Chapter 52: How Do You Even Use a Kunai?!
The soldiers of the Garrison Regiment, along with the distant civilians, stood dumbfounded as they watched the battle at the gate unfold.
Four teenage boys—relying on nothing but their bodies—were holding their own against the Titans. In fact, they weren't just evenly matched. Their sheer strength and agility exceeded that of the monsters, engaging them head-on in brutal combat!
The Titans, who had initially been advancing with eerie grins on their faces, were now drawn in by the boys' movements. Their attention diverted, they began converging on the four figures at the center of the battlefield.
"Almost there…" Nawaki muttered, cracking his knuckles as his eyes flickered with anticipation.
For Minato, Yahiko, and Nagato—who were still relatively weak—this world's unique combat environment provided the perfect training ground. It offered real danger and intensity, ideal for both physical growth and mental fortitude.
The only downside? Most Titans were just too weak. They didn't even meet the system's minimum threshold of C-rank combat strength. So unfortunately, it was impossible to farm points here.
He had claimed eleven Titans to deal with himself—no more. He couldn't steal the others' kills.
With a single leap, Nawaki landed atop a nearby rooftop, his eyes locking onto the densest cluster of Titans. He formed the Ram hand seal, and his expression sharpened.
Under the influence of Wood Style chakra, the ground began to rise, and in an instant, massive wooden spikes erupted from below.
They shot up so fast that the Titans didn't even have time to react. Within seconds, the spears impaled their massive bodies.
Then—bursting like thorns in bloom—countless smaller spikes branched out from within. Piercing outward from inside, the Titans' flesh was shredded in a spray, leaving them looking like monstrous hedgehogs.
Wood Style: Forest of Thorns!
This was a particularly cruel jutsu, similar to the infamous Gentle Fist technique. Once a wooden spike pierced a target's body, it would begin absorbing chakra and stamina, rapidly sprouting internal branches using the user's chakra until the target was entirely impaled.
On another timeline, Neji Hyuga had died to a similar jutsu…
"GRAAAHHH!!"
The Titans that had been skewered let out blood-curdling screams, their roars echoing through the twilight sky.
Nawaki… was terrifyingly strong.
The other three couldn't help but feel a mix of awe and admiration as they watched him wipe out over ten Titans in one move. But more than that, they felt inspired.
Someday, they wanted to become that strong too.
As the fight continued, Minato noticed something was off.
Even though the Titans were impaled and writhing in agony… minutes passed, and none of them had died.
Instead, they roared louder, more furious than ever.
Some even reached for the spikes running through their bodies—ignoring the horrifying injuries—and tried to yank them out.
They're not dying?!
Minato's eyes widened in disbelief. He quickly opened the system interface and browsed the mission details. His face darkened.
[Titans possess physical strength and size far beyond ordinary humans, along with near-immortal regenerative bodies.]
Sure enough, the Titan he had kicked into a pile of rubble earlier was now rubbing its face with a dazed expression… and getting back up.
Not far away, the Titan Nagato had impaled through the skull snapped the spike in half and stood again as if nothing had happened.
Even the 10-meter-class Titan whose head Nawaki had kicked off… had already regenerated a new one. It now grinned wickedly with its newly grown face.
They can even regenerate decapitated heads?!
Minato and the others were stunned, sweat running down their foreheads.
No matter how hard they fought, the Titans wouldn't die. No wonder humanity in this world had been pushed to the brink of extinction.
Seeing the boys, who had been so dominant just moments ago, now floundering against the Titans' regeneration, the watching crowd began to feel a creeping sense of despair…
At that moment, a young boy pushed through the crowd near the dock and shouted with all his strength:
"THEIR WEAK SPOT IS THE NAPE OF THE NECK!!"
"Eren!"
Mikasa followed closely behind, her eyes filled with panic—and something else—as she saw Eren shouting toward the battlefield with desperation.
Eren had always dreamed of leaving the Walls and joining the Survey Corps. Because of that, he had studied Titans extensively. He knew that their only weakness was the nape. The exact anatomy eluded him, but that much he was sure of.
Unfortunately, the boat was too far from the action. Though he could see the battle clearly, his voice couldn't reach Minato and the others.
But luckily, one of the nearby Garrison soldiers overheard the warning.
Clenching his teeth, the soldier leapt from the boat and used his vertical maneuvering gear to land on the riverbank.
Facing the ninja trio, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"THEIR WEAKNESS IS THE BACK OF THE NECK! A ONE-METER-WIDE, TEN-CENTIMETER-TALL PIECE OF FLESH! CUT THAT, AND THEY DIE!"
He exhaled shakily after yelling.
They didn't have the courage to fight Titans themselves. All they could do was pass on the knowledge and hope—hope these strange, powerful children could succeed where they had failed.
Minato, Yahiko, and Nagato lit up.
So they're not truly immortal after all! There's a way to kill them!
Minato sprang into motion. Dodging several flailing arms, he leapt up a Titan's shoulder and landed at its nape.
A one-meter-wide, ten-centimeter-tall patch of flesh… he thought. Is it the connection point between the brain and spinal cord?
Though he hadn't received formal Titan-slaying training, he was a top student of the Ninja Academy. He had studied human anatomy—especially vital points.
With a sharp flick, Minato slashed down with his kunai.
"RAAAAGHH!!"
The Titan roared in fury, swiping behind itself like trying to squash a mosquito—but missed.
Minato leapt away, scowling.
Damn it—the kunai's too short! The damage is pathetic. Even if I hit the right spot, it didn't go deep enough to reach the fatal zone!
If only I'd learned a fire-style jutsu… One big Fireball Jutsu would've roasted its neck like a grilled fish!
Yahiko had a similar issue.
His Water Style: Raging Waves was powerful in terms of knockback, but it lacked true destructive force.
Only Nagato made solid progress.
After forming a set of hand seals, he spat out a razor-sharp wind blade that slashed across a Titan's nape, tearing open the critical weak point.
With a shriek, the Titan collapsed.
Finally—one was dead!
As Minato and Yahiko looked awkwardly at their ineffective weapons, the Garrison soldier clenched his jaw and launched his gear once more.
"Here—take these!"
He tossed weapons toward them. Minato and Yahiko caught the new blades, just starting to thank him when—
Their expressions froze.
"MOVE!!" Minato shouted.
"Eh?" The soldier blinked, confused—
And in the next second, a fast-moving Titan, different from the others, zipped past—reaching out with a single swipe.
Grab!
It snatched the soldier out of the air and, without hesitation, shoved him into its gaping mouth.
Crunch.
~~~~~
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Remove the parentheses btw