Otherwise, those three would've been reduced to nothing in an instant.
Being too strong was its own headache—apply just a bit too much force, and the enemy would vanish in a puff of smoke.
"This can't be!"
Seeing Kazama enveloped in a strange, mesmerizing flame, the three Kamizuru members stumbled back, drenched in cold sweat.
Even from several meters away, they could feel the blistering heat radiating from the Genkō-en. They knew that a single touch would burn them to ashes.
"You! Who are you?"
"How could a mere Konoha Genin have such insane power?!"
"Didn't I tell you my name from the start?"
"You… you're really that monstrous genius from Konoha, Sanada Kazama?"
"That's right!"
At Kazama's confirmation, the trio collapsed to the ground, trembling.
If it were anyone else, they might've mustered the courage to fight. But against Sanada Kazama? Forget fighting—escaping was out of the question. Their legs had turned to jelly, unable to move, as if they were stuck in mud.
"Yume no Tengiri!"
Kazama invoked the power of Jōren Yōka, casting the Nightmare Mist genjutsu on all three, hoping to extract Naruto's whereabouts from them.
But to his surprise, the trio only knew about their mission to destroy the Bikōchū. They had no clue where Naruto was.
"Damn it! Looks like we'll have to pin our hopes on the Bikōchū after all!"
Kazama turned the three into fire puppets with Jōren Yōka and stored them in his Kamui dimension before rushing to where Shino was searching for the Bikōchū.
"Any luck, Shino? Did you find it?"
"I found the Bikōchū, but…"
Shino handed Kazama the lifeless body of the insect.
"How did this happen?"
Kazama had sensed the Bikōchū was alive earlier, but now it was dead.
"Insects have short lifespans. We probably arrived just as its life ended," Shino explained, preparing to bury it. But Kazama stopped him.
"Let me bring it back to life."
"Kazama, I know you're crazy strong, but reviving an insect? That's impossible!"
Shino shook his head vigorously at Kazama's decision.
"Even our Aburame Clan can't revive insects. How could an outsider like you pull it off?"
"And if I do?"
Kazama infused a wisp of Seirei no En into the Bikōchū's body.
"My last attempt to show off flopped, but this time, I'm definitely gonna nail it. There's no way you can do this!"
Shino struck a confident pose.
"Sorry, Shino, your show-off just flopped again!"
As Kazama's words landed, the dead Bikōchū sprang back to life, fluttering around Shino as if mocking him.
"You… you actually have the power to bring things back to life?"
In Shino's eyes, Kazama was now nothing short of godlike.
"But why?! Why do my show-offs always fail?!"
Shino hung his head in despair.