Crushing

After letting go, Honda Tadakatsu immediately came to his senses. A wave of shame and anger flooded his face. He had actually been frightened by a brat—what utter humiliation!

As if trying to salvage his pride, Honda Tadakatsu suddenly threw back his head and roared. Veins bulged on his neck, and his face flushed crimson.

Roar!

All the prisoners snapped out of it, their faces awkward as they wished they could crawl into a hole.

Then, as if they had found an outlet, they all glared at Ryōken with fire in their eyes, rolling up their sleeves and preparing to beat him up to cover up their earlier disgrace.

But when they saw Ryōken's expressionless face, they abruptly deflated. None of them could make themselves take a step forward, and they could only keep signaling for the others to go first.

Most of those imprisoned here were shrewd. Who would willingly provoke someone as obviously troublesome as Ryōken?

Seeing them all shirk responsibility back and forth was utterly pathetic.

Unable to endure it any longer, Honda Tadakatsu suddenly stepped forward and threw a punch at Ryōken, accompanied by a howling gust of wind.

The prisoners' hearts tightened. Honda Tadakatsu was truly angry. If that punch landed, Ryōken would probably be seriously injured, right?

Standing before Honda Tadakatsu, Ryōken looked like a child, incomparably frail.

The blow was about to hit, yet Ryōken showed no reaction at all.

Honda Tadakatsu could not help feeling delighted. So he was just putting on a show, only good at scaring people.

A trace of contempt and cruelty surfaced in his eyes.

He could not kill him, but he was not afraid of beating him half to death.

Yet even as the fist, half a head larger than Ryōken's, continued to close in and its force pressed down on him, Ryōken's expression remained unchanged, calm and unruffled.

Ryōken suddenly raised a hand, clenched it into a fist, and drove a straight punch forward. It was silent and seemed somewhat weak.

Like the final struggle of someone on the verge of death.

"Is that brat stupid?"

"With that flimsy little fist, he actually dares compete with Lord Honda in strength!"

The prisoners all wore mocking expressions, and even Morino Shingen was somewhat puzzled.

Wasn't Ryōken best at swordsmanship?

A trace of worry appeared on his face, and he became uneasy.

He secretly gripped the signal flare hidden in his sleeve, ready at any moment to notify the ANBU ninja responsible for guarding this place.

They were the ones truly keeping watch over these prisoners.

Even if it disturbed those lords, he could not let Ryōken get hurt.

Determination flashed through Morino Shingen's eyes.

Boom!

The two fists collided head-on the next moment.

In terms of taijutsu strength, Ryōken was not much weaker than the naturally powerful Honda Tadakatsu!

As for defense, with the boost from his skill, he feared nothing at all.

His defense was already enough to withstand some C-rank ninjutsu. Lower-level Water Release and Earth Release techniques that relied on impact could barely harm him.

Trading punches with him, Honda Tadakatsu's brute strength alone was completely insufficient.

Honda Tadakatsu's ferocious grin abruptly froze. At that moment, Ryōken's refined-looking fist was like an uncrossable chasm. No matter how red Honda Tadakatsu's face became, his fist could not advance another inch.

"Hm?" Everyone's expressions hardened. How could this be? How could Ryōken block that punch so easily? And Ryōken's expression had not changed, while Honda Tadakatsu's face had turned red.

Crack!

Suddenly, a scream rang out. Honda Tadakatsu felt intense pain shoot through his fist as a surging force rushed in, twisting his already savage face even further.

That force was sharp as a sword, rampaging through his body.

It felt as though it would tear him apart from within.

Honda Tadakatsu was horrified. He gathered all his strength, veins popping across his vicious face.

"Get back."

Ryōken suddenly exerted force with his fist, sending Honda Tadakatsu flying.

This was impossible.

A trace of disbelief filled Honda Tadakatsu's eyes.

When it came to strength, even ordinary Jonin could not compare to him. Yet this brat had not budged in the slightest, not even retreating half a step.

He stood firmly where he was and withdrew his fist, looking almost dissatisfied?

Dissatisfied?

Honda Tadakatsu felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His entire worldview had collapsed. The world had changed too much.

Even a child could wrestle with him.

And he had been utterly crushed.

"How is that possible?"

"Lord Honda was sent flying by one punch?"

Everyone was stunned. Honda Tadakatsu, a giant of a man, had actually been blasted away by Ryōken's single punch?

The crowd drew in a sharp breath. They must have seen it wrong.

"Uh..."

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Morino Shingen's forehead. Confusion flickered in his eyes. Wasn't Ryōken skilled in swordsmanship?

Had he remembered wrong?

Or could Ryōken be Lady Tsunade's student?

Had he learned Super Strength?

As he watched Honda Tadakatsu, whom he had sent flying with one punch, light flickered in Ryōken's eyes. He murmured inwardly, Garen's Courage really is a pretty good skill.

Although Ryōken's strength was about equal to Honda Tadakatsu's, perhaps even slightly weaker, Ryōken's physical defense far surpassed his. That was why the outcome looked like this.

Honda Tadakatsu's strength had been forcibly absorbed by Ryōken's body without producing any effect, while Honda Tadakatsu himself had been sent flying by Ryōken's punch.

That was the advantage of defense.

As long as his defense was not broken, Ryōken was innately invincible.

"Come to think of it, am I going farther and farther down the path of being a tank?"

Ryōken felt conflicted and somewhat resentful.

Defensive sword techniques, defensive skills, regeneration talent!

Well, that covered everything.

A qualified tank!

"Damn brat, don't think you can win just because you're stronger than me!"

Honda Tadakatsu came back to his senses, filled with boundless fury.

So many people were watching, all giving him strange looks.

Under all those doubtful and astonished gazes, Honda Tadakatsu's face burned.

A prison boss being sent flying by a brat's single punch was simply humiliating.

Honda Tadakatsu got to his feet, suddenly turned his head, and let out a roar.

"Idiot! Bring me my weapon already!"

A prisoner who was still dazed answered and hurried back to the worksite. After rummaging around, he actually pulled out a weapon. It gleamed coldly, clearly having been sharpened often.

Ryōken turned to look at Morino Shingen, his gaze carrying a questioning edge.

Morino Shingen immediately became extremely embarrassed. Under his management, a prisoner had actually hidden a weapon. This was no small matter.

He awkwardly explained, "It was probably left behind during the last prison riot."

But he also knew how unconvincing that sounded. He lowered his head sheepishly and did not dare say another word.

Ryōken could not be bothered with him and merely shook his head.

This prison was practically useless to begin with and received almost no attention. The original story made that clear enough: Wind God and Thunder God had been indulged to such an extent that they could easily escape prison.

The prisoner jogged over and handed the weapon to Honda Tadakatsu.

Honda Tadakatsu took the longsword and casually swung it, stirring up a whirlwind. Then he sneered coldly. "I'll let you see what I rely on to rule this prison!"

They had not examined it closely before, but only now did they realize it was actually a sword.

The Konoha ninja could not help being taken aback. A sword?

And he was going to compete with Ryōken in swordsmanship!

They nearly burst out laughing, unable to hold back their amusement.

Ryōken was also stunned for a moment, then looked at Honda Tadakatsu with interest.

He shrugged, gestured at Honda Tadakatsu, and stood there empty-handed, completely unguarded.

Seeing this, Honda Tadakatsu flew into a rage. He let out an exasperated roar and charged forward with his sword.

"That blockhead Honda Tadakatsu is finally using his sword."

"That kid is finished now. So what if he's strong? One slash and he'll die."

"I wonder if the ANBU lords will come out?"

The Chunin prisoners whispered among themselves.

Within the prison, barrier formulas were everywhere, greatly weakening the power of ninjutsu.

Outside at the worksite, they all wore specially made handcuffs that restricted the flow of chakra, making it difficult to use ninjutsu as well.

Thus, Honda Tadakatsu, with his unbelievably burly build and skill with the sword, had naturally become the boss. No one dared refuse to submit.