A sudden, devastating blow sent Han's massive body crashing straight through the center of a building long since reduced to ruins.
After bursting through the structure, he emerged on the opposite side. His enormous frame sliced through the air in an arc, trailing clouds of debris before crashing down hard onto the ground, violently rolling from the impact and inertia.
Even a mountain of a man like him felt utterly wrecked after such a brutal, unexpected strike — specifically, a nauseating mix of double vision, dizziness, vomiting urges, weak limbs, and intermittent twitching.
This type of external injury had a precise medical name — "concussion," and it perfectly described Han's current condition.
Right now, Haseo truly fought with an uncontrolled sense of force; when he said "no lightness or weight," it meant he hit *extremely* hard. Just now, whether ordinary or elite ninja, they should have died from that blow. Having one's eyes bulge out upon receiving such a head impact would be considered completely normal.
Fortunately, Han wasn't just anyone — he was a Jinchuriki, something far beyond ordinary.
As he struggled to rise, Han vigorously shook his head, trying to clear the daze and restore brain function first... Before shaking, he almost subconsciously reached up to hold the small conical hat atop his head.
Since such violent impact hadn't made him lose his hat (or perhaps helmet), there was no way he'd let go of it now.
It was part of his personality and charm, a key feature for personal identification.
Anyway, the armor Han wore hardly mattered — even full heavy armor wouldn't offer much protection against blunt trauma. Let alone how particularly fond Haseo was of targeting the head...
It was precisely the vitality and extraordinary regenerative abilities unique to a Jinchuriki that kept Han from being knocked down.
Han knelt on one knee, barely supporting his upper body with effort, when his returning senses caught the sound of something slicing through the air directly above.
Without hesitation, he instantly reacted instinctively, dodging several positions backward.
Haseo leaped over obstacles and came down with a crushing stomp, but unfortunately, his target had vacated the spot moments earlier, so only the ground exploded beneath the impact of his foot...
He ended up wasting a powerful stomp.
Furthermore, Haseo's actions clearly contradicted his earlier concern about possibly killing his opponent — where was the worry? This was plainly a follow-up attack delivered with clear intent to finish the job.
The Jinchuriki flipped backward with agility, as nimble as a ninja twice his size. Even warriors built for brute strength retained their basic agility — especially ones trained like ninjas.
Then, Han plunged both hands into the ground and suddenly lifted them upward. The very earth beneath Haseo's feet rose up entirely, and with continued force from both arms, the massive chunk of land — along with Haseo standing atop it — was thrown flying.
All of a sudden, the scene looked like a steampunk explosion had erupted out of nowhere — massive amounts of steam burst from Han's body, instantly transforming his appearance into a post-apocalyptic steampunk figure.
His body launched from the ground, instantly shattering that massive chunk of earth into pieces and rushing straight toward Haseo's position with incredible precision.
This wasn't [Body Slam]—it was [Steam Launch]. The explosive power required to propel a ninja of this size to such high speeds went without saying… This guy might've actually activated a quantum engine.
But speed is always relative. The Five-Tails' Jinchuriki truly moved like lightning, but Haseo had long since surpassed the stage of relying purely on velocity—he now wielded complete control, moving exactly as needed.
Surely no one really believed he'd completely forgotten how to fight?
Using the limited footholds beneath his feet, Haseo precisely judged his opponent's movement speed. As the enemy swung a heavy punch, Haseo's body moved in sync, matching the same speed and direction. Then his right arm slid beneath the attacker's arm while his left hand lightly pressed along the force of the strike…
The next moment, the Jinchuriki shot toward the ruined building at full speed.
Like a bull in a china shop—loud crash, no result. Just helpless fury.
"Truly worthy of a Jinchuriki. I admire this style of up-close combat."
As Haseo lightly landed back on the ground mid-air, that's what he said.
Han wanted to go "fist-to-fist," but all his attacks clearly hit only empty air. How could there be anything admirable about that? Just wasted strength on thin air.
Still, truth be told, Han's technique of boosting physical abilities using steam pressure combined with accelerated blood circulation was genuinely threatening. It also had a name with rustic heavy-metal flair—[Second Gear]… No, correction, it was called [Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength].
When naming techniques, Haseo admittedly lacked that sense of grounded simplicity.
As Han rose again from a pile of rubble and dust, before he could even catch his breath, something utterly shocking happened:
He saw 'himself' charging straight at him.
No, more accurately, he saw Haseo performing the exact move he had just used moments ago, rushing toward him now.
Han was too stunned to react as a ninja should have done in that instant—and thus was sent flying once more by a single elbow strike from Haseo, who then took the very spot Han had stood just seconds ago… Holy cow—that was pure kinetic energy transfer at work.
But still… isn't this going a bit overboard?
Even the legendary Copy Ninja usually only copied generic, universally applicable ninjutsu techniques—but no one had ever seen someone copy even a Kekkei Genkai.
Is he even human anymore? He's even stolen techniques before they were born!
Yet Haseo, having stolen a page from the playbook, slowly shook his head. His imitation was nothing more than skin-deep—it lacked the real essence…
Firstly, being fully capable of using [Lightning Release] himself, he really had no need for such acceleration methods. How could steam propulsion ever compare to full-on electromagnetic propulsion?
Secondly, lacking the Five-Tails inside him, he ultimately couldn't unleash one hundred percent of the [Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength] technique's full potential.
However, even if Haseo himself considered this technique as merely "for show," it was a completely different story for the one involved and for the audience.
"Isn't he… pushing it just a little too far?"
Kagura, who had been watching the battle all along, finally understood something after observing Haseo's fight for a while.
"Intelligence" is the lifeline of a ninja. But how would a ninja feel when, right after using his own unique technique, he realizes it's no longer his alone?
Whatever that feeling may be, it certainly isn't pleasant.
"Too far? No, this is actually quite normal for Lord Haseo."
Ka-jin was also slightly taken aback—not by Haseo's actions, but by his ability to use Kekkei Genkai. As for Haseo's behavior itself, he wasn't particularly shocked... After all, if Haseo could use Boil Release, he would definitely use it in front of a ninja who specialized in Boil Release. That's just how Haseo rolled.
Moreover, Ka-jin thought that what truly made Haseo seem excessive was this—despite his opponent fighting desperately, Haseo was exactly as he'd said—he picked jinchuriki because they had tough skin, strong life force, and could take a beating, making them perfect for warming up.
The Five-Tails' jinchuriki was just a part of Haseo's "rehabilitation therapy."
So far, Haseo hadn't even shown his true power—haven't you noticed that not a single spark or flashy energy surge has appeared on his body?
(End of chapter)
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