As Diarmuid's words fell, Tsunade offered no reply. The scene cooled instantly, the atmosphere growing heavy and oppressive. The pitter-patter of the drizzling rain only served to worsen the already dismal mood.
After a long silence, just as Jūzō and Shizune were beginning to find the tension unbearable, Tsunade finally spoke.
"No!"
"I thought as much... Your personality is exactly as Jiraiya described: stubborn and uncompromising," Diarmuid sighed.
"So you know Jiraiya? In that case, you should know better than to make such an insolent demand," Tsunade said coldly.
Diarmuid shook his head. "He may be a friend, but he doesn't dictate my decisions. It's a shame, really. I truly wanted to settle this through a friendly dialogue, but it seems I've failed."
Tsunade was a woman of action. Hearing Diarmuid's words, she realized there was no peaceful resolution to be had. She believed in seizing the initiative; she was naturally aggressive and proactive. The moment Diarmuid finished speaking, Tsunade's feet exploded with power as she lunged at him.
"Let's see where you get the nerve to speak such arrogance!" Tsunade roared, throwing a punch straight at Diarmuid.
Watching this, Jūzō shook his head helplessly, muttering to himself, "Don't think my Boss is just a bit stronger than me. He's on a completely different level... You stupid woman."
Facing Tsunade's devastating blow, Diarmuid didn't dodge. He simply raised his palm, meeting her fist head-on in a grabbing motion.
Tsunade froze for a split second. What kind of move is this? In all her years of fighting across the shinobi world, she had never seen anyone so brazen. He dares to catch my fist?
Infuriated, her chakra flared once more. Her punch, which already lacked any restraint, became even more ferocious.
"Hah!"
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted. The stone debris beneath Diarmuid's feet was instantly reduced to dust. The force of the punch pushed him backward, sliding across the ground. As his feet dragged, the earth buckled and collapsed, the powerful impact grinding soil and stone into fine powder.
However, a look of profound, unshakeable shock took hold of Tsunade's features. Her face was a mask of disbelief.
While her punch had pushed him back, it was primarily because the rocks beneath him couldn't withstand the pressure, not because Diarmuid couldn't. As his feet stabilized on the ground, he stood firm, looking as though he hadn't exerted himself at all.
Her legendary strike had actually been caught by one hand?
One must understand that the Senju secret of Monster Strength was far more complex than the simple description of "concentrating chakra at a single point for an explosive burst." If it were that simple, it would have been decoded long ago, like the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and every ninja on the street would know a trick or two.
Why had Monster Strength always been a staple of the Senju? Because it was a technique where the more chakra one possessed, the more terrifying the physical power became. As a direct descendant of the Senju bloodline, Tsunade naturally possessed immense reserves. Even without releasing her Yin Seal, she possessed overwhelming strength.
Much like Sakura Haruno, who only truly mastered Monster Strength after gaining the Yin Seal to store the necessary massive quantities of chakra, eventually delivering a punch that could make even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya bow her head.
"Impossible... You..." Tsunade stared at Diarmuid, whose palm remained firmly wrapped around her fist.
Shizune was equally shell-shocked. She had followed Tsunade for years; since her childhood, she had never heard of, let alone seen, anyone catch a punch from Tsunade head-on.
Jūzō, however, just smirked. "Are you kidding? My Boss once took down the Three-Tails with a single punch!"
Diarmuid was currently analyzing the weight of Tsunade's blow.
It was strong, exceptionally strong. But this strength wasn't like the mountain-shattering ferocity of Garp from the world of One Piece, nor was it like the innate monstrous power of Charlotte Linlin. In terms of raw, base physical strength, the current Tsunade couldn't match a freak like Big Mom.
Unless, of course, she went all out with the Yin Seal, that would be a different story.
However, Diarmuid could sense that while Garp and Big Mom relied on the sheer output of their physical constitutions, Tsunade's power was far more technical. Even if her base power was lower, the result of her strike was no less devastating. Her punch concentrated all its force into a single point, perfectly contained without a shred of waste. 100% output, 100% impact.
It was a high-end application of force. Diarmuid didn't possess this specific technique himself; clearly, the Senju's Monster Strength was indeed formidable.
Yet, it was still insufficient.
Diarmuid looked at the stunned Tsunade and smiled. "Is that all?"
"You bastard!" Tsunade snarled, sensing the mockery in his tone.
She folded her arm inward, using the leverage to pull herself closer to him. In an instant, Diarmuid felt a massive pressure. Wait... so white... no, so big?! It was almost pressed against his face!
But in that split second, Tsunade's other hand threw a hook from the side. Diarmuid snapped back to reality from the "massive pressure." He raised his arm in a blocking guard. Tsunade's blow slammed into his forearm, the impact creating a sonic boom that blasted the rain away for several meters. The ground beneath them didn't just crack, it split open like a canyon.
Seeing Diarmuid block yet another strike, a stubborn fire ignited in Tsunade's eyes. The diamond-shaped Yin Seal on her forehead began to spread, dark, ornate patterns creeping across her skin.
But just as she was about to change her stance for another strike, a flash of lightning flickered.
Diarmuid suddenly raised his hand, parrying her fist. With the speed of a thunderbolt, his arm darted through her guard, pinning one of her arms under his armpit. Before she could break free, Diarmuid's other hand, sheathed in lightning, grabbed the sash at her waist.
"What?!" Tsunade gasped, her instincts screaming to struggle.
But Diarmuid had already entered Lightning Release Chakra Mode. His speed was incomparable. Before she could muster her strength, he shook his arm to deaden her gathering power, then performed a reverse lock, pinning her against his own body.
The two were pressed together. For a fleeting second, Diarmuid regretted being so cautious – if he hadn't activated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, wouldn't they be "as one" right now? Now there was a bit of a "barrier" between them...
Pushing those stray thoughts aside, Diarmuid didn't stop. With a coordinated movement of both hands, he flipped Tsunade vertically, head down, feet up. He wrapped his arms from her lower back around to her stomach, locking her in a crushing embrace.
"Liger Bomb!"
Diarmuid roared, hoisting her high before slamming her down into the earth with catastrophic force.
Though Diarmuid's internal monologue was busy, the entire sequence, from parry to slam, took only a heartbeat. Otherwise, there was no way Tsunade would have failed to react.
BOOM!
The ground exploded as if a heavy-plated bomb had detonated. Powerful Lightning Release chakra surged outward like a tide, sending boulders flying in its wake.
"Tsunade-sama!!!" Shizune cried out in a panic.
Diarmuid's eyes showed a hint of surprise. He hadn't gone 100%, fearing he might actually kill her, but he hadn't held back much either. That hit should have been definitive.
But the sensation was wrong. And where did the smoke come from? In the Land of Rain, hitting the ground usually just resulted in mud; it was hard to kick up a dust cloud.
As the mud and stone settled, the "smoke" cleared, and Diarmuid saw the discrepancy. Lying in the deep crater wasn't Tsunade, but a Katsuyu roughly the size of two people!
She used a Summoning Jutsu at the very last second? No wonder there was smoke... Diarmuid thought.
A moment later, a figure darted out from the side of the slug. It was indeed Tsunade. She didn't engage again; instead, she performed a series of backflips in mid-air, landing flexibly after putting sufficient distance between them.
However, the moment she landed, her legs wobbled, and she nearly collapsed.
"Cough... agh!" Tsunade clutched her chest, spitting out a mouthful of dark blood.
Her breathing became ragged, her chest heaving heavily. It was clear that even though Katsuyu had absorbed the brunt of the impact, the shockwave had caused significant internal damage. Furthermore, her Hemophobia seemed to be surfacing again.
She caught her breath as the healing properties of the Yin Seal began to soothe her. She stared intensely at Diarmuid.
So strong... No wonder he could kill Hanzo of the Salamander...
"Are you considering giving me the Spirit Transformation Technique now?" Diarmuid asked.
Tsunade's gaze darkened. She took a deep breath, and her hands began to weave signs with blinding speed.
"Water Release: Water Bullet Technique!" she cried. From the puddles on the ground, high-velocity water projectiles shot toward Diarmuid like cannon shells.
Diarmuid simply raised his hand toward the incoming bullets and whispered: "Almighty Push."
A powerful repelling force erupted, detonating the water bullets in mid-air.
But at that exact moment, Tsunade screamed: "Katsuyu!"
"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" The slug in the crater suddenly writhed. It launched a stream of concentrated acid directly at Diarmuid.
"Acid Slime!"
The substance looked like simple slime, but it was the gastric juice of the Katsuyu Sage of Shikkotsu Forest, and it could dissolve almost anything. The moment the acid touched Diarmuid's lightning armor, the invisible barrier began to sizzle and melt. Diarmuid's eyes widened.
Just as a look of triumph crossed Tsunade's face, darkness flared from Diarmuid's leg.
The acid that had bypassed the lightning armor hit a void of eerie, smoke-like darkness. And then... it was simply gone.
"What is that?" Tsunade gasped.
Before she could process it, Diarmuid vanished in a flash of Body Flicker lightning.
The next thing she knew, her vision jolted. Her throat tightened. Diarmuid had seized her by the neck and hoisted her clean off the ground.
"The games end here," Diarmuid said to Tsunade, before turning his gaze toward Shizune. "If I snap her neck, will the Strength of a Hundred be enough to bring her back? If you don't want to perform that experiment, Shizune-san, please hand over the Spirit Transformation Technique."