He claimed to be the strongest Hokage, but only he knew that he would probably not last a single move against the First Hokage; now, the forty-meter Wood Human before him awakened memories of his youth, watching the battle at the edge of the Valley of the End with his teacher, Senju Tobirama.
However, compared to the First Hokage's Wood Human, this forty-meter Wood Human was not impressive enough, and the Third Hokage was not afraid.
Enma's adamantine staff was plunged into the ground, and he leaped to the top of the adamantine staff, which then rapidly grew to a height of sixty to seventy meters.
Looking at the rampant Tree Sea Descent on the ground and the tall Wood Human charging towards him, the Third Hokage stood on top of the adamantine staff, which was over three meters in diameter, and created four Shadow Clones.
Finally, the four Hiruzen Sarutobis simultaneously formed hand seals, and as Chakra gathered, their chests suddenly expanded.
"Ninjutsu: Five Release Great Combination Barrage!"
Immediately, roaring Fire Dragons, Water Dragons, and Earth Dragons, combined with lightning and Wind Bullets, assailed the Wood Human.
S4 could sense the terror of the Five Release Great Combination Barrage and immediately burned his life again, gaining a large amount of Chakra.
Numerous thick Wood Release arms grew from the ground, striking at the incoming Five Release Great Combination Barrage.
"Boom~!" The fire illuminated half the sky, forming a fiery tornado, mixed with Earth Dragon Bullets, lightning, and Wind Blades.
It covered an area of over a hundred meters, charring and curling many Wood Release trees. The Wood Human was also repelled by the Five Release Great Combination Barrage, with half of its lower body destroyed.
Half of the Tree Sea Descent on the ground was annihilated by this attack, and two Root Ninja, unable to dodge, were engulfed by the Five Release Great Combination Barrage and died instantly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's successful strike greatly boosted the morale of the Jonin, who, under Nara Shikaku's command, began to use group combination Ninjutsu.
The combination of Fire Release and Wind Release made the flames even more furious and explosive, forming a terrifying shockwave.
The combined Ninjutsu attack of over a hundred Jonin was extremely terrifying, surpassing the Third Hokage's Five Release Great Combination Barrage, directly incinerating the remaining half of the Tree Sea Descent, and the last of S4's subordinates was also burned to death.
Even though he had used Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall, compared to the First Hokage's Wood Release, their Wood Release was not as strong; it was only slightly better than Yamato's Wood Release.
However, that power was gained by burning his life, and now, facing the combined Ninjutsu of hundreds of Jonin, his life's burning could not compare to the brilliance of the group.
Facing the last of S4 and his half-crippled Wood Human, the Third Hokage summoned a giant Fuma Shuriken.
He directly threw it towards S4 on top of the Wood Human, with Hiruzen Sarutobi's Wind Release Chakra attached to it.
"Ninjutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A large number of Fuma Shuriken appeared around the giant Fuma Shuriken, and the onslaught of thousands of Fuma Shuriken made even S4, who was controlling the Wood Human, feel fear.
However, he had no way to escape and could only use his last bit of life to buy Lord Danzo more time to escape.
He expended his last vitality, extracting his last Chakra. At this point, his body surface had become woody, and his hair had completely turned into pale tree Roots.
Meanwhile, the Wood Human beneath him had returned to its original state and then swung its palm to push back the incoming Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Innumerable winding tree trunks grew from the Wood Human's palm, forming a wooden shield that completely blocked the incoming Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.
However, the Third Hokage's Shuriken Shadow Clone was not so easy to block; the Wood Release shield was completely shredded, and the Wood Human's palm also suffered varying degrees of damage.
At this moment, the Wood Human extended its other hand, from which a wooden spike tens of meters long emerged, suddenly thrusting towards the Third Hokage.
Unfortunately, the movement was too slow. The Third Hokage's adamantine staff shortened, allowing him to dodge the attack.
Then, the Third Hokage leaped onto the wooden spike, which had not yet retracted, and the adamantine staff quickly shrunk, held in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand.
He then twisted his body in the air over a dozen times, using his body as torque, and brought the charged adamantine staff down on the Wood Human's head.
Simultaneously, during the downward chop, the adamantine staff continuously extended, quickly reaching S4's head.
Looking at the powerful adamantine staff above his head, S4 could only barely control the Wood Human to turn its head and dodge.
However, its shoulder was struck, directly causing one of the Wood Human's shoulders and the corresponding arm to be shattered and fall off.
The Wood Human Technique, at a quasi-Kage level, was completely incomparable to Senju Hashirama's. Now, being shattered by the Third Hokage with a blunt weapon, it truly sullied the reputation of Wood Release.
The falling arm of the Wood Human also left the Third Hokage without a foothold. The Third Hokage landed on the ground, leaning on his adamantine staff, just as the combined Ninjutsu of hundreds of Jonin completed its hand seals.
Large amounts of flames mixed with Wind Blades, water currents mixed with electricity, and the ground beneath the Wood Human suddenly collapsing.
The unstable Wood Human directly tilted to one side, and at this moment, S4 was no longer able to control the Wood Human, only able to watch the incoming flames and water currents as his life flashed before his eyes.
As the flames and steam dissipated, the Third Hokage's side was the first to resolve the battle. Aside from the scattered trees, there was no longer any sign of the Wood Human. The Third Hokage did not go to help others deal with the Root Ninja but pursued Danzo without a moment's pause.
On Ling's side, the Jonin also found their rhythm, splitting into four teams to hunt down the Root Ninja.
Fighting with fewer numbers, even the Wood Release, which was suitable for group attacks, was somewhat overwhelmed by the encirclement of dozens of Jonin.
The Root Ninja also realized the outcome on S4's side, so they adopted close-range, small-scale Wood Release attacks, intending to hold out for more time.
This kind of encirclement, where there was no powerful Ninja holding the front line and the Ninja behind used group Ninjutsu attacks, made it difficult to defeat the troublesome Root Ninja.
They were particularly resistant to damage and had strong recovery abilities; ordinary taijutsu attacks and Ninja tool attacks would not cause much harm at all.
A Jonin's attack was equivalent to an ordinary person chopping at a tree Root with a knife, while the Root Ninja's Impalement Jutsu could occasionally pierce a Jonin.
Ling, nine Uchiha Jonin, and some other Jonin dealt with Kuei Si. The Uchiha, however, suffered no casualties because the Sharingan's dynamic vision could slow down and predict attacks.
Ling was just going through the motions, fighting with the strength and speed of an ordinary Jonin, using Gale Sword Technique, indistinguishable from other Jonin.
However, Kuei Si did know Uchiha Ling, because he was one of the Root Ninja who had forced Ling to join Root back then.
Ling did not recognize him because his Chakra had transformed into Wood Release Chakra, losing its original Chakra fluctuations.
Kuei Si also knew that Lord Danzo was forced to defect, and Ling was the culprit, so he planned to eliminate Uchiha Ling here.
Because he had already probed Ling's current strength and found it to be merely that of an ordinary Jonin, completely unable to withstand his targeted attacks.
Ling had long since noticed the malice in Kuei Si's eyes, which was why she had feigned weakness early on, preparing to give Kuei Si a surprise.
Ling slowly gathered Wind Release Chakra and then entered Wind Release Chakra Mode, which could only provide a single burst of speed.
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