As for the other two who were immobilized, Naruto, with a thought, directly had the shadows at their feet coil around their necks, strangling them to death.
Setsuna and Yitai were opponents Naruto had carefully selected for Hinata and Ino.
Yitai's Hardening Technique could test Hinata's mastery of Gentle Fist and hone its penetrative power.
Setsuna excelled at Wind Release, possessing high speed and agility, which also countered Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique.
To successfully defeat enemies, one must constantly refine oneself and improve from a tactical standpoint.
"Hinata, your Gentle Fist's penetrative power is growing stronger, but it lacks a bit of ferocity. If not for the Dragon Origin Chakra's boost, your Twin Lion Fists might not have shattered his rock armor."
"Actually, the power of Gentle Fist lies in its ability to attack internal organs. Why focus on sealing Chakra points? Directly attacking fragile organs would be more effective."
"Furthermore, since you've already mastered the Rasengan, you can completely apply the Chakra rotation principles of the Rasengan to your Gentle Fist, increasing its power."
Naruto, carrying Shion on his back, saw Hyuga Hinata and Ino Yamanaka return after defeating their enemies, and began an on-the-spot lesson.
There was praise, and also suggestions for improvement.
"Look at this move of mine, a simple palm strike combined with the power of Rasengan."
Naruto supported Shion's hip with one hand, and with the other, seemingly casually and gently pressed it against the trunk of a towering tree.
"Nothing seems to have happened," Shion asked, her beautiful eyes shimmering with curiosity and confusion.
Before her words finished,
A dull explosion, a 'boom,' came from behind the towering tree.
"Wha—what happened?" Shion asked, looking surprised. She squeezed Naruto's waist with her cool, smooth, long legs, signaling him to put her down. Then she walked around to the back of the giant tree, which would require seven or eight people to encircle, and was immediately dumbfounded.
She saw that the tree trunk, several times larger than a cartwheel, had a spherical pit the size of a millstone blasted into it.
The hard wood was polished smooth as a mirror, and concentric spiral patterns could be seen.
Hinata, who also walked around the tree, her lips slightly parted, blinked and looked at Naruto in surprise: "Naruto-kun, this destruction looks like it was caused by a Rasengan, but you clearly didn't use one."
Naruto nodded and said: "This is the effect of combining a Rasengan-like Chakra shape transformation with Gentle Fist. Its power is even greater than the Twin Lion Fists."
Hinata's Twin Lion Fists also seemed to incorporate Chakra shape transformation, but compared to Naruto's casual "Rasengan Gentle Fist," it was clearly far inferior.
If she learns Rasengan Gentle Fist, and later gets hit by Hinata—no, even a light graze would cause serious injury.
"Naruto-kun, you truly are the strongest!" Hinata clenched her fists, her bright eyes shining with admiration for Naruto.
"Rasengan Gentle Fist… hmm, let's call it that for now. It's quite difficult to learn, already an S-rank Taijutsu. Take your time learning it."
"Since you've now mastered the Rasengan and are proficient in Gentle Fist, truly mastering Rasengan Gentle Fist won't be a difficult task," Naruto said calmly.
Compared to Kurenai Yuhi, who slacked off and drank, or Kakashi, who read perverted books, he seemed more like a diligent and responsible teacher.
"What about me, what about me, Teacher Naruto~~~ Please teach me too~~~"
Ino Yamanaka also came closer, her golden ponytail swaying behind her head.
"You—" Naruto mused.
"After you develop Earth Release Chakra nature transformation, learn more Earth Release techniques to trap enemies. Also, learn Water Release Chakra nature transformation, as Earth Release is difficult to utilize if the battlefield is on the sea or rivers."
"As for mental secret techniques, your Yamanaka clan's secret techniques are sufficient. Combined with the Timed Explosive Tag Curse Seal I taught you, you'll basically be invincible."
Ino Yamanaka proudly put her hands on her hips: "So, that means I'm even more amazing!"
Shion looked at Hinata and Ino, who were similar in age to her, a hint of envy flashing in her eyes.
They were all so powerful, capable of defeating enemies, while she was weak and helpless, needing others to protect her.
After dealing with the troublesome quartet of Yomi's demons, Naruto and his group continued their journey, heading at full speed towards the ominous-smelling volcano deep within the Land of Swamps.
The closer they got to the volcano, the more pungent the sulfur smell in the air became, and the temperature gradually rose. More ghostly legion soldiers, summoned by evil forces, began to appear around them.
"There are too many!" Ino exclaimed, parrying an attacking earth soldier with a Kunai while using a mental shock to disrupt another. She continuously left Timed Explosive Tag Curse Seals, her face somewhat pale from the continuous fighting and the Chakra consumption of the Mind Body Switch Technique.
"Byakugan!" Hinata kept her Byakugan activated, precisely guiding them along the safest route and swiftly shattering approaching enemies with Gentle Fist.
"Three teams are converging on the left! There's an ambush behind the rock wall to the front right!"
"Stay close to me!"
"Just a bunch of rabble. I'll lead the way."
Naruto charged ahead. He didn't even use large-scale Ninjutsu, merely striking with simple punches and kicks. Each blow contained terrifying power, easily shattering any approaching ghostly soldiers into dust, with extremely high efficiency.
With Shion on his back, his movements showed no signs of slowing down.
"Shion, hold on tight." Shion clung to Naruto's back, her hands tightly gripping his clothes.
The shouts of battle and explosions around them were incessant, danger was everywhere, but for some reason, pressed against his broad, warm back, feeling the steady rhythm of his running and his immensely powerful aura, her fear was gradually replaced by a strange sense of security.
Naruto took a slight breath. Facing the overwhelming ghostly legion, he freed one arm, pulled back his fist, his arm muscles bulging, and then simply and forcefully unleashed a punch.
Evening Elephant!
Although it was only the Evening Elephant First Gate, its power was slightly inferior to Might Guy's Evening Elephant when he activated the Eight Gates Formation, but it was more than enough to destroy the ghostly legion.
"Boom—!"
A massive column of air, like a white elephant's foot, shot straight out from Naruto's fist.
The punch-pressure air cannon crushed the ghostly soldiers in its path, blasting them apart and sending them sprawling. It forcefully carved a bloody path through the surging ghostly legion, finally reaching the heart of the volcano—the ancient shrine emanating the most concentrated evil aura.
The shrine's main gate was already shattered, its barrier gone, and the interior was dark and deep, like the gaping maw of a giant beast.
A terrifying, heart-pounding energy fluctuation continuously emanated from within.
"It's in there—" Shion's voice trembled slightly.
On the way, she had fallen asleep on Naruto's back.
Then she had another premonition dream.
In the dream, she, Hinata, and Ino Yamanaka all died there.
The three rushed into the shrine, and the sight inside made their scalps tingle.
In the center of the shrine was a massive altar, and above the altar floated a constantly twisting, expanding dark purple energy mass—that was the partially unsealed physical body of the "!"