"The other ninja—are they here to protect your daimyo?"
Yūshin looked at the group gathered around the daimyo in the distance, wondering if the upcoming fight would affect them.
"Of course. I came as you requested... Surely you wouldn't try to harm the daimyo, would you?"
Akimichi Ninsei wasn't thinking very clearly right now. He felt like a marionette coming to this battlefield, preparing to engage in this ridiculous duel with the enemy...
He was controlled by two strings—one held by Yūshin, the other by daimyo Shimizu Kiyosuke.
Arriving on the battlefield so constrained, Akimichi Ninsei was obviously very uncomfortable, feeling awkward everywhere.
"Of course not. In fact, I quite admire your daimyo." Yūshin was telling the truth.
The Reitō Castle daimyo was very interesting, his personality completely different from anyone else Yūshin had met.
"May I ask your name?"
"Akimichi Clan chief, Akimichi Ninsei."
"Nice to meet you, Chief Ninsei. I'm Yūshin, leader of The Fireflies organization."
Yūshin politely conducted a brief self-introduction, making it seem less like coming to battle and more like coming to make friends... Well, in fact, he really was here to make friends.
Akimichi Ninsei's mind was full of cholesterol—he completely missed the key point in Yūshin's words, namely that he led a ninja organization called "The Fireflies." He hesitated slightly, but finally couldn't help asking:
"Yūshin-san, do you really want to engage in one-on-one combat with me, and use the outcome of this battle to determine the result of the impending war?"
"Of course. We're already here—is there still room for jokes?"
"Then what happens after we decide the outcome? What should we do next?"
Akimichi Ninsei wasn't trying to perform mouth-jutsu or pick a fight—he was simply curious about what to do after the duel.
"How should I know? We'll talk about it after finishing the fight first."
This response left Akimichi Ninsei stunned. You don't know but still want to duel? He felt this young man definitely had some serious problems.
With no arrangements for post-duel matters, Akimichi Ninsei couldn't understand whether Yūshin was confident or not in his own strength.
To precisely achieve his goal of annexation, Yūshin naturally had a series of plans, but he couldn't possibly tell his opponent the detailed plans.
"So... shall we begin?"
"Please guide me."
Akimichi Ninsei couldn't let the conversation continue because he felt the topic was getting stranger and stranger. The key was that this person didn't seem anxious to attack at all—he was completely calm and casual like chatting about daily life.
Yūshin signaled Gorō Fūma behind him to retreat. Gorō Fūma was happy to do so because his facial expression was about to crack—a duel? He was starting to suspect Yūshin's brain had taken on water.
Akimichi Ninsei's younger brother Akimichi Kizuki looked completely serious. He also prepared to retreat to the daimyo's side, but before that, he whispered to his elder brother:
"Big brother, stay sharp—don't lose face."
Guess what? Why could he keep his composure? Because Yūshin had stuck a paper slip on him.
Akimichi Ninsei nodded. He was quite confident about the upcoming battle. Although Yūshin had demonstrated exquisite infiltration and assassination abilities, those abilities couldn't be applied to frontal battlefields. In his view, Yūshin standing here was abandoning his strengths for his weaknesses—putting the cart before the horse.
Akimichi Ninsei was very wary of Yūshin's assassination abilities. Under normal circumstances, he had no way to deal with such abilities. However, Yūshin had given him a good method to solve the problem... He couldn't solve the problem, but he could solve the person bringing the problem.
Soon, the battlefield was cleared, and Akimichi Kizuki returned to the daimyo's presence.
"Is it about to start?" the daimyo asked him.
Due to worry about the upcoming battle situation, Akimichi Kizuki just nodded without saying much to the daimyo.
The daimyo looked at his tense appearance and could only shake his head to himself. Why couldn't you see through this? At most, that ninja called Yūshin would crash and burn—how could Akimichi Ninsei possibly encounter danger?
When Shimizu decided to come watch the excitement, he hadn't even planned to bring guards. It was only because the Akimichi Clan kept insisting that he reluctantly brought several ninja... This showed he wasn't worried about encountering any danger at all.
Only Yūshin and Akimichi Ninsei remained in the center of the battlefield, but at this moment he seemed to be promoting the excellent qualities of gentleness, courtesy, respect, modesty, and yielding—he wasn't taking the initiative to attack at all.
Akimichi Ninsei waited and waited, finally unable to suppress that strange feeling, and chose to strike first.
He moved his heavy steps, his lower body driving his massive frame. As the ground trembled lightly, his speed grew faster and faster.
Although he looked slow and clumsy, once he began charging forward, he definitely couldn't be called slow.
When he was about to approach Yūshin, he suddenly threw a charging punch.
"Take this!"
Huh?
Akimichi Ninsei was a bit confused—what was wrong with me? Why did I make a sound to alert the opponent when attacking?
To describe his feeling at this moment, he felt like he wasn't fighting in battle gear but in a tuxedo, as if forced to become "gentlemanly."
Yūshin sidestepped to avoid Akimichi Ninsei's attack.
But Akimichi Ninsei's awkward feeling only lasted an instant. He was an excellent ninja—once he entered battle rhythm, the random thoughts in his head were instantly cleared... It might also be because his thinking was too single-threaded.
After missing with one punch, he unhesitatingly used his right leg as an axis, took a large side step with his left leg and suddenly exerted force. Thus, the huge forward momentum created by his body immediately transformed into swift centrifugal force with his body's rotation.
At the same time, he changed from fist to palm. Under the effect of partial Expansion Jutsu, his palm instantly became like a city wall, slapping toward Yūshin.
Akimichi Ninsei's series of movements looked like throwing a hammer, except what he was swinging with one arm wasn't an iron chain but the "city wall" formed by his palm.
Under such an attack angle with sudden technique changes, Yūshin seemed to have no space to dodge at all.
However, Yūshin never had any intention of dodging from beginning to end.
Like a leaky old boiler suddenly starting to build pressure, massive amounts of scorching steam surged outward from Yūshin's body in all directions. Then he angled his body and directly engaged in a hard collision with the enemy's overwhelming technique.
The massive steam cloud swept across the battlefield center, then violently expanded outward, instantly obscuring the spectators' vision.
To them, it seemed as if an invisible giant had violently smashed a large cumulonimbus cloud onto the ground, creating a mercury-like flowing visual effect.
Next, a deep and prolonged impact sound like an earthquake suddenly came, stimulating everyone's eardrums.
Then, a figure shot through the steam like an arrow, spinning as it flew backward.
However, this person wasn't Yūshin who had received the attack, but rather Akimichi Ninsei who had launched the attack.
Not only did his strike fail to produce any attacking effect, he was instead bounced away by the huge recoil force.
Yūshin had played with chakra blue balls, so by extension, he was also extremely skilled at Iron Mountain Lean.
Akimichi Ninsei crashed to the ground, rolling violently and helping loosen the soil around him before finally stopping.
The burning heat and stinging pain from his palm let Akimichi Ninsei know that everything he experienced was reality, not illusion, so he couldn't hide his inner shock.
The Akimichi Clan was famous for strength, yet they had fallen into disadvantage in a head-on collision with the enemy.
A ninja skilled at infiltration and assassination—shouldn't he follow the agile and nimble school? Why are you so tough?
Footsteps with a steady rhythm gradually rose. Yūshin's figure walked unhurriedly out of the steam cloud. Steam still poured from his body, merging with the gas cloud behind him, but not as violently as before.
If it were merely to annihilate the enemy, Yūshin had quite a few methods available, but his current purpose wasn't to destroy the enemy—he was preparing to first defeat the opponent, then achieve the goal of "not knowing each other without fighting," further evolving to the realm of "conquering with virtue," ultimately hoping the opponent would experience the feeling of "bowing in submission."
Therefore, Yūshin's fighting method this time was hard against hard, using strength to overcome skill. Your strength is very strong, but I'm only stronger.
Akimichi Ninsei flipped up, crouched slightly in a horse stance, tucked his upper arms close, pulled back his forearms slightly, opened his palms, and held them upright in front of him.
Large amounts of chakra gathered toward his palms, and azure energy fields began appearing above his five fingers.
Boom!
Suddenly, the soil under his feet violently exploded. Akimichi Ninsei maintained this posture and shot toward Yūshin's front like a toad, moving almost horizontally in the blink of an eye.
When the opponent suddenly appeared within his sensing range, Yūshin immediately understood the chakra intensity gathered in those hands. If he got hit by the opponent's palms, with Yūshin's current physical strength, he definitely couldn't withstand it.
The steam again changed from light to dense, from moderate temperature to unbearably scorching!
Yūshin shifted his body sideways by one position, then stepped forward. Almost at the same time Akimichi Ninsei appeared at his previous standing position, he instead shifted position and came behind the opponent.
Yūshin had also played violent charging—he knew this technique's flaw... Fast indeed, but it could only launch linear attacks and was difficult to change direction.
He stepped on Akimichi Ninsei's knee hollow from behind, and simultaneously, his raised elbow suddenly pulled back, directly and mercilessly smashing into the opponent's back of the neck.
Yūshin attacked from above and below. Akimichi Ninsei could no longer maintain balance and dove headfirst toward the ground, slapping the earth fiercely with both palms.
Boom!
The entire ground surface caved in like a pot bottom, and the swift shockwave generated drove the surrounding dense steam toward all directions even further away.
What a move—Cloud-Dispersing Palm! The power needn't be mentioned, but it hit the earth first, then the air!
Yūshin didn't pursue, letting the opponent fully understand what it meant to eat dirt, then immediately took the initiative to distance himself.
The surrounding spectators also gaped at witnessing this intense clash of forces. Honestly, this fighting style was very un-ninja-like.
Regarding Yūshin's performance, Gorō Fūma was actually the one who found it hardest to accept. Honestly, in the recent Tsugawa Clan extermination battle, Yūshin's performance was completely different from this...
Secret improvement has become a crime—you've improved this much, is that reasonable?
On the other side, Shimizu daimyo, who maintained a spectating mentality, had much simpler thoughts. If not for considering his own safety, he would have wanted to rush into the field and give rewards to each participant.
Akimichi Ninsei climbed back out of the pit, now somewhat disheveled.
After fighting two rounds, he discovered that Yūshin's fighting style somewhat countered his own. Everyone was very reckless, but what should he do when he couldn't out-reckless the opponent? He could only be more reckless.
Akimichi Ninsei formed hand seals with both hands. Immediately, his figure rapidly grew taller, becoming a giant form five or six meters tall in the blink of an eye... He finally used the complete Expansion Jutsu.
He stomped fiercely at Yūshin, and the land that had already suffered abuse sank down again.
The opponent's attack was heavy and slow. Yūshin's lower body exploded with steam, dodging it with ease. But just as he leaped high, Akimichi Ninsei suddenly made a nimble hook with his foot, and the force transmitted from his instep immediately sent Yūshin flying.
Yūshin was struck hastily, but he curled up his body, bent his knees, and stepped on Akimichi Ninsei's instep. This way, when receiving the attack, he could gain sufficient cushioning.
At the same time, he adjusted his body position. After receiving the attack, his entire figure flew vertically into the air.
No matter how great Akimichi Ninsei's strength was, he couldn't help Yūshin escape gravity's constraints. After a brief moment of suspension, he began diving down from dozens of meters in the air.
Expansion Jutsu was very powerful, but it wasn't a technique that could be used alone. Whether "meat tank" or "warrior," one must be under teammates' protection to be effective. Otherwise...
Such a large body shape was completely a living target.
Honestly, Yūshin didn't actually have that many methods available now, but he was still far more flexible and versatile than his opponent.
Fire Release always missing people? That's because the target wasn't cooperative enough.
He quickly formed hand seals with both hands, casting jutsu directly above Akimichi Ninsei's head:
"Fire Release: Karura"
Orange-red fire dragons poured down from above like a brilliant waterfall, flowing straight down three... thirty-five meters, directly splashing onto Akimichi Ninsei's head.
So if you're not capable, don't blame the road for being uneven. As long as the opponent is willing to cooperate well, Fire Release can also accomplish great things.
Akimichi Ninsei immediately let out a miserable cry. He instinctively shrank his body to avoid contact area with the Fire Release.
His figure flickered in and out of the rising dust. After the flames on his body were extinguished, his whole person seemed to have lost all vitality.
This made the other Akimichi ninja watching from the side unable to sit still. They immediately wanted to rush into the battlefield to support their clan leader, but fortunately Shimizu daimyo reached out to stop them.
"Wait a little longer."
He didn't forcibly stop these ninja, just asked them to wait a bit.
Just then, two pairs of blue-purple butterfly wings dispersed the surrounding dust and steam.
These two pairs of chakra butterfly wings appeared behind Akimichi Ninsei. At this time, his body shape had returned to well-proportioned, with all the fat stored in his body transformed into externally released energy... The third form he displayed was the Akimichi Clan's strongest battle form.
It should have been a scene of overwhelming dominance, but the severe burns on his head and shoulders seriously damaged Akimichi Ninsei's image. Displaying butterfly wings while also displaying turned-out skin—not just turned out, there was even a meaty fragrance... Cough, it was somewhat incongruous.
Akimichi Ninsei had broken out of his cocoon to become a butterfly. Under normal circumstances, he should next perform a massacre...
However, before he could demonstrate his butterfly dance, the newly transformed him immediately encountered a foul venus flytrap.
Yūshin attacked from a blind spot on the flank, fiercely kicking Akimichi Ninsei in the neck. After knocking the opponent down, he stepped on the opponent's abdomen with one foot.
Akimichi Ninsei struggled violently, but he discovered he was becoming increasingly powerless.
The newly born chakra butterfly wings were rapidly shrinking and soon disappeared completely.
"So this is Yang-type chakra? Really nice, Yang-type is really nice."
Feeling the Yang-type chakra's enhancement to his own body, Yūshin showed a completely satisfied smile.
Momentary joy made him forget to hold back. At this time, Akimichi Ninsei only felt like a water pump had been inserted into his body. His "chakra stream" was rapidly drained, then the riverbed dried and cracked, then the soil became desertified...
Really didn't leave even a drop for the person.
Next, he could no longer bear it and instantly fainted like someone suffering from major arterial blood loss.
"Uh..."
After noticing the opponent's poor condition, Yūshin quickly moved his foot away.
Don't forget he had been maintaining Boil Release's high-temperature mode the whole time. In just this short while, his big foot had already left a permanent mark on Akimichi Ninsei's abdomen like a hot iron.
Yūshin had been honorable for the entire match, but in the end still conducted a certain kind of sneak attack... Sorry, country folk haven't seen the world—first time seeing Yang-type, really couldn't hold back.
The steam on the battlefield gradually dissipated bit by bit. Of the two participants, one was standing and one was already lying down.
No matter what, victory and defeat had been decided.
Gorō Fūma quickly came to Yūshin's side. Never mind why Yūshin's strength was so formidable—now they had to prevent the enemy from becoming desperate.
Yūshin was very strong, but the Akimichi Clan's displayed strength wasn't bad either. At this time, with enemies outnumbering them, they had to be on guard.
"Leader, what should we do?"
Gorō Fūma considered whether they should take the initiative to finish off the enemies.
Yūshin shook his head to stop him. Seeing two Akimichi ninja rapidly approaching, he took Gorō Fūma and actively yielded the position.
Two Akimichi ninja—one watched Yūshin and Gorō's movements alertly, while the other quickly crouched down to check the clan leader's condition.
"Cough, you don't need to worry. He just overused his chakra and fainted."
Overused chakra? Obviously big brother had just activated butterfly wing form, but then immediately crashed—how could this be normal?
After confirming that Akimichi Ninsei had only fainted, his two younger brothers instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
"You won. What do you plan to do? State your conditions," Akimichi Shinu said.
With the facts before them, the Akimichi Clan wasn't unable to accept defeat.
Yūshin shook his head and said: "I see you're not convinced. Take your clan leader away. Let's reschedule and fight again."
This statement made Gorō Fūma beside him instantly look sideways—he seemed to understand what Yūshin wanted to do.
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