Tobirama glared at Hashirama. "He's half my disciple too, alright! I deserve a lot of credit!"
While the two were still bickering, Torifu made his move.
"Have you two finished transforming? You don't look all that impressive." He then added with a hint of mockery, "A shoddy imitation of the Nine-Tails won't amount to much."
Kinkaku and Ginkaku instantly flew into a rage! They had always prided themselves on possessing Nine-Tails' chakra! The entire Kumogakure admired them, yet in this brat's mouth, they were "shoddy" and "wouldn't amount to much"?
"Brat! You've successfully angered us! I'll make you die a horrible death!"
No sooner had Kinkaku and Ginkaku's words fallen than their massive bodies charged forward! Though they appeared bulky, their speed was incredibly swift! In a blink, they were right in front of Torifu! A huge palm slammed directly towards Torifu's face.
Torifu smiled calmly and leaped into the air! Only two ethereal and prolonged crane cries echoed from the sky! Then, thick white clouds suddenly surged forth, enveloping Torifu like a tornado! Clearly visible, two enormous cranes circled outside the white cloud tornado!
The entire area was filled with swirling sand and rocks due to the tornado. The shattered crystal lotuses from before were now swept up, forming a swirling blade storm in the air. However, these petty tricks had no effect on the already Tailed Beast-transformed Kinkaku and Ginkaku. They were like a mere tickle; the two brothers didn't even bother to dodge.
"Brat, is this all you've got? While it might have been decent before, it's utterly useless now!" Kinkaku shouted arrogantly, but Torifu, at the center of the vortex, gave no response.
Hashirama and Tobirama, who were observing the battle, didn't know what trick Torifu was playing, but they didn't intervene. They wanted to see just how much strength their disciple had been hiding.
But a moment later, the air in the entire area suddenly solidified! Then the entire white cloud tornado burst open with a roar! The cloud vapor instantly swept across the ground! Kinkaku and Ginkaku's eyes were also obscured by the white clouds. After taking a deep breath and blowing the clouds away, the person before them left them dumbfounded!
At this moment, black, feather-like markings appeared around Torifu's eyes, and his eyes had turned gold. His pure white hair was now mixed with golden strands! And most astonishingly, he had a pair of enormous wings on his back! They flapped up and down! Each flap stirred up a gust of strong wind. The tips of the white wings had a few black feathers, and they were the same size as Aokumo's and Ryūfū's wings.
"You! What kind of Ninjutsu is this!"
Unlike Kinkaku and Ginkaku's ugly figures, Torifu now resembled a deity, looking down from mid-air upon the two crude beasts. The contempt radiating from his golden eyes made Kinkaku and Ginkaku feel deeply uncomfortable.
"As expected of an uncultured nation; they don't even know of Sage Mode."
Kinkaku and Ginkaku immediately roared in response, "Nonsense! Of course, I know Sage Mode!"
"Kinkaku! Why waste words with him! Just kill him!"
Ginkaku leaped fiercely, soaring high into the air! He attempted to seize Torifu, who was in the air. Unfortunately, Torifu easily dodged him.
Kinkaku began to condense an orange-yellow chakra energy ball in his mouth, similar to a Tailed Beast Ball but not quite. The energy ball sprayed towards Torifu in the air like machine-gun fire, but Torifu, like a white crane, weaved and dodged in the sky, not once getting hit.
"Alright, it's my turn now."
Torifu clapped his hands, producing a crisp sound. "Sage Art! Winged Storm!"
The wings on Torifu's back suddenly glowed! Then countless feathers formed around his body and began to revolve around him! As Torifu pointed his hand towards Kinkaku and Ginkaku! The sky full of feathers all flew towards them!
The two brothers immediately defended, but these were no longer the crystal shards from before; these were genuine Sage Arts! Condensed from Sage Chakra. Even the Tailed Beast Cloak couldn't withstand them. Soon, the brothers were covered in cuts and bruises from the feathers, looking utterly miserable!
Seeing that they were at a disadvantage, the brothers exchanged a look. As true brothers, they instantly understood each other. Both 'Nine-Tails' simultaneously opened their huge mouths, and then a massive orange light orb formed. As the brothers continuously poured chakra into it, the light orb grew larger and larger, until its diameter exceeded two meters! Such a huge light orb was even a strain for the two brothers, but to kill this brat and to survive, they could only fight to the death!
"Die!"
With a roar from the Kin-Gin brothers! The light orb shot towards Torifu like a laser cannon! Its speed was incredibly fast, and the explosion from this Ninjutsu would surely cover a large area. Turning to flee might still expose them to the blast.
But the word "escape" didn't exist in Torifu's dictionary. He casually waved an arm, and a mass of cloud vapor condensed into a cloud sphere beside him, pushing against the light orb. The cloud sphere was almost half the size of the light orb, yet such a small sphere managed to block the light orb.
The collision of the two created a powerful shockwave. Although the cloud sphere was at a physical disadvantage, its power was not to be underestimated at all. The cloud sphere completely fended off the light orb's attack! The two remained locked in a stalemate, finally flying together into the high sky and exploding! The immense impact instantly scattered all the clouds Torifu had just generated. Fortunately, he was unharmed.
Torifu was fine, but the two brothers were soon in trouble. That last move had consumed a lot of their chakra; now, they could barely maintain their Tailed Beast Cloaks. Their insistence on not dispelling the Tailed Beast Cloak was just a show of bravado. This shinobi's power was something they had never seen before. People said Senju Hashirama was the God of Shinobi, but they had never met him. Yet, this young man had pushed them to such a state. Could it be that they were getting old?
Hashirama and Tobirama were both somewhat dumbfounded at this moment. They knew their disciple was hiding a bit of his strength, but they had no idea he was hiding this much! Tobirama felt like this was almost on par with him. Was this really just "a bit of hidden strength"?
"Nii-sama, tell me honestly, did you know about this?"
Hashirama shook his head. "This kid didn't tell anyone. This strength is truly impressive; he easily leaves Hiruzen and the others several leagues behind."
What surprised and puzzled Hashirama the most was that Torifu had even cultivated Sage Art, and succeeded! The feather-like black markings around his eyes were the best proof. But why did he have a pair of wings? And where did he cultivate this Sage Art? There didn't seem to be any holy lands associated with cranes in the ninja world?
Hashirama pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He'd have to ask him later. Since Torifu had already used Sage Mode, he probably had noticed them by now.
"Ginkaku, I'll hold him off for a bit; you use the chaos to escape!"
"No, Kinkaku! I'll hold him off! You run!"
Just as the two brothers were arguing incessantly, a voice came from the sky.
"If you ask me, neither of you brothers is going anywhere!"