Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 111 Embracing into a Sphere, the Human Body's Great Elixir

Actually, the Fourth Raikage was lucky.

Due to a lack of sparring and actual combat, Xia Zuo is not proficient in the Swift Release state, and is even less skilled at fighting against extremely fast ninjas.

Moreover, his main focus was on controlling Wood Release and fighting thousands of Cloud Village ninjas, while also having to distract Killer Bee.

After being severely distracted, he used only a tiny fraction of his energy to deal with the Fourth Raikage.

Therefore, apart from using Wood Release to attack, Xia Zuo could only casually throw out various items obtained from the Cloud Village ninja, such as ninja swords, kunai, and senbon needles.

These casually tossed ninja tools naturally shattered upon impact with the Fourth Raikage's body, causing no harm whatsoever.

Xia Zuo also used many ninjutsu without a seal, mainly wind ninjutsu that theoretically counters lightning ninjutsu.

Wind Release does counter Lightning Release, but just like a cup of water can't extinguish a burning house, Wind Release ninjutsu has no advantage against Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Xia Zuo's casual attacks failed to break through his defenses, giving the Fourth Raikage the illusion that his defenses were invincible.

He even recalled the feeling from 10 years ago when he fought Minato Namikaze, a feeling where he couldn't catch up to his opponent, while his opponent couldn't hurt him.

The feeling of nostalgia made the Raikage laugh heartily: "Although my defense is not as strong as my father's, it's still not something you Konoha ninjas can break through. Minato Namikaze was like that, and so are you!"

Xia Zuo was taken aback for a moment before realizing what Raikage meant. He chuckled in agreement, "You still have the mood to laugh? So what if I can't beat you?"

"Fourth Raikage, can you stop me from slaughtering all of you Kumogakure ninja?"

"Haha, I'm not the one who should be worried."

The Fourth Raikage's laughter abruptly stopped. He abruptly halted, his face grim, and said, "I really envy Konoha. No matter how much they waste resources, they always manage to produce new, powerful ninjas."

"But the Hidden Cloud Village has its own pride and resources to have reached where it is today."

The Fourth Raikage brought his fingers together and pointed at Xia Zuo: "My speed is indeed slower than yours, but only slightly slower. It's not that I'm completely helpless against the Fourth Hokage's space-time ninjutsu."

"I can use ninjutsu to speed up, catch up with you, and then kill you."

[Hellish Thrust - Four-in-One Slash]

The Fourth Raikage's terrifying aura suddenly erupted, shining like a small sun, instantly converging on his four outstretched fingers. He then transformed into a streak of light, rushing towards Xia Zuo.

With the aid of the secret technique, the Fourth Raikage's speed suddenly increased threefold, completely surpassing Shaza's speed, to the point that Shaza couldn't dodge at all.

The Fourth Raikage's lightning-encircled palm struck Xia Zuo's left abdomen, instantly creating a huge gash that sent splinters flying everywhere.

Wood chips?

The ability to create clones?

However, the Fourth Raikage later discovered that the shattered Shaza had turned into a broken wooden stake.

[Ninja Art: Substitution Technique]

The Fourth Raikage stared in disbelief at the wooden stake. His strongest attack had actually been countered by a D-rank ninjutsu.

It's incredible that someone could master the Substitution Technique to the point where it requires no hand seals, no time, and can be cast instantly, even faster than the Four-Handed Strike Technique.

Is this guy a pervert?

Shaza emerged from the roots of a large tree and answered the Raikage's question: "A temporary substitution jutsu can't be faster than the Four-Handed Strike, but I can use it in advance."

"My Substitution Technique is inspired by the Wooden Doll Clone Technique; it can be used in advance and can serve as a temporary substitute—"

'

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Zuo was once again shattered by the [Four-Handed Strike], turning into countless flying wood chips.

It's still the [Substitute Technique].

The Fourth Raikage attempted the [Four-Handed Strike] four times in a row, and each time it was countered by Xia Zuo's [Substitution Jutsu].

A perfect dodge.

The Fourth Raikage's supposedly strongest ninjutsu has completely lost its prestige today.

The Raikage used the Four-Handed Spear technique six times in a row, consuming a large amount of chakra. He was so exhausted that he had to stop and was panting heavily.

He finally understood that he could not catch Xia Zuo.

This guy is faster than me, his D-rank ninjutsu has reached an incredible level, and he is also skilled in Wood Release techniques, capable of creating massive forests.

In other words, Xia Zuo's ninjutsu prop wooden stakes are inexhaustible.

Suddenly, the Fourth Raikage noticed a change in his surroundings.

The screams of the Cloud Village ninjas in the forest have completely disappeared.

The Fourth Raikage's heart clenched. The total number of Cloud Village ninjas was as high as 8000. Could Natsume have killed them all so quickly?

No, they must have used some kind of drug to control the Cloud Village ninja and force them to stop fighting.

But—it's also possible that poison was used, which simultaneously killed thousands of Cloud Village ninjas.

The Fourth Raikage raised his head and stared intently at Xia Zuo, thinking: No matter what, once I capture this Wood Release ninja, I'll know what's going on.

At this moment, Xia Zuo also showed a "sincere" smile.

He finally managed to bind all the thousands of surviving Cloud Village ninjas, and now he could concentrate on dealing with the Fourth Raikage.

You little brat, you chased me around like crazy just now, but it won't be so easy now.

Xia Zuo is not the Fourth Hokage; he possesses both extremely fast speed and powerful attack capabilities.

The Fourth Raikage's body was filled with exploding lightning arcs as he increased his Lightning Release chakra beyond his own limits, stimulating his body and nerves to the maximum extent.

His hair stood on end, his muscles trembled violently, and his blood vessels swelled to a ferocious degree.

The Raikage traded his own injuries for greater speed and strength.

Xia Zuo waved his hand, driving the large tree beside him, the captured Cloud Village ninja, and the two giant objects colliding passionately to a distance of several hundred meters.

He cleared a sufficiently large battlefield for himself and the Fourth Raikage.

Then Xia Zuo took a deep breath, using his body as the skeleton, his skin as the outer layer, and his chakra as the filling, to form the most perfect human elixir.

Then, all the chakra in the body continued to flow into the Great Dan, quickly condensing into a point that seemed both real and illusory.

This is the general outline of the Dugu Nine Swords, which, as Feng Qingyang explained, is about anticipating the enemy's moves and how to achieve that anticipation and strike first after the enemy has moved.

By converging all the body's power into a sphere, forming a human elixir, and then subjecting it to extreme compression, the body's senses can be heightened to their limit.

You can sense all the changes in your surroundings just by looking at the pores on your skin.

At the same time, the human body's dantian, once compressed, is like a fully inflated basketball, ready to open its valves and unleash astonishing power at any moment.

This burst of power can have many effects, allowing ninjutsu to unleash several times its power, enabling ninjas to unleash several times their speed and strength, and even allowing ninjas to unleash their mental burst to dispel the effects of genjutsu.

But the most important improvement is in speed.

Even after his internal energy was completely depleted, Linghu Chong was still able to use the "Breaking Arrow Style," unleashing 30 sword strikes in an instant, blinding all 15 enemies.

Fifteen martial arts masters were unable to react in time; that's incredible speed.