Konoha's Mission Master

At that moment, he felt true silence.

He was the only one in the universe who could move. In an instant, Fumo was drawn from the sword box and grabbed by Yakumo... He turned the speed up to the maximum and slashed at Sun Wukong's head.

Yakumo could sense that Sun Wukong was struggling, and even the combination of the Time Freeze and Soul Imprisonment skills could not completely freeze him and trap him in the void of space.

"Bah!"

Sun Wukong's eyes emitted golden light, like two thin needles piercing into the surrounding space, as if piercing through an invisible barrier. In the realm where time stood still, he regained his ability to move.

Without hesitation, the golden cudgel blocked Yakumo's attack aimed at his neck. The effect of the Fiery Eyes of Truth is to see through all the magic in the world, including time-stopping magic.

However, after Sun Wukong used his Fiery Eyes of Truth, his aura became somewhat weak, which means that even Sun Wukong paid a heavy price to break the time freeze.

Yakumo used spatial teleportation to retreat and create distance.

But the next second, Sun Wukong caught up with him. This was the effect of the Somersault Cloud, which gave Sun Wukong a very special ability to move, as if he ignored the distance in space.

Yakumo gripped the blade with both hands, his gaze slightly focused.

"Sage Mode, activated!"

"Star-Slaying Mode, activated!"

"Tianquan Mode, activated!"

Guided by his will, Yakumo's internal energy and soul transformed into a completely new energy—an indescribable composite energy that seemed to be both the beginning and the end of everything.

It transcends time and space.

Furthermore, Yakumo's body transformed into a black hole, continuously absorbing various forms of energy from the surrounding area and converting them into this special energy to compensate for the energy consumption of the Zanpakuto mode.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment. Yakumo found that with both his Zankai Mode and Tensen Mode smudged, he couldn't spare any extra energy to do anything.

This includes shadow clones, spatial teleportation, and time freezing.

Yakumo gripped his weapon and unleashed a barrage of fierce slashes at Sun Wukong, countless blades seemingly piercing through space. Sun Wukong, in turn, spun his golden cudgel to form a giant windmill in front of him to defend himself.

One man attacked fiercely with a knife, while a monkey defended itself by wielding various weapons.

It was difficult to determine a winner between the two for a while, especially since both Sun Wukong and Yakumo were very suitable for long battles. The former had an indestructible fighting body, while the latter had an extremely strong recovery ability.

Yakumo was constantly searching for Goku's weakness, but as the fight went on, Goku's defense became even more perfect, as if he was adapting to Yakumo's attacks and adjusting to the battle.

"Berserk Blood!"

As Yakumo's sanity was depleted, his power increased by about ten percent, and the weapon he wielded became increasingly heavy. This sudden increase caught Goku somewhat off guard.

The defense is not as perfect as before, and some loopholes have appeared.

"Sky-Piercing Strike!"

Sun Wukong gripped the golden cudgel with both hands and leaped upwards. The golden phantom spread out, as if a golden cudgel shadow hundreds of meters high had appeared in the void of the universe, its surface engraved with intricate patterns.

This inverted phantom image is exactly what the Golden Cudgel looks like in its perfect state.

Yakumo leaped away, dodging the sudden attack from a distance of several dozen meters. He then continued to advance, swinging his sword, and the technique he used was suddenly the Heavenly Spring, which was inherited from Uchiha Jun.

Instead of being worried, he was happy. Sun Wukong's strong attack meant that he could no longer perfectly defend against Yakumo's attack. In order to prevent defeat, he had no choice but to change his tactics and launch a strong attack.

Ultimately, Yakumo has the upper hand in this half of the game.

"Rebellion Waltz"

Using the Demon Subduing Technique as a starting point, Yakumo outlined an arc shape in the void of the universe, resembling golden pliers that clamped down hard on the Golden Cudgel, forcing Sun Wukong to temporarily change his moves.

The two exchanged blows and fought for another half hour. To prevent the side effects of the berserk blood from taking away his sanity, Yakumo had no choice but to turn off the amplification, and the two once again engaged in a long sparring battle.

This was an extremely grueling process. The two fought each other across the universe on a scale of celestial bodies. Although each had their own advantages, neither could completely destroy the other, especially since Sun Wukong's Fighting Body possessed terrifying hardness.

Yakumo simply couldn't fathom what kind of enemy could have left so many unhealable scars on Son Goku's body.

But the battle between the two continued. Every time the cooldown ended, he would use Berserk to launch a full-scale attack for an hour, trying to add as many scars as possible to Sun Wukong's body, but this advantage was not enough to win.

Thanks to his years-long battles with Uchiha Juntama, Yakumo's spirit became extremely resilient. Although he hadn't been able to defeat Son Goku for a long time, he remained calm and composed during the battle.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Yakumo's body was struck by the golden cudgel and completely dissipated.

He lost, but he was actually only one step away from victory, because Sun Wukong also became shaky. In the end, the two were decided by the strength of their will.

Immediately afterwards, Yakumo's shattered body reformed.

"A fresh start."

[Note: 200 gold coins have been deducted.]

Yakumo has already come up with a sure-fire way to win, although it is somewhat shameless, but with this method, he will definitely be able to defeat Son Goku.

The moment the two clashed, Yakumo used Time Freeze, which Son Goku countered with his Fiery Eyes of Truth, just as he had done before.

Then... Yakumo continued to repeat the steps until the next day when he exited the state of Zanseiki and Tensen and continued to freeze time with Time Stop.

Sun Wukong immediately used his Fiery Eyes of Truth to break through the illusion.

The cost to Sun Wukong in this process is far greater than that to Yakumo. If this cycle continues and is delayed for three months, Sun Wukong will inevitably be defeated.

.......

Three months later.

Both Yakumo and Son Goku are already at their end.

Why was he able to persevere?

This was Yakumo's biggest question. According to calculations, Goku's condition should be worse than his, yet the enemy had not fallen and his eyes were full of indomitable fighting spirit.

It seemed that... Sun Wukong didn't find this repetitive battle boring at all; on the contrary, he was enjoying this kind of fighting that was on the edge of the limit. This feeling was something that Yakumo couldn't understand.

The mechanical repetition only made Yakumo feel bored. He was going through this boring process to kill the enemy, not to have a memorable battle with them.

Two weeks later, Yakumo was defeated again.

This time, he did not choose to continue, but instead withdrew from the arena.

On the rattan chair under the eaves of the courtyard, Yakumo slowly opened his eyes. He was somewhat doubtful about life. He couldn't understand why Sun Wukong was still unwilling to give up even after fighting to that extent.

"A desire to live?"

Yakumo made a guess in his mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea and looked at the eaves where water was dripping. In the distance, Masako Mori was enjoying nature in the light rain and practicing Sage Mode.

He couldn't help but fall into deep thought, because he really couldn't figure it out.

If it wasn't the desire to live, what other reason could have sustained Sun Wukong in his fight to such an extent, even as his body neared collapse, yet he still swung his golden cudgel like a madman?

During dinner, Yakumo asked Mori Masako this question.

"I think he's just enjoying the fight and doesn't want to admit defeat."

Masako Mori frankly admitted that she herself had entered that special state, where there were no distracting thoughts in her mind, and she was focused on fighting and enjoying the battle. However, this state must have its limits.

This is Yakumo's understanding: how could someone on the verge of death still be so consumed by a thirst for battle...?

Yakumo couldn't understand Son Goku's will, which led to his repeated failures in his challenges.

After numerous battles, Yakumo finally discovered the real problem.

His strength was actually about the same as Sun Wukong's. What truly determined the outcome was individual willpower. Whoever could hold out longer would ultimately win.

After many attempts, Yakumo found the way: before activating the two modes, he would use the necessary skills, such as Eternal Sleep Mist.

The power of this skill may be negligible to Sun Wukong, but the real key is the long-term, subtle influence, coupled with the fact that the two are already roughly equal in strength.

Yakumo continued his experiment, this time creating a shadow clone before the battle to maintain the use of Eternal Sleep Mist, which, combined with Time Stop and Soul Restriction, weakened him in succession.

He finally saw an opportunity for victory.

This is the fifteenth challenge.

Yakumo, panting heavily, faced Sun Wukong, constantly calculating the right angle to attack. The eternal slumber mist of the cosmic void still existed, and in fact, in Sun Wukong's current state, he could no longer get past Yakumo to behead the shadow clone.

With the balance shifting, he finally found an opportunity.

"Finally, you're going to lose."

Yakumo muttered to himself. In order to defeat Son Goku, he had probably spent five years in the arena. These attempts had finally made Yakumo the one who understood Son Goku the most.

"The Heavenly Spring has no end, and the Star-Slaying has no limit."

Tianquan represents the powerful and continuous force of never stopping the swing of the sword, while Zhanxing represents the powerful slash that has no limit to its own strength. The two do indeed maintain a subtle unity.

However, this does not mean that it cannot be rewritten.

"Triple Star Slaying Mode".

This is the powerful state that Yakumo created by sacrificing his endurance. He tripled the terrifying power of Zankai, as long as his body could withstand the pressure of the instantaneous burst.

Yakumo could even take this technique tenfold.

This is the skill that Yakumo has mastered in five years, and Son Goku is Yakumo's best teacher.

From Sun Wukong, Yakumo made his will more resilient, not through long-term perseverance and tempering, but by unleashing a powerful fighting spirit in truly desperate situations, supporting him to continue the attack.

Swish swish swish swish.

Yakumo kept changing direction and launching a fierce attack, while Sun Wukong emitted golden light to continuously break through his slashes. The two were engaged in a very fierce close-quarters battle, and the slightest mistake would result in death.

But this time, Yakumo will not lose again.

One day, two days, three days.

The current confrontation is a contest of whose will is more resilient. Compared to six months ago, Sun Wukong's armor is more tattered, and his body is covered with countless unhealable knife wounds. Even his golden cudgel is more broken and dilapidated.

But Sun Wukong still did not fall. He fought Yakumo for three whole days in this exhausted state.

On the other hand, Yakumo's condition was also not good. Sun Wukong's golden cudgel was quite heavy, and when it hit his body, it would not only break his bones, but also damage his internal organs.

In this situation, Yakumo could have used Wood Release to create armor to solve the problem, but while maintaining both states, he no longer had the energy to create the crimson armor for defense.

The result was that... Yakumo was badly beaten, his body covered in fatal wounds, but he didn't fall because of his almost indestructible will.

"Bah!"

Sun Wukong raised his head and let out a long roar, his fighting spirit boiling, and continued to fight with Yakumo.

After such a long battle, the phrase Yakumo heard most often was...

"Hey! Take this from me, Old Sun!"