'Where exactly did things go wrong…?'
Back when he developed this technique, he had run countless tests.
Other than Fire Release and genjutsu, no ninjutsu or taijutsu was able to injure him once he turned weathered.
So how did that iron-fisted monster manage to hurt him?
While Byakuren racked his brain over why he was injured by Garp, he quickly climbed out of the massive crater.
'Luckily… even though that punch caught me completely off guard, the technique wasn't totally useless.
At the very least, once I weathered, I could still take one punch from Garp without dying.'
He still didn't understand how Garp had managed to harm him, but that didn't stop Byakuren from feeling relieved, and even a little proud, that he survived.
The punch of a hero isn't something just anyone is worthy of taking…
And the title "Iron Fist" wasn't earned through bragging or rumor.
In the Warring States era, ninja or samurai, it didn't matter.
Anyone who faced Garp's fist either brushed past him and was guaranteed to be injured, or touched him and was guaranteed to die.
Anyone who took one punch head-on and lived instantly became, beneath the Three Legends of the era, a powerhouse brushing the very ceiling of strength.
And Byakuren… he wasn't someone who relied on taijutsu or his body for dominance, yet he'd taken a punch from Garp head-on.
Sure, he broke seven or eight ribs, his organs shifted and ruptured, and he coughed up blood, but he was alive. He could even stand up immediately.
"To receive a punch from me and live… you're at least worth acknowledging. It wasn't for nothing that I spared you a few more glances."
After seriously injuring Byakuren with one punch, Garp took a single step forward, yet his body crossed over five hundred meters instantly, flickering into appearance right in front of Byakuren.
Soru, one of the superhuman Rokushiki techniques, had become a bodily instinct for him, like eating or drinking.
On the ground, a step was Soru. In the air, a lift of the foot was Geppo.
Everything he did was natural, effortless, completely devoid of stiffness or strain.
"Don't take yourself too seriously. And don't underestimate me. Soft punches like yours, throw as many as you want. I can take them all."
Byakuren spoke with a calm face, but secretly he was already resetting his broken ribs, channeling his violent, sharp chakra like invisible hands to push his displaced organs back into place.
"Is that really the case? Coming out this time, I have finally confirmed something.
With the strength I have now, a Kage from the shinobi village era can take one punch. As for the First Generation Kage, other than Hashirama, two punches."
Garp didn't get angry at the remark. Instead, he lazily raised two fingers toward Byakuren.
By "take," he didn't mean literally withstand. He meant that after one punch… the Kage would be gone.
Likewise, the First-generation Five Kage, other than Hashirama, would disappear after two punches.
"There's a limit to your bragging…."
Byakuren's shadowed face was full of disbelief.
Back in the old era, he had fought Garp before. He had been beaten like a dead dog, sure, but the gap definitely wasn't so big that he'd be erased in two punches.
Before, he had confidence in taking five punches from Garp.
After living another life and becoming the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki, he was even confident he could take ten punches.
As for Garp's so-called "two punches," he scoffed outright.
Unless Garp also lived another life like he did, he absolutely refused to believe that a nearly hundred year old man could surpass even the peak of his Warring States strength.
"You really think I have been standing still all these years? Even a dead but not rotting thing like you can grow stronger, so why couldn't a living man?"
Garp let out a cold laugh. With one stomp of his right foot, his body shot forward like a fired bullet, instantly appearing before Byakuren.
"Anyone can talk big. You're just some relic of the old era, yet you think you can bury me in two punches?
Do you think you're some sort of god?
That you can grow stronger the older you get?"
Shock and fury surged together in Byakuren's eyes.
He couldn't accept losing again, much less being finished off in just two punches.
Pushed past his limit by Garp's mockery and humiliation, he held nothing back. He used Swift Release to pull away while forming separate hand seals with both hands.
As his ten fingers blurred into afterimages, a towering mountain of ice, hundreds of meters tall, burst from the ground, rising between earth and sky.
Before Garp could throw a punch, the colossal glacier shattered with a crystalline clang.
In a flurry of starlike shards of ice, a massive ice giant emerged, its size surpassing even the Three-Tails, Isobu.
The ice giant planted its feet and rose upright.
The moment it stood, its already immense body grew even larger. With just a faint movement, its head pierced the clouds, punching through the mist that had only just begun to reform.
At the same time, the giant spread its hands. Ten intricately carved ice fingers curled inward, gripping two enormous blades of wind chakra that shone with a brilliant azure light.
"Looks familiar, doesn't it? This is the power I prepared in my second life to defeat you three super powers of the Warring States Era!
It's even stronger than Uchiha Madara's Susanoo!"
Very similar to a fully manifested Susanoo, Byakuren now stood on the giant's forehead.
Looking down from above, he saw Garp as tiny as an ant. A surge of indescribable arrogance filled his chest.
This was the supreme creation born from combining three Kekkei Genkai, plus tailed beast power.
Stronger than a Susanoo born from a single Kekkei Genkai like the Sharingan.
.........
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