Mukai's punch landed squarely on Kawasaki Ryūji's nose.
Kawasaki Ryūji was still shocked that Shisō could become a ninja despite being unable to use Ninjutsu.
He never saw that sudden punch coming from Mukai, who wasn't a Taijutsu ninja.
Though Mukai hadn't extended the arm blade, getting hit by a gauntlet made of Chakra Metal was no pleasant experience!
Anyone who had been punched in the nose should have understood that stinging pain.
And the humiliation on top of the pain sent Kawasaki Ryūji into a rage.
Tears streamed from his eyes as he clutched his nose and shouted angrily:
"You little shit! You think you're something special because you cling to Master Sasori and wear a puppet?
How dare you! You actually dared to sneak attack me!
A dead-last loser from the Ninja Academy dares to challenge a veteran Genin like me!
Come on, I accept your challenge! A fight to the death!"
Clutching his bleeding nose, Kawasaki Ryūji pulled over two passing ninja,
asking them to witness a duel to the death between him and Mukai.
Shisō came over, still trying to stop Mukai:
"Master Mukai, I started this, so let me fight the duel!
Kawasaki Ryūji wasn't bragging. He really is a veteran Genin.
He even fought in the Second Shinobi World War. He's hard to deal with."
Mukai placed his ninja identification and Forehead Protector in Shisō's hands:
"Don't worry. As your future captain, I can't just stand by and let someone bully my teammate.
Don't call me master. From now on, just call me captain or Mukai.
Besides, I should show you how strong your captain is."
Mukai's reasoning left Shisō unable to argue any further.
The duel was set.
The group went to a nearby clearing and formed the Seal of Confrontation, officially beginning the duel.
Kawasaki Ryūji was an all-round ninja. His Taijutsu and Ninjutsu were both ordinary, with no particular strengths or weaknesses.
His nose had been given basic treatment, with two bandages applied,
making his round face look even more ridiculous.
"Brat, you've crossed me, and now you're as good as dead!
Not even Sasori can help you today! Accept your fate!"
With that, Kawasaki Ryūji flung three Kunai at him in a triangular formation.
Even while wearing the Zealot puppet mecha, Mukai could still form Hand Seals with ease:
"Wind Release-Great Breakthrough!"
After forming the seals, Mukai expelled a dense, cone-shaped gale from his mouth.
With precise control, he concentrated the normally wide-ranging Great Breakthrough into a small area, blowing the Kunai straight away.
A burst of fire suddenly exploded within the gale.
Behind the three Kunai, Kawasaki Ryūji had hidden another Kunai wrapped with an Explosive Tag.
It was a little trick he had worked out on the battlefield.
Unfortunately for him, Mukai had countered it outright with an overpowering Wind Release.
Opening with Wind Release fit their assessment of Mukai as an elemental Ninjutsu user.
Based on his information about Mukai, Kawasaki Ryūji had devised a strategy: close-quarters Taijutsu combat!
"You fell for it!"
Kawasaki Ryūji's figure flickered as he used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough head-on,
and as he formed Hand Seals while running, one figure became two.
He followed up with the Clone Technique!
He was reasonably agile, and his Taijutsu was decent. With his Ninja Blade, he could definitely catch Mukai before he could react
and take his head off with one strike!
Holding his Ninja Blade in a reverse grip, he lowered his body and lunged at Mukai with a savage grin.
Kawasaki Ryūji's response was entirely correct:
taking advantage of the long recovery between an elemental Ninjutsu user's techniques, he would close in and defeat him in one move with swift, nimble swordsmanship.
It was a good plan, but only against an ordinary elemental Ninjutsu user.
Just as Shisō was about to rush over to help, Mukai stood rooted to the spot, as if he were too frightened to react.
Then, with a flash of electricity, the situation abruptly changed.
Crackle!
The high-voltage charge covering the Zealot Mecha suddenly found a path to discharge.
The Ninja Blade in Kawasaki Ryūji's hand as he rushed up to Mukai was the perfect lightning rod!
Mukai needed neither the Sharingan's perception nor any great skill in Taijutsu.
By distributing an ultrahigh-voltage charge across his entire mecha, he had turned himself into a giant Tesla coil!
No matter where his opponent appeared, coming within one meter would inevitably trigger an electrical arc!
The high-voltage, low-current discharge made Kawasaki Ryūji, still gripping his Ninja Blade, shudder and freeze on the spot.
"Got you!"
Mukai grinned and leisurely turned to face the paralyzed Kawasaki Ryūji, raising his right palm:
Secret technique-Big Slap!
"You actually tried to kill a ninja from your own village?"
A tooth flew out. The slap knocked Kawasaki Ryūji rigid, his head snapping to one side.
Mukai's left palm followed immediately:
"Why don't you go do some missions if you're so capable?!
All you know how to do is throw your weight around because you're a ninja?"
Mukai swung his left hand and then his right in slow motion, landing a succession of Big Slaps that turned Kawasaki Ryūji's face into a pig's head.
By now, Kawasaki Ryūji had recovered from the electrical paralysis, but the successive Big Slaps had left him dazed.
His eyes glazed over, he swayed and made a threat:
"You... you little shit! I'll... I'll kill you!"
Boom!
A straight punch from a forward stance!
Mukai struck him in the face with a military boxing punch, flattening his nose again just after the bleeding had stopped.
Kawasaki Ryūji was sent flying.
Mukai spat, picked up the Ninja Blade that had fallen to the ground, and flicked out the blade on his right arm.
With a hum, the arm blade, coated in Wind Release Chakra, sliced Kawasaki Ryūji's Ninja Blade in two as easily as cutting tofu.
Mukai flicked his arm blade toward Kawasaki Ryūji's two teammates, his meaning plain:
If he had really meant to kill him, Kawasaki Ryūji would have been mincemeat long ago!
Not only that, Mukai retracted the arm blade, bent forward and drew back his fist, while the jet nozzle on his elbow compressed Wind Release at full power.
With a whistling roar, the high-pressure Wind Release burst out, and he slammed his fist into the ground.
As dust flew, Mukai's punch smashed a crater more than sixty centimeters across into the ground!
He wasn't a Taijutsu ninja, nor was he Tsunade with her superhuman strength!
Mukai withdrew his fist and stood up, rolling his neck and knocking his fists together before raising an eyebrow at Kawasaki Ryūji's two teammates:
"If you don't carry that trash away, do you two want to beat my fists with your faces too?"
Gulp. The two swallowed hard and shook their heads like rattle drums.
They apologized as they carried the unconscious Kawasaki Ryūji away at a brisk pace.
Damn it, how had that idiot Kawasaki Ryūji managed to provoke such a formidable kid?
This was the dead-last loser?
Then what did that make them?
The hair on the tail of the loser?
With the danger over, Shisō also ended the Seven Heavens Breathing Method, and his eyes returned to their normal color.
The events of the day had hit him one after another, and when it came to Mukai, who could be called his benefactor,
Shisō hardly knew where to begin thanking him.
Mukai patted him on the shoulder and said:
"How has Shira been lately?
I'm going to give you special training. If you come with me to the border, will you be comfortable leaving him alone at my house?"