The scorching heat caused beads of sweat to constantly drip from Torifu's face. And right then, Blaze tossed the fireball in her hand! Its target was precisely Torifu.
Torifu didn't continue the compression and immediately threw out the small ice sphere in his hand. He was afraid that if he was too close, even if he blocked the technique, he would be affected.
But when Blaze saw the ice sphere, she burst out laughing. "Kumotsuru Torifu, if you plan to give up resisting, there is no need to do it like this. Just say so. Why make such a ridiculous spectacle."
Blaze's expression was extremely playful, but she was only being verbally harsh. Torifu currently held the advantage, and she wasn't so foolish as to truly believe Torifu was going to surrender.
She was incredibly serious about facing Torifu. Since she had already failed once at Torifu's hands, she absolutely did not want to lose a second time!
Compared to the fireball, Torifu's ice sphere seemed incredibly tiny, but the moment the two collided, it did not result in a one-sided scene.
The tiny ice sphere actually managed to hold its own against the massive fireball.
Blaze coldly snorted at this point. "I knew it, you aren't that easy to deal with."
As the two ninjutsu collided, Blaze once again performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The two clones once again met the approaching Tsuchikage and the Kazekage.
The two of them felt quite helpless about this. "Damn it, she is determined not to let us help the Hokage."
"We can't help it. We must deal with the enemy in front of us first."
Torifu saw through Blaze's intention, and he no longer had any thought of rescuing the two again.
While the Kazekage and Tsuchikage couldn't defeat the clones with their strength, they wouldn't suffer any harm either.
If Torifu were to step in and kill the clones, she would likely just release them again. Doing so would be pointless other than wasting chakra.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ah, in the end, it's still a fight between the two of us."
Blaze gave a slight smile. "Of course. In the last war, so many people besieged just me. Your victory didn't prove anything. This time, it's just the two of us. I want to see who is truly stronger!"
The words fell, and the fireball and ice sphere exploded. With the two spheres at the center, Torifu's side was covered in a large amount of frost, while Blaze's side was consumed by raging flames.
At the same time, the ground was shaken into a large pit. In this collision, the two ninjutsu were evenly matched, making it impossible to tell who was stronger or weaker.
Following this, Blaze attacked again, continuously using Body Flicker to move toward Torifu while releasing a large number of fire bullets at him.
However, these flames were merely feints. Torifu waved his hand, and countless ice cones shot out, accurately hitting the fire bullets.
He himself drew his Crane Cry Sword and flew toward Blaze.
A single sword strike, accompanied by endless chill, met Blaze's fiery claws!
Ice and fire—for a moment, neither could overcome the other. This showed that their strengths were virtually identical, and any gap was imperceptible.
To break this deadlock, they would have to use other methods.
Once Torifu made his decision, he immediately carried it out. He wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible, after all, his wife was waiting for him back in the city.
Torifu increased his chakra output, forcing Blaze back with a sword strike!
Then, he quickly retreated and bit his finger. After a burst of smoke, two cranes appeared beside him.
Without any further words, Torifu immediately began the fusion for Sage Mode!
A large amount of cloud vapor suddenly appeared in the air, heavily enveloping him. The two cranes continuously circled the cloud sphere and screeched, finally diving into it.
Blaze, seeing this, immediately understood that he was going to use the move from before.
That was how she had been defeated back then. However, without the dark rain clouds this time, Torifu could only enter ordinary Sage Mode.
But Blaze did not want him to succeed so easily!
She roared as she charged toward the fusing Torifu, but a sudden appearance of massive golden chains blocked her way.
Blaze quickly retreated and looked up at the person blocking her.
"What is this thing? Why does it have no life aura?" Blaze was very confused. The blonde woman in the white robe before her had decent strength, but why wasn't she breathing?
Little did she know, this was a puppet controlled by Torifu, specifically for his protection.
While other puppets' techniques might be overpowered by Blaze, Sealing Jutsu was a technique she definitely could not easily break.
That was why Torifu chose the Uzumaki puppet. This was a puppet created using the blood of Uzumaki Mito, and it mastered all of her Sealing Jutsu.
Blaze was only confused for a few seconds before she charged toward the puppet again. Stopping Torifu from entering that strange mode was something she absolutely had to do. No one could stop her.
But when she reached mid-air again, the chains, like tentacles, swiftly attacked her.
No matter how she dodged, a chain was always blocking her path.
It prevented her from going anywhere.
Moreover, these chains were extremely tough; she had to expend a great deal of effort to snap them.
"Damn it, this Kumotsuru Torifu still has so many helpers!"
This Uzumaki puppet was inferior to Blaze in terms of strength, but its ninjutsu could buy Torifu a lot of time.
And just as the two were playing their chase game, Torifu completed the Sage Mode fusion.
With a shake of his wings, the cloud mist was immediately blown away by a sharp gale. Sage Mode Torifu appeared before Blaze.
"Hmm, you look the same as last time, just a different color."
Torifu smiled faintly upon hearing this. "But it should be enough to deal with you."
Sage Mode had not been used for many years, and now that he was fusing it again, Torifu felt no awkwardness with this power.
Entering Sage Mode also greatly enhanced his strength!
Blaze spat fiercely. "I want to see what kind of power you have."
Blaze leaped high into the air. Instantly, endless scorching flames surged from within her, heavily encasing her, like a cocoon.
A moment later, the cocoon shattered, and Blaze's appearance underwent a dramatic change.
A pair of wings condensed from fire were supporting her as she flew in the sky.
Her fiery red hair had truly transformed into flames, burning at the back of her head.
"A transformation, I can do that too!"
With Blaze's Eruption, the surrounding temperature suddenly rose. Torifu had to release cold air to counteract it.
Both of them had unleashed their strongest forms. This signaled that the final phase of this battle had begun.
To ensure her full power, Blaze recalled her two clones.
In her current state, she didn't need to worry about being harassed by those two "mosquitos."
The mere embers she emitted could burn them to ash.
Seeing that the clones restraining them were gone, the Tsuchikage and the Kazekage immediately rushed back to provide support.