Chapter 211: Jugo

"This guy's strength is incredible."

Utakata leapt back, his palm emanating chakra as he treated his severed right arm.

He glanced over with a questioning look, wanting to know if he should lend a hand. The reason he got knocked away just now was because he misjudged the opponent's build and power. If it really came to a fight, he wouldn't be afraid—after all, he was a seasoned Jinchūriki.

Compared to an average Kage-level ninja, he could hold his own.

Link shook his head slightly. He knew this guy was most likely Jūgo, but he hadn't expected him to become so tall—nearly five meters. Just the sight of it was unsettling.

His swollen muscles and mutated hands had an uncanny resemblance to the Tyrant from Resident Evil.

Strength, speed, endurance, defense, regeneration—all were frighteningly strong. Ordinary Jōnin couldn't even risk close combat. With a sneak attack, Jūgo could very well take out a careless Jōnin on the spot.

He could even exchange blows with an elite Jōnin. Like the monsters they'd encountered before, his skin was thick and tough, making it terrifying to fight. The shadow clones' punches and kicks couldn't do any real damage. They'd probably need Wind Release or Lightning Release attacks to finish him off.

His taijutsu skill level was merely average; even Link's shadow clones—who weren't taijutsu specialists—could break his moves. Though it looked intense, both sides were basically relying on brute physical strength to fight. No need to mention Guy-sensei—even Lee could give them both pointers.

There was no helping it. Link hadn't had the time to seriously study taijutsu. At most, with a bit of specialized training, he could keep up his reactions and handle basic offense and defense, but beyond that, it was hard to say.

He hadn't had a proper taijutsu fight in ages, so in terms of both combat experience and skill, he was subpar compared to most Jōnin. If Link himself were fighting, he could at least rely on his bizarre cloning and transformation techniques.

But the shadows that merely copied his own taijutsu level...well, they were basically a bunch of amateurs.

Fortunately, the opponent's technique wasn't much better. Being ganged up on by multiple clones, he didn't have a big advantage. Both sides were just relying on raw physical stats. No one had a decisive edge in skill.

Still, it was workable. The clones were performing decently. If Link himself fought without ninjutsu, it wouldn't look too different.

[So then...the brand-new "Eight Gates" Shadow—]

With a single thought, the two clones standing to the side watching suddenly got up and vanished into thin air.

"Boom!"

A thunderous sonic boom echoed in everyone's ears. A fierce gust swirled as the huge man, who had been laughing wildly, was struck in the abdomen by a small fist and dropped to his knees on the spot.

"Ugh—blegh—" He vomited up stomach acid. He reached out, trying to grab the Eight Gates clone.

Crack!

The clone seized his index finger, stepped on his back, and pulled. A crisp snap rang out as the man's arm broke; the finger in the clone's grasp bent like clay.

Thud! Another kick slammed into the giant's temple, sending him rolling several meters before he could react. By the time he stopped tumbling, he was still reeling from the pain and dizziness, and four small, black feet had already appeared right in front of him.

[Judging purely by taijutsu, this new Eight Gates clone is nearly on par with Guy-sensei in his normal state—right on the edge of elite Jōnin level. And because it's smaller, it moves even faster in actual combat, with more possible angles of attack.]

Link was fairly satisfied. There was no comparing it to Guy after actually opening the Eight Inner Gates, of course. After all, Six-Gates Guy could instantly overwhelm a Kisame who still had 30% of his chakra. That wasn't 30% of his power, just 30% chakra, yet still the full fighting skill.

For a "tailless Tailed Beast"-type opponent, even 30% of their chakra brings them close to full power.

Guy in his normal state is a proper elite Jōnin. The Eight Gates clone's technique might be as poor as any of Link's other clones, but with that kind of speed, it's more than enough to beat down weaker enemies.

Link was thinking this over while the two Eight Gates clones were over there laying into the hulk, showcasing a stark advantage in speed.

The big guy's body regenerated quickly—his injuries vanished in the blink of an eye. Even lost fingers and arms regrew. But clearly, as he kept regenerating, his massive body was gradually shrinking.

"Die!!!" Having waited patiently for an opening, he seized the moment one of the clones attacked. Strange barnacle-like cannons sprouted all over his body.

"Hoo—"

A beam of light spread out, quickly forming a spherical space over ten meters across. It lasted barely a second before dispersing, revealing the big guy—now only a bit over three meters tall—standing in a crater. The ground the light had swallowed was sliced smoothly, meaning it wasn't an explosive form of damage.

[This is similar to Dust Release from Iwagakure?]

Utakata furrowed his brow, preparing to siphon some Tailed Beast chakra to go partially Tailed Beast Mode at any moment.

[That's a lot of power. And it even managed to kill the two-dimensional shadows...]

Link's expression grew a bit more serious. He had left over a dozen flat, "2D" clones on the ground to coordinate. During that attack, their stamina dropped to zero before they were completely destroyed—cut off from him for good.

It was the first time he'd seen anyone permanently destroy one of his shadows.

But while the destructive power was immense, the release speed was rather slow. Both Eight Gates clones had retreated before taking damage. If Link had realized that attack would truly wipe out the shadows, even the regular clones might have escaped.

Boom!

The hulk didn't even have time to catch his breath when he got knocked off his feet again by one of the Eight Gates clones darting around like a phantom. As he sailed through the air, the other clone smashed him across the face with a roundhouse kick. Crack! The bridge of his nose and his cheekbones caved in.

That kind of wound might not be a big deal for him, but the pain and the dizziness from the blow were unavoidable.

Smack!

A sharp slap echoed. He felt his strength drain away like the tide, vanishing in an instant as it left his body. The personality that had been dormant began to awaken.

Thud! Without a word, the behemoth collapsed. The brown hue faded from his body, though his size didn't shrink any further.

As always, the Mystical Palm Technique was very effective against anything related to natural energy.

Link slapped him a few more times for good measure. Based on his prior experience dealing with curse marks and Kimimaro, completely dispersing natural energy meant it wouldn't gather again for a while. Only then did Link leave the big man, now unconscious, to be watched by a shadow clone and Hinai. Accompanied by Utakata, Link headed into the base to see what was really happening inside.

He also wanted to loot any of Orochimaru's research data.

From the photos the Purple Hermit had taken a few months ago, the real body had been here. By now, it had likely been moved elsewhere, but there should still be some relevant materials.

Though to crack them, he'd need to bring them back to the village. His organization was missing someone capable of decoding encrypted intel.

Come to think of it, he was close to assembling a complete Taka (Hawk) Team of his own. Except Karin was missing an arm, Jūgo had turned into some kind of monster, and who knew if Suigetsu in the eastern base had also run into bad luck.

"He really is that tall, meow."

Jumping down from the arms of a shadow clone, Hina reached out a paw to poke the giant's body, letting out a gasp of surprise.

"Can humans really grow that tall?"

"Why is it that my partner..."

~~~

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