I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 542 Some abilities and talents tend to age faster than age itself.

If you asked Onoki to rate them, the Flying Thunder God Ninja would definitely be in the top three most troublesome, because the Flying Thunder God Ninja's strength lies not only in their ability to move freely through space-time ninjutsu.

Furthermore, every ninja who popularized the Flying Thunder God Technique was an extremely swift ninja, able to traverse different spaces and seize new opportunities to attack in an instant.

With that kind of reaction ability, even without the Flying Thunder God Technique, they would be an extremely difficult opponent. And when the two are combined, the level of terror is far more than just one plus one.

Ōnoki never actually fought Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage who developed the Flying Thunder God Technique, but he did fight Minato, and more than once.

Each time, Minato left a deep impression on him, especially more than half a year ago when news of Tatsuma's victory came from the Land of Lightning, and the Konoha ninja launched a massive counterattack.

Just a hair's breadth away, really just a hair's breadth away, Minato Namikaze was about to reach Onoki's side with the kunai that was right next to him. It can be said that Minato was the first ninja after Madara Uchiha to pose a life-threatening threat to Onoki.

Fortunately, he was experienced enough that he used Dust Release to destroy the Flying Thunder God Kunai in an instant. If he hadn't been so decisive, a golden flash might have appeared before his eyes.

This was just one threat posed by a Flying Thunder God ninja to Onoki, but now there are two in front of him.

Watching the two work together seamlessly, the distance between them was bridged in an instant, and sweat beaded on Onoki's forehead and strawberry nose.

If Minato gets close, Onoki can still fight for his life. After all, apart from agility, Onoki believes that his strength can completely surround Minato, and his experience is enough to make up for his lack of agility.

However, when Sakamoto Tatsuma got close, the monstrous strength from the Senju clan, and perhaps the Boiling Release technique he learned from Han, one punch from him was enough to take a toll on his old bones.

As Onoki pondered, the distance between him and Tatsuma was less than twenty meters. In his field of vision, several silver-gray shadows flew out from the two flashes of gold and silver that hadn't even fully formed yet.

Those were Flying Thunder God kunai, several of them blocking all of Onoki's paths. Moreover, no matter which kunai he chose to attack, Tatsuma and Minato could launch an attack from a direction he couldn't reach.

"Earth Release! Rock Clone!"

Onoki quickly formed hand seals, and five earth clones rapidly condensed, rushing towards the left, right, top, bottom, and rear of Onoki's main body to intercept the flying Flying Thunder God Kunai. Meanwhile, his main body clasped his hands together and then opened his palms.

"Dust Release! Pseudo-World Detachment Technique!"

A square, semi-transparent chakra box appeared, which rapidly expanded after being pushed by Onoki. Two flashes of gold and silver appeared in front of the box, about to be swallowed up.

"Bang!"

Amid the explosion, Onoki's face darkened, and his eyes darted left and right rapidly. Even in the blink of an eye, the two switched places, reclaiming the Flying Thunder God Kunai that had been blocked by his Rock Clone and defeating the clone.

"Whoosh~"

The two kunai that had been stolen were now being shot at Onoki again. Onoki swallowed hard, his hands constantly forming hand seals.

"Earth Release: Super Weight Rock Technique!"

The moment the hand seals were completed, two kunai were close at hand. Onoki was glad that after returning, he had not forgotten the threat that Minato had posed to him, but had instead studied it seriously.

He stretched out his hands and brushed them away from the two flying kunai. A golden flash appeared before his eyes, followed by a glowing chakra ball that hurtled toward his face.

"This is the second stage of Flying Thunder God Technique! Ah!"

Minato, who was about to unleash a stylish Flying Thunder God Technique Second Stage, suddenly sank as he gripped his "Sword of Love and Resentment." The Rasengan that was originally aimed at Onoki's face could only graz Onoki's foot.

He breathed a sigh of relief. This operation was too extreme. When Minato appeared, Onoki didn't even have time to react. If... if he hadn't used the Super Weight Rock Technique on the two Flying Thunder God Kunai, Minato's attack would have definitely hit him in the face.

But what about Sakamoto Tatsuma? Why didn't he choose to attack?

As Onoki looked on in confusion, his eyes darted around, but in an instant, they nearly popped out of their sockets, because...

Chenma stood in the air.

"Rat-a-tat-tat~"

A sound like a propeller came from Tatsuma's direction, and the almost invisible chakra wings made Tatsuma float in the air.

"Tsk tsk tsk~"

He watched as Minato, halfway down the fall, finally realized he had let go and moved to another Flying Thunder God node. That kid... all he thought about during the battle was showing off; sure enough, his day of failure had arrived.

Then, Tatsuma looked up at Onoki and asked with a smile, "Surprised?"

Am I surprised to see you?

Onoki roared inwardly. His only advantage against Sakamoto Tatsuma and Namikaze Minato was his ability to fly, but when did Sakamoto Tatsuma learn to fly? Why hadn't anyone told him?!

Is this kind of chakra from the Seven-Tails?

Onoki's gaze toward Tatsuma instantly turned scrutinizing. He suspected that Tatsuma had sealed the Seven-Tails into his body, meaning that Sakamoto Tatsuma had taken away the tailed beasts from other ninja villages.

If they were to go back and take action, Konoha would once again become the target of public criticism.

But Tatsuma seemed to see right through him, and said, "Do you think I would do something like plundering tailed beasts from other villages?"

If Tatsuma dared to say that, it meant he hadn't plundered the tailed beasts from other villages, which meant his moral high ground was gone. Onoki snorted unhappily but didn't dare to speak.

Because once he starts talking, his attention gets distracted. He's no longer a young man in his twenties, and he can only concentrate for a few hours a day. He's also lost the ability to multitask.

These are all other aspects of decline brought about by aging; after all, he is already an old man who is about to turn sixty.

However, even without saying a word, Onoki knew how difficult Tatsuma was to deal with now. The loss of airspace control meant that his home advantage had vanished.

As for Tatsuma's other strengths, it must be admitted that Onoki didn't have much confidence in him.

Tatsuma defeated the Kazekage and Raikage in succession, and it's said that he also made the Mizukage look quite bad before. In addition, considering his record of fighting against many tailed beasts, Onoki doesn't think he can be better than Tatsuma.

He even knew he couldn't reach Tatsuma's level, which meant that Tatsuma was stronger than him.

No, it's not hopeless. Besides flying and Dust Release, I also have Earth Release, which is unparalleled in the ninja world!

His Earth Release technique is no less powerful than any of Tatsuma's techniques, and the key is that lightning counters earth. This young man from Konoha has never shown his lightning release technique since his debut.

As long as he possesses Earth Escape Technique, he will still have the ability to maneuver.

Having figured this out, Onoki felt much more at ease. Now, his biggest worry was Tatsuma's Flying Thunder God Technique, or perhaps Minato Namikaze, who might suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Seeing that Onoki had actually regained some confidence, Tatsuma was a little curious about the source of the old man's confidence.

There's no need to overthink it; Onoki will eventually show up anyway.

Tatsuma clasped his hands together, and the natural energy in the air surged toward his body. However, without the aid of Wood Release, his absorption of natural energy was slowed down considerably.

"Earth Release: Rock Gun!"

Seizing the opportunity, Onoki unleashed a barrage of rocks and soil, even more powerful than steel cannonballs, hurtling towards Tatsuma.

The winged Tatsuma was as agile as a fish swimming in water. In his nimble movements, apart from a rock cannon tearing through his clothes on his left shoulder and leaving a barely visible wound, he accomplished nothing else.

This is the agility that Onoki hates in the Flying Thunder God Ninja. He can even tell that the moment Onoki fired his Rock Cannon, Tatsuma had already predicted the trajectory of the attack and the route of the mountain wall.

If it weren't for a piece of rock iron cannon that suddenly flipped over in mid-air, Tatsuma wouldn't even have suffered a scrape.

"hateful."

Onoki gritted his teeth, clearly troubled by Tatsuma's slippery nature. He clasped his hands together and opened them again, revealing another chakra box.

"Dust Release! Limit Break Technique!"

The chakra box expanded instantly, and a hint of surprise flashed in Tatsuma's eyes. He didn't expect Onoki to unleash such a powerful attack without warning.

The range and destructive power of the Boundary Detachment Technique are much greater than those of the Primal Boundary Detachment Technique. At Tatsuma's current flying speed, he has no chance of dodging it.

His clasped hands instantly changed their mudra.

"Wood Release: Wood Escape Technique!"

Tatsuma kicked off his "old" body, changing his direction and narrowly avoiding the range of the Limit Separation Technique. The abandoned "clone" was then enveloped in a chakra box.

"Boom! Rumble rumble~"

The Wood Release clone left no trace, and Tatsuma couldn't help but look horrified. Even with his current physique, he couldn't withstand such destructive power.

Fortunately, they managed to escape.

And the moment he was certain he was free, Tatsuma clasped his hands together again.

Looking at Tatsuma, whose face was covered in "sweat" and whose fear had not subsided, Onoki felt a little smug. As expected, he was still the senior. No matter how strong Tatsuma was, he was almost killed by him.

This moment of smugness made him briefly forget that his technique hadn't actually hit Tatsuma. Instead, he smiled, looked at Tatsuma's groin, and asked:

"Did you wet your pants in fear? You're all sweaty, which really ruins the image of the White Demon."

Chenma had regained his calm expression and raised an eyebrow. This old guy... must have some misunderstanding? His "sweat" wasn't from being scared, but from the backlash of the Wet Bone Forest Immortal Technique caused by the imbalance of energy.

However, he has now settled down.

"Put-put-put"

The flapping sound of wings grew fainter and fainter, and Tatsuma's wings disappeared, yet he didn't fall. Onoki was stunned, then looked at Tatsuma's face and said, "Sage Mode?!"

Tatsuma nodded, took out a Flying Thunder God kunai inscribed with "Sword of Shinobi and Love," and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, would you like to witness the Wood Release technique, which has been absent for decades?"

As he spoke, he gently tossed the Flying Thunder God Kunai upwards. Onoki immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked down and saw a golden flash rush into the Iwa ninja formation.

The next instant, gold and silver flashes alternated.

"Flying Thunder God Technique! Instant Return Technique!"

(End of this chapter)