Multi-Shadow Fist

In the clearing in front of the Turtle Hermit's house, Yuujin and the Turtle Hermit removed the heavy turtle shells from their backs, which crashed onto the ground with a loud bang, creating two deep dents.

For the past year, after their morning exercise around the island, it had been a regular time for the two to spar.

"Yuujin, Grandpa Turtle Hermit, go for it!"

Goku, who had rested, jumped up from the ground and started bouncing around, cheering them on.

Around Goku's neck hung a beautiful sphere. As she moved, it swayed in the air, revealing three five-pointed stars inside—the legendary three-star Dragon Ball.

The Turtle Hermit had found this three-star ball at the bottom of the ocean about a hundred years ago and thought it was pretty, so he made it into a pendant for his neck. Later, to stop Goku from constantly pulling his beard, he gave it to her.

Although Goku liked the pendant made from the three-star ball, she still couldn't resist trying to pull the Turtle Hermit's beard from time to time.

"Master, please guide me."

Having prepared and stretched, Yuujin bowed respectfully to the Turtle Hermit.

"Come at me anytime."

With his hands behind his back, the Turtle Hermit appeared calm and relaxed.

Yuujin took a deep breath, and a gleam flashed in his eyes. He focused his mind, assuming the signature starting stance of the Turtle Style.

He blocked out everything around him, locking all his attention onto the Turtle Hermit. Despite the Hermit merely standing there, he seemed as immovable as a mountain, showing no flaws at all.

In a battle between experts, whoever moves first reveals a weakness, and whoever reveals a weakness loses.

Yuujin had tried before to wait patiently for the Turtle Hermit to make the first move and expose a flaw, but that resulted in both of them standing still for an entire day. Eventually, Yuujin's limbs went numb, and the Hermit easily knocked him down with a light strike.

After that experience, Yuujin abandoned the idea of waiting for a flaw. Instead, he decided to force the Turtle Hermit into one.

"Haaaah!"

With a powerful step, Yuujin launched himself toward the Turtle Hermit like a cannonball. But the Hermit sidestepped effortlessly, dodging the attack.

Yuujin planted a hand on the ground, changing his stance, and swung a leg toward the Hermit.

"Ooooh..."

"Such attacks won't work."

The Hermit lightly leaped out of the way, dodging the sweep, and in an instant, he was nearly a hundred meters up in the air.

Yuujin clenched his fists and pushed off the ground, launching himself into the sky in pursuit.

"I'll attack, attack, attack, attack!"

"I'll block, block, block, block!"

They exchanged blows wildly in midair, their fists and feet colliding hundreds of times within just a few breaths.

But as expected, Yuujin was still slightly outmatched. A sharp elbow from the Turtle Hermit struck him in the back.

"Ah!"

Yuujin let out a pained cry, feeling as if his spine had almost snapped. His body plummeted toward the ground but, at the last second, he managed to regain control and land steadily.

"Take this!"

"Hahahahaha..."

The Turtle Hermit's laughter echoed as he dove toward Yuujin again. But just as he hit Yuujin, the latter's body flickered and turned into an afterimage. The real Yuujin appeared behind the Hermit, launching a punch at him.

However, Yuujin's strike went right through the Hermit's body—it was also an afterimage!

Sensing danger, Yuujin instinctively split his body into five, scattering in different directions. At the same time, the Turtle Hermit created multiple afterimages of himself, chasing after Yuujin's clones.

Afterimage Fist, a technique that creates afterimages at high speed to confuse opponents, making it difficult for them to tell real from fake.

But this wasn't just an ordinary Afterimage Fist; it was the Multi-Shadow Fist, which could produce several or even dozens of afterimages simultaneously.

Their afterimages multiplied rapidly, making it impossible to distinguish the real bodies amidst the chaos. Explosions echoed all around as the battle raged on.

However, the key to this technique wasn't merely the afterimages. The afterimages were a side effect. The essence of the technique was speed—extreme speed.

In martial arts, speed is king!

If you have speed but no strength, you can still escape. But if you have strength without speed, you'll become nothing more than a punching bag.

The importance of speed in any martial art or combat scenario cannot be overstated.

"Huff... so amazing... so amazing..."

"Yuujin! Grandpa Turtle Hermit! Keep going!"

Now sitting on the back of the sea turtle, Goku cheered for them loudly. Despite nearly a hundred afterimages crossing each other on the battlefield, her sparkling eyes seemed to track the real Yuujin and the Hermit.

The intense battle continued for about fifteen minutes, and then all the afterimages merged into one. Both Yuujin and the Turtle Hermit threw a punch at each other at the same time.

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted, sending shockwaves outward from the two fighters. Goku, sitting on the sea turtle, was caught by the blast and tumbled across the ground several times before finally stopping.

"Hahahaha..."

Unlike most children who would cry after falling, Goku, with bits of grass stuck to her head, laughed happily.

Back on the battlefield, Yuujin and the Turtle Hermit remained motionless after their final clash. Neither made another move.

The battle was over. There was no need to continue.

"Ugh..."

"Huff... huff..."

Yuujin's face turned pale, and he collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath.

"As expected of Master. I still can't beat you."

Yuujin looked both frustrated and resigned. Even though he felt he was improving quickly, he had never won a single match against the Turtle Hermit in their hundreds of sparring sessions.

"Oooh..."

"You're my student. If I couldn't beat my own student, wouldn't I be useless?"

The Turtle Hermit laughed casually, hands still clasped behind his back. But if one looked closely, they would see his hands trembling slightly.

"Ahem, Yuujin, your progress over these three years has been incredibly fast. From now on, you won't need to spar with me anymore."

The Turtle Hermit coughed lightly and continued.

"Huh? Why, Master?"

"I feel like sparring with you has been really helpful. Why stop now?"

Yuujin looked puzzled, while the Turtle Hermit grumbled inwardly.

Darn kid, if I keep sparring with you, I might not be able to win much longer. If I lose to you, I'd lose face as your teacher!

But, of course, the Turtle Hermit didn't say that aloud.

"Well... how should I put it... Ah, I know!"

"Yuujin, this kind of training is too easy for you now. So, I've decided to teach you my ultimate technique. From now on, you'll just need to focus on practicing that."

A flash of inspiration crossed the Turtle Hermit's mind, and he came up with a decent excuse.

Yuujin was momentarily stunned, but when he realized what was happening, his face lit up with excitement...

To be continued...