"It's time to bring out your full strength. "
Between the mountains of Kikyo, the battle gradually intensified.
After a few trials, Manoshi decided to use the 'Divine Dragon Mode' that he had entered when fighting Danzō's men because of the large chakra he had been drawing.
After all, ordinary Fire Release couldn't compete with Pakura's Scorch Release.
As for exposing his abilities, knowing that one couldn't beat those people and still have reservations, one must be too impatient to die.
Pretending to be weak to fool the enemy depended on the occasion!
Manoshi completely let go of his restrictions on the power of the divine dragon, allowing it to spew forth in an increasingly vigorous battle vigorously.
It was as if an endless amount of divine dragon power had been released from his eyes, combining with chakra and turning into a solid divine dragon hovering around him.
"What? What is this?"
"This amount of chakra is too much!"
Under Hideyoshi Hyuga's Byakugan, the massive energy surrounded Manoshi as if it were alive, fluctuating in a marvelous frequency.
A shinobi's strength couldn't be assessed entirely by the amount of chakra. The mastery of jutsu, the wisdom of combat, was critical.
Chakra-less people aren't necessarily weak, but chakra-rich people are very strong.
It's like Manoshi now. Feeling the power in his body that he could wield at will, the pleasure as if there was a person in his head saying to him: 'You are the God who rules over everything!'
It wasn't easy to say whether he could rule over everything, but Manoshi felt that he would have no problem solving a small-scale war.
Scorch Release - Scorching Wave!
Pakura naturally didn't have the dangerous habit of watching the enemy's "transformation" and quickly launched two fireballs while the fire dragon was still forming.
The fireball, made from the fusion of Wind Release and Fire Release chakras, struck the coat of divine dragon power around Manoshi and burst into two sparks.
The amazing heat scorched everything around and made Manoshi feel the rapid loss of moisture in his body.
But that's just about it.
With the power of the divine dragon, Manoshi, whose defense had risen by one level, was qualified to take on Scorch Release with force.
Fire Release - Phoenix Fire Technique!
Manoshi fought back, continuously spewing fireballs from the solid divine dragon power surrounding him, sweeping towards the area where Pakura was.
The massive fireballs kept coming, forcing Pakura to retreat and avoid the fireballs with a few jumps in succession.
"So, it's the Konoha village's strongest; no wonder they put a child in charge of the surprise attack. "
Looking at the 'tailed-beast shield' that had taken shape around Manoshi, Pakura realized she could only change the tactical objective from annihilation to interception since he was a weapon of war.
Not everyone had the ability to fight against a tailed beast.
Moreover, their own tailed beast, Shukaku, had already played a role on the frontal battlefield. Naturally, there was no need for her to fight for her life to finish off a Jinchūriki here.
Although the state of this Jinchūriki in front of her was somewhat strange, borrowing chakra from other creatures to fight and being able to form a huge chakra shield on the surface of their bodies was known throughout the shinobi world as a stance exclusive to the tailed beast's Jinchūriki.
In fact, the Suna shinobi wasn't the only one who was surprised.
It was the first time the shinobis of Konoha village had seen Manoshi in such a state.
Since the death of the previous generation Jinchūriki, Mito-sama, the whereabouts of the nine tails in the village were confidential information. Ordinary shinobis simply had no way of knowing.
Now, seeing Manoshi's situation, they all regarded him as the Jinchūriki.
Only Kakashi knew that the new Jinchūriki for the nine-tailed was actually his own sensei's girlfriend, Kushina Uzumaki, who was of the same clan as Mito-sama.
"Think what you like. " Manoshi didn't care much about other people's views. The most important thing on the battlefield was a victory. "Now, you're not going to get past me and attack the others!"
Manoshi chased Pakura into the woods.
Two shinobis, who were good at using fire, freely release their jutsu in the dry forest.
The whole forest quickly turned into a sea of flames.
After a few exchanges, Pakura, who had limited chakra, had begun to reduce the use of fireballs consciously.
It was obviously unwise to compete with Jinchūriki's chakra.
And Manoshi's side didn't take it well either.
Although he wasn't going to get roasted into a mummy by Scorch Release, but once hit, the loss of moisture was real.
Manoshi took two shots of fireballs before he could get close enough.
"Do you think my close-quarters combat ability is weak?"
'Who would have thought that a long-range fireball master would be more difficult to deal with in close quarters instead?'
Pakura didn't use ninja tools because her blood was the best weapon.
Swings and kicks.
An attack carrying Scorch Release chakra would affect him even if he were able to dodge them. If it were an ordinary shinobi, they would have dried up and turned into a mummy.
"How long could your chakra last?"
Manoshi was breathing heavily, with no sweat left on his body.
"You're the one who's about to get roasted dry, kid!"
Pakura, hit by Manoshi's heavy punches, didn't take it well either and braced herself to taunt him.
The two fought while moving; at this time, their position was in an area far away from the battlefield.
The gurgling stream that gushed from a spring on the mountain and flowed behind Pakura brought a touch of coolness to the burning air.
Manoshi and Pakura, who had taken a breather, were soon fighting again.
Fire Release - Dragon Fire Technique!
The last bit of chakra was depleted, and the severely dehydrated body could no longer produce a single drop of chakra.
Without chakra, Manoshi, who had the power of the divine dragon, could no longer use Fire Release jutsu to fight against Pakura -- chakra is the fuel, and the power of the divine dragon was just an amplifier.
He strained to manipulate the three fire dragons at the same time.
Three ferocious fire dragons flew simultaneously at Pakura from the left, right, and top. All at the same time.
However, Pakura, who seemed to be unable to dodge, exploded into a ball of flame.
'Was it a clone?!'
Affected by dehydration in his brain, Manoshi completely failed to consider the possibility that the woman in front of him was a clone.
"Konoha brat, though I admire your strength, " Pakura, who appeared behind Manoshi, held a fireball in her hand, "But for the future of Suna Village, please die here!"
Pakura's right hand pushed a Scorch Release fireball towards Manoshi's nape.
Without chakra, Manoshi had lost the ability to release jutsu.
Manoshi growled, "I won't fall here! There are still people waiting for me in the village!"
Struggling to focus all the power of the divine dragon to his back, he didn't expect to have to rely on the most primitive use of the power of the divine dragon to save his life.
The Scorch Release fireball collided with the power of the divine dragon.
Scorching Wave vs Safeguard.
The violent energy impact sent Manoshi flying into the creek and made Pakura take two steps backward and fall to the ground.
"Whew -- did I win?"
Pakura, who had won, sat down on the ground and relaxed mentally, unable to even muster the strength to stand.
"It's... it's not over yet ..."
A weak voice came from the creek. Manoshi grabbed the rocks with his fingers and climbed to shore.