"Divine Virtue: Piercing Sky!"
The golden bird-man circled mid-air, then dove downward, its body wrapped in compressed hurricane-force winds.
The air along the way seemed to come alive, not only failing to become resistance but even in turn further increasing the bird-man's speed.
After mastering the power of Garuda, Karin seemed more inclined to develop the fruit's abilities, rather than focusing so much on learning ninjutsu. This was also a choice; one couldn't say Karin was abandoning the basics for the trivial.
At least now, Karin had developed several moves based on Garuda's power.
The 'compressed air cannon' attack like this was one of them.
Compared to using large-scale hardened feather attacks, the air cannon was faster and more focused in damage.
Below, Sasuke, who had transformed into the human-beast form, stared intently at Karin above, seemingly searching for some opening.
The next moment, towering flames swept toward the sky.
The scorching waves of fire seemed to distort the surrounding air.
That wasn't entirely the Calamity Flames accompanying the Huodou.
After Naruto's advice, Sasuke also realized that the true use of [Calamity Flames] shouldn't be limited to direct damage.
It was more about 'enhancing' himself and other released flames.
Huodou is a mystical beast born to devour and manipulate flames.
After obtaining this transformation, even the power of Sasuke's Fire Release Ninjutsu greatly increased.
Not only did the temperature and damage range improve, but the hand seals for the techniques could also be shortened.
Previously, completing the full hand seals was needed to release the Great Fireball technique, but now, it could be done with a clap of hands.
At the same time, the Calamity Flames could merge with the flames created by those Ninjutsu, forming an even more destructive black sea of fire.
It could not only burn the body but also destroy the spirit… of course, the premise was being able to make contact with the enemy.
"Naive!"
The flames were swept to the other side by the violent airflow before they could near Garuda's body.
The overwhelming fire seemed to have failed to harm Karin at all.
"Huh?"
But in the end, she still lacked combat experience.
When Karin broke through the layer of flame, the air blast directly carved a deep hole in the ground, but she didn't see the figure of her opponent.
Bang!
A giant claw wreathed in flames struck Karin directly.
Fortunately, she reacted in time, hardening the feathers of her wings to block in front of her.
Even so, she could still feel a wave of force passing through her body's surface into her insides, vibrating her internal organs.
At the same time, memories of being enslaved in Kusagakure uncontrollably surfaced in her mind.
Karin did indeed have a brief moment of distraction, but then the figure who had saved her from the mire replaced all the past misfortunes.
Her consciousness quickly recovered, and then she opened her mouth and let out a loud roar.
"I'm not who I used to be!"
This roar wasn't just a declaration of her resolve… it was also one of Garuda's attack methods.
[Great Fullness: Thunder Cry]
The almost substantial sonic boom impacted Sasuke at such close range. Even in his Huodou Form, he couldn't resist the backward thrust.
At the same time, the sound seemed to have some kind of mental damage. Unfortunately, Sasuke, in his Huodou Form, already possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Although not fully matured, his mental defense had improved greatly, so this level of 'Genjutsu attack' couldn't affect him at all.
Of course, Karin hadn't planned on that from the start.
[As One Wishes]
A gentle breeze lifted Karin's body. With just a light flap of her wings, she reopened the distance, immediately followed by another barrage of feather shots like a rain of pear blossoms.
Sasuke also didn't hold back. [Karma] further enhanced his physical abilities. He didn't even intend to defend, leaping up from the ground fiercely, aiming to forcefully pull Karin down.
The sparring between the two had long surpassed the range of 'practice'. Luckily, the place they were now was devoid of people for tens of miles around, otherwise, just the aftershocks of the battle would be a big problem.
Sparring sessions like this had happened many times since they left the curry shop.
Naruto and Jiraiya were already used to it.
At this very moment, one of them was busy grilling meat, while the other was scribbling something in a notebook, seemingly struck by inspiration.
"Hey… that's enough fighting for now. Come down and eat. We still have to get going-"
After saying this, Naruto turned his head to the side and began reading the new work Jiraiya had just created.
It can be said that he is having a zero-distance updates.
'Hmm... the literary quality is as high as ever.'
The two continued to fight for a while longer. Even without a life-or-death struggle, Sasuke still held the upper hand.
After all, he had received combat training since childhood, and his ability to handle various situations in battle far surpassed Karin's.
Although Karin was also very diligent, over a decade of learning experience couldn't be caught up in just a month.
After several rounds of sparring, the 'arrogance' she had developed after gaining her abilities was finally knocked back down to size.
This was precisely why Naruto allowed them to fight each other.
In the next phase, Naruto planned to teach Sasuke the Marine's Rokushiki, Fish-Man Karate, and other techniques to ensure he could hold his own against aerial units or in water combat.
Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't seem very interested in swordsmanship.
When Naruto had previously demonstrated overwhelming power, he had used fist techniques.
Combined with Sasuke's significantly enhanced physical abilities, this led Sasuke to prefer fist-to-fist, meat-to-meat combat, rather than techniques that relied on weapons like swordsmanship.
As for Karin, it was about time to schedule training in Haki.
With her Garuda Form, she could fully withstand Naruto's hellish training regimen.
In this regard, Naruto always believed in equality between men and women… he wouldn't give her any special treatment.
After the meal, the group continued their journey.
Along the way, they encountered mountain bandits, bounty hunters, and other such troublemakers, all of whom Naruto handed over to Karin to deal with.
Finally, as the sky began to darken, they reached a small town.
After booking rooms, the group headed to the local hot springs.
-Though not as renowned as those in the Land of Hot Water, the hot springs here were still quite famous within the Land of Fire. At the very least, Naruto and the others found them quite pleasant.
This time, Karin didn't encounter any awkward situations and was finally able to enjoy the hot springs in peace.
In the men's hot springs, Sasuke, Naruto, and Jiraiya relaxed their bodies, baring it all in the water.
Even Sasuke wasn't shy in this environment… after all, they were all guys, no one had anything the others didn't.
"You know, I once even with Minato... Haha, no need to look at me like that. This size is perfectly normal."
Jiraiya seemed to want to fetch some sake and stood up from the water.
He didn't stop talking, but then he noticed Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously glancing at him.
He followed their gaze, then laughed proudly.
But as he laughed, Jiraiya gradually realized something was off.
He stopped laughing and looked down.
He looked at himself, then at Sasuke, and finally at Naruto.
When they emerged from the hot springs, Karin, Sasuke, and Naruto all looked relaxed. Only Jiraiya wore an expression of disbelief.
"It doesn't make sense… I can understand Naruto, but why does that brat also-"
He kept muttering to himself, unable to let it go.