Hearing Ziyun say that, Yotsuki A, who was only twelve but looked around thirty, flexed his already muscular arm.
Yotsuki A was two years older than Ziyun and had already been promoted to Chunin. He didn't think much of Ziyun, a Genin who had graduated just three days ago.
He also regarded Ziyun as a younger brother. Now that his younger brother had called him out by name, Yotsuki A felt he needed to teach his little cousin a lesson.
Otherwise, if Ziyun grew too proud, he was bound to suffer for it when he went out on missions.
"I just want to try out a newly developed Ninjutsu... You'd better not hold back, Brother A," Ziyun said.
He was determined to take on this challenge because the system had just issued a new mission.
[C-rank mission: Defeat a Chunin]: Defeat a Chunin; time limit: none; reward: Observation Haki; failure: no penalty.
The Third Raikage hadn't originally intended to let A and Ziyun fight, but Ziyun kept pestering him, so he had no choice but to agree.
"Go easy on him, and don't hurt Ziyun..."
Before the duel began, the Third Raikage made a point of telling A not to hit too hard.
He knew his own son. A's strength was now at least at the level of an elite Chunin, approaching that of a Special Jōnin.
Ziyun was a newly graduated Genin. Even if he was a genius, he couldn't possibly defeat an elite Chunin so soon.
But thinking of the Ninjutsu Ziyun had said could make him immune to Ninjutsu, the Third Raikage was interested and wanted to see it, so he decided to let A fight him.
Before they fought, however, the Third Raikage again made a point of telling A not to hit too hard, lest he hurt Ziyun.
"Don't worry, Father. I'll be careful. Besides, Ziyun is pretty strong himself," A said as he warmed up.
He wouldn't underestimate his younger brother just because Ziyun was a newly graduated Genin. Those strange Ninjutsu Ziyun had created himself were enough to keep A from doing so.
He still remembered how, two years ago, Ziyun had used a Shave and Finger Pistol combination for the first time and defeated him in one move.
But that was then. Now, A didn't think Ziyun could defeat him.
A had also accepted the duel because he wanted to teach Ziyun a small lesson and tell him not to be too proud.
There's always someone stronger, and the heavens stretch beyond the heavens... Remember that, Ziyun. The Shinobi World is a big place.
A had already decided what he would say to Ziyun after defeating him.
Ziyun then went through the motions of warming up as well. He was a little afraid he might hurt Yotsuki A's pride.
"If you're ready, then begin. I'll act as the referee for this match..."
Dodai then took up the role of referee. He swung his hand down, signaling the start of the duel.
"Ziyun, I'm going to take you down a peg."
The moment Dodai finished speaking, A vanished from where he stood and appeared in front of Ziyun.
Fighting in the Hidden Cloud Village was different from fighting in Konoha. Its shinobi mostly trained in Nintaijutsu and fought straightforwardly, rarely using substitutions or the like to test their opponents.
So Yotsuki A charged straight at Ziyun and raised a fist as big as the mouth of a bowl.
"Iron Claw."
This was a Nintaijutsu A had created himself. It was a simple straight punch, but it packed tremendous power. At A's current level, he could probably break a tree trunk with one punch.
Naturally, A's punch missed, passing straight through Ziyun's body.
"So this is the Lightning Release Dissolving Jutsu you created? Very impressive," Yotsuki A said in praise after his punch missed.
He didn't know about Devil Fruits, so he called it Lightning Release Dissolving Jutsu.
The Third Raikage and Dodai, watching from the side, nodded involuntarily.
This Ninjutsu was highly unusual. On a battlefield, anyone who didn't know about Ziyun's Ninjutsu would surely suffer a major setback.
"I told you I'm immune to all physical attacks, Brother A. Why don't you try using Ninjutsu and see if it works?" Ziyun suggested.
Besides wanting to obtain Observation Haki from this duel, Ziyun also wanted to know whether his body in Elemental Transformation could withstand Ninjutsu. He wasn't sure about that himself.
After all, it came from the pirate world, and he didn't know whether it would work in the Naruto world.
"All right..." A nodded and began forming Hand Seals.
That was right. Although Fourth Raikage A had only shown Nintaijutsu in the original story, that didn't mean he knew no Ninjutsu.
After all, the Book of Sha stated that the Fourth Raikage was a shinobi with three Chakra natures: earth, lightning, and water. He knew at least a few basic Ninjutsu and was quite proficient in them.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Yotsuki A turned the ground beneath Ziyun's feet into a swamp, attempting to restrict his movement, but it had no effect.
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
He immediately followed up with a Lightning Release Ninjutsu, which once again passed through Ziyun's chest.
That's about enough...
Seeing that two Ninjutsu in succession had been unable to do anything against his Elemental Transformation, Ziyun had a rough idea.
Elemental Transformation still worked in this world, and just as in the pirate world, it was a passive effect. He didn't even need to think about it; his body automatically entered Elemental Transformation when attacked.
In that case... let's end this rather unnecessary fight and claim the reward.
The next moment, Ziyun turned into a flash of lightning and instantly appeared behind Yotsuki A.
He was so fast that A had no time to react. Even Dodai, an elite Jonin, had barely managed to respond. Of everyone present, only the Third Raikage could vaguely make out Ziyun's movements.
"Thousand Years of Death!"
Ziyun formed the "tiger" seal with both hands, aimed at Yotsuki A's asshole, and thrust hard.
"Aah!!"
Yotsuki A felt his rear tighten, followed by a searing pain in his asshole. Then he let out a squeal like a slaughtered pig and went flying into the sky.
"I... I'm going to kill you... Ziyun!"
A fell to the ground clutching his asshole and spoke in unbearable agony, his face contorted.
He felt something flowing out of his asshole, as though it were crying...
"Ah... Brother A, I just remembered I have something to take care of... I'll be going now."
Seeing that things were going badly, Ziyun seized the chance to make a quick getaway.
In fact, Ziyun hadn't used the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, since it would be bad if he hurt Brother A. Instead, inspiration had struck, and he had remembered this Ninjutsu from the original story, which did little damage but was immensely humiliating.
He hadn't expected to misjudge his strength and thrust his fingers too deep... His good big brother would probably need to recuperate for at least a while.
For the time being, it was probably best if Ziyun stayed out of his sight.
So Ziyun immediately ran to the laboratory, where even the Third Raikage couldn't enter.
At the same time, the system reward arrived.
[Ding~ Congratulations, host, on completing the mission and defeating a Chunin. Reward obtained: Observation Haki, 1,000 points.]
Before he even had time to see exactly what the system had rewarded him with, Ziyun hurriedly slipped away.
"Was that another Ninjutsu the kid created himself? That... that's far too terrifying..."
Watching Ziyun's retreating figure, the Third Raikage and Dodai, who had remained where they were, both grimaced and felt their assholes tighten.
As men, they couldn't help putting themselves in his place when they saw a scene like that.
Just look at Yotsuki A, crying and clutching his asshole in agony. The technique really was just like its name: a Ninjutsu that could make someone feel "pain like a thousand years of death."
"But Ziyun's Thunder God Technique really is terrifying... With the methods A had, he couldn't inflict any meaningful damage on him at all."
Recalling the entire duel, Dodai couldn't help marveling at Ziyun's growth.
With such an unusual ability, even as a Genin, he could put up a fight against an elite Chunin.
"That's right. The kid... seems to have defeated A. And his Thunder God Technique really can make him immune to attacks from Ninjutsu and Taijutsu..."
The Third Raikage then realized it too.
His own son had lost the duel.
And he had lost extremely quickly... If that Thousand Years of Death just now had been a Finger Pistol instead, Yotsuki A would probably have spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
With the Thunder God Technique, Ziyun's strength had now firmly surpassed that of an elite Chunin. Even if he encountered a Jonin, unless his opponent knew Sealing Jutsu, they probably wouldn't have any good way to deal with him.
The Third Raikage even had a vague feeling that if he himself faced Ziyun, he probably wouldn't have a good way to defeat him either.
After all, Genjutsu and Sealing Jutsu were what the Third Raikage was worst at.
He had only graduated a few days ago, yet he had grown so quickly!
Was our Kumogakure... finally going to turn things around?