"Hmm... so you're going to keep struggling?!"
Silva's eyes flashed with interest. "I remember when Rock Lee was fighting that Gaara kid, he opened five gates."
"From the looks of it, are you planning to pull a 'Hidden Lotus' too?"
"Rock Lee is Rock Lee, and I am me, Dad." The whites of his eyes rolled up slightly, and an even more powerful 'aura' exploded from within Sean!
"Gate of Opening": Lifts the brain's restrictions, consuming the body's energy at an overdraft rate to increase attack and speed.
"Gate of Healing": Lifts the body's stamina restrictions, further squeezing the body, using one hundred percent of stamina to unleash two hundred percent of its effect.
Visibly... large tendons bulged and spread rapidly like coiling dragons.
The roiling vital energy constantly battered Sean's nerves.
Sean took a step forward. "Crack." The stone floor couldn't take the weight, and a spiderweb of cracks spread out from his casual step.
"It's just grabbing a bell. I don't think I need to open five gates for that."
"Right, Dad?"
'What's with all this "right" this, "right" that...'
"Damn little bastard! The old man's castle!" In Sean's room, Maha's heart ached when he saw the floor crack!
'Damn brat, if you're opening gates, just open them. Why stomp the floor? Was it bothering you?'
'Oho. The bastard knows how to deflect.' Zeno glanced at the raging Maha, feeling as refreshed as if he'd chugged ice water on a hot day. He pretentiously patted the old man's back to help him calm down. "Grandfather, how can there be a fight without some damage? A little flooring isn't worth much..."
"Then are you paying for it?"
"I have no money."
"Then what the hell are you spouting hot air for?!"
"Thwack!" The familiar big slap flew... Sean's room was in chaos.
Zeno scrambled away, covering his head, shouting, "Stop hitting, stop hitting, Grandfather! That kid Sean is moving!"
'Moving? Every time he moves, my heart aches... "You mutt, you better pray the house doesn't collapse!"'
"Otherwise! Your dog life is forfeit!" Grabbing Zeno in a headlock under his arm, Maha looked at the screen in exasperation.
Sean took one step, and in an instant, he disappeared!
On the "surveillance glasses," the image just blurred—
The next second, he reappeared, carrying an unmatched presence right in front of Silva's face, balling up his fist and smashing it down!
"One gate doubles it, so two gates should be four times. But why doesn't this look like four times?"
Sensing Sean's speed...
Maha released Zeno. The grandfather and grandson had grave expressions. They exchanged a look of tacit understanding, a single term appearing in both their minds—
"Second Limit Break"!
The number of frames a machine can recognize far exceeds the naked eye. Only by breaking the "two-fold shackle" of the physical body could one evade the camera and achieve a true "disappearance"!
"Heh heh heh... Watching the manga, I never realized just how fast Rock Lee was!"
"Looking at it this way, I've underestimated the 'Eight Gates Released Formation'."
No longer at ease, no longer strolling leisurely, Silva dropped his playful attitude. Feeling the wind of the fist rushing toward him, he got serious for the first time!
The current head of the Zoldyck family's aura exploded!
An ocean of aura steamed endlessly. The mere sweep of it pushed Illumi back into the corner, pinning him to the wall with his limbs splayed!
"'Pseudo' Second Limit, versus a true 'Second Limit'!"
"Sean, I said three years, and I mean three years! Even if you don't accept it, you're still going down!"
"Rip!" His muscles rippled, terrifyingly. The training suit was directly torn apart by Silva!
Silva's white hair whipped upward, like a demon god descending upon the world. Killing intent, along with his aura, gathered on his right hand. He met Sean's descending punch head-on!
"Dong!"
A muffled thunderclap exploded!
'Nen' waves pulsed violently outward with the two at the center.
The huge floor-to-ceiling window didn't even have time to whimper before it shattered into dregs!
Maha nearly had a brain hemorrhage watching!
"Bastard! Zeno, don't hold me back, I'm going to kill that little bastard Silva!"
'Go ahead... it's not like I'm stopping you.' Zeno rolled his eyes at Maha, concentrating on the screen. His old hands, clasped behind his back, were trembling faintly.
'Absurd. This kid Sean is going to defy the heavens! Taking Silva head-on... is this something a rookie who has been self-training for less than a year can do?'
Zeno fell into deep thought.
"Buzz..." The 'Nen' aura entwined on their fists collided, creating a brief stalemate.
Feeling the immense force coming from Silva's fist, two unnatural, flushed patches quietly crept onto Sean's handsome, slightly baby-fatted face.
Noticing this, Silva sneered, "Still want to continue, Sean?"
"Any power that exceeds what your body can bear will inevitably have a backlash!"
"It was that way for Rock Lee, and it's the same for you!"
It was just as Silva said. The "Second Limit Break" barely achieved by opening the "Gate of Healing" was, after all, fake. The "Sage" had already warned Sean of this!
[Detecting host's current status. Recommending cessation of aura burst.]
'Heh. Stop?'
Sean gave a savage smile. "I said, I will not be a caged bird!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
'The secret technique overdrafts the body, but ninjutsu doesn't!'
Realizing it was difficult to break Silva's defense, Sean kicked out. Silva blocked with a backhand, sending him flying.
And at that very instant... "Poof." Sean No. 2 came online. Taking advantage of the opening when Silva attacked, he pounced at the bell!
"Heh heh heh... I've killed nine already, am I afraid to kill one more?" Silva didn't even look at No. 2. His descending palm changed direction in mid-air, circled around, and a hand-chop glittering with cold light sliced out.
Just as it was about to hit No. 2's neck, suddenly—
His body stiffened, and his hand-chop stopped along with it!
"What's wrong, Dad? If you don't move, I'll be taking this bell."
Having escaped disaster, Sean No. 2 secretly let out a breath of relief. He gave Silva a mischievous smile, slipped past his palm, plucked the bell, and floated back to Sean's side.
"Ding-ding-dong."
The bell chimed.
The training room, along with Sean's room, went silent, as if someone had pressed the stop button!
All sound vanished.
Only the sound of No. 2 shaking the bell and his light laughter echoed in everyone's ears.
In Sean's room.
Maha's eyes widened. After a long moment, he let out a strange cry, "Fuck Netero!"
He subconsciously slapped Zeno. "Did you see that, Zeno!"
"That brat is too cunning!"
"The shadows are connected... Isn't that the 'Shadow Imitation Jutsu' used by that kid from the Nara family?"
'Experience really does count.' Zeno shot the old man a resentful look. The bumps on his head hadn't even gone down, and now he had new ones. Yet he couldn't act out. He composed himself and nodded with emotion. "It is indeed 'Shadow Imitation Jutsu'."
"Silva was careless. The 'Shadow Clone' distracted him, making him fail to pay attention to his feet."
"In other words, Grandfather, we all misjudged."
"This match... Sean won."