Seeing his words had no effect, the enemy team commander despaired noticeably and went berserk, wanting to bite back properly before death.
Kenshin's opponent understood perfectly too and sighed doomedly. Suddenly, his whole body shuddered, muscles bulging and doubling in size in a split second.
"Gate of Beginning: OPEN!" he roared, and capillaries in his eyes burst. He looked like a wild beast, breathing heavily. All his veins swelled hugely, heart pounding at its limit.
Kenshin was shocked and tried to retreat, but it was too late. The enemy shinobi was beside him in one motion and delivered a simple kick to the chest. That was all he could manage then.
Kenshin desperately sought a way to avoid the attack but came up empty. He blocked with both arms crossed and focused all telekinetic power on his forearms to boost his chances.
At the moment of foot meeting crossed arms, a loud pop sounded, like a huge bubble bursting. The flickering barrier before Kenshin collapsed instantly, absorbing only 40% of the strike's force; the rest hit the exosuit-protected arms.
Another 40% was absorbed by the anti-impact exosuit, and the remaining force slammed into Kenshin's flesh and bones.
A loud crack rang out, and Kenshin flew back, slamming spine-first into a tree ten meters away.
All Kenshin's sons were shocked; the Third and Fourth went berserk and destroyed their opponent in seconds. Ichiro finished even faster, instantly rushing to his father after cleaving the enemy commander in half. He didn't care how he did it; he was panicking and wanted to help his father.
Almost reaching his father, Ichiro instantly crushed the head of the first-gate shinobi and ran to Kenshin.
"FATHER, FATHER!" he shouted, trying to check his pulse.
"Kha, kha, don't shout..." Kenshin croaked, trying to reach the sore spot on his back edge but his arms wouldn't obey, only sending sharp pain.
"Damn, it hurts so much!" Kenshin hissed through clenched teeth, swearing for the first time in a very long time.
"Father, hold on, we'll get you to an Iryonin!" Ichiro said through tears, then glared angrily at the Fourth. "YOU! Why didn't you help him after finishing yours?! Our lives mean nothing if father gets hurt! Forgot?!"
"I..." the Fourth began, but Kenshin stopped him.
"Both of you shut up. I ordered him to help the Third. Now give me water..." Kenshin said, nearly coughing.
Ten minutes later, Kenshin somehow stood and decided to walk himself. His suit had lost most energy but was functional.
"Seems both arms are broken. We need to get back to the outpost. Fourth, search and destroy the bodies," Kenshin commanded, somewhat recovered. He had Nara clan painkillers, and the broken arms hurt less tear-inducingly.
Half an hour of light running later, Kenshin called a break. His overall health wouldn't take more strain. His face was pale, lips dry. Without his powerful brain, he'd have passed out long ago.
"So you found Storm Wolves fangs in the attackers' packs... But why attack us? Over something as banal as competition?.." Kenshin muttered thoughtfully, taking another sip of water.
"Maybe Setoru sent them, and they were the real mission target?" Ichiro suggested, not distracting from scanning the surroundings. He blamed himself for his father's injury and didn't want to repeat the mistake.
"Doubt it. Konoha doesn't use such idiotic selection methods for the best. Only Kirigakure does, but anyone sees the inefficiency. War dogs with broken psyches end up biting the sheep they should protect..." Kenshin muttered with a sigh. After another painkiller, he felt much better, though his forearms tore with pain at the slightest move.
"Father, did that bastard really use the Eight Gates technique?" the Third asked curiously.
"Seems so. But he only opened the first, and after one strike lost all combat ability and was near death..."
"Wasn't the power he unleashed too much for just the first gate?" the Fourth asked. Over time, Kenshin had shared much "common knowledge" about this world with his sons, so they knew many techniques, at least as Kenshin saw them on screen.
"That's what I don't get either. A pathetic Genin showed physical strength of at least a weak Jonin. No wonder his body couldn't handle it," Kenshin said, pondering what happened and comparing to what he'd seen on screen.
The first thing he noticed on replay of those seconds: the enemy shinobi's body was surrounded by a faint chakra mist. After thinking, he concluded the shinobi had so much chakra it burst out and became visible to the naked eye.
Second, the enlarged muscles. They seemed pumped from outside, leading Kenshin to an interim conclusion: either the technique stimulated muscle fibers to grow in volume, or they were filled with massive chakra, invoking human physical endurance.
The third, and final, conclusion, partially confirming his assumptions, was that the entire body of this shinobi had experienced an immense strain in a short time, and was barely holding together. Kenshin reviewed this moment time and again, and focusing, heard the distinct crack of the enemy shinobi's bones, as well as noticed the grimace of pain on his face when he pushed off the ground. Kenshin concluded that he had injured, or even broken, the toes on his left foot, pushing off the ground so forcefully.
His musings were interrupted by another surge of pain pulsing in his left arm. It hurt more than the right, and the damage was apparently a bit more serious.
"Sunset in an hour and a half. Time to go," Kenshin stated, and with difficulty rose to his feet. His stomach and back ached mercilessly, but thanks to the suit, the impact had been cushioned, and his internal organs seemed unharmed.