Before the Nine-Tails, which stood as tall as a thirty-story building, Genye looked utterly insignificant.
When he punched the Nine-Tails, he looked like a tiny fly landing lightly on a person.
In everyone's eyes, Genye's actions were no different from a mantis trying to stop a chariot or an egg striking a rock.
"Know your place." The Nine-Tails bared a savage, mocking grin and started to turn toward Genye.
But the next moment—
Bam!
A deafening explosion rang out, nearly bursting everyone's eardrums!
The Nine-Tails felt a tremendous force slam into its skull. Its vision went black, and its massive body pitched straight toward the ground.
Crash!
Dust billowed as the Nine-Tails' enormous body slammed into the ground, making the nearby earth tremble.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... The entire scene fell deathly silent.
What they were seeing was so shocking that everyone's mind had ground to a halt.
Imagine your village's nuclear bomb was about to go off.
Then some ordinary-looking kid hopped onto it, hummed a tune, and punched it until it fizzled out...
Come on, who wouldn't be stunned by that?
(Poor foreigners, they didn't even know how to say "holy crap.")
Hizashi Hyuga's mouth hung open in an O. Genye had just said... he'd used the Gentle Fist?
Wasn't the Gentle Fist a technique that used softness to overcome strength?
A punch that rang like metal striking stone, a punch that knocked down a Tailed Beast strong enough to uproot mountains—and you, you, you call that the Gentle Fist?!
"￥...#%!...*\u0026!" Hizashi's language center had gone offline.
Thinking back on the Gentle Fist he'd trained in for over twenty years, Hizashi had no idea whether he'd been practicing it wrong or Genye had.
All he knew was that he felt like he'd wasted those twenty-some years (no offense to dogs).
"Didn't they say this kid was crippled? Someone from the medical team, get over here and tell me how the hell this counts as crippled?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, usually the very picture of composure, was so angry he wanted to curse.
If this kid counted as crippled, what did that make an old man like him? He might as well get in his grave right now!
Those little brats in the medical team were shamelessly lying through their teeth!
The more Hiruzen thought about it, the angrier he got. He decided he'd launch a sweeping reform of the medical team as soon as he got back!
(Medical team: Genye, I'm really so done with you~)
"S-so strong!"
Watching the Nine-Tails sprawled in front of him, Yuhi Shinku swallowed hard. Genye had won him over in an instant.
He'd go home and agree to let his daughter date the boy... No, the old man approved of this marriage!
If that old geezer Hyuga Yuansheng refused to give his blessing, the old man would tear down his family shrine!
"Brother, see that? That's my son-in-law."
Yuhi Shinku pointed at Genye, speaking proudly to Iruka's father, who was in his arms.
Elsewhere.
Kushina had even forgotten to cry. She stared at Minato in surprise, her mouth hanging open.
"Hey, honey, didn't you say the Nine-Tails couldn't be restrained by physical force?"
"Well..." Minato opened his mouth, unsure how to explain.
In theory, maybe... But even in theory, this was just ridiculous!
"Roar!"
While everyone was distracted, the Nine-Tails shook off its dizziness and threw its head back with another roar.
"Brat, I'll kill youuuuu!"
"Not good!"
Everyone's expressions changed at once. As expected, no matter how strong a person was, how could they possibly fight a Tailed...
"Gentle Fist—Explosion!"
Bam!
Genye slammed another punch into it. The Nine-Tails' eyes rolled back, and it collapsed to the ground once more.
Everyone: "..."
Nine-Tails, couldn't you stay on your feet for a little longer? At least let out another couple of roars!
We haven't even gotten worked up yet, and you're down again!
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Standing on the Nine-Tails' head, Genye laughed wildly.
For some reason, he'd been laughing a lot lately. Whenever his emotions got worked up, he'd burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"All that meridian training wasn't for nothing!"
After all that training, he was no longer the one-second man he'd been before.
Now, he could punch as many times as he wanted and stay hard for as long as he wanted (not really)!
"Hey, Minato-senpai."
Standing atop the Nine-Tails' head, Genye shouted down at Minato, who was frozen below. "Ask your wife if she can seal the Nine-Tails back inside her now!"
"That's right, Minato. Seal the Nine-Tails as soon as possible, before anything else goes wrong!" The Third chimed in from the side.
"Ah, right!" Minato finally snapped out of it and looked at Kushina beside him. "Kushina, can you seal the Nine-Tails inside you now?"
"Still no." Kushina shook her head, her voice growing weaker. "The Nine-Tails is still resisting fiercely."
"What? It still dares to resist?"
Genye perked right up. He'd been wondering how to win Kushina's favor, and now the opportunity had fallen right into his lap!
He rolled up his sleeves and shouted, full of energy, "Don't worry, sister-in-law! I'll help you stuff this big guy back inside!"
Minato: "???"
Who was the kid calling sister-in-law? And why did what he'd said sound so weird?
"Gentle Fist—Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!"
Genye swung his arms in wide arcs and began raining punches down on the Nine-Tails' head. He was having the time of his life.
"ORA ORA ORA! MUDAMUDAMUDA!"
The Gentle Fist dealt damage through chakra, and Genye's modified version worked the same way. It was especially effective against the Nine-Tails, which was itself made of chakra.
Of course, not every member of the Hyuga Clan would agree—Hizashi Hyuga, for example.
But that was what happened when they were weak!
Genye's physical abilities now rivaled those of a Kage. When he stacked the force of seven or eight layers of the Gentle Fist and unleashed them, the damage didn't merely add up—it multiplied geometrically.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
The dull thuds of Genye's fists pounding the Nine-Tails' head, along with his brazen laughter, could be heard from miles away.
The Konoha Ninja around them fell silent.
They'd fought with everything they had and still failed to take down the Nine-Tails. Now some kid had it pinned to the ground, pounding it with a series of loud thumps...
It was so absurd that they'd never have dared dream it up!
Come to think of it... they didn't seem to have anything left to do.
The Konoha Ninja glanced at the weapons in their hands and stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do with themselves.
What now? What were they supposed to do?
"Roar!"
The Nine-Tails couldn't take it anymore. It let out a mournful growl and, without even needing the chains to pull it, transformed into a streak of orange light and burrowed into Kushina's body.
Which Tailed Beast, from the moment it was born, could have imagined being pinned to the ground and beaten up by a human?
But the Nine-Tails had experienced exactly that! Twice!
Let's not even bring up Senju Hashirama. He'd claimed the Nine-Tails was too powerful, then pinned it to the ground with one hand and rubbed its face in the dirt.
That man was recognized as the God of the Shinobi World, after all. Getting beaten up by him wasn't shameful.
Besides, at least Senju Hashirama had used a big move back then!
Now, in front of all these people, it had been pounded until it couldn't get back up by some nobody using ordinary punches!
What the hell was that supposed to be?!
Couldn't he have used a big move? One with flashy effects, at least? If nothing else, he could have shouted a cool-sounding technique name!
Didn't the Nine-Tails deserve to save face?
"So humiliating!" The Nine-Tails felt utterly disgraced.
Its face was burning, and its head was buzzing. It just wanted somewhere to hide, and Kushina's belly seemed like a pretty good choice.
"The Shinobi World is getting more dangerous by the day. I'd better go back to dozing in the sealing space..."
The Nine-Tails returned to the sealing space and flopped down in a comfortable position, leaving Kushina and Minato to apply the seal outside.
"Phew..."
With the Nine-Tails back inside her, Kushina's color quickly improved, and she was no longer in danger of dying.
"Minato, it looks like we don't have to die after all."
Kushina said playfully, but as she smiled, tears began streaming down her face.
"That's wonderful, Kushina!"
Minato pulled Kushina and their son into his arms. Though he'd become Hokage, he was crying like a young boy.
"Now we can take care of Naruto together, watch him grow up, and live a happy life as a family of three."
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