Enma King

Konoha, Fourth Training Ground.

This place was originally the relatively open edge of a forest, but now it was a complete mess.

Trees as thick as a bowl were toppled every which way, fresh wood grain exposed at their broken ends; the solid ground was riddled with pits and crisscrossing gullies, as if repeatedly trampled and ravaged by a giant beast.

"Boom! Thump! Crash!"

A dull, continuous roar, like war drums or splitting rock, echoed out, each blast accompanied by a slight tremor in the earth and flying dirt and stone.

Two figures, moving at a speed the naked eye could barely track, clashed, collided, separated, and rammed into each other with even greater ferocity within the limited space.

One figure was nimble and swift, yet was forced back by greater strength after every hard exchange.

The other was as imposing as a mountain, each movement carrying a crushing weight, as if it were not flesh and blood, but forged from solid steel.

Another utterly straightforward fist clash!

"Puff!"

A shockwave exploded. The smaller figure—Higashino Shinichi—shot backward like a cannonball, flying at a terrifying speed before slamming heavily into a tree trunk so thick it would take two people to wrap their arms around. The trunk groaned in protest and snapped clean in half!

Amid flying wood chips, Shinichi let out a muffled grunt. Using the falling tree as a buffer, he staggered to land, carving two long furrows several meters long in the ground before barely steadying himself. His chest churned with surging blood, and both arms throbbed with numbness.

His training uniform, long soaked through with sweat and dust, clung tightly to his bulging muscles. It was torn in many places, revealing flushed skin covered in bruises.

But his eyes burned with an astonishing light, locked firmly on the massive, gradually clearing silhouette in the dust ahead. Though his breathing was heavy, it carried a focus bordering on exhilaration.

As the dust settled, a figure of abnormal height came clearly into view.

It stood about two and a half meters tall, wearing Konoha's forehead protector squarely on its brow. But it was not human.

Its entire body was covered in thick, hard silver-white fur, gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen under the sunlight filtering through the trees.

Its muscles bulged in rugged, explosive lines, as if carved from the hardest granite, radiating a primal power that made one's heart tremble.

Its round, wide eyes were pure gold—wild, sharp. Its mouth was slightly open, revealing gleaming fangs.

Just standing there, it exuded the oppressive aura of an ancient beast.

This was the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's summon, the Enma King, famed across the ninja world for "boundless strength and an indestructible body."

When Higashino Shinichi expressed to the Third Hokage his wish to learn from a senior with an exceptionally powerful physique and an unyielding body, the Third had immediately thought of this old partner.

The Enma Clan was born with tyrannical physical strength. Their sinews and bones were far beyond human imagination. Without needing Chakra enhancement, a simple gesture could split stone and shatter rock.

Their muscle density and bone strength reached an almost inconceivable level, granting them immense natural resistance and shock absorption against blunt force. Ordinary blades could barely scratch them. They were walking steel fortresses.

Thus, the Enma King became Shinichi's instructor for this special training.

At their first meeting, the Enma King spoke bluntly. It had no complex or profound cultivation methods to teach. The Enma Clan's way of tempering the body was simple and brutal.

It was to keep fighting—to let the body feel impact, endure damage, adapt to pain. To push potential to its limit through extreme confrontation, tempering every inch of muscle and every bone.

After battle, they supplemented this with their clan's secret medicinal baths and ointments to recover, heal hidden injuries, and solidify gains, growing stronger in the cycle of destruction and reconstruction.

In short: take a beating—then take medicine.

Now, a brief silence fell over the training ground. Shinichi worked to steady his breathing, feeling the numbness in his arm muscles and the searing heat like branding irons.

The Enma King adhered to its clan's most basic creed: only under pressure that neared—or even surpassed—the limit could flesh and blood spark the potential for transformation.

Thus, its guidance was almost merciless: as long as training didn't kill you, train until you were dead.

This sparring had gone on for quite some time. After every day of training, Shinichi's body was covered in bruises large and small. Hardly an inch of skin was unmarred, and his bones felt like they were about to fall apart.

Fortunately, the secret medicine the Enma King provided afterward was truly miraculous. Additionally, Shinichi's own physique was far beyond ordinary. The [Big Eater] Trait granted him the special ability to efficiently absorb nutrients and convert energy, allowing him to persist through this grueling training.

"Kid! Watch out!"

The Enma King's voice boomed like a bell, with a metallic rasp. As the words left its mouth, its massive body crouched slightly, and the powerful muscles in its legs suddenly tensed.

"Boom!"

The ground beneath its feet instantly caved into a large crater. The Enma King launched itself skyward, its enormous frame displaying astonishing speed and explosive power that defied its size!

Like a falling meteor, it combined its terrifying weight with the potential energy of its descent into the most primal, violent attack, crashing down directly onto Shinichi, who had just barely steadied himself!

Shadow loomed. Wind pressure bore down. The air screamed as it was forced aside!

Don't take it head-on!

Almost the instant the Enma King leaped, Shinichi reacted. He didn't dodge backward or to the side—the coverage was too wide.

Instead, he charged forward, toward the blind spot beneath the Enma King. At the same time, he dropped his body as low as possible, nearly hugging the ground, like a black lightning bolt slithering along the earth.

Whoosh!

In the nick of time, Shinichi barely scraped past the edge of where the Enma King was about to land. The savage wind pressure nearly yanked him off his feet, and his exposed skin stung from the blast.

"Boom!!!"

The Enma King slammed into the ground like a meteor impact. A violent shockwave erupted in a ring from the point of impact. The hard earth rippled, bulged, and then exploded like water!

Countless rocks and dirt were hurled into the air, forming a terrifying crater over ten meters in diameter.

Shinichi didn't pause for a moment. The instant he dodged the lethal blow, the thought of a counterattack had already risen. Under the cover of flying sand and gravel, he spun his body, twisted his waist, and poured all his strength and Chakra into his right leg. A fierce, axe-like side kick swept toward the Enma King's ankle joint—the spot that had just landed and was relatively hard to leverage.

"Bam!"

His leg bone collided with the Enma King's ankle, but the sound that rang out was like kicking a solid steel pillar—a dull, heavy thud.

The Enma King's body only swayed slightly, not even moving half a step.

"Not bad strength, but still not enough!" The Enma King's deep voice rumbled as his massive arm swung casually, like a sweeping giant log carrying an unstoppable force.

Shinichi quickly withdrew his leg, crossing both arms in front of him to guard.

"Thud!"

His arms met the Enma King's forearm. Shinichi felt as if he had been rammed head-on by a full-speed charging giant tank. His blocking arms went numb instantly, and his entire body slid backward uncontrollably, his feet plowing deep furrows into the ground. He only managed to dispel most of the impact after retreating more than ten meters.