Bang! Bang! Bang!
The abandoned training ground echoed with the sounds of fists and feet colliding.
A man and a woman, one tall and one short, were engaged in an intense taijutsu duel.
Normally, when the bigger fighter faced the smaller one, it would be a simple matter of weight-class suppression, with no suspense at all.
Even if they were evenly matched, the smaller one would usually rely on nimble dodges, using skill and speed to suppress the larger opponent.
But the scene before them was the opposite.
Gojo Yoru, who had grown to 1.64 meters tall, was using redirection techniques to block Uzumaki Kushina's flurry of punches. Even in shoes, she was only 1.42 meters tall.
A closer look at his hands revealed that the backs of them had already turned bright red.
That was the result of exchanging blows with Uzumaki Kushina.
The reason the impacts of fists and feet were so loud
was that every one of Uzumaki Kushina's punches seemed to carry rushing air with it, producing sharp cracks as they tore through the air.
The terrifying monstrous strength contrasted starkly with her soft, pink little fists.
Gojo Yoru was not simply blocking and redirecting her attacks. Every few exchanges, or every dozen or so, he would meet Uzumaki Kushina head-on.
Sometimes their fists collided, sometimes their feet crashed together, each impact producing a thunderous bang.
With every collision, invisible bursts of air erupted from their limbs, sweeping up fallen leaves and dust from the ground.
Afterward, pain would flash across Uzumaki Kushina's little face.
Sometimes she even bared her teeth, as though she had struck not Gojo Yoru's hands and feet, but a steel plate.
That was not far from the truth.
While training Uzumaki Kushina's taijutsu techniques, Gojo Yoru was also using moving combat to cultivate Earth Style nature transformation.
After an unknown number of exchanges, Gojo Yoru and Uzumaki Kushina suddenly leaped backward in perfect sync, their hands rapidly forming different seals.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!"
The instant they landed, they each expelled a straight stream of fire and water from their mouths.
The two collided and evaporated into a cloud of white mist.
Before a gust of wind could disperse the mist, several Uzumaki Kushinas rushed out from within, each holding a Rasengan as they charged toward Gojo Yoru.
Gojo Yoru also formed hand seals and created several Phantom Clones to meet them head-on.
Uzumaki Kushina's Shadow Clones attacked Gojo Yoru's true body first, but their attacks passed straight through him without surprise.
Then the Shadow Clones divided their work, each one attacking one of Gojo Yoru's Phantom Clones.
One Shadow Clone charged through Gojo Yoru's body with a Rasengan in hand. Just as she thought it was another Phantom Clone, her body was suddenly swept off her feet. The Rasengan slammed into the ground and blasted out a huge crater.
Using the dust and white mist as cover, Gojo Yoru's true body silently used his ghostly Body Flicker Technique to rapidly switch places with his other Phantom Clones, smashing each Uzumaki Kushina into a puff of white smoke.
When only one Uzumaki Kushina remained on the field, Gojo Yoru assumed she was the real one and held back slightly. He sidestepped the Rasengan, then restrained her from behind.
But Uzumaki Kushina turned around and flashed Gojo Yoru a triumphant smile. "Smelly-Mouth Night, you fell for it!"
Pop—
Two nearly overlapping sounds, like balloons bursting, rang out.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The Uzumaki Kushina before him had just turned into white smoke when a girl's sharp cry sounded beside Gojo Yoru's ear.
A stone beneath the distant white mist transformed into Uzumaki Kushina, and she expelled a stream of air at Gojo Yoru.
The airflow rapidly expanded and spread, turning into a gale like an invisible tidal wave that instantly swallowed Gojo Yoru.
The range was too large. Even Gojo Yoru, with his astonishing Body Flicker Technique, had no time to dodge, much less use Earth Style to raise a slab of stone as a shield.
Gojo Yoru merely curled his lips, then stomped the ground and raised his arms in a crossed blocking stance.
The gale swallowed Gojo Yoru, but it was as though it had crashed into a massive boulder. It could not move him in the slightest.
This was not the Naruto-version Armament Haki Hardening of Earth Style: Earth Spear, but Earth Style: Hardening Technique.
Although Earth Style: Earth Spear was merely a B-rank Earth Style technique, it involved profound nature transformation and was an extremely rare form of nintaijutsu.
Its effect was to circulate Chakra throughout the entire body for deep physical reinforcement. When activated instantly, it could create an indestructible body, with defense as hard as diamond.
Earth Style: Hardening Technique, on the other hand, was a weakened version of Earth Style: Earth Spear.
It likewise hardened the body, but it could only harden the surface of the skin. It was nowhere near as comprehensive or powerful as the nintaijutsu-type Earth Style: Earth Spear.
Even so, it was more than enough to defend against Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
After withstanding the gale without a scratch, Gojo Yoru and Uzumaki Kushina did not continue attacking each other.
"Not bad, Tomato-Nai. You even know how to use tactics now." Gojo Yoru praised her without hesitation, looking at Uzumaki Kushina in a new light.
"Hehe... You should thank me for going easy on you." Uzumaki Kushina raised her chin, her face full of pride.
When Gojo Yoru had been resisting the gale just now, Uzumaki Kushina had had plenty of time to create several Shadow Clones and unleash Wind Release: Great Breakthrough again, blowing him straight into the forest.
She simply could not bring herself to do that, just as Gojo Yoru had instinctively held back when he mistook that Shadow Clone for her true body.
"You've grown. I'm very happy." This time, Gojo Yoru did not mock her. He spoke sincerely.
Although he had been somewhat careless just now and was still hiding quite a few methods, Uzumaki Kushina's growth during this time had truly shocked Gojo Yoru.
Other than lacking Asura's Chakra, Uzumaki Kushina was now an upgraded version of Uzumaki Naruto.
The powerful life force and Chakra brought by the Uzumaki bloodline, along with the Yin-Yang Natures and formidable recovery power granted by the complete Nine-Tails, made Uzumaki Kushina—already impossible to kill—even tougher to put down.
As a transmigrator, Gojo Yoru knew exactly how great Uzumaki Kushina's potential was. Unlike Namikaze Minato, who only wanted to become stronger himself to protect her, he intended to cultivate Uzumaki Kushina, whose talent was maxed out, into a super powerhouse.
Knowing how Uzumaki Naruto had exploited cheats, Gojo Yoru directly copied Uzumaki Naruto's training method and had Uzumaki Kushina create massive numbers of Shadow Clones to train.
With the Shadow Clone's cheat-like training acceleration, Uzumaki Kushina's strength skyrocketed every day.
It had only been two months since Uzumaki Kushina became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Other than the Body Flicker Technique, which Gojo Yoru still far surpassed her in, Uzumaki Kushina had already caught up to him in every other aspect.
Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, fuinjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, even nature transformation and sensory abilities...
Just as Nagato's growth had shocked Jiraiya, Uzumaki Kushina, who possessed Super Kage Level potential, made Gojo Yoru experience an even more intense crushing disparity in talent than Namikaze Minato had.
More terrifyingly, Uzumaki Kushina had yet to master Monster Strength Fist or awaken Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Physical Healing, and Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Otherwise, her sensory, healing, and sealing abilities would instantly become among the strongest in the Ninja World.
If not for the Golden Finger of his Space-Time Bloodline, Gojo Yoru truly would have been beaten black and blue by the blow to his confidence, unable to see any hope of restoring his authority as a husband.
The talent boost brought by his first evolution simply could not compare to a monster like the protagonist of an era.
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