Hayashi Rin soon penetrated the deepest part of the forest.
Scanning the empty landscape around him, he muttered to himself: “There shouldn’t be anyone left out here.
Now I can test things out without holding back.”
He threw a straightforward, linear punch forward without even activating the Eight Inner Gates.
Even so, that bare strike cleanly snapped a massive tree trunk as thick as an adult’s waist.
The raw force made Hayashi Rin click his tongue in admiration: “Incredible!”
Lowering his stance, he drew in a deep breath: “First Gate: Gate of Opening, Open!”
Thunderous booms began to echo through the dense forest as massive trees came crashing down one after another.
With every progressive gate he unlocked, Hayashi Rin struck down one or two massive trees to gauge the precise escalation in his speed and striking power.
He methodically unlocked the gates step by step until reaching the sixth gate, the Gate of View, before finally reigning in his power.
This restraint was intentional, as the final two gates carried lengthy recovery cooldowns; if he engaged them now, he would have to wait ten days or an entire month before using them again.
If he happened to cross paths with a formidable opponent during that window, he would be deprived of a vital trump card for self-defense.
Thus, Hayashi Rin refrained from testing them directly.
Nevertheless, through his trials with the first six gates, he had already accurately calculated the projected output of those final two gates.
Having reached the sixth gate, the Gate of View, he felt it would be a missed opportunity not to test its signature ultimate technique: the Morning Peacock.
Driven by sheer curiosity, Hayashi Rin decided to assess the destructive output of that iconic move.
A brilliant teal-green Chakra flared outward around his entire body.
With a sharp roar, he unleashed a barrage of punches at speeds that shattered the sound barrier.
Even upon unlocking the fifth gate, the Gate of Limit, his striking speed had already broken past Mach 1, and right now his punch velocity easily achieved Mach 3.
The intense friction between his hyper-velocity fists and the surrounding air generated blistering bursts of flame.
Immense shockwaves carried the blazing projectiles forward, fanning out into a magnificent formation that resembled the dazzling tail plumage of an open peacock.
Countless fiery shockwaves swept outward in an instant, leveling the entire surrounding forest patch to the ground.
The sight of such overwhelming devastation left even Hayashi Rin himself in awe.
Although he had seen it countless times in the anime, witnessing and executing it with his own hands in the real world provided an entirely different kind of rush.
A quiet sense of pride welled up within his chest.
“Incredible!” A resounding voice of pure admiration echoed from a distance.
Hayashi Rin turned his gaze and was surprised to discover that the newcomer was none other than Makoto Kyogoku.
He found himself wondering why this guy was out here in the middle of nowhere.
In truth, Makoto Kyogoku had also traveled deep into this forest to undergo rigorous physical training and had been practicing his strikes in front of a nearby waterfall.
The moment Hayashi Rin began unleashing the power of the Eight Inner Gates, Makoto Kyogoku had sensed the presence of an extraordinarily powerful aura and immediately rushed toward the source of the energy.
However, because the distance was substantial and his path was obstructed by thick vegetation, by the time he finally arrived at the clearing, Hayashi Rin had already unlocked the sixth gate, the Gate of View, and launched the Morning Peacock.
Witnessing an ultimate technique of such staggering destructive scale was a first for Makoto Kyogoku, prompting him to call out in genuine awe.
‘To think someone this powerful truly exists in this world.’
‘My decision to come train deep in the mountains this time was unquestionably the right choice.’
Makoto Kyogoku leaped forward, bowed respectfully, and said: “My name is Makoto Kyogoku.
May I ask for your name, sir?”
“My name is Hayashi Rin.”
Makoto Kyogoku spoke with burning enthusiasm: “Brother Rin, would you be willing to spar with me?”
Hayashi Rin nodded: “Sure!”
He was also keen to see how his current combat prowess measured up against an established fighter.
Makoto Kyogoku was widely celebrated as the absolute ceiling of combat strength in the world of Conan, famously dubbed the Super Saiyan of the scientific Conan universe.
In the anime adaptation, he was even depicted catching bullets with his bare hands.
Even if the projectiles he caught were BB pellets from an air gun with only a third of the velocity of conventional handgun ammunition, the feat remained utterly astounding.
Both men dropped into their stances.
In an instant, they surged forward like two streaks of light and collided violently.
Heavy, resonant impacts reverberated endlessly as the surrounding trees and rocks shattered under the sheer shockwaves of their clash.
Hayashi Rin engaged the first gate, the Gate of Opening, but found it insufficient to completely overpower his opponent.
He then unlocked the second gate, the Gate of Healing, and Makoto Kyogoku still managed to trade blows on relatively even footing.
Hayashi Rin promptly kicked open the third gate, the Gate of Life.
The sudden surge stripped Makoto Kyogoku of any ability to retaliate, swiftly neutralizing his defense and pinning him decisively to the dirt.
This gave Hayashi Rin a crystalline understanding of the power gap between himself and Makoto Kyogoku.
Every consecutive gate of the Eight Inner Gates multiplied his strength exponentially.
Under the state of the second gate, his strength was already equivalent to twenty times the physical limit of an ordinary human, yet Makoto Kyogoku had still managed to hold out against it through sheer tenacity.
This left Hayashi Rin marveling internally that the title of Case Closed’s Super Saiyan was well-deserved; this man’s physique was genuinely at a superhuman baseline.
It was fundamentally impossible for an ordinary human to train their body to twenty times the normal limit through conventional means alone.
Right now, Makoto Kyogoku lay on the ground with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.
Wiping away the stain, a wide, thrilled grin spread across his face instead: “That was immensely satisfying!
Finally, someone has defeated me and revealed a higher realm of martial arts.”
“It’s just a shame that I wasn’t able to force you to use that spectacular technique from earlier.
What a true pity!”
Hayashi Rin replied flatly: “If I had used that move on you, you would already be dead, and your body would likely have been blown to pieces.”
Makoto Kyogoku burst into hearty laughter and nodded: “You speak the truth!
Once my strength improves in the future, I will definitely challenge you again.”
“Where might I find you when that time comes?”
Hayashi Rin leaped into the air and vanished from his line of sight.
“If fate wills it, we shall cross paths again!”
Having gauged his exact capabilities, he had no interest in lingering with a battle-obsessed martial artist.
People consumed by combat fanaticism were notoriously persistent, constantly looking to challenge anyone stronger than themselves.
He had no desire to waste his everyday life entertaining duels from battle maniacs.
If he had to engage with others, he would far rather spend his time interacting with the various anime heroines in much more interesting scenarios.
Following Hayashi Rin’s departure, Makoto Kyogoku remained lying on the ground for a few quiet moments before sitting up, brimming with uncontainable excitement and joy.
He immediately retrieved his phone to share his exhilarating discovery.
He fired off a message directly to Sonoko Suzuki: “Sonoko, do you know what just happened?
I ran into an extraordinarily powerful master today.”
“An incredible martial artist of the highest caliber.
This is the very first time I have ever met someone stronger than me who could defeat me so decisively.
My training in the deep mountains this time was truly worth every second.”
Reading the message on her screen, Sonoko Suzuki froze in sheer disbelief: “What?
There’s actually someone in this world stronger than Makoto?”
“How is that even possible?”
Ran Mōri, who was sitting nearby, asked: “Sonoko, what’s the matter?”
Sonoko Suzuki turned her head, wide-eyed: “Ran, would you believe that there is someone in this world who is vastly stronger than Makoto?”
Hearing that question, Ran Mōri paused for a moment before answering hesitantly: “I suppose that’s possible?”
“After all, the world is massive, so that possibility definitely exists.
Still, I personally haven’t seen anyone more incredible than Makoto Kyogoku up until now.”
“Why the sudden question?”
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