Under Konoha’s Shadow

Chapter 31: Fang Wolf Fang

Uchiha Kagami's expression was a bit grim. "Last time, Natsuki and I lost to this move of his. That continuous barrage of attacks, like a violent storm, is simply impossible to withstand."

Hyuga Natsuki's face wasn't looking good either. "And he wasn't even going all out. His speed can be at least twice as fast as it was just now. Without a doujutsu, you can't see him clearly at all. Last time we sparred, Kagami had to evolve his Sharingan to two tomoe just to keep up."

Nara Shikamei was silent for a moment before saying, "In a direct confrontation, it's likely no one in our class is Ryusei's match."

"Then I'll have to see for myself if Ryusei is really that amazing," Inuzuka Rō said, leaping in front of Yamamoto Ryusei. "Ryusei, I'll be your next opponent."

Komiya Yuki was having none of it. She said angrily, "Inuzuka Rō, what do you think you're doing? A wheel battle?"

Rō said with some embarrassment, "Then you can rest for a bit first."

Yamamoto Ryusei shook his head. "No need. I barely used any stamina anyway."

"Then here I come! Beast Mimicry Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!" Inuzuka Rō crouched on the ground, his fingers growing sharp claws that dug firmly into the earth.

"Soru!"

Ryusei and Rō disappeared at the same time, reappearing in the middle of the field. Their fists and feet met, and they were locked in a stalemate.

Thump... The two separated and then quickly charged at each other again, back and forth. But as Ryusei's speed increased, Rō began to have trouble keeping up.

Dong!

Rō was punched in the chest by Ryusei and sent flying backwards. After adjusting his posture in mid-air, he landed on all fours and called out, "Rōmaru!"

With a bark, Rōmaru leaped onto Rō's back. "Beast Mimicry Ninja Art: Beast Human Clone!" With a poof, Rōmaru, standing on Rō's back, transformed into an exact replica of him.

"Fang Over Fang!" Rō and his clone, like two horizontal, pointed tornadoes, spun rapidly and charged at Ryusei from the left and right. Ryusei leaped and fired two crescent-shaped slashes from his Rankyaku, aiming straight for the two spinning tornadoes.

Bang! Bang!

Rō and his clone were sent flying. The clone was even knocked back into its puppy form.

Rō immediately got back up and quickly huddled with Rōmaru. "Ryusei, if you can block this next move of mine, I'll admit complete defeat. If you can't, then get out of the way. I can't control its direction."

"Earth Style: Multiple Mud Wall!" Seeing that Rō was about to use a major technique, the teachers hurriedly reinforced the barrier walls.

"Inuzuka Style Man-Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!" Rō and Rōmaru transformed into a giant wolf with two of Rōmaru's heads.

"Fang Wolf Fang!" The double-headed giant wolf transformed into an even faster horizontal tornado and charged straight at Ryusei.

"Monster Strength Rankyaku: Crescent Moon!" Ryusei kicked out a crescent-shaped slash about seven or eight meters long, sending it straight towards the pointed tornado. The two forces met like the tip of a needle against a wheat awn.

BOOM!

The crescent slash and Rō's tornado collided and shattered simultaneously. Ryusei suddenly appeared in front of the still-falling double-headed wolf and drove a knee into its abdomen. The giant wolf flew upwards and transformed back into Rō and Rōmaru. Ryusei twisted his waist, using the momentum to viciously kick Rō's right cheek in mid-air. Rō was sent flying in a spin, just like Hiruzen before him.

Now, both Hiruzen and Rō had swollen cheeks, one on the left and one on the right, forming a perfect, satisfying symmetry.

"Yay!" Komiya Yuki cheered, running onto the field and happily hugging Ryusei, feeding a huge spoonful of dog food to everyone present.

Yamashita So said excitedly from the side, "Big Brother, you're so amazing!"

Kagami and Natsuki carried the unconscious Rō over to Hiruzen. Looking at their symmetrically swollen cheeks, they felt a very strange emotion.

The first-years started chattering again.

"So strong! That Rankyaku can release such a huge slash!"

"Yeah! Even that giant two-headed wolf was defeated!"

"That Rankyaku is so cool! I want to learn it!"

Shimura Danzo, seeing Hiruzen's miserable state, couldn't help but feel a little happy inside.

Yamanaka Seisen hugged Rōmaru. Seeing their swollen cheeks, she couldn't help but feel her own cheeks itch. She touched her face and said, "Ryusei really likes to hit people in the face. He wouldn't do that to girls, would he? Forget it, I'm not fighting him."

All the girls nodded in agreement. In future combat exams, if they were matched against Ryusei, they would just surrender. They would absolutely not fight him.

"Alright, it's time for class! Everyone back to the classroom!" the teachers said, herding the students back.

"Shikagen, that student of yours is really something. Which clan is he from? I can't tell from his style," the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A asked.

The teacher of Class 1-C also said, "Yeah, he's much stronger than the others. Especially at the end of the fight with Inuzuka Rō, his control over the power of Rankyaku was impeccable, perfectly canceling out Rō's attack. Shikagen, which clan is he from?"

"Ryusei is a commoner. He is currently the Hokage-sama's disciple," Nara Shikagen replied.

The teacher of Class 1-B said as if it were a matter of course, "The Hokage's disciple, ah. No wonder he's so strong."

Nara Shikagen stopped and looked at them seriously. "Although Ryusei is the Hokage's disciple, the Soru and Rankyaku he just used were both developed by himself. His talent is immense; otherwise, why would the Hokage-sama take an interest in him?"

The Class 1-B teacher knew he had misspoken and gave an awkward laugh.

In the afternoon, Ryusei used a shadow clone for class while his main body went to the Senju training grounds to practice.

After school, Hiruzen and Rō's symmetrically swollen faces drew a lot of laughter. But the two of them didn't seem to care. They saw Hyuga Natsuki and Uchiha Kagami blocking Ryusei's shadow clone and Komiya Yuki.

Natsuki said, "Ryusei, I want to see if my new move can defeat you. Let's have a match."

Ryusei's shadow clone looked at Natsuki with a baffled expression. "But I'm a shadow clone."

"You were your main body this morning. How did you turn into a clone again?" Natsuki said, a bit speechless.

"It's because it was too boring. I'll take you to find my main body now." Ryusei and Yuki led Natsuki and Kagami towards the Senju training grounds.

"Wait, count us in!" Hiruzen and Rō also followed along.

When they arrived at the Senju compound, they saw Ryusei and several shadow clones all training, and they were all a bit dumbfounded.

"No wonder your strength is growing so fast! So you use shadow clones to train! That's a great idea! I'm going to learn that when I get back," Rō said excitedly.

"That won't work," Hiruzen said. "Shadow clones put a heavy strain on the body. You can't even handle your own day of training, and you want to use shadow clones? Besides, shadow clones are useless for training taijutsu."

Rō was dejected, but also a bit confused. "Then why is Ryusei's taijutsu improving so quickly?"

Natsuki thought for a moment. "It's probably because of talent. For example, in our Hyuga clan, so many people practice the Gentle Fist, but only Lord Tenjin is that amazing."

The group walked up to the Ryusei who was practicing taijutsu. Yuki, meanwhile, went to train ninjutsu with the shadow clones.

Kagami, his eyes full of fighting spirit, said to Ryusei, "Ryusei, let's fight again."

Ryusei wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Then you two can come at me together."

Kagami activated his Sharingan, and Natsuki activated his Byakugan. Both of them stared intently at Ryusei. Ryusei's figure flickered, suddenly appearing in front of Kagami. He raised one leg high and brought it down in a powerful axe kick.

Thump!

Natsuki rushed in front of Kagami and blocked Ryusei's attack with his crossed arms. Kagami formed hand seals and then pressed them to the ground.

"Earth Style: Multiple Mud Wall!"

A large number of chaotic, disordered earth walls appeared around them, trapping the three of them inside. Hiruzen and Rō jumped onto one of the walls. Looking at the trapped Ryusei, they couldn't help but cheer. Rō wanted to laugh, but the movement pulled at the injury on his cheek, forcing him to suppress it. "Now Ryusei's speed is restricted! Let's see how he runs now!"

Hiruzen wasn't so optimistic. "These walls can't stop Ryusei. Once he frees up his hands, he'll solve this in a few minutes. Kagami and Natsuki should press their attack now."

Sure enough, Kagami and Natsuki both began to close in, trying to take Ryusei down with taijutsu before he had a chance to use Soru.