Chapter 56: Chapter 56
"I really did get careless there. I should’ve dodged instead of taking it head-on."
Jiraiya held his face, looking genuinely depressed.
"I knew he was strong, but I didn’t think he’d pushed his taijutsu that far."
Then his expression darkened even further. "And the brat has absolutely no respect for his elders! Cheap-shotting a respected ninja like me? Shameless! He’s completely shameless."
Crack.
At the bottom of the huge crater in front of him, Kiriya pushed himself upright from the dirt.
He was covered in dust from head to toe, looking every bit as miserable as Jiraiya felt.
"Lord Jiraiya," he said with a bitter smile, "I’m pretty sure I’m the one who came out of that looking worse."
As he spoke, his thoughts drifted back to the fight that had just taken place.
...
"Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit—open!"
Kiriya’s skin flushed a deep red, and a faint green light wrapped around his body.
Violent streams of chakra churned around him like a storm as he charged straight toward Jiraiya.
His speed was so absurd that even Jiraiya failed to react in time.
All the Sannin saw was a blur crossing his vision.
Then a fist crashed into his face, and his entire body shot backward like a cannonball.
Crash, crack, crack!
Jiraiya tore through more than a dozen trees in a row before finally smashing into a cliff wall, blasting out a deep crater in the rock.
His eyes rolled back until only the whites were showing, and for a moment, he looked like he was about to leave this world on the spot!
"Hm?"
Kiriya stared at the scene in a daze.
He lowered his head and looked at his own fist, suddenly not quite sure what to think.
"Holy shit... My punch is that strong now? I actually dropped Jiraiya with one hit?"
Splash.
Almost immediately, he realized something was wrong.
The "Jiraiya" lying in the crater slowly lost its shape, the body collapsing into a pile of wet mud.
"Earth Clone?"
Kiriya’s heart jumped.
The bad feeling came fast, and he immediately tried to leap away.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
But at that exact moment, dozens—no, nearly a hundred—white needles shot toward him from a distance, blanketing the area above him.
Kiriya sensed the danger coming from them and did not dare to be careless.
He threw several dozen punches in quick succession toward the rain of needles.
"Destructive Death: Disorder."
Boom, boom, boom!
A barrage of air cannons slammed into the white needles, scattering them in every direction and stopping them from becoming any real threat.
But because of that, Kiriya missed the best chance to escape.
The ground beneath his feet suddenly softened.
His body sank downward, and when he looked down, the solid earth under him had somehow turned into a muddy swamp.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld."
Jiraiya appeared from behind a nearby boulder.
Without giving Kiriya any time to breathe, he spat out a massive fireball, bright and heavy like a falling sun.
"Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet."
Kiriya’s legs were trapped in the mud, so dodging was no longer possible.
If he wanted out, he had to break through.
He released the chakra around his body in one violent burst, blasting the swampy mud away from him.
Then he kicked more than a dozen times toward the incoming fireball.
"Flowing Flash Crowd-Light."
His kicks carried twice the raw force of his punches, sending out air cannons with terrifying power.
Every single one smashed into Jiraiya’s giant fireball, blowing it apart until the flames scattered across the sky like fireworks.
’Damn, that taijutsu is brutal. How long has he even been training?’
Jiraiya was genuinely startled, but his hands did not slow for even a second.
By the time the thought passed through his mind, he had already finished another set of hand seals.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion’s Mane Jutsu."
In an instant, the long white hair behind Jiraiya stretched at an unbelievable speed, twisting into several fast-moving, snake-like tendrils that shot straight toward Kiriya.
’Bad!’
Kiriya immediately knew he was in trouble.
If that technique wrapped around him, the match would be as good as over.
He threw himself into the counterattack without hesitation.
Bang, bang, bang!
His fists blurred into afterimages, hammering into the white hair charging toward him.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The thick bundles of hair were knocked wildly back and forth by the force of his punches.
Wherever they swept past, hard stone and thick trees were sliced cleanly in two.
"Not bad at all! You actually managed to push the Eight Gates this far. Looks like I underestimated you."
The smile on Jiraiya’s face grew wider.
That was how it should be!
The stronger the younger generation became, the safer the village would be.
A future carried by kids like this would be a brighter one.
"But right now, I still need to teach you a lesson."
A mischievous, not-at-all-kind smile curved across Jiraiya’s lips.
"Kid, shinobi battles aren’t just about charging straight in and trading blows."
Kiriya was in the middle of matching his steel-hard fists against Jiraiya’s Wild Lion’s Mane Jutsu.
Just as the fight was becoming satisfying, his foot suddenly slipped, and his whole body lost balance.
"What now?"
His eyes flicked downward.
The moment he saw the mud beneath him, curses filled his mind.
’This old bastard tricked me again?’
He had barely finished swearing inwardly when several white braids shot in and wrapped tightly around his arms and legs.
Even with the Fifth Gate open, no matter how hard Kiriya struggled, the hair did not budge.
It was ridiculously tough, holding him in place like iron chains.
"Checkmate."
Jiraiya walked over with a broad smile, looking at Kiriya’s openly annoyed face as if he were enjoying himself far too much.
"Your taijutsu is impressive, kid, but if you want to beat me, you’re still a hundred years too early!"
Kiriya’s expression suddenly changed, taking on a strange calm.
"Is that so? I wouldn’t be so sure."
Almost the instant he spoke, countless sharp wooden spikes burst out from his body.
They tore through the hair binding him, shredding it apart, and several of the spikes shot forward like launched spears, stabbing straight toward Jiraiya’s chest.
Pchh!
The wooden spikes pierced straight through Jiraiya’s body, making him stiffen on the spot.
"Not bad, kid. You let me get close on purpose, didn’t you?"
"All’s fair in war," Kiriya said with a grin.
"You’re right. All’s fair in war."
Jiraiya laughed as well.
"Remember that properly, kid! On the battlefield, that lesson might save your life."
Kiriya froze.
Not because Jiraiya’s advice had moved him or made him think deeply about anything.
His body had stopped moving.
’My body... is pinned?’
Then he remembered.
Jiraiya had a technique that could manipulate a person’s movements through their shadow.
’Damn it. I walked right into that.’
Kiriya smiled bitterly.
He watched Jiraiya crack his knuckles and approach him with a terrifyingly cheerful grin. The corner of Kiriya’s mouth twitched, and he forced out a weak smile.
"Um... can we avoid the face?"
"What do you think?"
And then came a heartfelt beating.
A friendship-powered face-breaking fist.
A personality-correcting fist.
A respect-your-elders fist.
By the time Jiraiya was done, Kiriya had gained a very deep, very personal understanding of what people meant by "tough love."
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