Chapter 55 (Patreon)

In the valley, on one side.

Yujiro stood silently atop a large tree.

Across from him, on the open ground below, Yagura had already entered combat mode.

And from the very beginning, he had released the power of the tailed beast.

A crimson chakra cloak wrapped around his body, bubbling and twisting like boiling blood.

Yujiro’s lips curved slightly.

“Lightning Style—Thunder God’s Descent.”

He raised his right hand.

The next instant, lightning that seemed to pierce the sky came crashing down.

BOOM!

A violent explosion shook the entire valley.

Far behind him, Jiraiya’s group froze on the spot.

“That power…”

Jiraiya’s expression turned grim.

“That’s definitely S-rank.”

Kakashi’s single visible eye narrowed beneath his forehead protector.

“And he released it without hand signs…”

Even Itachi, usually calm beyond his age, could not hide the shock in his eyes.

How strong had Yujiro become?

“ROOOAR!”

A savage roar tore through the smoke.

From the center of the explosion, Yagura stepped forward again.

This time, the chakra around him swelled even further.

Three-Tails’ Jinchūriki—

Yagura had entered his half-tailed beast state.

The tailed beast chakra covering his body carried a violent, unstable pressure, as if it would tear apart anything that came near.

Wrapped in that red chakra, Yagura shot toward Yujiro at terrifying speed.

Yujiro clicked his tongue softly.

“So you can take an S-rank jutsu head-on?”

As expected of a tailed beast’s defense.

His hand moved to the black blade at his waist.

Close combat?

He had no reason to avoid it.

“One-Sword Style—Killing Iai.”

In the next instant, the two figures collided.

Yujiro’s current state had already reached the third stage of the Limiter.

His attack speed had broken past the sound barrier.

Every movement produced sharp sonic booms that cracked through the valley.

Ordinary shinobi could no longer follow him with their eyes.

Even Itachi’s two-tomoe Sharingan failed to fully capture Yujiro’s movements.

Kakashi’s three-tomoe Sharingan barely managed to trace faint afterimages.

Jiraiya’s group fell into silence.

This was Yujiro?

The same Yujiro Jiraiya had sparred with only a month ago?

Jiraiya’s mouth twitched.

One month.

Just one month.

How did this brat become such a monster?

Had the shinobi world changed without telling him?

On the battlefield, sword energy tore through the ground in every direction.

Even the aftershocks were enough to kill a genin.

Throughout the exchange, Yagura could only defend.

He could not read Yujiro’s attack path at all.

Yujiro’s speed was simply too fast.

Far beyond even Shisui’s Body Flicker.

But although Yujiro’s attacks continued to land, Yagura’s body was protected by the half-tailed beast form.

Every wound opened by the blade was repaired within seconds by the Three-Tails’ chakra.

Yujiro’s gaze sharpened slightly.

“I’ll need something with more bite.”

He held the black blade at his side and began compressing Wind Style chakra along its edge.

“The Third Hokage could shape Lightning Style into something like Kirin with the right conditions…”

Yujiro exhaled slowly.

“Then I should be able to make something useful too.”

The wind chakra gathered tighter and tighter.

The blade began to hum.

“One-Sword Style—Wind Demon Flash.”

Wind Style’s cutting power.

Speed.

Sharpness.

All of it was pushed to the limit.

A dark flash crossed the battlefield.

Yujiro appeared behind Yagura, black blade lowered at his side, his body still leaning forward from the motion.

Around him, black sword energy rippled like flames.

The blade in his hand was something he had purchased from the system long ago.

A weapon modeled after the divine sword, Ame-no-Murakumo.

As Yujiro grew stronger, the blade had grown with him.

The black sword energy surrounding his body was not ordinary chakra.

With its power layered over his attacks, his cutting force increased many times over.

“ROOOOAR!”

Yagura suddenly let out a furious roar.

The three chakra tails behind him split apart at the middle.

One strike.

Yujiro had severed the three tails of Yagura’s half-tailed beast form.

Yujiro grinned, turned around, and lowered his stance again.

“One-Sword Style—Cross Wind Demon Flash.”

Two black slashes crossed in the air and shot toward Yagura.

At the same time, Yujiro’s figure vanished and reappeared from another direction.

Yagura’s rage finally reached its peak.

The pain from that last attack had clearly reached him.

For a Jinchūriki wrapped in tailed beast chakra, that was unacceptable.

His mouth opened wide.

Dark purple energy began gathering between his jaws.

Yujiro’s eyes settled on it.

A Tailed Beast Bomb?

He gave a faint smile.

Did Yagura really think the third stage of the Limiter only amounted to speed?

Yujiro raised his black blade and stood where he was, completely unmoving.

A trace of calm disdain appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The dark purple sphere inside Yagura’s mouth condensed further.

He bit down hard.

His cheeks swelled.

“Yujiro! Move!”

Jiraiya’s roar echoed from the distance.

“That’s a Tailed Beast Bomb! It’s stronger than an S-rank jutsu!”

Yujiro did not move.

Yagura’s jaws opened.

The world turned white.

A violent beam of destructive chakra rushed straight toward Yujiro.

BOOOOM!

The explosion swallowed the valley.

“Yujiro!”

Jiraiya shouted.

“Yujiro-san!”

Even Itachi could not stop himself from calling out.

Kakashi clenched his fist tightly, cold sweat running down his face.

The smoke slowly scattered.

Then, from within the dust, a calm voice rang out.

“That’s all?”

Jiraiya and the others went still.

No way.

He took a Tailed Beast Bomb head-on?

Was he even human anymore?

In the distance, Yujiro stood quietly.

The trees behind him had been blown away.

The rocks beneath his feet had shattered.

But his body remained completely unharmed.

That was the defensive power brought by the third stage of the Limiter.

Of course, this was not a full-powered Tailed Beast Bomb from a completely transformed tailed beast.

If it had been, even Yujiro might not have been able to endure it so casually.

“ROOOOAR!”

Seeing Yujiro withstand the attack, Yagura completely lost control.

Yujiro raised his black blade and fixed his gaze on him.

“Now…”

His voice was quiet.

“My turn.”