Steel Release

There were no flashy moves. Steel Bone drove a fist straight at Uchiha Homura's back of the head.

If that punch landed solidly, Uchiha Homura's head would probably burst on the spot.

Watching everything unfold in that split second, Soji, who had noticed Steel Bone using the Substitution Technique early on, arrived at Uchiha Homura's side a step ahead and dragged him away, flinging him toward Minato.

Seeing Uchiha Homura flying toward him, Minato caught him directly.

Meanwhile, Soji had already assumed the Gentle Fist stance and faced Steel Bone's massive fist head-on.

"Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."

After deflecting the force behind Steel Bone's punch, Soji unleashed a torrential barrage of attacks at the Acupoints across Steel Bone's body.

As the final Gentle Fist strike landed on Steel Bone's chest, the scene fell silent at once.

"Did it work?" Minato asked despite himself after watching all of Soji's Gentle Fist strikes hit Steel Bone. One hand supported Uchiha Homura, while the other held a Kunai.

"No one can still move after taking Soji's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." Uchiha Homura, whose condition had worsened again, forced himself to answer Minato's question.

Unlike his two optimistic companions, Soji's expression was frighteningly grim.

He was certain that the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms had struck every one of Steel Bone's Acupoints. Yet through his Byakugan, he could see that the flow of Chakra within Steel Bone's body had not been affected in the slightest.

His Gentle Fist was ineffective against Steel Bone!

That was Soji's first thought.

Sure enough, after several seconds of silence, Steel Bone lowered his head with a savage grin and looked at Hyuga Soji, who only reached his chest.

Ten-year-old Soji truly looked no different from a child standing before the over-two-meter-tall Steel Bone.

"A brat from the Hyuga Clan, huh? Oh? You're even a member of the Main House. Heh heh, hahaha! And that one earlier was a little Uchiha Clan brat, right? I'm so lucky. Today, I can actually get both a pair of Byakugan and a Sharingan." With that, Steel Bone could not resist rolling his neck, displaying his excitement.

"Hmph. That depends on whether you live long enough to take them." Soji retorted without the slightest politeness.

After all, even if he lost, he could not lose face!

As Steel Bone was about to counterattack, Soji retreated far back and returned to Minato and Uchiha Homura's side.

"Soji, did you find anything?" Minato immediately asked his returning teammate.

"Not yet, but my Gentle Fist has no effect on him at all. This is troublesome." Soji shook his head.

"Cough, cough. Damn it, I didn't expect this big guy to be so strong." Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Uchiha Homura struggled to stand.

For the proud Uchiha Homura, facing such a formidable enemy meant he did not want his injuries to hold his teammates back.

Minato did not insist. After knowing each other for so long, they all understood one another's personalities.

"Let's stall him first, figure out what's going on with him, then join forces with Kushina when she gets here." As the temporary team leader, Minato made the decision.

"Yeah. I refuse to believe this guy is stronger than Teacher Jiraiya." Soji agreed. He also wanted to find out why his Gentle Fist had failed.

With both of his companions having made their decision, the injured Uchiha Homura had even less reason to object.

All three understood that none of them could handle the enemy before them alone.

Besides, with so little information, charging in by themselves would only be throwing their lives away.

"Hey, little brats, have you discussed your strategy? Now it's my turn to attack." Steel Bone spoke from across from them, drawing the trio's attention.

Seeing Steel Bone's cat-and-mouse expression, Soji and the others felt deeply humiliated.

But they did not dare make any rash moves, afraid that he would seize the chance to defeat them one by one.

However, the expressions of Soji and the others, as though they were facing a great enemy, seemed to please Steel Bone. It made him even more excited, and he directly took out and opened a scroll.

With a bang, an enormous axe appeared in Steel Bone's hand.

It was rare to see an axe used as a ninja weapon. Such a heavy weapon hindered a ninja's speed too much.

The entire axe was forged from steel. Its massive blade gleamed with cold light, while its polished surface even reflected Steel Bone's savage expression.

An iron chain was attached to the axe handle, its other end wrapped around Steel Bone's muscular right arm.

The axe was roughly one and a half meters long. By Soji's estimate, it weighed no less than one hundred and fifty jin.

If anyone took an axe strike head-on, they would probably be crippled even if they did not die. The sheer weight behind the swing alone could break the defender's arm.

We absolutely can't let that axe hit us!

That was the shared thought of all three.

"Here I come!"

With a shout, Steel Bone hurled the axe straight at them.

Having prepared for it, Soji and the other two immediately dodged to the side.

"Heh."

Steel Bone chuckled and grabbed the chain attached to the axe handle, swinging it heavily.

The axe traced a semicircle before Steel Bone and flew toward the dodging trio.

"Get down!"

After shouting, Minato was the first to throw himself to the ground. Soji and Uchiha Homura also dropped down almost instantly.

The axe completed half a circle through the air and returned to Steel Bone's hand.

Soji and the others scrambled up from the ground in a miserable state.

Yet just as they got back up, Steel Bone launched another flying axe attack.

Helpless, they could only throw themselves to the ground again.

After several repetitions, they were all covered in dust, while Steel Bone across from them seemed to be endlessly enjoying himself as he swung the axe.

Since he had not changed tactics for so long, he was clearly toying with them.

But they had no choice. None of them dared jump into the air.

They did not dare gamble on whether Steel Bone might suddenly change tactics.

If he did, they would have nowhere to brace themselves in midair, which would be extremely dangerous. On the ground, they could at least roll away to dodge.

In the air, they could not exactly step on their left foot with their right, then step on their right foot with their left, and fly straight into the sky.

"Damn it, this can't go on. If this keeps up, he'll wear us down sooner or later." Uchiha Homura, already injured, was the first to be unable to endure it any longer.

"Soji, Homura, cover me. I want to try getting close to him."

"Alright, Minato. Be careful. We'll cover you." Soji nodded in agreement.

"Leave it to us. We'll get you close to that big guy." Even injured, Uchiha Homura answered with complete confidence.

There was no other option now. They could only let Minato try. Perhaps Minato could find an opening in Steel Bone's defense.

After Steel Bone reeled the axe back into his hand once more, the three stood up simultaneously and charged at him together.

"Oh? Planning to get close to me? But can you reach me safely? I'm looking forward to it." Steel Bone did not care about their plan at all, because he had the strength to be this confident.

"Die, little brats!"

Steel Bone threw the axe again. It flew directly toward the trio, but none of them showed any intention of slowing down.

Just as the axe was about to reach them, Soji accelerated and ran to the very front, facing the incoming axe directly.

Taking a deep breath, Soji spun his body and released an enormous amount of Chakra indiscriminately from all 361 of his Acupoints at once.

"Eight Trigrams Palm—Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

His quiet voice reached everyone present.

Soji released a massive amount of blue Chakra from his entire body as he spun like a top. The Chakra formed a circular blue barrier around him.

The instant Steel Bone's axe struck the blue Chakra barrier, it was blasted far away.

Uchiha Homura, who had been watching for an opening, immediately leaped into the air. He drew several Kunai and Shuriken and hurled them through the gaps in the chain.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sounds of Kunai and Shuriken lodging in the gaps of the chain rang in their ears.

The axe had been knocked away by Soji's Revolving Heaven, while Uchiha Homura had pinned the chain to the ground with his projectiles.

Due to the tremendous momentum, the remaining length of chain wrapped around Steel Bone's hand was yanked loose as well.

Thus, for the first time, the huge axe completely slipped out of Steel Bone's control.

Not only that, the momentum did not merely tear the chain out of Steel Bone's hand—it also threw off his balance, causing him to stagger forward.

For Minato, who had always been precise in seizing opportunities, this was an enormous opening!

Gripping the Kunai in his hand, Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before Steel Bone, then ruthlessly stabbed toward Steel Bone's heart!

We did it!

That was the shared thought of Soji and the others.

They refused to believe that Steel Bone could not only render Soji's Gentle Fist ineffective, but also somehow render this gleaming, cold Kunai ineffective as well.

That would be absurd!

Could a human body really be harder than a Kunai? And this was the heart!

However, sometimes reality really was that damn absurd. You had no choice but to believe it when it was happening right before your eyes.

With a clang, Minato's Kunai struck Steel Bone's chest.

The Kunai instantly snapped in two. The blade grazed Minato's cheek, leaving behind a thin streak of blood that proved how sharp the Kunai had been!

Yet that only made the sight even more unbelievable to Soji and the others!

They would rather believe that Minato had carelessly picked up an unsharpened Kunai and used it to stab Steel Bone in the chest than believe someone could take a Kunai strike to the chest head-on and even shatter the Kunai in return!

It completely defied common sense!

Naturally, Minato himself was the most shocked. The bloody mark left on his face by the broken blade reminded him that he had used all his strength.

Yet the result was completely different from what he had imagined.

Before Soji and the others could recover from their shock, Steel Bone, who had dropped to one knee from the earlier momentum, stood back up.

Rubbing the spot on his chest where the Kunai had struck, he revealed a patch of torn clothing. Beneath it, skin gleaming with black light was clearly visible to Soji and the others.

"What is that?"

"Well, well, you three little brats are pretty capable. You actually made me feel pain. What a pity, though. You were just a little short—really just a little short of killing me." Steel Bone praised their coordinated attack, but his expression grew even darker.

He had not expected that dealing with three mere brats would force him to use his Kekkei Genkai—Steel Release—twice.

"It can make his skin as hard as iron, even shatter a Kunai, and render Soji's Gentle Fist ineffective. If I'm not mistaken, this should be one of the Kekkei Genkai Teacher Jiraiya once told me about—Steel Release!"

After his attack failed, Minato naturally did not foolishly remain in front of Steel Bone waiting for a counterattack. He immediately retreated far away.

At the same time, Minato recalled the various pieces of information related to Kekkei Genkai that Teacher Jiraiya had told him during their travels and training.

"Steel Release..." Soji murmured.

When Soji had watched the Naruto anime in his previous life, he seemed to recall this Kekkei Genkai being mentioned only in a few places, so he was unfamiliar with it and had not recognized it immediately.

Only after hearing Minato mention it did Soji remember that such a Kekkei Genkai existed.

That also explained why Soji's Gentle Fist had been ineffective against Steel Bone. The Gentle Fist simply could not inject Chakra through Steel Bone's chest, which was as impenetrable as a wall of bronze and iron.