’s wrist, causing the raging wind enveloping the kunai to gradually dissipate.
Both Matsuake and Hiruzen felt their hands immobilized after being grasped by Tobirama.
“Let’s end the battle here,” Tobirama said, looking at the two of them.
“If you continue, the consequences will be hard to control.” Hearing this, neither Matsuake nor Hiruzen raised any objections.
They nodded and sheathed their short sword and kunai respectively.
“Not bad.” Tobirama released his grip, his gaze sweeping over each of them as he offered a rare, satisfied smile.
Both Matsuake and Hiruzen had surprised him in the previous battle, especially the former.
Regarding Hiruzen, he was mainly astonished by the earlier Lightning Water Dragon Bullet.
Although he knew Hiruzen had talent in combining Ninjutsu, he hadn’t expected him to achieve this level at such a young age.
But what surprised him even more was Matsuake.
To be honest, graduating from the Ninja Academy and becoming a Genin at his age already made him outstanding among his peers.
After all, in this relatively peaceful era, the requirements for early graduation were even stricter.
Yet Matsuake not only managed this but also demonstrated strength in his battle with Hiruzen that would be considered formidable even among Chūnin teams.
“Matsuake, you’ve actually become this strong!” Hiruzen looked at Matsuake, who was slightly shorter than him, with complex emotions in his eyes.
He remembered that at this age, he was still worried about whether he could pass the early Graduation Exam smoothly.
Back then, the gap between his strength and that of Danzō and Kagami wasn’t large, and he faced several tough battles during the Graduation Exam.
He never expected that years later, returning to the Graduation Exam site as a senior, he would still find himself in a hard-fought battle.
However, being broad-minded by nature, he quickly set these feelings aside and patted the other’s shoulder with a smile.
Hearing this, Matsuake only shook his head with a wry smile.
“Hiruzen, that was already my full strength just now.” If not for the fact that many people were watching from outside the arena, he would have liked nothing more than to sit down on the spot right then.
Both his stamina and Chakra were nearly depleted.
His Chakra was far greater than that of his peers, but it wasn’t inexhaustible.
At that moment, the prompt for task completion appeared, and the reward points were distributed.
[C-rank Mission Complete: Fight Sarutobi Hiruzen without being defeated.
Reward: 200 Points!] Seeing this, even though both his mind and body were exhausted, Matsuake still revealed a satisfied smile.