kacha.
He pushed open a door that had not been opened for a long time. Slightly dazzling sunlight fell on his cheeks, warm and faintly itchy, and Ryuji Hyuga squinted after staying indoors for so long. It had rained lightly yesterday, and today Konoha was blessed with clear weather.
Puddles on the ground reflected the blue sky, like white paper painted with clouds. The dull feeling of days spent in closed-door training seemed to have been washed away by the rain and carried into the drains. Ryuji Hyuga murmured to himself, "Looks like it will be a good day."
Amid Might Guy shouting excitedly and burning with fighting spirit beside him, Ryuji Hyuga walked out of the courtyard together with him and opened his panel. The familiar data flowed into view as they moved forward side by side.
[Name: Ryuji Hyuga]
[Age: 15]
[Bloodline: Otsutsuki Clan (5.5% → 6.8%)]
[Chakra Capacity: Rank S]
[Chakra Attributes: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Yin, Yang]
[Ninjutsu: Three Body Technique (Rank C), Wind Release·Wind Cutter Technique (Rank B), Chakra Scalpel (Rank A), Lightning Release Armor (Rank B), Lightning Release·Chidori (Rank A), Lightning Release·Chidori Current (Rank B), Lightning Release·Chidori Sharp Spear (Rank B)…]
[Taijutsu: Gentle Fist·Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms (Rank C), Eight Gates·Gate of Injury (Forbidden Technique), Gentle Fist·Ichigeshin (Rank B), Daytime Tiger (Rank A)]
[Bloodline Inheritance: Tenseigan Stage Two (12% → 20.1%) [Ability: Mental Puppet ]]
[Achievements: Cat Crying Over a Mouse, Silver Tongue, Playing Dumb, Entering the Trap Personally, Honeyed Words with Hidden Blades, Making the Fake Real, Speaking Nonsense, Pretending to Be Deaf, False Affection, Luring Trouble, Putting on an Act…]
[Remaining Realization Points: 10651]
"Finally done."
Looking at the new entry added under [Ninjutsu] and the Kekkei Genkai that had reached its second stage, a smile appeared on Ryuji Hyuga's face. This body that carried the Otsutsuki Clan bloodline learned Ninjutsu at a speed far beyond expectations.
In just two months, he had not only mastered Lightning Release Armor, but had even developed Lightning Release·Chidori on that foundation. Lightning Release Armor was a Rank B Ninjutsu, the so-called Lightning Release Chakra mode, which concentrated Lightning Release Chakra throughout the body, covering it completely and activating the flesh while allowing the use of Lightning Body Flicker. This greatly improved defense and neural transmission speed.
When both the body and Ninjutsu were honed to the extreme, the speed could even rival Minato Namikaze using the Flying Thunder God Technique, allowing instant evasion of Sasuke Uchiha's Amaterasu. The movement was as fast as a blue flash of lightning.
As for Lightning Release·Chidori, it was a derivative Ninjutsu of Lightning Release·Lightning Cutter. The two were not the same technique, and their difficulty was on entirely different levels, with the former at Rank A and the latter at Rank S, the difference lying in the degree of Chakra shape transformation.
"Chakra shape transformation" and "Chakra nature transformation" were both methods of using and enhancing Ninjutsu. Put simply, the former was shaping, turning formless Chakra into blades or needles to control power and range, while the latter was adding attributes, turning neutral Chakra into wind, fire, water, earth, or lightning.
In terms of effect, Chidori emphasized functionality over raw power when compared to Lightning Cutter. Lightning Cutter relied on shape transformation for greater piercing and cutting force, while Chidori mainly dealt damage through the many forms of Lightning Release Chakra.
For example, transforming Lightning Release Chakra into long spear or long blade forms such as Chidori Sharp Spear and the Chidori blade, or infusing Lightning Release Chakra into weapons to greatly increase sharpness with the Chidori edge.
Ryuji Hyuga had only come up with developing Lightning Release·Chidori after mastering Lightning Release Armor. After all, in the original story, Sasuke Uchiha had only taken a few days to grasp Lightning Release·Chidori. If that second young master could do it, there was no reason he could not.
Still, to go further and use Lightning Release·Lightning Cutter, two months was far from enough. That was the ultimate form of Lightning Release Chakra shape transformation.
There was also the "Purple Lightning" developed by Kakashi Hatake after losing the Sharingan, which seemed more like the extreme of Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation. Even so, this rate of progress was honestly outrageous, and Ryuji Hyuga could not help but think so.
No wonder even the ever-optimistic Might Guy had shown a moment of confusion when he saw that scene. This world that told the stories of the Otsutsuki family really was a place where bloodline reigned above all else.
"With this, I finally have the most basic ability to protect myself, and I can move on to the next stage of planning."
"Although the abilities and items manifested by the system are based on this world's power system, in the end, even something like the world of death gods is essentially about the soul."
"Let me see how many points I can harvest by creating a new lifeform and branch system from nothing, then fabricating a complete and convincing background story so that everyone believes the lie."
Thinking this, Ryuji Hyuga looked ahead at Might Guy, who was running on pure enthusiasm, and it was as if he could see flames blazing behind him.
"Senior Guy…"
"Ryuji!"
Before Ryuji Hyuga could finish, Might Guy suddenly turned around with a wide grin. "Call me Guy from now on. Don't use 'senior' anymore."
Ryuji Hyuga froze and instinctively wanted to refuse, since that would not help maintain an image of humility. But seeing the seriousness on Might Guy's face and the subtle change in his gaze, he fell silent for a moment.
So it really was true that straightforward sincerity countered scheming minds. Ryuji Hyuga sighed inwardly, then met Might Guy's eyes and smiled. "Guy."
Hearing that, Might Guy's smile grew even brighter.
"Guy," Ryuji Hyuga continued, "did something happen in the village? I saw a lot of people heading toward the gate."
"I don't know," Might Guy shook his head in confusion, then laughed. "Why not go see for ourselves? Let's race and see who gets to the gate first."
Ryuji Hyuga did not spoil the mood by refusing. Seeing Might Guy dash off without waiting for an answer, he just smiled and followed after him.
In truth, he knew very well what those villagers were going to see. They were welcoming the delegation from Kumogakure that had come to Konoha to sign an alliance agreement.
Although he had been training behind closed doors these days, that did not mean his information channels had been cut off. Ryuji Hyuga understood the importance of intelligence and had long since left himself some arrangements outside.
He knew that the biggest contributor to Kumogakure being able to come to Konoha for an alliance was not Hiruzen Sarutobi, who sat in Konoha, but Danzo Shimura, who had been sent out. Though Danzo Shimura usually looked like someone bad at external affairs and good only at internal strife, he had actually been very active in the Second War and the Third Shinobi World War, otherwise he would never have earned the title "Darkness of Shinobi" across the ninja world.
Hanzo of the Rain had broken with the first generation of the Akatsuki, founded by Yahiko and the others, under his pressure and inducement. Otherwise, Hanzo had indeed leaned toward cooperation with them, and if they had joined forces, the outcome in the Rain would have been uncertain. From the result alone, it could be said that Danzo had completely altered the course of the Third Shinobi World War.
No matter how dirty that man, written as "Darkness of Shinobi" and read as "troublemaker," really was, his underhanded methods often produced results. This time was no exception.
By sowing discord between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, he made the tension between them steadily rise, which instead eased relations between Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. Even so, Ryuji Hyuga knew very clearly that all of this was part of Kumogakure's own scheme.
"This day has finally come."
Looking at the crowd gathering in the distance, Ryuji Hyuga smiled.