Chapter 159: The Humiliation of the Toad Boss
Gamabunta's colossal, rust-colored body trembled, not from a physical impact, but from a primal fear he hadn't felt in decades. The sheer, oppressive chakra radiating from the ethereal warrior was suffocating.
Damn it! he cursed internally, his pride stinging more than any wound.
He was Gamabunta! The Chief Toad of Mount Myōboku (妙木山, Myōbokuzan)! He had fought alongside the Sannin, stared down rogue shinobi, and battled beasts of legend.
How could he, of all beings, show fear to this... this Uchiha!
"Don't... don't get cocky, you bastard!" Gamabunta bellowed, the sound more of a defiant roar than a confident threat. He forced his massive legs to steady, his fighting spirit clawing its way back from the abyss of dread.
"Don't think that just because you conjured up this... this thing," he spat, "that I'll be afraid of you!"
With a powerful push from his haunches, he leaped into the air, the ground cratering beneath him. With a practiced motion, he drew the massive dosu—his signature short sword—from the sheath on his back. The blade glinted in the dim light cast by the Susanoo's glow.
"Suiton: Teppōdama!" (Water Release: Gunshot!)
[Inorin's Note: Suiton: Teppōdama is a Water Release technique where the user molds chakra and expels a highly compressed ball of water from their mouth. The original text used 'Toad Oil Bullet', but the description matches 'Gunshot'.]
Gamabunta inhaled deeply, his throat bulging, and then opened his cavernous mouth. He spat out a volley of massive, highly compressed water bullets, each one spinning with enough force to shatter solid rock, firing like cannonballs toward the Susanoo.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The projectiles struck the Susanoo's ethereal, armored chest. Explosions of steam and water erupted on impact, shrouding the giant in a momentary mist.
However, as the mist cleared, Gamabunta's bravado evaporated.
The powerful water bullets, striking the Susanoo's dark, skeletal armor, hadn't left so much as a scratch. They dispersed harmlessly, unable to breach its chakra-based defense.
"What?!" Gamabunta shrieked, his yellow, slitted eyes widening to their absolute limits.
His attack... his most powerful ranged ninjutsu... was completely ineffective!
How could this be!
A deep, resonant voice—Akira's, amplified a thousand times by the Susanoo—echoed across the clearing. "Is that all you've got, Chief Toad?"
The voice was calm, almost bored, which only infuriated Gamabunta further.
Inside the Susanoo's crystal core, Akira watched impassively. This was a necessary lesson, both for the arrogant toad and for his new student.
Slowly, the Susanoo's primary right hand rose. Chakra crackled and condensed, flowing like liquid energy.
Buzz!
An ethereal, glowing blade materialized from the chakra, forming into the legendary Sword of Kusanagi (Kusanagi no Tsurugi). It was not a physical blade, but a manifestation of pure, unadulterated power.
"Damn it all to hell!" Gamabunta roared, his fear now completely eclipsed by a berserker's rage. He refused to be humiliated.
He brandished his dosu, pouring every last bit of his strength into his limbs. His massive body erupted with astonishing power, coiling like a spring.
With another earth-shattering leap, he rocketed high above the Susanoo, positioning himself for a devastating overhead strike.
"Take this!" he screamed, slashing down with all his might, aiming to split the ethereal god's head in two!
From his position, Akira looked up at the descending toad, his expression unchanged. The attack was fast, powerful, and desperate.
It was also utterly futile.
He controlled the Susanoo, raising the Sword of Kusanagi in a simple, almost lazy, defensive arc.
Then, as Gamabunta's massive steel blade came crashing down, Akira met it with his own ethereal weapon.
He didn't swing hard. He didn't need to. He simply... met the blade.
Clang---!!!
The sound was deafening, a high-pitched shriek of metal and chakra colliding that vibrated the very air. A shower of brilliant orange sparks exploded at the point of impact, illuminating the battlefield.
The moment the blades met, Gamabunta felt an irresistible, terrifying force surge up the Kusanagi, through his own sword, and into his arms.
It wasn't just a physical impact; it was an invasion of chakra that felt like a million super-heated needles. His massive arms went instantly numb from the shock.
Crack!
A crisp, sickening sound echoed, cutting through the ringing in his ears.
Under Gamabunta's horrified gaze, a hairline fracture appeared in the center of his beloved dosu.
The crack spiderwebbed outwards instantly, spreading across the thick steel blade faster than his eye could follow.
Bang!!!
The entire short sword exploded into a thousand pieces.
Countless red-hot metal fragments, remnants of his prized weapon, shot in all directions like shrapnel.
The violent, concussive force of the impact—and the explosion of his own sword—sent Gamabunta's 100-meter-tall body careening backward through the air.
Boom!
His body slammed heavily into the distant ground, skidding for hundreds of meters and plowing a deep, raw gully in the earth. Trees were uprooted and pulverized in his wake.
A massive plume of dust and debris filled the entire sky, obscuring the sky.
Through the settling cloud, the enormous Susanoo stood unmoved, its chakra flaring silently. It slowly retracted the Sword of Kusanagi, which dissipated back into raw energy, as if the entire exchange had been beneath its notice.
"Gamabunta!" Jiraiya cried out, his jovial demeanor completely gone, replaced by a mask of pure worry. He had summoned Gamabunta, and now his oldest partner was in mortal danger.
Naruto, standing beside him, could only gape. His mouth hung open, his mind completely unable to process the shocking scene he had just witnessed.
[One… one sword…]
[And he sent that huge, grumpy toad flying?]
[He didn't just block it... he cut its sword in half? With a sword made of... purple light?]
[Teacher is... too strong!]
Naruto's heart, which had been pounding with fear a moment ago, was now, besides the lingering shock, filled only with an unparalleled, almost blinding admiration for his teacher, Uchiha Akira. He had seen Akira fight before, but this... this was the power of a god.
The thick cloud of dust slowly dissipated, carried away by the wind generated from the earlier clash.
It revealed Gamabunta's figure, and it was a pathetic sight.
The great Toad Boss was in a miserable state. He was covered in deep scrapes and lacerations, likely from the fragments of his own sword.
He was sprawled unkemptly in the deep pit his body had carved, his limbs splayed at awkward angles.
His iconic blue happi coat, the symbol of his status, was tattered and torn, smoking in several places.
In his wide, yellow eyes, there was no longer any trace of his previous bravado or arrogance.
Instead, there was only deep, profound, and undeniable fear.
[How… how could this be…] Gamabunta's mind stammered.
[My sword… My dosu... It's been with me for centuries…]
[It was… cut in half by one sword? A sword made of nothing but chakra?]
[What kind of monstrous power is this… This Uchiha… he's not human...]
Akira controlled the Susanoo, making it take slow, deliberate steps toward the fallen toad. Each footfall shook the earth, a rhythmic thud... thud... thud... that sounded like a death knell.
The giant, demonic god stopped directly in front of Gamabunta's prone form. It exuded a terrifying, cold pressure that made the air itself feel heavy.
The Susanoo's shadow completely enveloped Gamabunta, blotting out the sky.
"Now," Akira's amplified voice boomed from above, "how do you feel?"
Gamabunta was scared.
No, "scared" wasn't the right word. He was petrified. He was truly, fundamentally terrified, down to his very summon-essence.
This Uchiha... Uchiha Akira... he was a monster in human skin. This power was unreasonable. It wasn't ninjutsu; it was devastation.
He didn't want to die. Not here. Not like this.
He suddenly had a desperate longing to return to Mount Myōboku. He wanted to sit on his favorite lily pad, smoke his long kiseru pipe, drink a gourd of his finest sake, and brag about imaginary battles with his sons, Gamakichi and Gamaken. He'd even listen to Gamaken's boring stories, if it meant getting out of this.
"I… I…" Gamabunta stammered, using the last ounce of his strength to push the words from his dry throat. The pressure from the Susanoo was making it hard to breathe.
"I… give… up..."
He tried to shout the words, to make his surrender clear.
However, he hadn't finished his sentence.
Uchiha Akira, it seemed, had already lost all patience for this farce.
The next second, the world went dark.
The Susanoo's giant, armored foot, as large as a mountain, slowly lifted into the air.
And then, with terrifying, inescapable momentum, it stomped down heavily, aiming directly for Gamabunta's head!
Gamabunta's heart stopped.
If that stomp landed, he had absolutely no doubt he would be instantly, and unceremoniously, crushed into a puddle of bloody flesh and toad paste!
"NO! TEACHER, STOP!" Naruto instinctively shrieked, his voice cracking with panic.
Although this toad was grumpy, arrogant, and annoying, he didn't want to see it stomped to death! Not by his own teacher!
"Akira, wait!" Jiraiya's face also changed drastically. This had gone too far! He began to fly through hand seals, desperate to do something.
He was about to plead, to try and intercept, to do anything to stop the execution.
But it was too late.
The Susanoo's foot, carrying an undeniable aura of absolute destruction, slammed down.
The wind from its descent flattened the surrounding trees and sent Naruto and Jiraiya skidding back.
Gamabunta's pupils, at this moment, dilated to the extreme, reflecting the descending sole of the chakra-construct.
The shadow of death completely and utterly enveloped him.
[Am I… going to die…]
[No… I don't want to die! Not like this!]
[I DON'T WANT TO DIE!]
Under this extreme, all-consuming fear, only one thought remained in Gamabunta's mind.
That was—ESCAPE!
"Kai!" (Release!)
He roared the command frantically in his heart, pouring his chakra into forcibly canceling the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique).
He had to escape back to Mount Myōboku! As long as he could return to his home plane, he would be safe! This Uchiha couldn't follow him there!
"Trying to run?" Akira's voice was ice. "Did you get my permission?"
Inside the Susanoo, Uchiha Akira's right eye, his Mangekyō Sharingan, spun wildly. His ocular power (dōjutsu) flowed subtly.
A surge of distorted, spatial power instantly enveloped the area where Gamabunta lay.
[Kamui: Time Reversal]!
[Inorin's Note: This is a fanfiction-specific ability of Akira's Mangekyō Sharingan. It appears to be an application of Kamui that can lock or reverse spatial/temporal phenomena, such as a summoning's forced dispelling.]
Buzz---
Gamabunta felt the connection to his home world sever. The Kai failed.
The summoning release was instantly and forcibly canceled by an unknown power!
"Wh-what?!" Gamabunta's panic turned to sheer, mindless confusion.
He felt like his brain wasn't large enough to process this new, impossible reality.
[What's going on?]
[Why… why can't I cancel the summoning? It's my technique!]
[What… what in the world is happening?!]
Gamabunta had lived for a very long time. He had seen the founding of the villages, the rise and fall of Kage. He had never heard of, or seen, any Ninjutsu that could prevent a summoned beast from returning to its own world!
This had completely, utterly exceeded the scope of his understanding!
And in the brief, fatal instant he was stunned by this impossibility...
The Susanoo's giant foot had already descended.
BOOM---!!!
The earth let out a deafening roar as the foot connected. The entire forest shook, and a massive shockwave of dust and displaced air ripped through the clearing, flattening everything for a kilometer in every direction.
Jiraiya and Naruto were thrown back, tumbling end over end, shielding their faces as dirt and pebbles pelted them.
When they finally came to a stop, they stared blankly at the scene. Their minds were completely blank, deafened by the roar.
It's... over? Jiraiya thought, his heart sinking.
That arrogant, powerful Toad Boss… was he just... stomped to death? Just like that?
A cloud of dust thicker than any fog obscured everything, making it impossible to see the result.
Jiraiya's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.
It's over. He's gone.
Gamabunta was really crushed into paste this time. There was no surviving that.
Although he was furious at Gamabunta's self-destructive arrogance just moments ago, they were old partners. They had been through wars together. Despite their bickering, they were comrades for many years.
Seeing him die in front of him like this... it left a deeply painful, hollow feeling in his chest.
[Lord Fifth... Lord Hokage... Akira... isn't that a bit too much…?]
Jiraiya felt a bitter taste rise in his throat. This wasn't a lesson; it was an execution.
Naruto, too, stood frozen, his hands trembling. His small face was pale, filled with a storm of complex emotions.
On one hand, he was in absolute awe of his teacher's strength. It was the coolest, most powerful thing he had ever seen.
On the other hand, a sick feeling churned in his stomach. He felt genuinely sorry for the big toad.
Sure, he was arrogant, and loud, and annoying, and called him a snot-nosed brat... but... he didn't deserve to die, did he?
Just when both master and apprentice thought Gamabunta was surely dead, Uchiha Akira's calm, amplified voice rang out again, cutting through the ringing in their ears.
"I'll spare your life this time, Chief Toad."
The voice was a stark contrast to the destructive power just unleashed.
"From now on, I expect you to be a good summoned beast for Naruto."
As his voice fell, the dust began to settle.
The Susanoo's massive, mountain-sized foot slowly lifted, revealing the scene below.
Jiraiya and Naruto both squinted, desperately trying to see through the remaining dust.
In the center of a massive, perfectly-formed, foot-shaped crater... was Gamabunta.
Fortunately, he had not been crushed into paste.
He was still alive.
Only, his appearance was even more miserable than before. He was flattened into the dirt, his eyes rolled back, and his whole body was twitching. The stomp had clearly hit him, but the killing intent had been withdrawn at the last millisecond, delivering a punishing, humiliating blow rather than a fatal one.
He was alive, but his pride was utterly shattered.
However, facing the overwhelming, god-like power of Uchiha Akira's Susanoo, the fact that he could retrieve his life at all was, without question, an act of profound mercy.
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