Chapter 872 : The Mighty 'Club'

The young man tilted his head and asked, “Come with you? Are you sure? The last bunch who asked me to do that didn't do very well.”

Understanding the threat in his words, every Iwa ninja in the restaurant immediately stood up and openly displayed their weapons. Roshi and the old man were prepared as well.

The old man thought, ‘Such arrogance! He seemed to be waiting for Roshi. Is he a member of that mercenary organization?’

At the same time, Roshi analyzed, ‘A Tailed Beast bomb… The last person who survived that attack was Suzuki Fujin. Is this him under disguise? However, why would Konoha send him here alone?’

In one corner of the restaurant, a middle-aged man whispered to his Genin students, “You three, leave immediately. Run to Lord Third and inform him that someone is targeting Roshi!”
One of his students replied, “Sensei, he's alone. We can take him out here!”
Their Sensei said, “It's best if that happens. However, I have a bad feeling. Quickly go. You three won't make much of an impact here, irrespective of how strong or weak he is.”

Seeing his seriousness, the three immediately left. The Iwa ninjas didn't look at them, and neither did the young man do anything to stop them. In fact, he was so relaxed that a spectator wouldn't be able to tell that he was surrounded by dozens of hostile ninjas.

The young man sighed and said, “I just wanted to eat some dumplings… Unfortunately, it looks like you guys won't let me off without a fight…”

He glanced at Iwagakure ninjas and asked, “So, how do you want to do this?”

His words, once again confused the Iwa ninjas. The young man wasn't acting like he was in grave danger. In fact, he didn't seem to take the matter seriously at all. Once the confusion faded away, several Iwa ninjas became enraged as they realized they were being looked down upon.

The old man maintained composure and asked, “Do you want to fight here, instead of simply following us?”

The young man nonchalantly answered, “Well, I'm not a fan of spilling blood during my meal. How about we settle this issue in a different type of fight?”

Roshi and the remaining ninjas immediately wondered what he was hinting at. They didn't need to wonder for long as the young man continued, “Instead of a physical fight, let's compete in who can eat the most amount of dumplings! The winner won't have to pay the bill. If I lose, I'll follow you. What do you say, old man?”

Once again, his words caught everyone off guard. Unlike the previous time, almost everyone immediately lost their temper!

“STOP FUCKING AROUND!” Another young ninja shouted in rage as he flickered. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the young man and his hand was moving towards the back of his head, almost as if he wanted to slam the young man's head into the ground!

The eyes of several Iwa ninjas widened as they noticed him. One wondered aloud, “Isn't that Takigawa Rensui?”
The kunoichi next to him immediately said, “He is! He was promoted to the Elite Jounin rank just last month, at the young age of 18 years! With him and Roshi-sama here, we don't need to worr…”

Her eyes widened in disbelief as Rensui's hand caught nothing but thin air. Her shock couldn't be compared to Rensui's shock. His eyes moved slightly towards the left as he wondered in horror, ‘What the hell? When did he move? No, how did he move? He is still sitting, but a foot to the left! I didn't catch a glimpse of his movement! Fuck, I need to…’

“Shit! Old man Genshirou!” Roshi cursed as he and the old man immediately got into action. Unfortunately, they were a bit too late.

Rensui's eyes barely followed the young man's hand, before it grabbed the back of his neck. His body was unable to respond as the young man, whose chakra and body still looked like a normal civilian, slammed him into the floor through the table!

Splinters of wood shot through the air as the table shattered, and the floor beneath cracked from the sheer force of the impact. The surrounding Iwagakure ninjas immediately blocked the debris while Roshi and Tanizaki Genshirou moved close to the young man.

The young man paid no attention to the two old fellows, and instead kept his attention on Rensui and muttered, “Iron Skin jutsu… Impressive…”

Rensui's body had turned black and became as hard as a rock. Relieved, he thought, ‘I barely managed it… Otherwise, I'd be dead. Who is this monster? I need to act quickly and cooperate with Ros…’

Terror invaded his mind as he suddenly realized, ‘Why can't I move? What the fuck is happening to me?’

Rensui couldn't move a single muscle on his body. He felt completely paralyzed!

The young man finally moved his eyes and observed Roshi, whose fist was covered in lava, and Genshirou, who was swinging a sword with chakra flowing through it. Both were attacking him at the same time.

Without a hint of hesitation, the young man swung Rensui's hardened body at the two senior ninjas. The absurd response startled every Iwa ninja present. Roshi immediately pulled his punch back and defended himself while Genshirou took a step back and used the blunt side of his sword to defend himself. Both were hit by Rensui's body and forced to take a few steps back.

Still holding Rensui's paralyzed body from the back of his neck, the young man finally stood up and sighed, “You fellows have no manners. Is this how you behave during lunch? I'll use this club to knock some sense into you blockheads.”

Without waiting for anyone's response, the young man swung Rensui's body at Roshi and Genshirou once again. Not wanting to harm Rensui, the two could only retreat.

Roshi frowned, ‘He isn't moving… It must be Juinjutsu, probably the Self-Cursing Seal. This level of Juinjutsu, along with his weird words and absurd actions, there's no doubt! He is Suzuki Fujin!’
At the same time, Genshirou thought, ‘Troublesome… We first need to rescue Rensui. A promising young man like him shouldn't die so pointlessly. However, we need to be careful. If he is from Akatsuki, his real target will be Roshi.’

Realizing their troubles, the remaining Iwagakure ninjas started acting. A few threw shuriken and kunai at the young man's back. However, the young man simply used Rensui's body to block all the incoming weapons.

They winced as their weapons pierced into Rensui's body and blood gushed out from several parts of his body. Since he couldn't control his chakra flow, Rensui couldn't sustain the Iron Skin jutsu and his body had returned to normal. As such, even ordinary weapons were dangerous to him.

One Iwa ninja scolded, “You coward! Let him go and fight like a man!”

His eyes widened as the young man smashed Rensui's body right on him! He immediately took a few steps back but was hit by Rensui's legs and stumbled behind. In the blink of an eye, a few more Iwa ninjas were hit in the same manner. Though none of them were gravely injured, Rensui's legs were.

The absurdity of the situation left them unsure of how to act. They couldn't use deadly attacks, as they would hit their elite ninja instead of the enemy. However, if they didn't rescue Rensui, they were sure Rensui's body would be completely mangled and he would be crippled for life! Even experienced ninjas like Roshi and Genshirou were in a dilemma, especially since they had some speculations about the young man's identity.

The young man continued using Rensui's body like a club, not caring whether he was hitting the Iwa ninjas or the floor, while asking loudly, “Wouldn't competing in food have been better? But no, you had to attack me and disturb my lunch! Why are you running away like cowards now? Come, fight back!”

Poor Rensui's legs were already mangled up due to the assault. His waist was damaged too due to continuous impacts and his neck was in an even worse situation. Pain coursed through his body, but not a single scream could escape his lips! He could only regret underestimating his enemy.

“Let him go and we can compete with food instead. Every dumpling will be on me…” Genshirou said as he appeared behind the young man and slashed his sword down at him.

In a single fluid motion, the young man swung Rensui's body at the incoming sword and said, “Unfortunately, things are already set into motion, old man…”

Genshirou slowed his sword but didn't completely pull back like before. The young man looked to his right. Roshi had appeared next to him and once again punched with his fist covered in lava. At the same time, a couple of other ninjas threw shurikens at the young man's back. Hiding behind the Iwa ninjas, a Jounin slammed his hands on the floor and several spikes appeared around the young man, attacking from a different angle.

Due to the angles of their attack, he couldn't use Rensui's body to block all the attacks. As the spikes launched at him, a smile appeared on his face as he thought, ‘Finally… Things are getting more interesting! You better get here soon, Onoki! Or I'm afraid that I might not be able to control myself…’

His smile turned into a wide grin as he swung Rensui's body with full force once again! His target? It was none other than Roshi, Iwagakure's last remaining Jinchuriki!