Might Duy unleashed

Shinnō was startled. A child this young actually blocked it. This body...!

He looked again at Ye Feng's Sharingan, seemingly thinking of something.

"You're Uchiha Yefeng!" Shinnō felt utterly humiliated. The person he had been looking for was right before his eyes, pretending not to know anything.

Furious, Shinnō charged at Ye Feng, intending to kill him with a punch. Ye Feng had no intention of meeting him head-on; keeping Shinnō occupied was enough. He dodged left and right, even retreating a few steps as he taunted Shinnō:

"Come on, then! You're pathetic. You can't even kill a kid like me. How embarrassing."

Ye Feng's words sent Shinnō into a towering rage, and he was about to chase him down and kill him. But just as he started moving, he spotted Orochimaru and the other ninja catching up. Shinnō hesitated only briefly before deciding to escape first. There would be other opportunities later. He immediately turned and fled.

Seeing that Shinnō was determined to leave, Ye Feng and Orochimaru felt rather helpless. There was nothing they could do-they could not catch up.

Suddenly, as Shinnō sprinted away, he sensed a figure appear in front of him. A fist struck his abdomen, sending him hurtling back faster than he had come, landing within Orochimaru's group's encirclement.

Orochimaru and Ye Feng were startled by the impact. Seeing Shinnō embedded in the ground, they exchanged shocked looks.

A figure approached from the distance. It was Might Duy, his body blazing with green light-the color of Chakra released by activating the Eight Gates Released Formation. And he had opened quite a few gates.

Orochimaru and his subordinates were even more shocked. He knew Might Duy, Konoha's eternal Genin, someone considered a disgrace to Konoha. To think he possessed such strength.

"Stop playing dead. An attack like that couldn't hurt you!" Might Duy said.

Hearing this, Orochimaru and his subordinates stepped back and immediately hurled Kunai and Explosive Tags.

After a series of explosions, smoke billowed everywhere, and the surroundings fell silent. Shinnō's figure was hidden in the thick smoke. Suddenly, he burst out of it and attacked Might Duy directly.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Might Duy could only parry. The two moved so quickly that the naked eye could no longer follow them; only the collisions of their auras could be felt. Only Ye Feng's eyes could barely make out traces of their figures, and even he struggled to keep up.

The others could hear only the repeated impacts of flesh and the whistling sounds produced by their swift movements. Within Orochimaru and his subordinates, shock surged like crashing waves.

Is this Might Duy's strength? Is he really that eternal Genin? That laughingstock of a dead last? If he's dead last, what does that make me? Orochimaru's subordinates sank into self-doubt.

Orochimaru, however, thought, Might Duy really is extraordinary. Such an immense Chakra response-he must have used some forbidden technique. His Taijutsu already surpasses that of most Elite Jonin. No wonder Ye Feng trains in Taijutsu with him. He really is a genius. If I could study his body...

The battle continued. Of everyone present, only Orochimaru could barely intervene in Might Duy and Shinnō's Taijutsu battle. In this confined space, only Taijutsu could display its full power. If Orochimaru summoned his Summoning Beast, Manda, or used large-scale Ninjutsu, he would have no reason to fear Shinnō either. But the terrain did not permit it, and if Shinnō tried to flee, there was nothing he could do. He could only pin all his hopes on Might Duy's strength.

They watched the figures constantly shifting through the air. Every time they touched the ground, a large stretch of earth cracked and shattered. Before long, no level ground remained nearby; it was full of pits and craters.

But Might Duy was actually struggling inwardly. He had already opened the sixth gate, the Gate of View, yet he was only somewhat stronger than Shinnō. He could not overwhelm and subdue him, and he also had to prevent Shinnō from escaping. Moreover, his Eight Gates Released Formation had a time limit. If he failed to take Shinnō down before time ran out, he would have no options left.

The Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder, was still a strain for him, even after Ye Feng's Medicinal Baths had considerably increased what his body could withstand. But without opening the Seventh Gate, it would be difficult to subdue Shinnō quickly.

Knowing he had little time left, Might Duy steeled himself and opened the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder. An even greater surge of Chakra erupted.

Ye Feng, Orochimaru, and the others beside the battlefield felt the aura around Might Duy rise another level, leaving them even more shocked. That still wasn't Might Duy's limit? This strength must already be at Kage Level.

Thinking of Might Duy's usual foolish behavior and comparing it with the Third Hokage's imposing bearing, they found it truly hard to accept. How could their strength be on the same level?

With the Seventh Gate open, Might Duy produced flashes of flame from his body rubbing against the air with every movement. Feeling his stamina rapidly drain, he hesitated no longer, closed in, and punched at Shinnō.

Might Duy's sudden burst of speed and strength left Shinnō no time to react. Even with his strength, he could not detect Might Duy's figure. By the time he did, Might Duy was already before his eyes.

Facing Might Duy's drastically increased strength, Shinnō felt both surprise and some regret. He had still underestimated how much the Eight Gates Released Formation could increase one's strength, and he regretted not having learned this Ninjutsu. If he had learned the Eight Gates Released Formation too, Might Duy would never have been his match, and he would have become a ninja at the pinnacle of fighting power in his own right.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs. Shinnō took Might Duy's blow squarely, its tremendous force driving his body into the ground and sending up a huge cloud of dust.

Might Duy's Eight Gates Released Formation also reached its time limit. Returning to his previous appearance, he dropped to one knee, gasping for breath, his face contorted in pain. Clearly, he had reached his limit too.

Shinnō, meanwhile, had lost consciousness after hitting the ground. His tremendous vitality had kept him from dying.

Ye Feng hurried over to check on Might Duy, giving Orochimaru a look as he left.

Orochimaru understood immediately: The Scroll, and eliminate the problem at its root.

Orochimaru walked up to Shinnō and discreetly took the Scroll from inside his clothes. Powerful Chakra gathered in his hand as he prepared to destroy Shinnō's head.

"Stop!" An Anbu squad captain arrived at the scene just then. Seeing that Orochimaru was about to destroy Shinnō's head, he immediately called out to stop him.

Orochimaru acted as though he had heard nothing. His hand did not stop, and he destroyed Shinnō's head outright.

The Anbu squad captain immediately stepped forward to inspect him. Shinnō's head had been completely destroyed. The squad captain looked at Orochimaru and spoke.

"I will report this truthfully to Lord Third!"

"Suit yourself," came Orochimaru's indifferent voice.