Chapter 164
"Those eyes are something else."
Naobito stared at Kiriya’s Sharingan, his own eyes gleaming with interest.
"Where the hell did you find a freak like him, Gojo?"
He had seen the exchange clearly.
The boy had used those eyes to track Naoya’s movements and dismantle Projection Sorcery in a single strike.
He possessed no cursed energy, yet his powers of perception were terrifying.
Worse, that brief illusion suggested the eyes were hiding far more than simple enhanced vision.
And somehow, Gojo had been the one lucky enough to stumble across such a talent.
It was enough to make an old man depressed.
"Haha, it was nothing special."
Gojo’s grin said otherwise.
"My students went out on a routine exorcism and happened to run into him."
’Damn him. Why does every good thing fall straight into his lap?’
Naobito grumbled inwardly.
Then his gaze shifted toward Maki, whose face was bright with surprise.
An idea suddenly occurred to him.
Perhaps the Zenin clan had not lost out completely.
...
On the field, Kiriya looked down at his injured hand and grimaced.
Several bones had fractured from the punch.
Force worked both ways. However badly Naoya’s face had suffered, Kiriya’s fist had endured a comparable impact.
Fortunately, he had healing magic.
Green light flowed across his hand as Yang Power: Everflowing Vitality repaired the shattered bones and restored it to perfect condition.
The sight left the Zenin clan speechless once again.
He had no cursed energy, yet he could produce something remarkably similar to Reverse Cursed Technique.
It had gone beyond ridiculous and somehow circled around into absurd.
Kiriya looked down into the crater with a deeply "sincere" expression.
"Your speed was extraordinary. I’ve never met anyone faster than you."
He nodded solemnly.
"In that particular area, I’m willing to call you the strongest opponent I’ve faced so far!"
"And your face..."
He flexed his newly healed fingers.
"Definitely the.... hardest."
"The Zenin clan truly deserves its reputation."
Silence fell over the training ground.
The Zenin clan members stared at Kiriya, their eyes gradually turning red as their breathing grew heavier.
Several of the more short-tempered ones exploded immediately.
"Listen here, brat!"
A tall, muscular man in a black kimono strode out of the crowd.
"You defeated one member of the younger generation. Don’t start believing the Zenin clan has no one capable of dealing with you!"
The man had rough features, closed eyes, and a wild mane of hair that gave him the imposing appearance of a lion.
Jinichi Zenin.
Naobito’s nephew, a member of the clan’s elite Hei unit, and a Special Grade 1 sorcerer.
"Oh?"
Kiriya’s eyes brightened.
He nodded enthusiastically.
"Exactly. A prestigious clan like the Zenins couldn’t possibly have only Naoya to offer."
"But strength is something you have to see for yourself."
Kiriya gave him a shy, almost innocent smile.
"Would you mind showing me what you can do, sir? It isn’t that I doubt you. I’d simply like to broaden my horizons."
Jinichi laughed and turned toward Naobito.
"You heard him, Clan Head. The boy challenged me personally."
"I can’t allow the Zenin name to be disgraced."
Naobito waved his hand.
"Do whatever you like."
He had already realized that none of these people were easy to control.
Rather than forcing them to stop and earning everyone’s resentment, it was better to let them suffer a little and learn some humility.
They all spent far too much time acting as though the heavens ranked first and the Zenin clan ranked a close second.
Frankly, they needed a beating.
After receiving permission and waiting for Naoya to be carried away, Jinichi beckoned to Kiriya.
"Ready, boy?"
"You’re surprisingly polite. I’m rea—"
Kiriya stopped halfway through his answer and looked up.
Several enormous fists had appeared in the sky!
They plunged toward him like missiles.
"What the hell? You old bastard! You asked if I was ready and attacked anyway!"
The giant fists swallowed him before he could finish complaining.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of violent explosions shook the ground.
The resulting winds nearly lifted several spectators off their feet.
"Kiriya!"
Maki, Panda, and Inumaki shot to their feet, but Gojo raised a hand to stop them.
"Sensei, Kiriya—"
"Relax and watch."
Gojo pointed toward another part of the field.
"He’s right over there."
The three followed his finger.
Kiriya stood safely beyond the ruined area, but he no longer looked the way they were accustomed to seeing him.
His skin had turned red, and his eyes shone with a cold, intimidating light.
"Eight Gates—Fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain... open!"
"What is that?"
The Zenin clan members stared, completely unable to understand what he had done.
Even a fool could tell that Kiriya had become incredibly dangerous.
"This kid really has a bottomless bag of tricks."
Naobito slapped his leg in delight and took another long drink.
"Hahaha! Show me what else you can do!"
Maki felt her heart tremble beneath the violent pressure radiating from Kiriya.
"This is..."
"Maki, watch closely."
Kiriya’s voice had become deeper and heavier, every word carrying unmistakable weight.
"This is the ultimate path of hand to hand combat!"
Maki froze.
Then her eyes widened in disbelief.
"He said... this is hand to hand combat?"
Panda and Inumaki looked equally stunned.
"Pay attention," Gojo said, sounding delighted. "Even I’ve never seen this before."
"First comes speed."
Kiriya vanished.
"Hmph. Cheap theatrics!"
Jinichi believed his previous attack had failed only because he had not properly locked onto Kiriya.
This time, he would use his full strength and pound the boy into paste.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Giant cursed-energy fists rained down like missiles.
Not one managed to touch Kiriya.
His speed had already surpassed sound. Jinichi could not track him, much less aim properly.
"Damn you!"
Jinichi was already short-tempered, and the feeling that Kiriya was toying with him made his anger explode.
He summoned a vast storm of fists and bombarded the entire area rather than trying to strike a single target.
RUMBLE—!
The enormous fists hammered a nearby hill until the entire mass of earth collapsed and flattened into open ground.
Kiriya remained untouched.
"Is dodging all you can do?" Jinichi roared, trying to provoke him.
"All right. Then try blocking this."
Kiriya’s voice came from directly behind him.
Cold sweat covered Jinichi’s body.
He spun around and threw a punch, but Kiriya moved first.
BOOM!
Agony exploded through Jinichi’s side.
The punch launched him high into the air.
’Damn it! I need to regain my balance and counterattack.’
Jinichi forced himself to endure the pain.
Then Kiriya’s voice followed him into the sky like a demon’s whisper.
"Next comes strength."
"Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit... open!"
Bang!
A tremendous impact struck Jinichi’s back and sent him flying in the opposite direction.
Kiriya appeared ahead of him an instant later and drove another heavy punch into his body.
To the people watching below, Jinichi looked like a human ball being battered through the sky by an invisible hand.
He could do nothing except endure it.
The spectators stared blankly.
Was this really the same arrogant Special Grade 1 sorcerer they had known?
"Jinichi..."
Naobito’s eyes widened.
Kiriya’s speed was already approaching the upper limit of what Naobito himself could reach with Projection Sorcery.
"So this is his hand to hand combat power..."
Maki stared in fascination.
She could see a beauty in it that only a dedicated martial artist could truly appreciate—the brutal, overwhelming beauty of pure physical ability.
The beating lasted only half a minute.
To Jinichi, it felt like an entire century.
Kiriya finally drove one fist downward and smashed him back into the training ground, throwing a vast cloud of dust into the air.
"Guh!"
Jinichi coughed up blood.
His entire body was battered and broken. Anger filled him, but it was rapidly being drowned beneath fear.
’This man...’
’He doesn’t have cursed energy. How can he possibly be this strong?’
Then Kiriya’s voice rang out again.
"Finally comes the true meaning of hand to hand combat!"
"Sixth Gate, the Gate of View... open!"
His presence erupted once more.
Green energy burned around his body like flames, making him resemble a demon that had clawed its way out of the abyss.
Kiriya drew back his fist.
Jinichi felt as though an invisible hand had seized his heart.
The fear was so intense that breathing became painful.
Driven into a corner, he unleashed every last bit of his potential.
"AAAAARGH!"
Jinichi leapt high into the sky and swung a fist down toward Kiriya.
"Secret Art: Maximum Wheel!"
Countless gigantic cursed-energy fists appeared overhead and descended with enough force to devastate the entire battlefield.
"Morning Peacock!"
Kiriya showed no fear.
His arms became a blur as countless compressed air blasts wrapped in scorching flames collided with Jinichi’s attack.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sky erupted as if one nuclear warhead after another had detonated overhead.
Extreme heat and shock waves ravaged the estate.
Buildings shattered wherever the pressure passed, forcing Gojo to activate his technique and shield everyone from the aftermath.
Ten seconds into the clash, Jinichi collapsed.
He had already been severely injured, and forcing his cursed energy beyond its limits finally proved too much.
His eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.
Kiriya, on the other hand, looked faintly disappointed.
He had not even opened the Seventh Gate or used Daytime Tiger.
Yet there was no opponent left to fight.
With no reason to continue, he released the Eight Gates.
The green aura faded, and he surveyed the devastated training ground before scratching his head awkwardly.
"Is this... really hand to hand combat?"
Maki’s heart pounded.
Her breathing was hot enough that it felt capable of melting steel.
’That is the future of martial arts.’
If she could learn this technique and combine it with the right cursed tools, then even a special-grade curse would be within her reach.
She would finally have a genuine chance to stand at the very peak of the jujutsu world.
Then no one would ever dare call her a failure again.
"Without question."
Gojo nodded in approval.
"With power like that, it’s no wonder he managed to fight Geto."
"When it comes purely to hand-to-hand combat, no one I’ve ever met can surpass him."
Gojo raised a thumb toward Kiriya.
"I, Gojo Satoru, officially declare him the strongest!"
Hearing those words, Maki finally made her decision.