The Spoils of Battle and the Cycle of Cause and Effect

Toji was covered in blood.

His clothes above the waist had been destroyed, exposing his red-and-black tattoos. Only his trousers remained intact.

Toji looked at Shinnō, whose heart had been removed and who was now unmistakably dead. "Shinnō, I don't think I'll forget you anytime soon."

He hadn't expected to run into an enemy who could force him to release the Yin Seal as a last resort right after leaving the beginner village of Konoha.

The Shinobi World was far too dangerous.

Toji assessed his condition. At the moment, two words seemed to describe it: seemingly battered!

Shinnō's Gate of Death had been nowhere near as powerful as Might Guy's. He had fought on raw physical power alone, unable to use Taijutsu techniques with more intricate mechanics, such as Morning Peacock, Daytime Tiger, Evening Elephant, or the ultimate Night Guy.

Even so, Shinnō's desperate final strike had put Toji in considerable danger. It had given him a taste of what Madara Uchiha had faced.

Both arms, which had taken the impact head-on, had suffered comminuted fractures. Bone injuries and bruises covered his body, and his internal organs had taken a violent shock.

He looked battered.

But the instant the blow landed, Toji had activated healing with hand signs, Reverse Cursed Technique, and the Yin Seal together, pushing his self-healing to its limit.

In the future, Tsunade would build on the Yin Seal to develop the Strength of a Hundred Technique and Creation Rebirth. With them, she could heal quickly even if cut in half at the waist.

Toji couldn't do that yet. If he were cut in half or had half his body blown apart, his self-healing would fail. Shinnō clearly hadn't been capable of inflicting that kind of irreversible damage.

Since he had already released the Yin Seal, Toji