Chapter 474: The Pinnacle of Taijutsu

Chapter 474: Chapter 474: The Pinnacle of Taijutsu

"Hmph!"

With a light snort, Kagami wasted no words. His figure flashed as he charged straight at Hiruko!

Bang!

In an instant, the two figures collided at astonishing speed. A deep, muffled boom erupted as a violent shockwave swept outward!

Crack...!

Immediately afterward, the ground beneath their feet collapsed in large sections under the tremendous reactive force. Cracks raced outward in every direction, spreading dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.

"Oh? You’re pretty strong!"

The corner of Hiruko’s mouth curled upward into a sinister smile.

There was no doubt that after this brief exchange, Hiruko had already realized that Kagami’s taijutsu was anything but ordinary. He wasn’t some ninjutsu-type shinobi who relied solely on Magnet Release.

But Hiruko didn’t care.

On the contrary, he was actually getting excited.

Kagami said nothing. Tilting his head slightly, he twisted around and unleashed a sweeping kick.

Hiruko lowered his body. The crimson three-tomoe Sharingan in his eye sockets spun rapidly as he evaded Kagami’s sweeping kick. Immediately afterward, he reinforced his right arm with Steel Release and thrust it straight toward Kagami’s exposed side.

At that moment, Kagami’s sweeping kick had already reached the end of its motion, and with his body suspended in midair, he had almost nowhere to leverage his strength.

A triumphant smile appeared on Hiruko’s face.

"Heh! You want to compete with my Swift Release in speed? Compete with my Sharingan in perception? What an idiot!"

Hiruko sneered inwardly. He was confident that, aside from Nagato, there was no one who could suppress him in speed while he possessed Swift Release, nor anyone who could surpass the perceptive abilities granted to him by the Sharingan.

At the same time, he was beginning to enjoy the sense of accomplishment that came from crushing powerful opponents more and more.

He even felt that if this Kamigami member in front of him were a little stronger, things might become even more interesting.

However, Hiruko’s smile quickly froze on his face.

In midair, Kagami somehow adjusted his body in an extremely bizarre posture. Not only did he evade Hiruko’s thrusting arm, but he twisted around and drove a vicious kick straight into Hiruko’s face!

Bang!

Another deep, muffled impact rang out.

Hiruko was sent flying, smashing straight through the wall of a house beside the street and leaving a huge hole behind.

Protected by Steel Release, Hiruko quickly leaped back out.

But by now, the composure that had been on his face earlier was completely gone, replaced by obvious irritation and anger.

"Damn it! That movement just now..."

Halfway through his sentence, Hiruko abruptly fell silent.

For some reason, he had a vague feeling that his opponent understood the Sharingan extremely well—so well that he even knew how to mislead and deceive its perception.

But that was obviously impossible.

Unless...

His opponent was also a shinobi possessing a dojutsu kekkei genkai!

Kagami gave no reply. He merely rolled his neck slightly.

Ever since the battle began, he had stopped wasting words taunting his opponent.

That was because Hiruko was far from the only enemy he had to worry about. Kagami needed to remain completely focused at all times, constantly guarding against a surprise attack from Nagato or Obito.

Seeing that the Box of Ultimate Bliss had already been carried beyond his field of vision by Konoha’s shinobi, Hiruko’s expression twisted viciously.

"Fine. I’m getting serious now!"

Whoosh!

As soon as he finished speaking, Hiruko lunged straight at Kagami!

Going all out, Hiruko’s speed was simply astonishing. Even an ordinary charge stirred up a violent blast of air, with faint sonic booms echoing in his wake.

Kagami’s expression sharpened.

He stopped holding back as well and charged forward to meet him!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, their clash produced more than a dozen afterimages!

It was clearly only a one-on-one battle, yet they were moving so fast that it looked like a chaotic melee involving more than a dozen people.

Sonic booms, howling shockwaves, the cracking of the ground, and the thunderous collapse of brick walls and buildings all erupted at once!

"Th-This...!?"

"Are those two monsters?!"

The Konoha shinobi watching nearby were utterly dumbfounded.

Even Jiraiya and Tsunade stared in astonishment.

The sheer level of Hiruko and Kagami’s taijutsu had completely exceeded their expectations. Their speed was so great and their attacks so vicious that even the two Sannin could barely keep track of the exchange.

Sage Fukasaku leaped onto Jiraiya’s head and exclaimed in amazement, "That Kamigami member’s speed can actually rival Swift Release! That’s simply unbelievable!"

Jiraiya nodded.

"In the entire village, I’m afraid only that Uchiha kid could possess speed like this!"

Tsunade’s expression darkened as she said, "Unless we’re talking about a forbidden technique like the Eight Gates, this level of taijutsu should already be at the very pinnacle of the shinobi world!"

Although she was reluctant to admit it, even Tsunade had to acknowledge that in the current Konoha, when it came purely to taijutsu, no one had reached the level of these two.

Hearing the assessment of Jiraiya and Tsunade, two of the legendary Sannin, the surrounding Konoha shinobi felt chills run through their hearts.

Fortunately, this member of Kamigami had stepped in and held Hiruko back.

Otherwise, a bloody battle would have been unavoidable, and there was no telling how many of their comrades present would have survived.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Under the dim night sky, the two figures moved like phantoms. Their speed was so extreme that they seemed to be constantly flickering in and out of existence.

Everything they encountered along the way—houses, courtyard walls, streetlamps, and more—shattered on contact and collapsed the moment they were struck.

In the blink of an eye, nearly an entire street had been reduced to ruins.

Having lost the Sharingan in his left eye, Kakashi’s perceptive ability had dropped by an entire level. Unable to clearly follow the battle, he could only ask Jiraiya beside him, "Lord Jiraiya, who do you think will win?"

Jiraiya shook his head.

"It’s still too early to tell."

Tsunade analyzed, "Hiruko not only possesses Swift Release, but he also has Steel Release protecting his body. Combined with the Sharingan’s perception... if this turns into a prolonged battle, he may gradually gain the upper hand!"

Kurenai, whose eyes were fixed firmly on the battlefield, immediately declared, "Furin definitely won’t lose!"

In an instant, every Konoha shinobi turned to look at Kurenai.

Kakashi immediately asked, "Furin?! You mean that member of Kamigami is called Furin? Is that his name or a codename? How do you know?"

"Uh..."

Realizing that she had accidentally let something slip, Kurenai had no choice but to explain, "When Orochimaru abducted me before, I was only able to escape because of him. I... I heard Orochimaru call him that at the time. It should be a codename!"

Tsunade said, "Furin, huh... It looks like he must be the representative of the Wind attribute within Kamigami!"

Konoha’s Intelligence Division had previously conducted an analysis of Kamigami. From the known codenames—’Yama,’ ’Kawa,’ and ’Homura’—they had arrived at a conclusion:

Each member of Kamigami represented a different chakra nature.

Their leader, ’Yama,’ clearly represented the Yin attribute.

’Kawa,’ who possessed the Ice Release kekkei genkai, represented the Water attribute.

’Homura,’ who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, undoubtedly represented the Fire attribute.

And now, this ’Furin’ clearly represented the Wind attribute.

It was precisely because of this speculation that Konoha believed Kamigami should have a total of seven official members.

Aside from the four members already known, there were perhaps three others who represented the Yang, Earth, and Lightning attributes...