---Third POV---
Minato noticed the situation and was about to step forward to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport it away.
Although consuming chakra before the battle wasn't ideal, letting this chakra sphere explode near Konoha would significantly impact morale.
"Let me handle this, Captain Minato."
Ryouma stopped Minato, who was about to take action, then drew Lostvayne and swung it casually.
"Full Counter!"
Minato had seen him use this technique many times, but he still couldn't understand its principles.
It seemed to defy the laws of physics. No matter the attack or its direction, Ryouma's technique would perfectly deflect it back.
It didn't even cost much chakra, or did it even cost anything?
Like now, the compressed chakra sphere from Chiyo entered the domain of his Full Counter and immediately rebounded at an even faster speed toward the three puppets.
Chiyo attempted to use the same method again, but Ryouma wasn't about to fall into the same trap twice.
He had used his Rikugan earlier and already figured it out.
The Three Jewels Suction Crushing severed the connection between his Rasenshuriken and himself by relying on some unknown sealing technique. That sealing technique had only succeeded in compressing the Rasenshuriken under extreme conditions.
Therefore, using a more powerful jutsu was naturally the most direct way to break through.
He sheathed Lostvayne and raised his left hand, once again gathering wind chakra. Simultaneously, Ryouma's right hand formed a simpler Rasengan.
But it wasn't going to stay simple for long.
Having always regarded Madara as a hypothetical enemy, he naturally kept some trump cards up his sleeve. And now he was about to use one of them.
Fiery chakra surged from within the Rasengan in his right hand. The originally azure Rasengan began to undergo a startling transformation.
The once clear and transparent light was gradually replaced by a blazing and violent red. This red wasn't an ordinary red but resembled molten lava churning from the depths of the earth.
The entire Rasengan became enveloped in this crimson hue, each thread of red light resembling a leaping fire dragon, extending outward with menacing energy that filled the air with a terrifying aura.
"Fire Release: Grand Flame Rasengan!"
To a layperson, it looked dramatic; to an expert, the intricate mechanism was clear.
Minato immediately recognized that this technique was based on maximizing the transformation of fire chakra before fusing it into the Rasengan. Even without witnessing its full power, the sheer complexity marked it as an S-rank jutsu.
As he suspected, the Grand Flame Rasengan's single-target destructive power surpassed even the Rasenshuriken.
However, this technique's debut lasted only a few seconds. Ryouma slammed it directly into the Rasenshuriken in his left hand.
This abrupt action caused both Minato and the surrounding ninjas to flinch.
Is this really okay? Won't it explode? This was the common thought running through everyone's minds.
As it turned out, not only did it not explode, but what came next would soon be the largest firework display they'd ever witnessed.
Fire and wind were natural partners.
The Grand Flame Rasengan blended seamlessly into the Rasenshuriken like a swallow returning to its nest. The blades of wind created by the Rasenshuriken ignited with intense flames.
The chakra surged violently. The crimson chakra completely enveloped the blue Rasenshuriken. Even the flames on the blades turned into a dark purple, radiating a destructive aura that sent shivers down everyone's spine.
On the sphere at the center of the Rasenshuriken, two cone-shaped spikes emerged, resembling volcanoes.
Ryouma had used this technique once before in a secret training ground shared with Rin. At that time, he had infused only a fraction, barely one percent, of the chakra he was using now.
Even then, the power of the technique had been terrifying.
Now, this was his second time using the technique, and the chakra infused was on a whole different level.
Ryouma hurled the spinning, top-like jutsu toward Chiyo.
"Burning Wind Explosion!"
The speed of the Burning Wind Explosion was comparable to, if not faster than, the Rasenshuriken.
It overtook the chakra sphere that Ryouma had previously deflected using Full Counter, consuming it in the process and growing even larger in size.
There wasn't a term like "spinning top" in the shinobi world.
To Chiyo and the Suna ninjas behind her, what hurtled toward them didn't look like a jutsu.
The sheer aura seemed as if it would dye the entire world dark purple. It looked like two volcanoes stacked on top of each other, crashing toward them.
Faced with the overwhelming visual spectacle of the Burning Wind Explosion, Chiyo knew it absolutely had to be stopped before it reached the Suna forces' formation.
The shinobi world might be filled with trickery and deceit, but its approach to ninjutsu development was straightforward. No flashy effects ever came with weak techniques.
When a jutsu looked impressive, it might not necessarily be overwhelmingly powerful. But if a jutsu looked both grand and overwhelming, there was no doubt, it would be devastatingly strong.
Having fought for Suna her entire life, Chiyo's wealth of experience allowed her to quickly decide.
She waved both hands, commanding all ten of the Chikamatsu Collection puppets to move into formation.
"Three Jewels Suction Crushing!"
This time, the technique was way stronger. Its immense suction power formed a black vortex within the wind domain, akin to a black hole.
In this state, the suction and sealing strength of the wind domain were several times greater than in the puppets' normal form.
Additionally, it gained the ability to absorb chakra and supply it to the user. Even if it couldn't immediately seal and compress whatever was within the wind domain, it could drain chakra over time to wear down the opponent.
With this dynamic of depleting the enemy and replenishing oneself, victory would be inevitable.
But no matter how perfect a jutsu seemed, it always had weaknesses. Overloading the Three Treasures Crushing came at an enormous cost.
This form inflicted irreparable damage to the puppet cores of the Chikamatsu Collection.
So now, the pinnacle of puppet techniques in ninja history was set to clash with Ryouma's most confident creation. What would the outcome be?
Under the gaze of all present, the black hole that consumed everything collided with the sun that burned all to ash.
Under the gaze of everyone.
The collision between the all-consuming black hole and the sun that burns everything.
Chiyo, disregarding all costs, activated the puppet mechanisms of the Chikamatsu Collection.
The powerful suction force absorbed the Burning Wind Explosion directly into the core of the wind zone.
Seeing Chiyo use her puppet techniques to block that terrifying attack, the Suna ninjas couldn't help but cheer excitedly.
"Excellent!"
"We've won!"
But Chiyo smelled something off—this was going too smoothly. Though she hated to admit it, Konoha truly deserved its reputation as a cradle of geniuses.
This Ryouma was the most talented ninja she had ever seen in the ninja world, more gifted even than the White Fang.
Could such a genius ninja's confident strike really be this simple?
With this doubt in her mind, her hands moved without hesitation. Her fingers danced nimbly and quickly.
In the moment the Three Jewels Suction Crushing captured the Burning Wind Explosion, she immediately activated the sealing mechanism embedded within the puppet system.
In Ryouma's eyes, he saw all of her defensive maneuvers, but they were ultimately meaningless.
The Burning Wind Explosion was not an ordinary jutsu.
Unlike the Rasenshuriken, which could compress chakra into a stable, shuriken-like form, the Burning Wind Explosion was an extremely unstable, high-intensity chakra aggregate.
The chakra within it constantly existed in a state of superimposed transformation.
Even when he threw it from his hand, all the chakra inside the Burning Wind Explosion remained under his control. In such a state, its trajectory was almost impossible to halt.
Just like the Rasenshuriken it had devoured earlier, most attacks could neither influence it nor force it to detonate prematurely.
There were only two conditions under which it could detonate: Ryouma actively relinquishing control of the internal chakra, or the situation currently unfolding.
Under Chiyo's control, the sealing arrays of the Three Jewels Suction Crushing rapidly materialized, coiling upwards like a serpent from the center of the wind zone.
Just as it had severed the connection between the Rasenshuriken and Ryouma earlier, it now severed the chakra link between him and the Burning Wind Explosion.
Crack!
Unlike the thunderous roar of the Rasenshuriken's explosion, there was only a sound like a bolt snapping.
In the instant the Burning Wind Explosion was wrapped by the sealing technique of the Three Jewels Suction Crushing, it released an intense light that dyed an area with a one-kilometer radius a deep purple.
A purple sun rose from the area confined by the wind zone where the Burning Wind Explosion had been trapped. Chiyo felt as if every cell in her body was flashing red alarms.
I'm going to die!
Only these three words flashed in her mind.
Her hands flung her puppets backward, abandoning the continuation of the Three Jewels Suction Crushing, and she swiftly retreated.
At the same time, she shouted loudly, "Scatter! Get away immediately! Move!"
This world could sometimes be full of irony.
The Suna ninjas, who had been celebrating Chiyo's overwhelming display just moments ago, were now scrambling to flee in every direction.
Each regretted not having been born with an extra leg.
Those further away still had time to lament, but the ones closest to the Burning Wind Explosion had already begun cursing their fates.
Around the dark purple sphere created by the Burning Wind Explosion, an even more violent suction force arose, stronger than the Three Jewels Suction Crushing unleashed by the Chikamatsu Collection.
Trees were uprooted, the ground began to collapse, and chunks of debris were pulled toward that purple sun.
Under this omnipresent gravity, the Suna ninjas who were frantically fleeing suddenly felt as if they were caught by an invisible giant hand, irresistibly being dragged step by step toward the purple sun.
"Dammit! If that's the case—Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
A Suna ninja, suspended mid-air under the pull of gravity, suppressed his fear and summoned the courage to launch an attack at the purple sun.
Encouraged by his bravery, the other Suna ninjas, who thought they were doomed, began to fight back with their techniques.
"Take this—Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
For those without long-range techniques, they affixed explosive tags to kunai and hurled them toward the source of the gravity. However, if the Burning Wind Explosion were so easily neutralized, Ryouma would not have used it as his trump card.
The Suna ninjas' counterattacks were futile.
The kunai and chakra blades they threw never even touched the purple sun. They melted mid-air into molten iron under its terrifying heat, not even causing a ripple.
That was the better outcome.
As for the various ranged ninjutsu, they not only failed to return but also had their chakra absorbed by the Burning Wind Explosion, causing the purple sun to visibly grow larger.
Now, there was truly no solution.
Within the range illuminated by the Burning Wind Explosion's dark purple glow, everything was drawn into the purple sun, consumed by its extreme heat, and reduced to ashes.
This was Ryouma's trump card.
It didn't explode violently, it simply burned silently.
Once caught by its gravity, it was as if the scythe of death had already been placed on your neck.
Chiyo controlled the Chikamatsu Collection, each puppet grabbing a Suna ninja, including herself. The moment she abandoned maintaining the Three Jewels Suction Crushing, she exerted all her strength to fling herself and the others as far away as possible.
After confirming that she had escaped the technique's range, she barely had time to catch her breath before pulling out a scroll and unfurling it on the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
With a burst of smoke, half a puppet appeared on the scroll.
This was the sealing scroll for the Chikamatsu Collection. Not only did it store various puppet components, but it also allowed the puppets to be summoned back remotely.
Now, with only half a puppet materializing, the outcome for the other puppets was obvious.
The few Suna ninjas she had managed to save showed terror on their faces. In their sight, those comrades who hadn't escaped the gravity's range were screaming as they were melted by the purple sun's intense heat.
"Chiyo-sama, they…"
Chiyo ignored the few Suna ninjas she had saved. She hadn't saved them for any special reason. It was just out of convenience, saving as many as she could.
This was only the first clash, and Suna had already suffered a severe blow. Fortunately, they still had reserves.
For now, stabilizing morale was the top priority.
Chiyo returned to the main body of the Suna ninja forces, issuing commands one after another.
"Change the direction of our advance. Avoid that technique ahead. Accelerate immediately and close in on the enemy. That jutsu doesn't distinguish between friend and foe."
"And also…"
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Burning Wind Explosion was inspired by...?
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