But at the same time, the Wild Boar's Rock Fist and the second wave of the Earth Dragon Bullet attack also arrived!
Sora did not hesitate, immediately pulled back to retreat, while using his arms covered in dragon scales to cross and guard in front of himself!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The heavy rock fists and dense mud bullets mostly missed, a few were deflected by his dragon-transformed arms, but a few mud bullets with trickier angles struck Sora's chest area, emitting dull thudding sounds. His arms and chest went numb from the impact, but he was not injured.
'So close!' Sora quickly increased the distance, warily looking at the remaining two. 'The defensive power of the dragon transformation on the chest is indeed reliable, worthy of being the protective heart scale!'
In less than a minute, the Root four-man squad had already lost two members!
Wild Boar stood in place, panting heavily. The eyes beneath his mask stared fixedly at Sora, filled with rage and a hint of barely perceptible fear. Even though he was a Root ninja whose autonomous consciousness had been erased, leaving only a killer instinct, he now genuinely felt a chill originating from his marrow.
The Sora before him, in his half-beast transformed posture, emitted a suffocating pressure.
Seven years old! Only seven years old! Under the siege of four of them, he had withstood the bombardment of ninjutsu and consecutively instantly killed his captain and teammate in the most savage, most direct way! This wasn't a fight at all, it was more like a one-sided crush!
But Tanuki still stood at a slightly farther distance, his eyes coldly watching all this, seeming completely indifferent to his comrades' deaths, and only dismissed the Earth Dragon Bullet.
'This guy... hasn't truly gone all out from start to finish!'
'He's observing me! He's collecting my combat data!'
Sora adjusted his breathing while shifting his attention to Tanuki.
A Root ninja couldn't be indifferent to a comrade's death, unless... he had a more important mission!
'Capturing me alive, or collecting sufficient intelligence, is his primary objective! He might even want to use Wild Boar's hand to further deplete and test me.'
And Tanuki's thoughts at this moment were indeed as Sora predicted.
From the moment Sora instantly killed Dandelion, he hadn't expected the remaining three to capture Sora unharmed. So he had been guarding from the side the whole time, providing support while secretly collecting intelligence on Sora.
The way Sora erupted just now further confirmed his judgment:
Sora's current strength was clearly significantly stronger than what was written in the intelligence reports, and he also mastered a beast transformation secret technique similar to the Inuzuka clan's, but its power was even fiercer than the Inuzuka clan's!
'Must finish this quickly! Can't let him keep watching any longer!'
Sora took a deep breath, feeling the still surging power within his body, and turned his gaze to Wild Boar.
'This big dumb guy has strong power, but his speed is a weakness. As long as I'm careful of his Earth Release and heavy fists, dealing with him isn't difficult.'
'The troublesome one is that Tanuki... Since he isn't making a move, I can't figure out his capabilities at all.'
Just as Sora was quickly analyzing the battle situation, Tanuki finally spoke, his voice as cold as ice:
"Wild Boar, capture him alive. This is Lord Danzo's order."
His tone was flat and unfluctuating, as if merely stating a simple fact.
'Let Wild Boar go risk his life first. It will consume more of this kid's stamina and chakra, and let me see all his trump cards clearly.'
"Understood!"
Wild Boar clearly showed a hint of resistance, but ultimately roared and his entire body's muscles bulged again. Earth-yellow chakra covered his entire body like armor:
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
His skin instantly became as hard as rock, his whole body seemingly transforming into a stone giant, charging toward Sora with heavy steps.
Each step caused the ground to tremble slightly, with a terrifying momentum!
And Tanuki began forming hand seals again, this time the seal sequence was even more complex.
'Can't wait any longer!' Sora's eyes focused, and he actively moved to meet Wild Boar!
Just as the two were about to collide, Tanuki's ninjutsu was completed:
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
Intense electric currents instantly raced across the damp ground toward Sora, attempting to paralyze his movements!
But Sora had been keeping part of his attention on Tanuki. Seeing this, he immediately leaped high into the air, narrowly avoiding the lightning on the ground.
Wild Boar seized the opportunity, his huge rocky fist carrying terrifying force aimed at Sora who was defenseless in mid-air:
"Die!"
Just as the huge fist was about to hit, since Sora chose to jump to avoid Tanuki's Lightning Release, he clearly had a countermeasure.
He suddenly took a deep breath, his chest puffed up, and a blazing red glow lit up deep in his throat!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
No, it was Dragon Breath!
This time, Sora didn't even bother putting on an act, he didn't even form seals with his hands. The fiery dragon breath came directly from his open mouth.
Boom!
Blazing fire dragon breath surged out from his mouth, the extreme high temperature instantly swept over the area ahead!
Wild Boar's rocky giant fist bore the brunt, actually starting to glow red and melt under the extreme high temperature!
"What?!"
Wild Boar let out a terrified scream. His Earth Spear technique rapidly crumbled under the terrifying high temperature of the dragon breath. The flames then spread to his arm and body!
Intense pain made him retreat frantically, trying to extinguish the flames on his body.
But how would Sora let go of this opportunity?
Before the dragon breath had completely dissipated, his figure had already appeared before Wild Boar like a ghost.
The dragon claw manifested again, carrying a cold killing intent, aimed straight at Wild Boar's heart!
"No!" Wild Boar's eyes widened in terror, trying to raise his other arm to block.
But having lost the Earth Spear enhancement and being burned by the flames, he was too slow!
Thump!
The dragon claw pierced through his chest without hindrance, crushing his heart.
Wild Boar's movements suddenly froze, the light in his eyes rapidly faded. His massive body fell to the ground with a crash, splashing up a cloud of dust.
In this short time, one Jonin-level and two Tokubetsu Jonin-level Root ninjas, completely annihilated!!
Sora breathed heavily in ragged gasps. The continuous use of the Azure Dragon Fruit's dragon transformation and dragon breath abilities was inconsequential; after two and a half years of practice by Sora, they were already like instinct.
But the Eight Gates within the first four gates were different. For Sora, not yet eight years old, the burden was extremely heavy, making him feel a wave of fatigue, and his muscles transmitted waves of tearing pain.
But Sora dared not relax in the slightest, his gaze sharply turning to the last person. Tanuki!
However, when he clearly saw the other's actions, his pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw that Tanuki had already completed a complex seal at some unknown time, his hands pressed on the ground:
"Summoning Technique: Baku!"
Poof!
A huge burst of white smoke erupted. A giant creature, its size comparable to a small hill, appeared in the valley. Although not as large as the mountain-sized one summoned by Danzo, its intimidating power was still shocking!
It had the signature long trunk and large ears, its appearance resembling a giant elephant, its entire body emitting a terrifying, heart-palpitating chakra!
'Baku?! Although several sizes smaller than Danzo's, this is definitely that summoning beast!' Sora's heart was greatly shaken. 'This guy really is a Jonin! And able to summon the Baku, his status in Root is definitely not low!'
The Baku let out a low roar. A tremendous suction force suddenly generated from its long trunk, as if wanting to swallow everything in front of it!
Sora only felt a powerful force pulling at him, his body uncontrollably sliding toward the Baku's nostrils.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━