"Is the rest of your ninja force here to protect your daimyo?"
Hane Genma gazed at the crowd gathered around the daimyo in the distance, wondering whether the upcoming battle would spill over to their side.
"Of course, I came as you requested… You're not planning to make a move on Lord Daimyo, are you?"
Akimichi Jinsei wasn't exactly clear-headed at the moment. He felt like a marionette, dragged onto this battlefield to engage in a ludicrous one-on-one duel with the enemy.
Two strings were tied to him: one held by Hane Genma, the other by Daimyo Shimizu Kisuke.
Stepping onto the battlefield in such a constrained state, Akimichi Jinsei felt profoundly uncomfortable, every movement awkward and out of place.
"Of course not. In fact, I rather admire your daimyo," Genma said, speaking the truth.
The daimyo of Reito Castle was an intriguing figure, with a personality unlike anyone Genma had ever met.
"May I have your name?"
"Head of the Akimichi Clan, Akimichi Jinsei."
"Pleased to meet you, Clan Leader Jinsei. I'm Genma, leader of the Firefly Organization."
Genma introduced himself with such politeness that it felt less like he was preparing for combat and more like he was attending a friendly gathering in a neighboring village… Well, to be fair, he was here to make friends, in a way.
Akimichi Jinsei's mind was swimming in cholesterol-fueled haze, barely registering the key detail in Genma's words—that he led a ninja organization called "Firefly." After a moment's hesitation, he couldn't help but ask, "Genma, are you seriously planning to fight me one-on-one and let the outcome of this duel decide the fate of the coming war?"
"Of course. We're already here. Do you think there's room for joking around?"
"And after we settle this? What happens next?"
Jinsei wasn't trying to pull a verbal jutsu or stir up trouble. He was genuinely curious about what would happen after the duel.
"How should I know? Let's fight first and figure it out afterward."
Jinsei's eyes widened in disbelief. You don't know, and you're still insisting on a duel? He was convinced this young man had some serious issues.
With no plan for what came after the duel, Jinsei couldn't tell if Genma was brimming with confidence or utterly clueless about his own strength.
To achieve his goal of annexation, Genma naturally had a series of plans, but he wasn't about to share the details with his opponent.
"So… shall we begin?"
"Please, enlighten me."
Jinsei couldn't let the conversation drag on any longer. The topics were getting weirder by the second, and Genma didn't seem in any hurry to fight, acting as calm as if they were chatting about family matters.
Genma signaled for Fuma Goro behind him to step back. Goro complied eagerly, his face barely concealing his amusement. A one-on-one duel? He was starting to think Genma had lost his mind.
Akimichi Kigetsu, Jinsei's younger brother, stood behind him with a serious expression. He prepared to retreat to the daimyo's side but whispered to his brother first, "Big Brother, stay sharp. Don't embarrass us."
Guess why he could keep his composure? Because Genma had slipped him a note earlier.
Jinsei nodded, confident in the upcoming fight. Though Genma had demonstrated exceptional infiltration and assassination skills, those abilities weren't suited for a frontal battlefield. In Jinsei's view, Genma standing here was a case of playing to his weaknesses and ignoring his strengths.
Jinsei deeply feared Genma's assassination prowess—under normal circumstances, he'd have no counter for it. But Genma had given him a perfect solution: not to solve the problem, but to eliminate the one causing it.
Soon, the battlefield was cleared, and Kigetsu returned to the daimyo's side.
"Is it about to start?" the daimyo asked him.
Concerned about the impending battle, Kigetsu only nodded, saying nothing more to the daimyo.
The daimyo, seeing Kigetsu's tension, shook his head with a wry smile. Why can't you all see through this? At worst, this fight would only see that ninja named Genma crash and burn. How could Akimichi Jinsei possibly be in danger?
When Daimyo Shimizu decided to come watch the spectacle, he hadn't even planned to bring guards. It was only at the Akimichi Clan's insistence that he reluctantly brought a few ninja along.
This showed just how little he worried about his own safety.
In the center of the battlefield, only Genma and Jinsei remained. Yet Genma seemed to embody the virtues of courtesy and restraint, showing no intention of making the first move.
Jinsei waited and waited, finally unable to suppress the strange feeling in his gut. He decided to strike first.
His heavy footsteps shook the ground as his massive frame picked up speed. Though he appeared slow and cumbersome, once he started charging, he was anything but sluggish.
As he closed in on Genma, he threw a fierce punch.
"Here I come!"
Huh?
Jinsei froze for a moment, baffled. What's wrong with me? Why did I shout my attack to warn him?
To describe his current state, he felt less like he was fighting in battle gear and more like he was dueling in a tuxedo, forced to act "gentlemanly."
Genma sidestepped Jinsei's attack with ease.
Jinsei's awkwardness lasted only a moment. As an elite ninja, once he entered the rhythm of battle, his stray thoughts vanished instantly—perhaps because his mind operated on a single track.
After missing his punch, he didn't hesitate. Using his right leg as a pivot, he swung his left leg in a wide arc, channeling his massive momentum into a spinning motion. His body's centrifugal force surged.
At the same time, he transformed his fist into an open palm. Under the effects of the Partial Multi-Size Technique, his hand expanded into a wall-like slab, swinging toward Genma with crushing force.
Jinsei's movements resembled a hammer throw, except instead of a chain, he wielded a "wall" of a palm.
With such an abrupt change in attack angle, it seemed Genma had no room to dodge.
Yet Genma had no intention of dodging.
Like an old, leaking boiler suddenly pressurized, a torrent of scalding steam erupted from Genma's body, surging outward in all directions. He tilted his body and met Jinsei's overwhelming attack head-on.
A massive cloud of steam swept across the battlefield's center, then expanded violently, obscuring the onlookers' view in an instant.
To them, it looked as if an invisible giant had slammed a thundercloud onto the ground, creating a mercury-like spill effect.
Then came a low, resonant boom, like an earthquake, rattling the eardrums of everyone nearby.
A figure shot through the steam like an arrow, spinning as it flew backward.
But it wasn't Genma, the one under attack—it was Jinsei, the attacker.
Not only had his strike failed to land, but the immense recoil had sent him flying.
Genma had played with chakra "basketballs" before, and as they say, mastery in one area leads to mastery in others. He was exceptionally skilled at the Iron Mountain Lean.
Jinsei crashed into the ground, tumbling violently and loosening the surrounding soil before coming to a stop.
The burning, stinging pain in his palm told him this was no illusion—it was all too real. He couldn't hide his shock.
The Akimichi Clan was renowned for its strength, yet he had been overpowered in a direct clash.
Wasn't a ninja skilled in infiltration and assassination supposed to favor agility and finesse? How was Genma this tough?
The rhythmic sound of footsteps approached as Genma emerged unhurriedly from the steam cloud. Steam still poured from his body, merging with the mist behind him, though less intensely than before.
If Genma's goal was merely to eliminate his enemy, he had plenty of options. But his aim wasn't to kill—it was to beat his opponent into submission, forge a bond through combat, and ultimately win them over with virtue, inspiring them to bow in respect.
Thus, Genma's fighting style was to meet force with greater force. You're strong? I'm stronger.
Jinsei sprang to his feet, crouching slightly and planting his stance. His upper arms tensed, forearms drawn in, palms open and raised before him.
A massive amount of chakra gathered in his hands, his fingers glowing with a vibrant blue energy field.
Boom!
The ground beneath him exploded as Jinsei, maintaining his stance, shot forward like a toad in a near-horizontal glide, reaching Genma in the blink of an eye.
The moment Jinsei entered his sensory range, Genma instantly recognized the intensity of the chakra concentrated in his opponent's palms. If those hands landed, Genma's current physical resilience wouldn't hold.
The steam around him thickened, its temperature spiking from moderate to unbearable.
Genma shifted his body sideways, stepping forward in one fluid motion. As Jinsei reached his previous position, Genma had already slipped behind him in a seamless maneuver.
Genma had played the game of brute-force charges before and knew their weakness: fast, but linear, with little room to change direction.
He stomped on the back of Jinsei's knee with one foot while simultaneously yanking his raised elbow back, slamming it mercilessly into the base of Jinsei's neck.
With attacks from above and below, Jinsei lost his balance and plummeted face-first toward the ground. His palms lashed out, delivering two ferocious slaps to the earth.
Boom!
The ground caved in like the bottom of a pot, the resulting shockwave dispersing the thick steam in all directions.
What a Cloud-Dispelling Palm! Its power spoke for itself—too bad it hit the ground and then the air.
Genma didn't pursue, allowing Jinsei to fully experience what it meant to "eat dirt" before stepping back to create distance.
The onlookers' jaws dropped at the sheer intensity of this clash of raw power. Truth be told, this fighting style was very un-ninja-like.
Among them, Fuma Goro was the most stunned by Genma's performance. In the recent Tsugawa Clan annihilation battle, Genma's approach had been entirely different…
Improving in secret was one thing, but improving this much? Was that even fair?
Meanwhile, Daimyo Shimizu, watching with a spectator's mindset, had simpler thoughts. If not for concerns about his own safety, he'd have rushed into the arena to shower both fighters with rewards.
Jinsei climbed out of the crater, looking somewhat disheveled.
After two rounds, he realized Genma's fighting style countered his own. They were both reckless, but what do you do when you can't out-reckless your opponent? You get more reckless.
Jinsei's hands formed seals, and his body rapidly expanded, transforming into a towering giant five or six meters tall in an instant—he had unleashed the full Multi-Size Technique.
He stomped down at Genma, the already-ravaged ground sinking further.
The attack was heavy but slow. Genma's legs erupted with steam, allowing him to dodge effortlessly. But as he leaped high, Jinsei executed a deft hook with his foot, the force sending Genma flying.
Caught off-guard, Genma curled his body, bending his knees and landing on Jinsei's foot to absorb the impact.
Adjusting mid-air, he used the force of the attack to propel himself vertically upward.
No matter how strong Jinsei's power was, it couldn't defy gravity. After a brief moment airborne, Genma began his descent from dozens of meters high.
The Multi-Size Technique was formidable, but it wasn't meant to be used alone. Whether as a "tank" or a "warrior," it required teammates' protection to shine. Otherwise…
Such a massive form was nothing but a giant target.
Truth be told, Genma's arsenal wasn't vast, but it was far more versatile than his opponent's.
Fire Style always missing? That's because the target isn't cooperative enough.
Genma's hands flashed through seals, casting a jutsu directly above Jinsei's head:
Fire Style: Garuda
A blazing orange-red fire dragon poured down like a radiant waterfall, cascading three… no, five meters, straight onto Jinsei's head.
See? If the opponent cooperates, Fire Style can be devastating.
Jinsei let out a pained cry, instinctively shrinking his body to minimize contact with the flames.
His form flickered in the rising dust. When the flames finally died out, he seemed lifeless.
This sent the other Akimichi ninja into a panic, ready to rush into the battlefield to aid their clan leader. Fortunately, Daimyo Shimizu raised a hand to stop them.
"Wait a little longer."
He didn't forcibly restrain them, only asked for a brief pause.
At that moment, two pairs of blue-purple butterfly wings dispersed the surrounding dust and steam.
These chakra wings sprouted from Jinsei's back. His body had returned to normal proportions, all stored fat converted into radiant energy—this was the Akimichi Clan's strongest combat form.
It should've been a majestic scene, but the burns on his head and shoulders ruined the effect. Displaying butterfly wings while sporting charred, peeling skin—and, ahem, a faint smell of cooked meat—was a bit incongruous.
Jinsei had broken from his cocoon, ready to dominate the battlefield…
But before he could showcase his butterfly dance, he was met with a Venus flytrap from his blind spot.
Genma struck from the side, delivering a fierce kick to Jinsei's neck. As Jinsei fell, Genma pinned him down with a foot on his abdomen.
The newborn chakra wings rapidly shrank and vanished.
Jinsei struggled violently but felt his strength draining.
"This is Yang Release chakra? Not bad. Yang Release is really not bad."
Feeling the boost of Yang Release chakra in his body, Genma flashed a satisfied smile.
In his moment of glee, he forgot to hold back. Jinsei felt as if a pump had been plunged into him, his "chakra stream" rapidly drained until the riverbed cracked, the soil turned to desert…
Not a drop was left.
Unable to endure, Jinsei passed out, as if he'd lost too much blood from a severed artery.
"Uh…"
Realizing his opponent's dire state, Genma quickly lifted his foot.
Don't forget, he'd been maintaining Boil Release's high-temperature mode. In that brief moment, his foot had left a permanent scorch mark on Jinsei's abdomen, like a branding iron.
Genma had preached martial virtue all this time, only to pull a sneak attack in the end… Sorry, this country boy had never seen Yang Release before and couldn't resist.
As the steam on the battlefield dissipated, one fighter stood, the other lay defeated.
The outcome was clear.
Fuma Goro hurried to Genma's side. He didn't care why Genma was so strong—his priority was preventing the enemy from retaliating in desperation.
Genma was formidable, but the Akimichi Clan had shown impressive strength too. With the enemy outnumbering them, caution was warranted.
"Leader, what now?"
Goro wondered if they should finish off the enemy.
Genma shook his head, stopping him. Seeing two Akimichi ninja rushing over, he and Goro stepped aside.
One Akimichi ninja kept a wary eye on Genma and Goro while the other knelt to check Jinsei's condition.
"Cough, no need to worry. He just overused his chakra and passed out," Genma said.
Overused his chakra? His brother had just unleashed the butterfly wing form and then immediately collapsed. How was that normal?
Confirming Jinsei was only unconscious, his two brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
"You won. What's your plan? Name your terms," Akimichi Chuyu said.
The facts were undeniable, and the Akimichi Clan wasn't above admitting defeat.
Genma shook his head. "You don't seem convinced. How about this: take your clan leader and leave. We'll set a new time and fight again."
His words made Fuma Goro glance at him sharply. He was starting to understand what Genma was up to.