Chapter 98
Seeing that his words had no effect, the commander of the enemy shibi team became visibly desperate, and went into a frenzy, wanting to snap at him before he died.
Kenshin's opponent also understood perfectly well, and sighed doomfully. Suddenly, his entire body shuddered, and his muscles bulged in a split second, enlarging by half.
- The Gate of Initiation: OPEN! - He roared, and the capillaries in his eyes burst. He looked like a wild beast, breathing heavily. All of his veins had enlarged greatly, and his heart was pounding at its limit.
Kenshin was shocked, and made an attempt to retreat, but it was too late. The enemy shinobi was at his side in a single movement, and delivered the most common kick to his chest. There was not much more he could do at this point.
Kenshin searched hard for a way to avoid this attack, but came up with nothing. He blocked with both hands, and focused all his telekinetic power on his forearms to increase his chances.
The moment his leg and two crossed arms collided, there was a loud pop as if a huge bubble had burst. The barrier flickering in front of Kenshin instantly collapsed, absorbing only forty per cent of the force of the impact, the rest of it on the arms protected by the exosuit.
Another 40% was absorbed by the anti-impact exosuit, and the remainder of the force of the blow crashed into Kenshin's flesh and bone.
There was a loud crack and Kenshin was sent flying, crashing backwards into a tree standing ten metres away.
All of Kenshin's sons were shocked, and the Third and Fourth went into a frenzy, destroying their opponent in a matter of seconds. Ichiro managed it even faster, instantly rushing towards his father, chopping the enemy commander in half. At the moment he didn't care how he did it, he was in a panic, and wanted to help his father.
Almost reaching his father, Ichiro instantly crushed the head of the shinobi who had opened the first gate, and ran up to Kenshin.
- FATHER, FATHER! - He shouted, and made an attempt to check for a pulse.
- Kha, kha, don't scream... - Kenshin wheezed, he made an attempt to reach to the edge of his back and check the sore spot, but his arms wouldn't obey him and only gave out the worst of the pain.
- Bitch, that hurt! - Kenshin hissed through his teeth, cursing for the first time in a very long time.
- Father, be patient, we'll get you to Irenin! - Through tears, Ichiro said, and then stared angrily at the Fourth. - YOU!!! Why didn't you help him when you were done with yours! All our lives are nothing if father gets hurt! Have you forgotten!!!
- I... - Fourth started to start, but was stopped by Kenshin.
- Shut up, both of you. I ordered him to help the Third. Now give me some water..." Kenshin said, nearly coughing.
After ten minutes, Kenshin got to his feet, and decided to walk on his own. His suit, though it had lost most of its energy, was still functional.
- I think both my arms are broken. We need to get back to the outpost. Four, search and destroy the corpses. - Kenshin, who had recovered a little, commanded. He had some Nara Clan painkillers with him, and the pain from his broken arms was less tearing.
After half an hour of easy running, Kenshin decided to take a break. His general state of health did not allow him to endure such exertion. His entire face was pale and his lips were dry. If it wasn't for his powerful brain, he would have passed out long ago.
- So you found thunder wolf fangs in the backpacks of the attackers... But why would they attack us? Could it be because of something as trivial as competition...? - Kenshin muttered thoughtfully, and took another sip of water.
- Maybe they were sent by Satoru, and they were the real target of our mission? - Ichiro speculated, keeping his eyes on his surroundings. He blamed himself for what had happened to his father, and he didn't want to make the same mistake again.
- I don't think so. Konoha doesn't use such idiotic methods of selecting the best of the best. Only the Kirigakure are into it, but anyone can see the ineffectiveness of such methods. Dogs of war with broken psyches end up gnawing on the sheep they were supposed to protect..." Kenshin muttered with a sigh. After another pain pill, he felt much better, but the forearms of both hands were tearing with pain at the slightest movement.
- Father, did that bastard really use the Eight Gates Technique? - Third was curious.
- Looks like it. But he only opened the first ones, and for some reason after a single hit he lost all combat ability, and ended up dying...
- Had he unleashed too much power after opening just the first gate? - The Fourth asked. Kenshin had shared a lot of "common knowledge" of this world with his sons over the years, so they were familiar with a lot of techniques, at least as Kenshin had seen them on the screen.
- That's what I don't understand either. The pitiful Genin displayed the physical strength of at least a weak Jonin. I can see why his body couldn't withstand such power. - Kenshin said, and began to think about everything that had happened, as well as comparing these facts with what he had seen on the screen.
The first thing he noticed from re-watching those few seconds was that the body of the enemy shinobi was surrounded by a barely perceptible haze of chakra. After a bit of thought, he concluded that the chakra in that shinobi's body had become so abundant that it had escaped and was visible to the naked eye.
The second thing he noticed was the enlarged muscles. Kenshin came to the intermediate conclusion that either the technique was stimulating the muscle fibres, causing them to increase in volume, or they were being filled with an enormous amount of chakra, and that was where the natural physical endurance of the man came into play.
The third and final conclusion, partially confirming his conclusions, was that the entire body of this shinobi had experienced a powerful load in a short time, and was almost falling apart. Kenshin replayed this moment over and over again, and as he concentrated, he heard the distinctive cracking of the enemy shinobi's bones, and also noticed the grimace of pain on his face as he pushed himself off the ground. Kenshin concluded that he had injured, or even broken, the toes on his left foot by pushing off the ground so hard.
His musings were interrupted by another pulse of pain in his left arm. It hurt worse than the right, and the damage was probably a little more severe.
- Sunset's in an hour and a half. We should go. - Kenshin declared, and struggled to his feet. His stomach and back ached, but the suit had cushioned the impact and his internal organs appeared to be intact.