"Ryoma, Ryoma… I finally found the chance to get revenge!"
Shukaku darted back, widening the distance in an instant. When it was several hundred meters away, its beady eyes locked onto Ryoma.
It had been frustrated with Ryoma for a long time. But Ryoma was someone it couldn't defeat — his strength was increasing at an absurd rate. After many failed attempts, Shukaku gave up on ever teaching him a lesson.
Yet today… it hit the jackpot. Ryoma's brain must have short-circuited — he was actually trying to train by letting others beat him up.
Not wasting even a second, Shukaku opened its massive mouth.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet—Burst!!"
Air compressed rapidly, forming a giant rotating sphere that blasted straight toward Ryoma.
Ryoma crushed it with just a casual snap of his fingers. The enormous burst of wind evaporated instantly, the shockwave alone leaving Shukaku dumbfounded — speechless.
"My technique… canceled with one finger!?"
As Shukaku questioned its entire existence, Ryoma spoke again, voice calm and taunting:
"Shukaku, is that all you've got?"
Those words struck its pride harder than any attack. Shukaku's temper was short, and its ego even shorter. If anyone other than Ryoma had said that, they'd be in its stomach already.
"Damn it!"
Chakra violently surged from its body — Yin and Yang chakra compressed together in its maw — forming a compact, black sphere made of overlapping bubbles of destruction.
Even a civilian could feel the terror emanating from that sphere.
"Now that's better." Ryoma smirked.
— Tailed Beast Bomb.
The ultimate attack of a tailed beast, a 2:8 Yin-Yang chakra sphere capable of leveling landscapes.
Boom!!!
The Tailed Beast Bomb streaked across the ground like a black meteor, carving a massive trench in its wake and reducing everything it touched to ash.
Shukaku grinned in satisfaction—until the smoke cleared.
Ryoma stood exactly where he'd been. Not a scratch on him.
Ryoma nodded thoughtfully, unfazed.
So this is the defensive strength of Sage Mode, huh?
He hadn't even taken a defensive stance — simply stood there — yet the Tailed Beast Bomb hadn't even tickled him.
If I can push this Sage Art further… maybe I can transform my body completely, make this my baseline even outside Sage Mode.
Fired up by the thought, Ryoma pointed lazily at the horrified Shukaku.
"Again."
"Come on."
"Keep going."
His voice was like a devil's command. Shukaku continued launching attack after attack.
By the time the sky turned dark, Shukaku looked like a deflated balloon, sprawled over the ground. Its once-massive body visibly shrunk.
Meanwhile, Ryoma looked completely refreshed — glowing, even.
Shukaku stared at him with coin-sized eyes full of terror.
"Y-you… please let me go… I really don't have a single drop of chakra left…"
"How can a Tailed Beast say it's done?" Ryoma stretched lazily.
"Again!"
Ryoma narrowed his eyes at Shukaku in irritation. His Sage Mode had reached a new height, yet the creature in front of him looked completely drained.
"…Fine. I'll spare you for today."
He formed a single hand seal. With a soft bang of smoke, Shukaku vanished back to its sealed space. Ryoma ended his training session and headed home.
The door slid open—just in time to see Kushina stepping out of the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around her body, long red hair still dripping water. Stunning, confident, and dangerously perceptive.
She walked toward him—so he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
But before he could speak, she inhaled softly and froze.
"You smell like another woman."
Ryoma stiffened. Kushina's nose really was something else. Even though he hadn't sweated from training—Sage Mode kept his body perfectly balanced—dust and sand had still clung to him. But she had immediately picked up the faint trace of someone else's fragrance.
"Is it Mikoto?"
If it had been any other woman, Kushina might have exploded by now. But Uchiha Mikoto was different—and Ryoma's status now was essentially that of the supreme ruler of the entire shinobi world.
For the sake of clan expansion, legacy, and future heirs… Kushina had long mentally prepared herself for the possibility of sharing him—at least to a degree. As long as she remained the main wife.
She had even noticed many young, beautiful kunoichi subtly approaching her recently—all with their eyes on Ryoma. Compared to those unknown motives, Mikoto was far more acceptable.
Kushina exhaled softly, meeting his gaze.
"To be honest… I always felt there was something between you two. And when I got closer to Sako, that feeling became certain."
Sako—the daughter of Ryoma and Mikoto from the future. She had returned in time through unknown means to confront that threat named Ōtsutsuki Shiki.
Saying it aloud still felt surreal.
...
TN:
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