NARUTO: THE STRONGEST UZUMAKI

Between Oonoki's hands, positioned to form a small triangle with his fingers—thumbs touching at the base and index fingers meeting at the tips—a powerful Dust Style technique was being performed.

"Damn it..." Oonoki found himself frustrated as he felt his chakra rapidly depleting.

The substantial amount of chakra he had to channel was close to that of a Bijudama. It was easy to imagine how much chakra he had already spent by that point.

Even Tanaka found himself at a crossroads. Although he had a large reserve of MP, the amount consumed by the Kamehameha was exorbitant. After receiving the notification that the skill had leveled up to level 3, he simply diverted the attack toward the open sky, then immediately canceled his technique.

"Whoosh!"

The two attacks streaked across the sky like a bright beam of light.

"Sigh~"

Relieved, Oonoki also canceled his own attack. He didn't even mind the fact that his attack had been redirected into the sky.

As soon as the attacks were canceled, the vibrations in the air began to calm down.

However, it was now possible to see the landscape completely devastated by the impact of their blows. What was once a forested area now looked more like a barren soccer field, empty and desolate.

While reflecting, Oonoki spotted Tanaka flying toward him at great speed, enveloped by lightning.

"Don't underestimate me, boy!" Oonoki shouted, charging toward Tanaka.

Oonoki's hand was enveloped by Earth Style, transforming into a gigantic stone fist, while Tanaka's hands crackled with electricity, surrounded by a dense layer of lightning.

"Chidori!" Tanaka shouted as he attacked.

"Earth Style: Rock Fist Technique!"

"BANG!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

The sound of impact resounded, followed by Oonoki's scream as he retreated, terror plastered on his face.

'What kind of jutsu is that?' Oonoki wondered, clutching his right wrist, his fingers bloodied and injured.

Slowly, he began to descend. The moment his feet touched the ground, without taking his eyes off Tanaka, Oonoki performed a series of hand signs.

"Rock Clone Technique!"

In another moment, he would have created clones of himself, but wanting to conserve chakra, he made four clones from the ground. In an instant, the clones emerged from the earth—like zombies—and quickly lined up beside Oonoki.

"Dust Style!"

Oonoki's and his clones' voices echoed in unison, amplified by the combined effect, and soon after, they all fired the Dust Style.

In the air, Tanaka just smiled. Performing quick hand seals, five shadow clones appeared around him, and each one formed a blue spiral sphere in their hands.

"Rasengan!"

At Tanaka's command, all the clones launched their Rasengan at Oonoki.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Unlike the earlier confrontation with Oonoki, his attacks only caused disturbance and imbalance in Oonoki's Dust Style before stabilizing and heading toward him again. However, Tanaka didn't seem worried as the clones worked together to create several spherical shields around them in five layers.

"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The sound of breaking glass echoed as the shield layers shattered under Oonoki's attacks. However, the last one, reinforced by the clones, remained intact with only slight marks that quickly faded.

Raising his hand after testing the resilience of the Spiritual Shield, Tanaka created a dungeon again, causing him and his clones to vanish before Oonoki's eyes.

"Damn it... It's that strange technique again...!" Gritting his teeth, Oonoki became cautious once more, not wanting to be caught off guard in various ways. He instructed his clones to start condensing an attack with the Dust Style while looking in different directions, not wanting to be caught unaware.

Meanwhile, Tanaka, who had entered the zombie dungeon, made the clones distance themselves before the zombies began to appear while he conjured the Flaming Rasen-hariken.

Soon, a violent, flaming tornado was created in the center of his left hand. As it became more menacing, it floated higher into the air until, when the flaming tornado reached a height of 5 meters, he signaled to the clones, who promptly canceled the dungeon.

"God!"

Oonoki, feeling a tremendous pressure coming from the sky, looked up in shock.

A few days ago, he had heard about this attack. But seeing it in person, he had no time to prepare properly.

"So that's why he's nicknamed: The Red Devil – Tanaka Uzumaki!" Oonoki felt a growing rage and fear.

Of course, he didn't just stand there waiting without even trying to counterattack or escape.

"Don't underestimate me, boy!" Oonoki exclaimed, floating while using the Dust Style. He concentrated a large amount of chakra, forming a square with a sphere at the center, resembling a moon.

"I've heard that before..." Tanaka replied with a slight smile in a sarcastic tone, waving his hand dismissively. Internally, he wondered why this Kage's vocabulary seemed so limited.

"Flaming Rasen-hariken!"

At the drop of his words, the Flaming Rasen-hariken shot forward at high speed, growing in size to the point of doubling in size within seconds.

Seeing this and feeling the temperature rise to the point of starting to feel suffocating heat, Oonoki quickly canceled the clones, which turned to mud falling to the ground, and shouted, "Dust Style: Primitive World Detachment Technique!"

The moment he further expanded the Dust Style square with a sphere at the center, hurling it toward Tanaka's attack, Oonoki managed to concentrate even more chakra, causing his attack to grow larger and larger, reaching the size of a three-story house.

[You have gained 1 level in .]

An almost imperceptible smile crossed Tanaka's lips as he observed what appeared in his vision, while one of his parallel thoughts focused on countering Oonoki's Dust Style.

"Boom!"

The clash between the attacks began in an instant—no more than the blink of an eye. A blinding flash marked the impact, followed by disturbing sounds, reminiscent of thunder in a storm.

Crackling and dense sounds echoed as lightning exploded around the flaming hurricane. Oonoki's attack stirred the environment, further intensifying the electricity generated.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The power of the Dust Style, trying to pulverize the flaming hurricane, only made it more menacing. Whenever it seemed to weaken, Tanaka injected more chakra, increasing its level of danger. Cracks spread through the air, and wherever the hurricane passed, evident burn marks appeared.

Despite the chaos distorting sky and earth, both Tanaka and Oonoki remained impassive, showing no signs of panic or fear.

Oonoki, not underestimating the young opponent, pressed forward, remaining unperturbed even as he saw Tanaka's attack grow in power. He knew that, despite the increasing danger, it was also consuming Tanaka's chakra at an accelerated rate.