But that wasn't the end of it. Who knew if there were any other secret entrances or exits in this vast valley? If these bandits were to slip away and flee to other mountain strongholds, even more people would suffer!
"Crystal Release - Crystal Burst Technique."
Torifū conjured an irregular crystal sphere in his palm, about the size of an adult's head. With a sudden forceful throw, he launched it into the sky above the valley, higher than the surrounding mountain walls.
"Explode!"
In an instant, the crystal sphere shattered and disappeared, the crisp sound of glass breaking echoing through the valley, putting the bandits on alert. However, after a while, when nothing seemed to happen, they dismissed it.
But the earlier Crystal Burst had already scattered crystal seeds into every corner on the outer side of the valley!
At this moment, Torifū was consuming a large amount of chakra, frantically urging the seeds to grow. This large-scale ninjutsu was a first for Torifū, and the chakra consumption was astonishing! He had already used up half of his total capacity.
However, the reward was also gratifying. Without anyone noticing, Torifū had completely enveloped the outer side of the entire valley with crystal vines. If he hadn't prepared enough crystal seeds beforehand, he probably wouldn't have a single drop of chakra left in his body now.
"The consumption is about as expected. I should hurry and recover. I'll leave the small fries to them for now."
Using so much chakra at once was a bit of a burden on Torifū's six-year-old body. To avoid affecting the subsequent battle, he had no choice but to rest in place and adjust his condition.
After about twenty minutes, Torifū stood up, dusted off his clothes, and walked towards the very center of the valley. That was the final battlefield!
Calling this place a bandit's den, it already looked no different from a small village. Perhaps the only difference was that these people were utterly wicked.
The further in he went, the more corpses and blood there were. They all seemed to have died instantly, very professionally. There were also some with more injuries, and without needing to ask, Torifū knew who had killed them.
Just as Torifū passed by a small hut, a sudden shout rang out.
"Your life is mine! Die!!"
A middle-aged man in tattered clothes swung a large, chipped blade at Torifū, a triumphant grin on his face.
Torifū merely glanced at him, then extended his left hand towards the bandit.
Instantly, a crystal vine shot out from Torifū's sleeve, tightly coiling around the bandit. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that this was different from the previous vines. At its tip was a snake's head with sharp fangs!
"Crystal Release - Crystal Venom."
The snake struck, sinking its fangs into the back of the man's neck and injecting deadly venom. His body rapidly crystallized from the bite upward. He didn't even have time to scream before his head turned to pure crystal.
The coiling vine was then retracted into Torifū's sleeve. This small fry wasn't worth using chakra on, but Torifū simply wanted to test the ninjutsu.
Speaking of which, the inspiration for this move came from Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands. Whether Orochimaru's strength was high or not was debatable, but his various life-saving ninjutsu were definitely the best in the ninja world. And Torifū had gained a lot of inspiration from Orochimaru.
For example, when fighting Naori, moving around in the crystal mirror was a reference to Orochimaru's Myriad Hidden Shadow Snake Hands. Using this snake vine in conjunction with the crystal venom was incredibly effective.
Without wasting any more time, Torifū continued towards the center after killing the bandit, intending to join Hiruzen and the others. He could already hear the sounds of fighting, and Torifū couldn't help but quicken his pace.
When Torifū reached the rendezvous point, the battle had already begun. Kagami and Danzō were facing the strongest of the five samurai. Hiruzen, Koharu, and Akimichi Torifū were dealing with two ninjas. Homura was fighting four samurai alone, but his fists couldn't contend with eight hands, forcing him to retreat while fighting. Because it was too dangerous, Naori wasn't there.
"Homura-aniki, I'll help you!"
"Crystal Release - Crystal Mirror, Crystal Release - Crystal Clone," two techniques activated simultaneously!
Two clone Torifūs emerged from the mirror, blocking two of the samurai, greatly reducing Homura's pressure.
"This is enough, I can handle two samurai! Go help Hiruzen!" Homura shouted.
Without hesitation, Torifū immediately moved. Everyone had a clear understanding of their own abilities and wouldn't act rashly at such a crucial moment.
On Hiruzen's side, the three of them couldn't completely suppress the two rogue Sunagakure ninjas, and the two rogue ninjas couldn't defeat Hiruzen and his team either. The situation had reached a stalemate. Fortunately, Torifū had arrived; it was time for a counterattack!
"Multi-Size Technique!" Akimichi Torifū seized the opportunity and enlarged his hand to an enormous size, swatting away Rōmaru, who specialized in Fire Release. Taking advantage of this, Hiruzen and Koharu began a fierce assault on Rōkin, who was skilled in Wind Release, successfully separating the two brothers! Without the support of their combined ninjutsu, the brothers were still very strong individually.
"Fire Release - Flame Barrage!"
Rōmaru rapidly formed hand seals, and then, like a machine gun, continuously spat out fireballs from his mouth! Although the power of each fireball was small, there were a lot of them!
Akimichi Torifū, enlarged by the Multi-Size Technique, undoubtedly became a living target, his hands continuously burned by the flames.
"Water Release - Water Formation Wall!"
Torifū expelled a large amount of water from his mouth, forming a defensive water wall in front of the two. Rōmaru's fireballs were quickly extinguished upon hitting the water wall, creating bursts of steam.
[T/N: Remember, when only Torifū is mentioned, it's our MC. When it's the other guy, I make sure to use his surname along with the name.]
"Damn it! This brat is proficient in Water Release. We have to kill him first!" Rōmaru roared, then instantly burst forward towards Torifū.
Akimichi Torifū used the Multi-Size Technique to make his entire body huge, clenched his fist, predicted Rōmaru's movements, and then slammed down a powerful punch. Just as it was about to hit, Rōmaru changed his course in time, barely escaping. Otherwise, even if he didn't die, he would be crippled.
Torifū smiled. From beginning to end, he hadn't taken a single step back, because he knew he had comrades who would protect each other.
Rōmaru's attack failed, and he had already missed his best opportunity. It would be almost impossible to launch a surprise attack again.
"Water Release - Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
The large amount of water released earlier through the Water Formation Wall swirled and gathered around Torifū, finally forming a ferocious water dragon! It charged towards Rōmaru!
"How does this brat know even this kind of ninjutsu?!" Rōmaru exclaimed in disbelief.
"Damn it! Fire Release - Raging Fire!"
Rōmaru took a deep breath and suddenly spewed forth a torrent of raging flames! The flames snaked forward like flowing water, quickly wrapping around the water dragon. Water and fire collided, erupting in a large cloud of steam, momentarily obscuring the situation on Torifū's side from everyone else.