"Your ninjutsu is powerful; you can continuously unleash them, one after another."
"But today, you've met me."
Mū stretched out both hands, adopting his signature pose, "Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Jutsu!"
From his hand, a white point of light formed, then expanded into a translucent white cube. In just a breath, the cube became enormous! It enveloped all the crystals and dust in mid-air! Then the cube vanished, and the engulfed crystals disappeared along with it.
Torifū watched Mū break through his ninjutsu, yet a smile appeared on his face. 'This is Dust Release; it truly is formidable.'
It could decompose any object directly into its atomic state! One could say that even Hashirama would surely die if hit by a Dust Release attack. However, its drawbacks were also very obvious. The ninjutsu was inflexible; it was almost impossible to hit a Kage-level strong person with it, only effective against ninja below the Kage level.
Mū clearly didn't intend to give Torifū another chance to release ninjutsu. Light flared in his hand again, and a translucent cylinder appeared! He then fired it towards Torifū. Seeing this, Torifū immediately dodged, but Mū, like a plow in the air, chased Torifū across the training ground. Wherever he passed, a deep, smooth, and flat trench was left behind.
Torifū wasn't going to keep dodging forever. He casually threw a handful of crystal seeds into the air. Mū, seeing this, thought it was that strange ninjutsu again and prepared to clear it with Dust Release. But Torifū detonated the seeds beforehand, sending countless crystal fragments scattering everywhere. By then, it was too late for Mū to use Dust Release.
At that very instant, the myriad flying crystal fragments converged! They formed numerous crystal mirrors. There were so many that even Dust Release couldn't completely shatter them all. Torifū's figure had already vanished then, leaving only a crystal mirror in his place on the ground. Mū tried to sense, but found that every mirror had an equal amount of chakra, making it impossible to guess which mirror was the original body.
Several sounds of glass shattering rang out as the outermost crystal mirrors on the training ground shattered and fell to the ground! But in just a moment, they transformed into giant crystal vines that shot straight into the sky! Countless vines intertwined, their branching tendrils binding them firmly together. As the last ray of sunlight was obscured, the entire training ground had transformed into a massive cage!
"You are only the second person to witness this ninjutsu. Let's see how long you can last."
Torifū's voice echoed within the cage, but Mū looked around and saw only mirrors.
"I can't shatter the crystals, or they'll generate more. I can only use Dust Release..."
Mū now admitted that Torifū was the most troublesome person he had ever encountered. Overusing Dust Release just now had left Mū's chakra not very abundant. He could only carefully watch for movements around him, trying to avoid danger and reduce chakra consumption. In truth, they shouldn't have been like this; it was just a sparring match, meant to be stopped when appropriate. But both represented their respective villages, and neither wanted their village to be disgraced.
Just then, a lotus bud shot out from a mirror behind him! Mū dodged it by sidestepping, and the bud drilled into another mirror and disappeared. If he used Dust Release to break through the vines and escape, he would leave the training ground's boundaries, thus counting as a loss. That was why Mū continued to linger inside, and this was also part of Torifū's plan.
Torifū had deliberately made the crystals a translucent pale pink, allowing those outside to see the situation within. However, due to the distortion of the vines, the visibility was somewhat blurred. But the Kage could still sense the situation inside the arena. Even Tsuchikage Ishikawa, who acted like a child, would be utterly furious to see his highly anticipated successor being toyed with by a seven-year-old child.
"What a truly spectacular sparring match. Hokage-sama's apprentice is surprisingly outstanding," Reto exclaimed from the side. He had seen this young boy back in Sunagakure. He had thought he was merely accompanying them as a spectator, never imagining he was the Hokage's apprentice.
"Indeed, such a massive ninjutsu cannot be performed without sufficient chakra. This child has unlimited potential," Byakuren remarked, purely observing the sparring and occasionally offering his opinions. Among the Five Kage, Byakuren was likely the oldest, so his words held some insight.
"Haha, my disciple is mischievous, forgive him for showing off," Hashirama said, but inwardly, he couldn't have been happier. He had known for a long time that Iwagakure had produced a Kekkei Tota ninja. Yet today, he was clearly suppressed by Torifū, even if it was just a training ground spar and not a real battlefield.
Inside the cage, Mū had now recovered a certain amount of chakra, and he had also discerned the secret of these crystal mirrors. There was no single original body; accurately speaking, every single one was the original body. Therefore, he only needed to shatter all the mirrors, leaving just one, to force Torifū out without accidentally killing him.
"Dust Release—"
Before Mū could even unleash his Dust Release, all the crystal mirrors sank to the ground, and lotus buds grew on the crystal vines. The buds bloomed, revealing more mirrors inside! Torifū's figure appeared in every single mirror! Countless Torifū slowly emerged from the mirrors, "Crystal Release: One-Arrow Lotus." Each Torifū condensed a crystal lotus bud in his hand and hurled it towards Mū!
Facing an assault like a sky full of arrows, Mū had no place to hide. He truly wanted to scream and ask how much chakra this seven-year-old child possessed! There was no other way; he could only use Dust Release to counter this attack. Mū again unleashed a cylindrical Dust Release, violently rotating it once. Everything in its path vanished. A large opening was also carved out of the vine cage! The dome, lacking support, immediately collapsed and shattered! Countless crystal fragments reflected the sunlight, making it impossible to open one's eyes.
Mū, having successfully diffused the crisis, crouched on the ground, panting heavily. To conserve chakra, his Light-Weight Rock Technique had been deactivated, and he also knew that the next strike would decide the victor! Mū again scanned his surroundings, still failing to find Torifū's figure. He couldn't help but yell in anger, "Are you going to keep hiding?! Fight me honorably!"
No one responded to him, but Mū felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly. He immediately sensed something was wrong! He tried to flee, but it was too late. A vine twice as thick as before erupted from the ground, firmly coiling around Mū and carrying him into the air.
Entangled by the vine, Mū struggled fiercely to break free, but it was futile. Even using ninjutsu couldn't shatter the vine; it only left behind cracks.
A mirror appeared out of thin air not far from Mū. Torifū emerged halfway from it, smiling as he said, "I'm here."