Arashi watched Torifū, who was surrounded by towering crystal pillars and clusters that resembled blooming flowers. He thought, 'This is like a third Kekkei Genkai, isn't it? Are all Konoha Village ninja this powerful?'
As Arashi stood there, momentarily stunned, the crystal pillars behind Torifū shattered with a roar, twisting and coalescing in the air into two massive crystal dragons! They let out ferocious roars, their mere sonic waves causing cracks to appear in the ice. Then, like lightning, they surged towards Arashi !
Arashi knew this battle was unavoidable; he had started it himself, so there was no turning back. From the looks of it, even if he didn't die, he would be severely injured. He had to proceed with extreme caution. In an instant, the two crystal dragons were upon Arashi . Their sharp claws reached out, threatening to tear him in two if they connected. Fortunately, Arashi 's reactions were swift, and he narrowly dodged the attack. The dragon claws missed, striking the ice surface and instantly creating a large crater, sending water splashing everywhere. The surrounding ice also fractured and nearly shattered, providing Arashi an opportunity to retaliate.
He kicked the cracking ice, planting his feet firmly, and swiftly wove hand signs.
"Water Release: Thorn Forest!"
Almost instantly! Giant thorn vines erupted from the black water's surface! The thorns alone were as thick as an adult's wrist! Countless thorn vines intertwined in a complex web, completely sealing off the air around Arashi ! The remaining vines restrained the crystal dragons' movements. Being vines formed from flowing water, they couldn't be torn apart or escaped from. Even with brute force, the crystal dragons couldn't break through this thorn forest. Though the crystal dragons could fly, many thorns still gripped their claws and tails, leaving them to struggle in the air.
Seeing this, Torifū immediately dispelled the crystal dragons! They shattered into countless crystal fragments that scattered towards Arashi ! Each fragment was like a sharp blade, capable of easily taking a life. Arashi manipulated the flowing water thorns, attempting to engulf the crystal fragments and mitigate this crisis. But at the crucial moment, Torifū used Ice Release again, freezing the entire lake, along with the flowing water thorns, in mid-air! The thorns, now ice, lost their fluidity and were easily shattered by the crystal fragments, which continued to hurtle towards Arashi.
This was a case of having one's plans to cause trouble for others backfire. Arashi didn't panic. He immediately retreated from the area with several great leaps. However, the range of the crystal fragments was wide; even if he left the main target zone, he certainly couldn't escape the peripheral range.
"Wind Release: Falling Wind Bullet!" Wind bullets continuously erupted from Arashi's mouth like a machine gun. Each one precisely struck a crystal fragment until all the fragments were shattered, then he redirected his aim towards Torifū on the opposite bank. The wind bullets were incredibly fast, reaching Torifū in the blink of an eye. Yet, Torifū remained seated on his throne, without a hint of panic. One hand propped his head, while the other extended, holding a cloud orb formed from pure white cloud vapor. It was the same technique he used to absorb the red mist in Hell Valley.
"Cloud Release: Cloud-Scattering Vanishing Technique"
Torifū smiled, and the cloud orb in his hand suddenly erupted with enormous suction! The entire forest instantly became a maelstrom of flying sand and stones! The rocks and trees that Arashi had just shattered all converged towards Torifū! At this moment, Torifū seemed to have become the eye of a storm; no movable object could escape the cloud orb's pull! It continued until even the clouds in the sky were pulled down! A line of clouds stretched directly from the sky to Torifū's palm!
However, no one could truly appreciate this spectacular sight. Arashi was currently struggling to maintain his footing. He was also constantly dodging the surrounding trees and boulders, yet he continued to move inexorably towards Torifū. The reason was the ice surface beneath his feet, which was being pulled by the cloud orb in Torifū's hand, rapidly drawing Arashi closer to Torifū. Whether it was trees or boulders, anything that came within a meter of Torifū's body would be twisted into sand-like particles and sucked into the cloud orb. As for the ultimate result, even Torifū wasn't entirely sure.
Arashi couldn't escape by jumping; in fact, if he left the ice surface by even an inch, he would immediately be sucked away. He was currently using his chakra to firmly stick his feet to the ice. But this method couldn't guarantee his safety, as he was getting closer and closer to Torifū. Only about two hundred meters away. He could already see the distortion at the very front of the ice and Torifū's calm, composed smile. 'Is this person truly not Senju Hashirama in disguise? Wasn't Hashirama Senju supposed to be the God of Shinobi? Then what is this person?'
Arashi looked behind him. Although the lake's ice layer had been sucked away, the water surface had only stirred into ripples. Seeing this, Arashi's heart felt a sudden calm. He performed hand signs at the fastest speed of his life for a Earth Release ninjutsu he rarely used. As the hand signs concluded, his hand transformed into a giant stone hammer. He smashed the ice surface, shattering it, and landed firmly on the water. Indeed! His body immediately stabilized. Although the suction still existed, at least for now, his life was not in immediate danger.
Gradually, the objects that could be attracted became fewer and fewer. Aside from some tree branches and sand, there were no other particularly large items left. Arashi looked around; the trees and land he had just destroyed had vanished. It seemed they had all been sucked into that strange white orb!
Suddenly! The suction stopped in an instant! The leaves and sand flying in the air lost their pull and all fell. This left Arashi covered in dust. After being pulled for so long, it finally stopped. However, looking at Torifū's relaxed demeanor, it didn't seem like his chakra had been depleted; rather, he had intentionally stopped. Unlike in Hell Valley, this time the cloud orb, despite absorbing so much, remained small and didn't grow significantly. Torifū weighed it in his hand, feeling no discernible weight, then tossed it into the air and casually dispelled it. The cloud orb transformed into a wisp of clear cloud and vanished.
Arashi's back felt a chill at this sight. So much was contained within that cloud orb, and it had simply vanished. Did that mean everything inside had also been annihilated? If he had truly been sucked in earlier, he might not be in this world anymore. He was fortunate that he had evacuated his clansmen before coming out to confront Torifū. Otherwise, with that power, his clansmen certainly wouldn't have escaped, and some might even have been killed by his own forbidden jutsu.