On the other side, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin also noticed the monstrous fire on the side of the forest.
"That way, it's the direction Manoshi-senpai went before, right? "
Rin Nohara said worriedly, clutching her hands to her chest.
Obito shouted in dissatisfaction, "Rin, don't call that bastard senpai!"
"But Obito, isn't that what you always call Manoshi-senpai?"
Rin also followed this designation because of Obito.
"I was forced, too. If I don't call him that, I would be bullied."
"That's enough, Obito." Kakashi pulled out his kunai from behind and looked at the burning forest.
"Instead of dwelling on the designation issue, let's discuss whether to go help or run away."
"Run? I am not going to abandon my companions!"
"But in a battle of this intensity, you and Rin will only be sent to your deaths."
"Don't underestimate me, Kakashi! "
...
Kakashi and Obito argued whether to support or retreat, while Manoshi had already dealt with the enemy in front of him.
Tatsuma, who was hit head-on by the howling fire, was scorched like the surrounding forest. Countless ashes were scattered in the air.
Manoshi stepped on the soil that had been torched by the heat and stained his trouser legs with ash which was shaken up by each step he took.
"Tangled with the power of the divine dragon, you have nowhere to run!"
While Aoba was trying to kill Manoshi with his kunai, the kunai was blocked by the power of the divine dragon, which Manoshi had long marked.
He began to run. The divine dragon's power was emanating from his body, forming a meteor tail flame-like energy shell on the surface of his body.
There was a long scorch mark on the ground, and all the trees he passed were ignited.
If you look down from above, the distance between Manoshi and Aoba was visibly shrinking.
3 kilometers, 2 kilometers, 500 meters, 100 meters ...
Manoshi appeared within Aoba's view, only to stop in his tracks.
Rat-Ox-Dog-Horse-Monkey-Boar-Tiger
"Fire Release - Great Fire Destruction!"
Enough to burn the whole forest flame, again.
'Don't let him leak this information. If Danzō Shimura had gained insight into my abilities, he might act even more aggressively, and I still need time to grow.'
Manoshi thought to himself and increased his chakra output.
A sea of fire rolled over and headed toward Aoba.
"Damn, I can't hide!"
At this point, Aoba could only hope that Yamanaka, who had left first, could improvise and deliver important information back to the village. As for himself, he could only delay as long as possible.
Although Aoba, a water nature chakra user, could theoretically control Manoshi, who used fire.
However, when there was a gap in the amount of chakra between the two, the attribute constraints couldn't help him reverse the situation.
"Water Release - Water Formation Wall!"
Aoba turned back around and constructed a water barrier in front of him.
Although the attack range was much wider, a frontal aim was far less effective than the Great Fire Destruction technique. The blocked flames, blocked by the water formation wall, flowed to the sides, and the searing heat made Aoba sweat.
Although it was blocked, the consumption of chakra was too great.
It looked like he would run out in the next round.
"He still has power after releasing a wide range of jutsu so many times! Is he a monster?"
Aoba wiped the sweat off his head and looked at Manoshi through the air distorted by the heat.
"We can't let him release jutsu from a distance. It would be a losing battle."
"Watching" the enemy who attached Wind Release chakra to his kunai and rushed towards him, Manoshi went forward as well.
If he continued to unleash Fire Release, he would fall into a disadvantage if he couldn't hit the enemy.
In close combat, fractions of a second could determine life or death unless it was a sealless jutsu or a simplified hand seal.
Otherwise, there was absolutely no chance to release a jutsu.
Dodging a couple of shurikens thrown by Aoba, Manoshi fought hand-to-hand with the enemy.
The kunai with Wind Release chakra collided with the kunai wrapped in a layer of divine dragon power. It tore the divine dragon power's layer and made a small gap in the kunai.
"What great power!" / "What a sharp chakra!"
After one blow, the two crossed paths, sighing in their hearts at the sheer difficulty of dealing with their opponents.
The next moment, the two men were torqued into battle with some intense collisions --kunai against kunai, pushing against each other.
Aoba was holding the kunai in his right hand, while his left hand was quietly accumulating chakra at the side of his body -- a wind blade formed at his fingertips.
"Wind Release - Wind Blade!"
The wind blade at his fingertips slashed towards Manoshi's neck, the sharp chakra already piercing Manoshi's skin.
Manoshi didn't rush but leaned to his left and put all of his divine dragon's power into his raised right foot. While avoiding the wind blade, he unleashed an ability modeled after the Senju clan's Chakra Enhanced Strength technique.
"Hiku!!"
A sidekick landed heavily on Aoba's waist, sending the unprepared man flying sideways.
But this wasn't the end.
Manoshi threw the kunai and quickly made a seal in his hand. Then, he sent out a 'Fire Release - Fireball' that caught up with Aoba, who was flying in mid-air, with nowhere to leverage himself.
"Root shinobi, Aoba, thus defeated!"
At that moment, the sound of three more footsteps came from behind Manoshi.
"Is it Danzō's back up?"
Manoshi was alert in his heart, but then he heard a familiar voice shouting, "The forest from here on was completely burned to ashes. I wonder if Minato-sensei could do that, it's just too excessive!"
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, who decided to assist, were increasingly amazed as they moved forward.
The trees were left with only smoldering trunks, and the ground was covered with ashes that still carried residual heat. As for the fallen leaves, they were naturally burned up.
Even in autumn, the branches of plants were dry and flammable.
'What level of chakra was needed to achieve this effect?'
With amazement, the trio moved along the apparently human-caused plateaued land and finally saw the figure wearing Konoha's green vest standing in the clearing from a distance.
"Manoshi-senpai!"
Observing that there were no enemies around, the three immediately rushed to Manoshi's side.
"Where are the enemies? Let me, Obito Uchiha, deal with them!"
"It was just a Suna team that snuck in. They've all been taken care of."
Manoshi took the shoulder strap of his backpack off his back, thought for a moment, and said to Rin Nohara, "Rin is a medical ninja, right? Can you lend me some bandages?"
Although the careful Kaoru Uchiha had prepared bandages for him to replace, the supplies on his back had long been chewed up by the insects in the heat of battle and were unusable.
Fortunately, Rin, a medical ninja, was on the team.
He turned to look at Rin Nohara.
Visible to the eye, the hollow eye sockets around the cracked, burning scars, as if there was lava flowing in them, emitting a dark red glow.
Rin quickly took out the bandage from her ninja bag and asked nervously, "Are your eyes okay, senpai? Do you need me to treat your wounds for you? "
"Wound?" Manoshi reached out and touched his eye socket, felt the power of the divine dragon flowing in them, and smiled contentedly, "No, I feel great now."