From Danmachi to God of Ninja

Chapter 67: Chapter 67

A sharp metallic clang rang out.

Kiriya stared at the sword blade caught in Kusui’s hand, his eyes widening despite himself.

She had caught his sword barehanded.

A casual swing from him could cut through stone with ease, yet when the blade struck her hand, it felt as if it had crashed into a thick slab of iron—no, something closer to forged steel that had been tempered a hundred times.

The blade could not push forward even an inch.

’Is it because of that Tailed Beast cloak?’

Kiriya’s gaze fell on the crimson shell wrapped around her body, and he immediately understood.

The Tailed Beast cloak was a protective layer formed from high-density chakra when a jinchūriki entered partial Tailed Beast Transformation.

It greatly boosted the jinchūriki’s speed, strength, and attack power, but more importantly, it had absurd defensive power.

In the original story, even Orochimaru’s Kusanagi Blade had failed to cut through Naruto’s Tailed Beast cloak in his four-tailed state.

That alone showed how ridiculous the thing’s defense was.

Kusui was only using the Six-Tails, but the sword in Kiriya’s hand was not exactly a divine weapon like the Kusanagi Blade either.

Those thoughts seemed long, but in reality, they flashed through his mind in an instant.

After catching Kiriya’s sword, Kusui yanked it hard toward herself.

Her right hand pulled back to her waist, clenched into a fist, and smashed forward.

Bang!

Kiriya raised his knee and blocked the punch, but the sheer force shattered the wooden armor protecting him.

The exposed flesh beneath was corroded and fractured at the same time, sending a sharp, drilling pain straight through his nerves.

He forced himself to endure it and kicked Kusui hard in the shoulder, sending her flying back.

Then he activated Forest of All Things to absorb the lingering chakra before using Yang Power: Everflowing Vitality to heal his injured knee.

When he looked at Kusui again, his expression had become much more serious.

"Looks like I really do have to take this seriously."

As he spoke, Kiriya drew in a deep breath and shot forward.

His body flashed above Kusui, his waist twisting as his blade cut a beautiful arc through the air.

"Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky."

Clang!

Another ear-piercing metallic clash rang out.

Kusui’s back slammed heavily into the ground, but she had not taken any serious damage. If anything, the pain only stirred up more of her ferocity.

Her claws lashed toward Kiriya, trying to tear straight through his chest.

Pchh!

Kiriya’s figure was ripped apart by the claws, yet no blood spilled.

Kusui paused.

"Afterimage?"

"Hinokami Kagura: Fake Rainbow."

"Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun."

Kiriya swung his sword again, aiming for Kusui’s neck.

Clang!

The violent recoil that came through the blade made Kiriya curse her defense in his heart.

He had no choice but to flash aside and avoid Kusui’s claws, moving at high speed while searching for a chance to strike.

Partial Tailed Beast Transformation had given Kusui overwhelming strength and frightening speed, but the Tailed Beast chakra, soaked in hatred and resentment, was also eating away at her mind.

Her movements were wide and brutal, but also too direct.

Because of that, Kiriya could still rely on a calm head, battle experience, and technique to dodge and counterattack.

"Hinokami Kagura: Sunflower Thrust."

"Hinokami Kagura: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance."

"Hinokami Kagura: Beneficent Radiance."

Kiriya continued attacking with sword forms, but the problem remained exactly the same.

He did not have enough output.

He could not break through her defense.

It was not that he had not considered using Wood Release to restrain her movements and weaken the Tailed Beast cloak, but every attempt failed.

In this state, Kusui was not only fast to an absurd degree, she also had beast-like instincts.

She always managed to avoid his Wood Release.

And since Kiriya’s attacks still lacked the raw force needed to stagger her, he could not create the opening necessary for Wood Release to get close and take effect.

Kusui’s intelligence had dropped, but not completely. Once she realized Kiriya could not break her defense, she started fighting with a reckless trade-wounds-for-wounds style.

For a short while, Kiriya was forced into a very passive position.

"Good! That’s it!"

Ao and Mei Terumi were both excited.

The constant setbacks since this battle began had left these two elites of Kirigakure deeply frustrated, almost to the point of doubting themselves.

Now, seeing their village’s jinchūriki unleash her full power and suppress that monster-like boy until he could barely raise his head—what could feel better than that?

"We should help too."

Mei was so excited that she wanted to jump back into the fight, but Ao quickly stopped her.

"We’re in no shape to join in right now. Besides, Kusui won’t care that we’re from the same village."

Ao moved quickly, pulling out medical supplies and handing Mei a portion before efficiently bandaging himself.

"That’s... honestly impossible to argue with."

Mei clenched her fist, then let it fall weakly. She took the medical supplies and began treating her injuries.

"Hurry and patch yourself up," Ao reminded her. "The Konoha shinobi who went after the others should be coming back soon. We need to stall them for a few more minutes, until Kusui finishes that boy."

"Mm."

Mei nodded, swallowing several soldier pills to recover her stamina as quickly as possible.

But just then, the situation changed.

It was not the Konoha shinobi returning from the outer battlefield.

It was Kiriya and he threw away his weapon.

"What is he doing? Is he giving up?"

Ao and Mei froze at the same time.

Even Kusui, still in her berserk state, seemed momentarily stunned.

"If my sword can’t get through," Kiriya said with a grin, his eyes burning with fighting spirit, "then I’ll stop using it."

"This move is something I only just finished. Lucky for you, you get to be the first one to taste it."

As he spoke, Kiriya bent his knees and clenched both fists.

Under his control, the chakra points inside his body were forced open one after another.

"First Gate: Gate of Opening—open!"

"Second Gate: Gate of Healing—open!"

"Third Gate: Gate of Life—open!"

"Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain—open!"

"Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit—open!"

"Sixth Gate: Gate of View—open!"

In a single breath, Kiriya opened the first six gates.

A violent surge of chakra erupted from his body, whipping up winds strong enough to tear across the ground like a storm.

Kusui was forced back step by step, while Mei and Ao could only press themselves flat against the earth just to keep from being blown away.

They stared at Kiriya, now bathed in roaring green flames, and felt the terrifying chakra pressing down on them.

Neither of them could speak.

"He... he was still holding something like this back?"

Ao’s mouth tasted bitter.

Shinobi battles were battles of information.

The most frightening thing was thinking you had already seen everything your enemy could do, only for the enemy to casually pull out a whole pile of "surprises" you had never even heard of.

How the hell were you supposed to fight that?

"It’s fine," Mei murmured softly, as if trying to convince Ao and herself at the same time. "That’s still a partial Tailed Beast Transformation with the power of the Six-Tails. He’s barehanded now, he can’t win like that."

"Well then."

Kiriya beckoned toward Kusui with a casual little wave, as if he were calling over a pet cat.

"Round two starts now."

That openly dismissive gesture instantly enraged Kusui.

She roared, then turned into a violent blur and charged straight at him.

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