Chapter 613: Uncrossable Infinity!

No referee.

The two exchanged glances, nodded to each other, then each began to gather chakra and start the battle.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, rapidly formed hand seals, and gathered a large amount of chakra in his throat.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Large swaths of flame were spat out by Sarutobi Hiruzen, rapidly forming an orange-red sea of fire in front of him.

The terrifying high-temperature flames seemed to ignite everything, even twisting and distorting the air as they burned, forming waves of rippling heat.

As Sarutobi Hiruzen continuously output chakra, the sea of fire kept expanding, with flames shooting into the sky, dyeing everything around a fiery red. The ever-expanding sea of fire rapidly devoured all flammable things; trees and grass were reduced to ashes under the ravages of the flames.

Soon, under Sarutobi Hiruzen's control, the sea of fire split into three, transforming into three violent flames that simultaneously charged at Yusuke from three directions.

According to known intelligence, Yusuke's specialty ninjutsu was Fire Release, and Fire Release was also the nature transformation that Sarutobi Hiruzen excelled at, so Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to use Fire Release to probe Yusuke's capabilities.

Combat between same nature transformations is the best way to gauge the level of chakra nature transformation and ninjutsu skill.

If the result of the clash were not too far apart, then he would surely win this battle.

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen's best nature transformation was Fire Release, his formidable combat power was not too closely related to Fire Release; it was because he had mastered thousands of ninjutsu and secret techniques, because he could perfectly combine numerous ninjutsu, and because he had no weaknesses, being proficient in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike.

However, contrary to Sarutobi Hiruzen's expectations, Yusuke did not use Fire Release to clash with his same-nature ninjutsu, nor did Yusuke use Water Release or other techniques that counter Fire Release.

Yusuke did not use any means at all, just stood there quietly watching Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Could it be a Shadow Clone? When did he... I didn't notice at all." Sarutobi Hiruzen instinctively became alert and looked around.

After all, his opponent was Yusuke, who had defeated Shimura Danzo and Hanzo; Sarutobi Hiruzen did not believe that such a strong person would be stunned by a Fire Release.

Yusuke even had the title of the strongest Fire Release ninja in the ninja world.

"What is that guy Yusuke doing?" Kakazu suppressed his urge to act, frowning as he watched Yusuke standing still.

He could see very clearly that Yusuke hadn't moved at all, not even forming a single hand seal.

"Yusuke-sensei must be using a ninjutsu he hasn't used before," Nagato analyzed.

He could see the chakra in Muyue's body circulating.

Although Muyue appeared to be doing nothing on the surface, he had actually already used a ninjutsu.

"What kind of tactic is this?" Orochimaru also couldn't understand Yusuke's actions.

However, like Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru did not underestimate Yusuke because of this.

After all, if Yusuke were not strong, how could he have killed Shimura Danzo?

Orochimaru knew his former partner very well: Shimura Danzo cherished his life, was cautious in his actions, and had many life-saving measures.

Boom!!!

Three massive, violent fire dragons simultaneously charged in front of Muyue, erupting a sea of flames that engulfed him.

Under the terrifying high-temperature flames, the ground around Muyue turned charred black, and Muyue himself was wrapped in a large amount of high-temperature flames, making his figure difficult to see.

"Did we win?" a Konoha jōnin said uncertainly.

Taking such a Fire Release head-on, even with chakra protection, it would be hard to survive, unless one had the terrifying Lightning Release Chakra Mode like the Third Raikage.

However, one-shotting a famous strongman like Yusuke was too surreal, so he was uncertain.

The flames came quickly and went quickly; soon the flames dissipated, leaving only a charred ground and an unharmed Muyue.

"Huh?" Sarutobi Hiruzen showed a puzzled expression.

If this Yusuke was a Shadow Clone that was burned away, he could still understand it as Yusuke using some secret technique to hide, leaving a clone in place.

But if Yusuke was the original, he found it hard to understand.

With this level of Fire Release, even if the Third Raikage were to withstand it, it would be impossible for his clothes to remain completely undamaged.

"What's going on? How did he do it?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen rapidly thought, trying to recall similar ninjutsu or secret techniques from his memory.

【】

But no matter how he thought, he still couldn't think of a ninjutsu with a similar effect.

Whether it was the Third Raikage's Strongest Shield or Hashirama Senju's seal-less healing, logically, it shouldn't be possible to leave no damage to the clothes, as if they hadn't been hit at all.

"A ninjutsu of the same type as Kamui?" Shisui analyzed in his mind.

In that situation just now, he couldn't think of any evasion method other than intangible Kamui, as the flames had completely surrounded Yousuke without any gaps.

Shisui's expression gradually turned serious. If it was a ninjutsu of the same type as intangible Kamui, then Hiruzen Sarutobi might not be able to gain the upper hand against Yousuke.

Shisui, who had fought Obito, knew how powerful intangible Kamui was in one-on-one combat.

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

Seeing Yousuke walking toward him, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to temporarily set aside his thoughts, quickly form hand signs, and then slam his hand onto the ground.

Under the influence of earth-natured chakra, a huge mud dragon head rapidly formed on the ground.

Whoosh!!

The mud dragon head opened its mouth wide, continuously spitting out high-speed earth flow bullets.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi formed hand signs again, gathering chakra in his throat.

"Composite Ninja Art: Earth Dragon Flame Stream!"

A large amount of flame spewed from Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth, attaching fire to the earth flow bullets spat out by the mud dragon head, further increasing their power.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!

A large number of earth flow bullets coated with high-temperature flames shot toward Muyue like a rain of arrows, completely covering the area around Muyue.

But Muyue, as if unable to see the attack, maintained his own pace and walked unhurriedly toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Boom!!

The fire bullets of the Earth Dragon Flame Stream struck the ground and Muyue, causing a series of explosions as if dozens of explosive tags had been detonated together.

The dust and smoke from the violent explosions obscured Muyue's figure, making it impossible to observe the latest battle situation.

At that moment, a sudden wind blew the dust away, revealing Muyue's body with no trace of injury.

Boom!

The fire bullets were still exploding, but strangely, the explosions had no effect on Muyue; they couldn't even make Muyue slow down.

Hiruzen Sarutobi furrowed his brows slightly, feeling some pressure.

This was a ninjutsu he had never heard of or seen before, a powerful and unknown ninjutsu to him.

"What kind of ninjutsu is this, so bizarre?" Homura Mitokado's smile disappeared, and his expression turned serious.

When Yousuke blocked the flame dragon fire bullets, a large amount of flame obstructed his view, so he hadn't understood what happened.

Now Yousuke was openly strolling through Hiruzen Sarutobi's combination ninjutsu, and Homura Mitokado realized that Yousuke might be even stronger and harder to deal with than he had imagined.

"No, it's different from Kamui."

After opening his Sharingan and observing carefully, Shisui discovered that Yousuke's ninjutsu was very similar in effect to intangible Kamui, but essentially quite different.

The reason intangible Kamui could avoid being hit was that it transferred the body to the Kamui dimension, but Yousuke was different.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's ninjutsu seemed to hit Yousuke, but if you looked closely, the fire bullets exploded when they were still two or three centimeters away from Yousuke.

Compared to Obito's intangible Kamui, Yousuke's ninjutsu was more like forming a shield that enveloped his entire body, blocking all attacks.

"A ninjutsu this powerful, and he never used it even once before. He really hid it deep," Kakuzu couldn't help but sigh.

This made Kakuzu curious about one thing: how much of his strength Yousuke had used to defeat Hanzō.

"No wonder he wasn't nervous at all back then." Kakuzu recalled that crisis which nearly caused the Ninshu sect to end prematurely.

Thinking about it now, Yousuke definitely hadn't used his full strength back then; why would he have needed to exert so much effort to fight a single Hanzō?

Probably in order to leave a deep lesson for them, he had arranged it that way.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Seeing that the Earth Dragon Flame Stream could not inflict effective damage on Yousuke, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly retreated, and while retreating, formed hand signs to create two shadow clones.

"Compound Ninja Art: Thunder Water Dragon Bullet!"

Two shadow clones, one using Water Dragon Bullet and one using Lightning Release, quickly created a thick water dragon covered in lightning.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's main body took a shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, his eyes fixed on Yusuke, wanting to figure out the details of Yusuke's ninjutsu.

Unlike fire, water flow has the property of seeping into every crevice, and this is an electrified Water Dragon Bullet; once touched by the water flow, one will be paralyzed.

If the Thunder Water Dragon Bullet is also ineffective against Yusuke, then most of Sarutobi Hiruzen's ninjutsu would be useless.

Roar!

The water dragon with arcs of electricity on its body was more imposing than an ordinary Water Dragon Bullet, and its roar seemed intent on tearing everything in front of it to shreds.

However, facing the ferocious Thunder Water Dragon Bullet, Muyue still did not dodge or evade.

Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank.

Evidently, the Thunder Water Dragon Bullet could not overcome Yusuke's ninjutsu; otherwise, how could Yusuke dare to take it head-on?

Swish! Swish!

Before the Thunder Water Dragon Bullet could hit Yusuke, Sarutobi Hiruzen erupted his chakra and threw the shuriken in his hand.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Under the effect of Sarutobi Hiruzen's chakra, the shuriken multiplied from six to twelve, twelve to twenty-four, and in the blink of an eye, the number became terrifying, filling the air with densely packed shuriken.

Boom!

The Thunder Water Dragon Bullet slammed into Muyue and burst violently, sending electrified water splashing in all directions; the powerful force caused cracks to appear on the ground under Muyue's feet.

Next came tens of thousands of shuriken flying in.

With the immense strength and chakra of Sarutobi Hiruzen behind them, even ordinary shuriken had the power to shatter wood and pierce stone, and there were tens of thousands of such shuriken—one can imagine how terrifying their power was.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A continuous sound of impacts rang out, and the ground where Muyue stood looked as if it had been bombed by bombers, covered in craters of various sizes.

Yet Muyue himself remained completely unharmed and continued walking toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.

A thin layer of sweat formed on Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead, and his expression became unprecedentedly serious.

The Thunder Water Dragon Bullet plus his full-powered Shuriken Shadow Clone actually failed to damage Yusuke in the slightest—this was simply too incredible.

He had to admit that he had underestimated Yusuke.

Yusuke was probably not some expert skilled in Fire Release; it was just that his previous opponents were not strong enough to force him to reveal his other methods.

"Unexpectedly strong. What kind of ability is this?" Orochimaru's gaze at Yusuke was filled with curiosity.

Human life is so fragile; it was because Orochimaru had witnessed too much death that he sought immortality.

However, immortality was still too far away for him; what he needed now were powerful means to protect his life so that he wouldn't die before achieving his goals.

"How is that possible? Attacks of this level have no effect!" The watching Konoha Jonin were dumbfounded.

The battlefield had clearly become a mess, yet Yusuke, who had withstood several waves of Sarutobi Hiruzen's attacks, did not even have a single tear in his clothes.

They had originally thought this would be an easy escort mission; after all, how could their powerful Third Hokage possibly lose to a ninja from a small country?

Now it seemed not necessarily true; perhaps they might need to intervene in the battle.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen fell into a disadvantageous position, they certainly couldn't just watch; what were promises compared to the life of a Kage?

The Ninja Sect ninjas following Muyue all showed excited expressions.

They had long been prepared: if Yusuke could not defeat Sarutobi Hiruzen, they would risk their lives to help Yusuke escape.

But they seemed to have underestimated their teacher Yusuke.

Facing the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, who dominated the ninja world, Yusuke was not at a disadvantage; if anything, he seemed slightly more dominant.

Sarutobi Hiruzen attacked with various ninjutsu and secret techniques, while Yusuke blocked them as if taking a leisurely stroll; who was more at ease was obvious.

"He will win! Teacher Yusuke will definitely be victorious!" That was the cry in the hearts of many Ninja Sect ninjas at that moment.

"So strong!" Lao Zi showed a shocked expression.

Even if he was a perfect jinchūriki, it would be absolutely impossible for Rōshi to guarantee that he could defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi—it would be more like guaranteeing his own death.

The reason tailed beasts are important is not that jinchūriki are stronger than Kage—in fact, most Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages can suppress their own village's tailed beast—but because tailed beasts represent a special and enduring kind of power.

And yet Yusuke had actually gained some advantage in his battle against Hiruzen Sarutobi—how could Rōshi not be surprised?

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two Shadow Clones of Hiruzen Sarutobi burst chakra from the soles of their feet and launched an attack on Muyue from different directions.

Since ninjutsu wasn't working, then he would try taijutsu.

However, under Muyue's Transparent World, the movements of Hiruzen Sarutobi's Shadow Clones were completely exposed.

Bang!

He slightly sidestepped, dodging the punch thrown by the Hiruzen Sarutobi Shadow Clone attacking from his left. At the same time, his right hand shot out like lightning, accurately grabbing the Shadow Clone's wrist and squeezing hard, destroying the clone.

At that moment, the other Hiruzen Sarutobi Shadow Clone, which had circled behind Muyue, seized the opportunity and suddenly attacked, swinging a kunai toward Muyue's back.

Bang!

However, as if Muyue had eyes in the back of his head, his body twisted in an incredible way—not only dodging the attack but also taking the opportunity to kick the Hiruzen Sarutobi Shadow Clone to destruction.

"His taijutsu is also quite remarkable."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was trying to gather information about Yusuke, wore an even more serious expression.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Not daring to be careless, Hiruzen Sarutobi directly gathered chakra and used the Summoning Jutsu to call forth Enma—the powerful monkey king was an important part of his strength.

After exchanging a few moves, Hiruzen Sarutobi already knew that Yusuke was not an opponent he could easily defeat; he had to go all out.

Otherwise, forget about avenging Danzō Shimura—he himself might be in danger.