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Almost the moment he finished speaking, Kazahana Doto's figure shot out from the city wall, like an arrow released from a bow, flying directly towards Sawara Kiri, enveloped by the whistling wind.
On his brow, a fragment of the Shikon no Tama shone brightly, becoming even more resplendent.
Vigorous Chakra like flames wrapped around his body.
The trajectory outlined a winding arc in mid-air.
'So fast!'
Kakashi's pupils contracted as he stared fixedly at the figure.
But the next moment, Sawara Kiri shot out even faster, incredibly fast.
"Clang!"
Blade and armor clashed.
Kazahana Doto exerted force with his arm, and the armor's thrusters at his elbows erupted with a stream-like blaze, pushing his full body weight forward.
Sawara Kiri's blade, however, distorted and turned, the sweeping blade tearing through the air just above his gauntlet, pointing directly at his neck with a whistling sound.
A bone-chilling cold penetrated his body, Kazahana Doto's eyes turned a vivid blood-red, and he sharply distorted his body, narrowly dodging the blow, but a burning pain shot through his cheek.
Faintly, it seemed blood splattered in the air.
However, before he could even rise from mid-air, a heavy impact hit his abdomen.
"Swoosh--!"
That tall and robust figure, suddenly at several times the speed he arrived, broke through the wind and crashed into the sturdy castle behind him, transforming into a gray streak wrapped in dust, breaking through layers of bricks and tiles.
Sawara Kiri stood on the ground.
On the snow-melted ground in front of him, a deep gully had appeared.
Kakashi, who had been surprised by Kazahana Doto's speed just a second ago, suddenly felt his face stiffen.
Sawara Kiri, however, completely disregarded the people behind him and walked leisurely towards the ruins ahead.
"Crash!"
Heavy wooden beams and collapsed thick walls were pushed aside by Kazahana Doto, creating a series of heavy crashing sounds.
The tall man, whose figure was like a bear, now had several streaks of blood on his head and shoulders.
However, when he looked at Sawara Kiri, his expression remained firm and confident.
In fact, a disdainful smile even appeared on his square face.
"Hmph."
"The strongest in the Ninja World, huh?"
"I thought it was something amazing."
"Now it seems, it's nothing special."
He reached out to wipe away the incessantly flowing nosebleed from his face, pulled out a wooden splinter embedded in his thigh, and, limping, walked out of the ruins, displaying the chest plate that had a distinct footprint deeply pressed into it.
Sawara Kiri stood in front of the ruins, watching him silently for a long time, and finally said faintly: "It seems the emotion the Shikon no Tama magnified for you is confidence?"
"Or... stupidity?"
"You! This! Guy!"
Kazahana Doto suddenly roared out.
However, compared to his voice, his movements appeared exceptionally realistic.
Almost instantly, his thick armor suddenly extended to his limbs, and even his square head was enveloped by the heavy armor.
Immediately following, small nozzles extended from various parts of the armor, and surging Chakra flames erupted downwards, propelling his body from heavy to light in an instant.
"Boom--!"
In just a flash, his figure disappeared from in front of Sawara Kiri.
'Hmph, nothing more than this.'
Kazahana Doto thought to himself, while charging backward.
No matter how fast, he was just a mere Ninja.
Could he really catch up to his jet-powered armor with two legs?
Your feet aren't as fast as my armor, what's the use of being able to fight?!
You little runt.
Just as he was thinking this and rapidly considering how to report to the guild, a strong sense of crisis suddenly arose in Kazahana Doto's heart.
This sense of crisis had saved his life many times in the snowy plains, so even in this critical moment, he almost without hesitation immediately trusted this feeling, and his body suddenly rolled to the side.
"Buzz--"
Almost at the same moment his body rolled sideways.
A wave, like a crescent moon, suddenly cut vertically across the direction he had been in a second ago.
With just one slash, it shattered all obstacles along that entire path.
Looking at the deep gash on the road.
Cold sweat, trickled down.
Although he had heard that this guy's strength was excessively strong, wasn't this a bit too much?
Neither Ninjutsu nor armor could stop him, and now even escaping was so difficult?
However, even he knew very well.
At this point, the situation between the two sides could no longer be resolved with a simple 'Heh, can we reconcile?'.
Because of this, Kazahana Doto's expression grew even more solemn.
"I originally wanted to save this move as a special performance, to show 'That Person' who they call 'God', but since you insist on blocking me, then I can only let you, the strongest in the Ninja World, experience it first."
His voice grew deeper.
"Oh."
Sawara Kiri still looked at him calmly.
The next moment, Kazahana Doto suddenly stomped on the ground, the hard ground splattering with solidified dust under his heavy step, his footprints sinking deeply, and the immense recoil pushed his tall and robust figure to charge fiercely towards Sawara Kiri.
"Ice Release: Rouga Nadare Technique!"
Almost at the same moment his figure shot out, several wolf-shaped figures made entirely of ice crystals rapidly formed amidst the snow and dust on the ruined avenue, charging synchronously towards Sawara Kiri.
At the same time, Kazahana Doto suddenly raised his hand, and the armor originally attached to the back of his hand, propelled by Chakra energy, extended a small gun barrel, and condensed light contracted within the black muzzle.
"Chakra Armor: Submachine Gun!"
"Da da da--"
Dense bullets continuously sprayed towards Sawara Kiri, shifting constantly with Kazahana Doto's changing figure, moving at an astonishing speed.
However, whether facing the snow wolves rushing towards him or the Chakra bullets, Sawara Kiri always stood there calmly, like an adult watching a child play with a new toy, leisurely waiting for him to unleash all his means.
Only the blade in his hand distorted rapidly in the air like a swimming fish, constantly drawing out fine arcs.
"Clink, clink, clink, clink--!"
Whether it was the snow wolves that came close or the bullets about to hit him, they all turned into a continuous, almost single crisp sound in front of his blade.
Only in the eyes of Kakashi and the others further back, Sawara Kiri always maintained a stance as if preparing to draw his sword.
From beginning to end, they never saw him draw his blade even once.
Only the afterimages of the large snow wolves and flying bullets abruptly cut in half remained in their vision.
As if nothing could touch his body.
However, this brief delay was enough for Kazahana Doto to approach within ten feet of Sawara Kiri.
The side and back of his broad foot armor continuously spewed Chakra flames, boosting his speed to a peak that neither Rouga Nadare nor Tsurugi Hyori had ever reached.
In the eyes of many Genin and Chunin, they could no longer even perceive his figure.
Even Kakashi could only barely catch a faint, blurry movement.
But...
"Not enough."
Sawara Kiri suddenly spoke.
At this moment, Kazahana Doto had already closed in to within ten feet of him.
However, he seemed to have no intention of touching the other party, but instead suddenly pushed his hands forward, bent his knees, leaned his body forward, and under heavy inertia, like a mountain of gold collapsing, 'bang--' he heavily slammed onto the ground.
"Hmm?"
Sawara Kiri looked down at him in confusion.
Kazahana Doto, however, suddenly let out a roar from his mouth:
"Ice Release: Ice Age!"
Accompanying his roar, the armor covering the middle-aged man's body suddenly erupted with incredibly astonishing Chakra flames, continuously Magnifying his Jutsu.
Chakra Armor: Full Power Magnification!
Almost at the same moment these words fell.
The ground beneath Kazahana Doto's hands was suddenly covered with a thin layer of ice crystals.
The initial faint white marks, under the infusion of a massive amount of Chakra, continuously spread in all directions, forming large connected thin walls, and the ground within dozens of meters around was almost instantly completely covered by these ice crystals.
Sawara Kiri, standing opposite, was the first to be affected, his entire body instantly covered by this seemingly thin but incredibly hard Ice Release, standing still like an amber statue.
He still maintained the posture of drawing his sword.
"Creak, creak, creak--"
The ground within hundreds of meters around was completely swallowed by transparent ice.
Only then did Kazahana Doto slowly stand up, looking at Sawara Kiri's ice sculpture, and said in a deep voice: "This is what happens when you underestimate everyone."
"Sawara Kiri."
"From now on, the title of the strongest in the Ninja World will be taken by me, Kazahana Doto."
As he spoke, he walked past Sawara Kiri's ice sculpture, his target directly behind him, the large and small groups of people, his gaze growing colder and more dangerous.
Next, it's your turn.
Kakashi looked at the scene before him in astonishment, unconsciously letting out a sound:
"Sawara-sensei?!"
Almost instinctively, the young man suddenly took a step, about to rush forward.
However, before he could act, his shoulder was already held by the blond Ninja beside him.
"Minato?"
As soon as the words fell, Kakashi's gaze suddenly froze.
He caught sight of the somewhat helpless smile on Namikaze Minato's face.
Just as Kazahana Doto's foot stepped past Sawara Kiri.
"Crack."
His footsteps suddenly paused.
His keen ears caught a faint cracking sound.
Kazahana Doto suddenly turned his head behind him.
Immediately after, he saw a layer of ice shell on Sawara Kiri's ice sculpture that had completely peeled off from front to back.
The ice shell split into two pieces, falling to the ground with a crisp sound, shattering into fragments.
Sawara Kiri's voice was still indifferent as he turned to meet his gaze:
"Your Jutsu is not strong enough, nor fast enough."
The expression on Kazahana Doto's face seemed to freeze for a moment.
Without any reaction time, or perhaps it was simply a physical reflex brought about by that sense of crisis piercing his heart.
"Haaah--!"
He suddenly roared and swung his left arm, which was wrapped under his gauntlet, towards Sawara Kiri, leaving a hissing sound of breaking wind in mid-air.
Sawara Kiri released the hilt of his sword and raised his hand to the side.
"Clap!"
The suddenly blazing sound of wind, like a wave carrying dust, recklessly crashing onto the solid reef by the shore, its immense power carried by the sharp angle of the waves splitting into two loose sides.
Sawara Kiri's figure still stood there, his hair swaying slightly in the wind, his azure eyes looking directly at the opponent, his feet not moving an inch.
Kazahana Doto's eyes suddenly widened.
The thrusters on the back of his gauntlet were still roaring continuously, spewing out massive amounts of Chakra.
However, it was as if he had propped his hands on the ground.
Moreover, Kazahana Doto's keen gaze even caught that there was always a steady inch of space between his palm and the other party's outstretched hand.
This shocking fact almost made his brain go blank.
Kazahana Doto stared intently at the 'inch' distance between their palms that he couldn't close, suddenly his eyes turned blood-red, and he roared hoarsely:
"Impossible!!"
"The distance to the world's peak cannot be this far!"
The sound he made with all his might almost covered the noise produced by the Chakra flames erupting from his armor.
However, all of this was futile.
Sawara Kiri was already tired of playing.
"This armor's performance limit seems to be this."
Almost the moment this thought flashed through his mind, the blade in his hand suddenly flashed like a stream of light.
The edge lightly chose to cut into the joints of Kazahana Doto's limb armor, and then sliced out as if cutting tofu.
Kazahana Doto, maintaining his charging stance, looked furiously at the man opposite him, his eyes bloodshot.
The next moment, his body suddenly lost support.
"Thud."
Four sections of limbs fell to the ground, blood staining the pure white land of the Land of Snow.
Only the Chakra armor continued to spew flames, depleting his life force.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo"
Kazahana Doto lay limply on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
Sawara Kiri's figure was reflected in the center of his vision.
He bent down, calmly extended his hand, and plucked the small fragment from the man's forehead.
Kazahana Doto, who was struggling to say something, suddenly calmed down after seeing this scene.
He asked: "I know what you want to ask, I understand the rules."
"If I tell the truth, can I trade it for my life?"
Sawara Kiri ignored him, dislocated his jaw with a backhand, and pulled out his tongue for a look.
His tongue was covered with dense Sealing Technique formulas.
Sawara Kiri gave him a look of disdain:
"You wish."
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