CH_7.22 (240)

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Without fail every single person in the estate gathered around a wide courtyard to watch the bout between the outsider—who everyone was surprised to see was a kid—and Gyon, the head's son and a Kumi top lieutenant. Most didn't know the reason behind the fight, which caused rumours to pop up among the Kumi members and the staff. The biggest rumour was that the outsider was Hoshiguro's illegitimate child who had come to challenge Gyon, the legitimate son, for the position of the next Kumi head.

Gyon looked at the gathered people, irritated about their conversations and whispers about the fight. This wasn't a circus act they could watch casually. He glanced at his father who was sitting on his personal chair that he had brought along everywhere, sipping tea with snacks. He couldn't understand why his father would have him fight the Tobi/Takuma kid.

Was it a test for Takuma or was it for him?

He looked at Takuma standing on the other side of the courtyard, chatting with Gaku. The lack of worry on his face irked Gyon.

The history of the Kumi family extended back to the days of his grandfather. In his youth, he was taken under the wing of an old shinobi, who taught them the mysteries of chakra in exchange for booze. Along with Gyon's grandfather, the old shinobi also taught his friend, who would then go on to find the Goharu family. Once upon a time, the two students were attached by the hip and used their new powers to take over Yu. However, when the old shinobi died, the two friends had a falling out over his belongings—especially, the ninjutsu scrolls in his possession that the old shinobi hadn't allowed them to learn.

In the end, they fought and split the ninjutsu scrolls between them. And from then onwards, the Kumi and Goharu family were found in Yu. The founders learned the ninjutsu they had taken and taught their children how to use chakra and passed along the ninjutsu. However, that changed when Hoshiguro and his Goharu family counterpart taught their most trusted people how to use chakra, but they kept the ninjutsu only for their children. In the Kumi family, all six lieutenants and a dozen more people knew how to use chakra— but only Hoshiguro and Gyon knew ninjutsu.

Gyon was the strongest fighter in Kumi. His father was much more experienced, but he had gotten weaker with age, leaving Gyon as the strongest. In fact, he was stronger than his Goharu family counterpart, who had already become the Goharu family head.

However, he couldn't help but worry about the fight. The poster claimed that Takuma was a Hidden Leaf shinobi. Even though Yu was far from most shinobi involvement and Hidden Steam's move away from traditional shinobi village system, Gyon knew that the Hidden Leaf village was one of the five great shinobi villages. From the stories he had heard, they were extremely dangerous. And the scars on Takuma's arms and legs were worrying.

But he also thought that Takuma was just a kid. Whereas he was in his prime and at his strongest because he had increased his training since the Yu had been invaded so that he could protect his family.

He would win this fight, thought Gyon and saw his wife standing behind his father with their ten-year old twin children. His wife looked worried while the twins looked excited. He directed a smile toward her to relax her. He also caught his father gazing at him; he still couldn't perceive what his father wanted from him, but he knew that he had to perform.

Everyone important in the Kumi family was present to watch the fight and a loss in front of them would be a blow to his reputation as the strongest man in Yu. Perhaps a victory against a Hidden Leaf shinobi would convince his father to pass the seat of leadership to him. Yoshi, the current leader of the Goharu family, had always been his rival since they were little children—and Gyon had always beaten him at everything—and yet, Yoshi was already the Goharu family's leader while he was still serving under his father. Even his father had gotten the control of the Kumi family from grandfather at a younger age than Gyon.

"Are both sides, ready?" Hoshiguro's voice echoed in the courtyard. Gyon and Takuma stepped to the centre of the courtyard, facing each other. Hoshiguro looked at the people around the courtyard. The courtyard was large, but with how shinobi fought, the area could quickly become not big enough for the two fighters.

"This could get out of hand quickly... you might get injured." He warned them, but not one person moved from their place, excited about spectating the fighting. He chuckled in amusement before looking at the two fighters and raised his hand to gesture. "You may start!"

The moment Hoshiguro announced the start, Gyon exploded forth with his sword biting down towards Takuma, who effortlessly side-stepped the strike. Gyon's eyes shrunk when he saw a kunai suddenly appear in Takuma's hand. He barely moved his head to dodge the kunai slicing for his face; he felt the cold metal brush through his hair, chopping a few strands from the side of his head.

He immediately retreated to put some distance between them. Takuma was quicker and kicked him in the knee, destroying his balance. Gyon stumbled back, forced to kneel to regain his balance. He looked up to see Takuma skip forward and swing down his kunai. He raised his sword just in time to block the kunai from shearing his chest open. The impact made a grating sound and beneath it he felt like an iron beam had fallen on his sword.

His face turned red, his arm trembled, and he could barely stop his grip on the sword from failing as his body was forced to shrink under the tremendous force.

How could someone generate so much power?

The moment Takuma raised his kunai for another strike, Gyon got himself up on his feet. As he took a step back, Takuma launched a spinning kick at his hand, knocking the sword out of his grip. The sword went flying off, stabbing the ground near the edge of the courtyard, making the spectators jump in fright.

All of Gyon's instincts screamed at him to go after his sword, but reasoning prevailed and he put as much distance as possible between them. The decision was right because the moment he moved, Takuma took a step toward the sword's direction. If he had chased after the sword, he would've been intercepted and forced to be on the defensive.

Sweat trickled down Gyon's face. He could hear the cheers of his people urging him on to win. He swallowed as he watched Takuma slowly move in between him and the sword. If his heartbeat was to be trusted, it was telling him that Takuma was dangerous. In the short few seconds, he had not only been disarmed, he had also been forced to kneel.

If he wanted a chance to win this battle, he had to use ninjutsu, thought Gyon.

Ninjutsu were special moves used only when it was absolutely necessary—that was something drilled into his mind since the day his father had first taught him ninjutsu. The Hidden Steam shinobi couldn't and didn't stop people from chakra, but they were extremely strict when it came to people learning ninjutsu. There was a real danger that if the news got out that there were people unassociated with the Hidden Steam using ninjutsu, the shinobi would come to get rid of them. Both Goharu and Kumi understood that threat and had unspoken rules to bar the use of ninjutsu.

It was never a problem as only four people from both families knew ninjutsu—and the enhanced physiques provided by chakra was more than enough power anyone needed in Yu.

Gyon glanced at his father, hoping that he would get permission to use ninjutsu. Hoshiguro looked at him and nodded. Gyon felt a wave of exhilaration shoot through him. This had to be a sign that his father wanted to see his all—his best—so he could judge if he was ready—which he absolutely was.

His confidence soared as he stood up straighter. Usually, he only used ninjutsu in training which he had to do in secret away from other's eyes. But he always wanted to use them in actual fights; it was such a waste to have powerful tools and not use them. Now, he had the chance to not only use it in a fight, but also showcase his true power in front of his people.

Kids, watch your father, Gyon thought with bravado as he raised his hand to form hand seals for the ninjutsu called Fire Release: Two. The jutsu made two long fire claws extend out from the knuckle region in both hands with power to cut through metal ropes; they could easily rip and burn through a body like it was nothing. It had taken him half a decade of practice to perfect the jutsu. He remembered how invincible he had felt when he had killed an adult bear; the animal that would rip through ten men with ease had fallen dead at his feet. It was the ninjutsu which made him the strongest man in Yu.

But as he formed the hand seals, Takuma threw his kunai toward him. Gyon, utterly surprised, broke his hand seals as he evaded the kunai by jumping to the side.

"Fuck!" Gyon cursed. Before he could even shift his feet properly, Takuma dashed forth and was already before him. Gyon had never seen anyone or anything move so fast.

He heard Takuma whisper, "So you can use jutsu."

Faster than anything Gyon could react to, Takuma's fist dug into his liver. It knocked all the air out of his lungs and he immediately spat out blood. He didn't think it was possible to feel so much pain. The next moment, a sharp elbow smashed into his shoulder, forcing him to his knees. If Gyon wasn't already more prone, a quick jab to his throat did the trick.

The panic of not being able to breath and the pain spreading through his body clashed against each other. He swayed and his vision tried to lock on Takuma but couldn't catch the foot before it smashed into the side of his face.

The last thing Gyon heard as he fell to the ground unconscious was the sound of his twins crying and screaming.

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Takuma breathed out as Gyon's body hit the ground. Before he could even relax, the courtyard erupted as two dozen men charged at him with their weapons. He had angered everyone by thrashing the head's son.

"Aw, geez."

Takuma put his hands up as he saw three men who were faster than everyone else and instantly recognised them to be chakra practitioners, and that they were the Kumi family lieutenants. As he planned how to take down the mob in the most efficient and painless manner, Hoshiguro's loud and piercing, chakra-laden voice ripped through the courtyard.

"STOP!"

Most followed the order but some didn't—one of them was a lieutenants. He looked to be Gyon's age, making Takuma speculate that they were friends and he wanted some sort of revenge. However, the friend was far too sloppy for Takuma's standards. He took a step forward, closing the distance before the friend expected and front kicked him in the stomach.

The friend flew back, crashed into four people, taking them all to the ground.

Takuma looked around for Gaku to find him waving down at him with a smile from the roof. He sighed and then looked at Hoshiguro who had gotten up and walked toward him. But faster than Hoshiguro was a woman who rushed past him and arrived by Gyon's side full of worry, she glared at Takuma and put her body between him and Gyon.

"Your husband will be fine, ma'am," Takuma guessed the woman's identity and tried to comfort her. "He'll be up soon; I didn't break any of his bones, so with a little rest and some ice for the swelling, he'll be good as new." The wife wasn't comforted at all and was about to scream at him but turned away when she saw Hoshiguro arrive and instead ordered two men to carry her husband.

"What purpose did this serve?" Takuma asked Hoshiguro.

Hoshiguro watched Gyon being carried away before answering. "Once in my youth, I fought a real shinobi... My son thinks himself to be strong, but he doesn't realise that he's only a frog in the well... It was the most terrorising experience of my life, but I'm glad I had it. Gyon didn't have that experience, and I simply wanted him to have that experience before this city turns into a battlefield."

He looked at Takuma with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "When big nations with great shinobi villages like yours wage against each other, smaller nations like mine are unwillingly made into their battlefields. I knew that this city would turn into a battlefield the day it was invaded by shinobi."

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