Seeing his words had no effect, the enemy shinobi team commander noticeably despaired and fell into madness, wanting to bite back properly before death.
Kenshin's opponent also understood everything perfectly and sighed doomedly. Suddenly his whole body trembled, muscles bulged in half a second, and increased by half.
"Gates of Opening: OPEN!" he roared, and capillaries in his eyes burst. He looked like a wild beast, breathing heavily. All his veins greatly increased, and his heart pounded at the limit of its capabilities.
Kenshin was shocked and tried to retreat but it was too late. The enemy shinobi in one movement was next to him and delivered the most ordinary kick to the chest. At that moment he had no strength for more.
Kenshin desperately searched for a way to avoid this attack but found nothing. He put up a block with both arms and concentrated all telekinetic power on his forearms to increase his chances.
At the moment of collision between leg and two crossed arms there was a loud pop like a huge bubble bursting. The barrier flashing in front of Kenshin instantly collapsed, absorbing only 40% of the blow's power, everything else hit the arms protected by the exo-suit.
Another 40% were absorbed by the anti-impact exo-suit, and the remaining part of the blow's power crashed into Kenshin's flesh and bones.
There was a loud crack, and Kenshin was sent flying, crashing back-first into a tree ten meters away.
All Kenshin's sons were shocked, and Third and Fourth, falling into frenzy, destroyed their opponent in a few seconds. Ichiro finished even faster, instantly rushing to Father, cutting the enemy commander in half. At that moment he didn't care how he did it—he was in panic and wanted to help Father.
Almost reaching Father, Ichiro instantly crushed the head of the shinobi who opened the first gate and ran up to Kenshin.
"FATHER, FATHER!" he shouted and tried to check pulse.
"Kha, kha, don't shout…" Kenshin wheezed, trying to reach his back and check the sore spot, but his arms didn't obey and only gave intense pain.
"Fuck, it hurts so much!" Kenshin hissed through his teeth, swearing for the first time in a very long time.
"Father, hold on, we'll get you to a medical ninja!" Ichiro said through tears and then angrily stared at Fourth. "YOU! Why didn't you help him when you finished yours?! All our lives are nothing if Father suffers! Did you forget?!"
"I…" Fourth began but was stopped by Kenshin.
"Both be quiet. I ordered him to help Third. Now give me water…" Kenshin said, almost coughing.
Ten minutes later, Kenshin somehow rose to his feet and decided to walk himself. His suit, though having lost most energy, was intact and retained its functions.
"Seems both my arms are broken. Need to return to the outpost. Fourth, search and destroy the corpses." Kenshin commanded, having come to his senses a bit. He had several Nara clan painkiller pills, and the pain from broken arms was no longer so tearing.
Half an hour of light running later, Kenshin decided to take a break. His general health condition didn't allow such loads. His whole face was pale, lips dry. If not for his powerful brain, he would have long lost consciousness.
"So you found storm wolf fangs in the attackers' backpacks… But why attack us? For something as banal as competition?.." Kenshin muttered thoughtfully and took another sip of water.
"Maybe Sētoru sent them, and they were the real target of our mission?" Ichiro suggested, not distracted from watching the surroundings. He blamed himself for what happened to Father and didn't want to step on the same rake again.
"I don't think so. Konoha doesn't use such idiotic selection methods for the best. Only Kirigakure indulges in that, but from their example anyone can see the ineffectiveness of such methods. War dogs with broken psyches eventually bite the sheep they were supposed to protect…" Kenshin muttered with a sigh. After another painkiller pill, he felt much better, but his forearms tore with pain at the slightest movement.
"Father, did that bastard really use the Eight Gates technique?" Third showed curiosity.
"Seems so. But he opened only the first, and for some reason after one blow lost all combat capability and was near death…"
"Wasn't the power too great for opening just the first gate?" Fourth asked curiously. Over a long time Kenshin shared with his sons much "common knowledge" of this world, so they were aware of many techniques, at least in the form Kenshin saw them on screen.
"That's what I don't understand either. A pathetic Genin showed physical strength of at least a weak Jonin. It's clear why his body couldn't withstand such power." Kenshin said and began thinking about everything that happened and comparing these facts with what he saw on screen.
The first thing he noted from replaying those few seconds was that the enemy shinobi's body was surrounded by a barely noticeable chakra haze. Thinking a bit, he concluded that there was so much chakra in this shinobi's body that it burst out and became visible to the naked eye.
The second thing he paid attention to—increased muscles. They seemed pumped with something from outside, and Kenshin came to an intermediate conclusion that either the technique stimulates muscle fibers forcing them to increase in volume, or they are filled with a huge amount of chakra, and here natural physical endurance comes into play.
The third and final conclusion, partially confirming his guesses, was that this shinobi's whole body experienced a powerful load in a short time and almost fell apart. Kenshin replayed this moment over and over and, focusing, heard a clear crack of the enemy shinobi's bones and also noticed a grimace of pain on his face when he pushed off the ground. Kenshin concluded that he damaged or even broke fingers on his left foot pushing off the ground so hard.
His thoughts were interrupted by another pulse of pain from his left arm. It hurt more than the right, and apparently the damage was a bit more serious.
"Sunset in an hour and a half. Time to go." Kenshin declared and with difficulty rose to his feet. His stomach and back hurt mercilessly, but thanks to the suit the blow was softened, and internal organs apparently weren't damaged.