Under Konoha’s Shadow

Chapter 43: One Against Seven

Nara Shikagen, hearing that the Hokage was present, immediately let out a sigh of relief and continued to watch the battle from the side with peace of mind.

Hashirama and Tobirama, who were hiding nearby, watched Yamamoto Ryusei. "Big Brother, Ryusei is a bit arrogant," Tobirama said.

A bit? He's extremely arrogant. Even I wasn't this arrogant back in my day. Hashirama said, "Well, let's see if he has the qualifications to be arrogant."

Yamamoto Ryusei looked at the group, who were still not making a move. "Come on. Become the stepping stones on my path to the pinnacle of the ninja world."

Komiya Yuki, seeing Ryusei's grand declaration, couldn't help but shout, "Go, Ryusei!"

The group, now labeled as "stepping stones," was about to explode with anger. Sarutobi Hiruzen said directly, "Then let's see who the real stepping stone is!"

"Summoning Technique!"

Hiruzen summoned a tall, white-furred ape wearing a tiger-skin garment. "I'll have to trouble you, Enma. Transform into the Power Pole!"

Poof!

The white-furred ape transformed into the Power Pole, which Hiruzen now held in his hand.

Hiruzen's summoning animal, Monkey King Enma, was extremely powerful. Enma possessed a diamond-hard body, and when transformed into the Power Pole, it could change its size and length. During the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, Hiruzen had used this staff, extended, to push the complete Nine-Tails out of the village.

Yamashita So stared at the Power Pole in Hiruzen's hand in disbelief. He slapped himself. Feeling the pain, So clutched his face and said excitedly, "It's not a dream! It's the real Power Pole! That means Sun Wukong is real too! I'm going to find the Great Sage and ask him to be my master!"

Hiruzen gripped the Power Pole, leaped into the air, and brought it crashing down on Ryusei. "Taste my old monkey's staff!"

You've probably been reading too much Journey to the West. Do you really think you're the Great Sage?

Ryusei sidestepped the staff and slashed at Hiruzen with his sword, but he was blocked by a kunai from Uchiha Kagami.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

"Beast Mimicry Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!"

Hyuga Natsuki and Inuzuka Rō immediately closed in from the sides, joining Kagami and Hiruzen in attacking Ryusei. The four of them moved their hands so fast they became afterimages, but Ryusei weaved through the gaps in their sea of fists, dodging every single blow. After their barrage was over, they hadn't even touched the hem of his clothes.

In the brief pause after their attack, Ryusei pressed forward, sending each of them flying with a single punch.

"This...?!"

"How is that possible? How did he dodge such a frequent barrage of attacks?"

"His body is as flexible as a piece of paper! How did he train to do that?"

The surrounding Chunin began to doubt their lives, feeling as if the decades they had spent learning ninjutsu had been for nothing. From the looks of it, they couldn't even beat that little kid.

"Human Bullet Tank!"

"Shadow Imitation Technique!"

"Taijutsu won't work on him! Use a large-area ninjutsu!" Nara Shikamei used his Shadow Imitation to control Akimichi Torifu, who had turned into the Human Bullet Tank, and sent him rumbling towards Ryusei.

"Monster Strength!" Ryusei met the charging ball with a single punch, smashing Torifu into a C-shape. With a twang, he bounced back into a sphere and flew more than ten meters away, falling towards Nara Shikamei.

"Now!" Shikamei shouted as he caught Torifu.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

"Lightning Style: Earth Runner!"

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

The jutsu cast by Uchiha Kagami, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo all flew towards Ryusei.

Ryusei punched the ground. The surrounding earth overturned, creating a shell of rock that completely covered him, blocking all the incoming ninjutsu. The flames slammed into the earthen cover and scattered into a rain of fire, mixing with the rocks and shooting out in all directions.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" The Chunin examiners immediately combined their efforts, raising a massive earthen wall that surrounded the battlefield, blocking most of the flames. But a small portion still fell into the crowd, causing the watching students to scramble and yelp, clumsily moving away from the battlefield.

"It's not far enough! Get further back!" Nara Shikagen roared, ordering the students to move further away.

"Rokushiki Body Flicker: Soru!"

Sensing that the ninjutsu barrage outside had subsided, Ryusei smashed through the rocks in front of him and used his Body Flicker combined with Soru to appear in front of Nara Shikamei at a speed the Chunin couldn't even see.

His current speed was simply astonishing. They didn't even see the process in between; it just felt as if Ryusei had teleported in front of Shikamei.

Before Shikamei could even react, he was punched in the face, sent spinning through the air for several meters before losing consciousness and slumping to the ground.

One down.

"Heavenly Transformation!" Akimichi Torifu, seeing Shikamei knocked out, immediately grew to a giant size. He bent over and slammed a fist down at Ryusei on the ground. Ryusei dodged the fist, which was larger than his own body, leaped high into the air, and arrived at Torifu's abdomen, which was now arched from bending over. He delivered a Monster Strength punch to Torifu's stomach, sending him flying into the air.

"Tenshukyaku!" Landing back on the ground, Ryusei pushed off with his feet, appeared above Torifu, and stomped him viciously towards the ground.

Boom! Torifu crashed heavily onto the mud wall the Chunin had just created, shattering it before slamming into the ground. Dust and rubble flew everywhere.

The shattered pieces of the mud wall shot out in a fan shape towards the students, who once again had to scramble to avoid them. These days, even spectating is so dangerous.

Feeling mentally exhausted, the Chunin combined their efforts again to cast another earth-style jutsu. This time, they set up several walls. Hmph... let's see you break through these.

Akimichi Torifu lay on the ground, unconscious, his giant body slowly shrinking.

Two down.

"This... this...?!"

"Is he a monster? His strength is one thing, but his speed is also this fast?"

The Chunin who had just cast the mud wall recalled the scene from before and were dumbfounded. They couldn't help but start doubting their lives again. The Uchiha ninja couldn't resist asking Nara Shikagen, "Shikagen, how on earth did you teach him? Share some tips!"

Nara Shikagen, seeing the gazes of the other Chunin all focused on him, gave a wry smile. "How could I have that kind of ability? Ryusei's skills were all taught by the Hokage-sama. Why don't you go and ask him?"

Hearing that it was the Hokage who taught him, they immediately fell silent and turned their attention back to the fight.

Hashirama, hearing Nara Shikagen say that he was the one who taught Ryusei, couldn't help but blush a little. It wasn't just the Chunin; even he was astonished by Ryusei's speed just now.

Tobirama said to Hashirama with some annoyance, "I misjudged. I never thought Ryusei's Soru could be this fast. It's almost on par with Swift Release."

Hashirama shook his head. "It's still a bit slower than Swift Release. And just now, Ryusei didn't just use Soru; he used the Body Flicker on top of it, which is why he was so fast. But Ryusei is still young. When he gets a little older, his speed will definitely be faster than Swift Release. The potential of Soru is greater than I imagined. We must strictly control it in the future to prevent it from falling into the hands of other ninja villages."

Ryusei looked at the five remaining opponents, who were all on high alert, and smiled. "Have you figured out how to deal with me yet?"

Faced with Ryusei's overwhelming strength, the five of them seemed to be at a loss.

Inuzuka Rō stepped forward with Rōmaru. "Later, Rōmaru and I will use Fang Wolf Fang. You guys take the opportunity to attack him while he's blocking it."

"Inuzuka Style Man-Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!" Rō and Rōmaru transformed into a giant wolf with two heads. "Fang Wolf Fang!" The double-headed wolf spun into a horizontal tornado and charged straight at Ryusei.

Ryusei watched the charging Rō and said, "Let me teach you a principle. In the ninja world, no ninjutsu is indestructible, but speed breaks everything."

Boom! Rō's horizontal tornado passed right through Ryusei's figure and slammed into the ground. At the same time, Shimura Danzo was sent flying by something unseen.

"Not good, it's an afterimage!" Hiruzen saw Ryusei's figure, which Rō had passed through, slowly disappear. He immediately held the Power Pole in front of his face in an attempt to block Ryusei's attack.

"Clang!" Feeling the force transmitted through the Power Pole, Hiruzen knew he had blocked Ryusei's attack. He knew Ryusei would definitely aim for his face, so he had placed the staff in front of it. Wait... why is the Power Pole getting closer...?

Boom!

The Power Pole slammed into Hiruzen's face, sending him flying more than ten meters away to crash into a tree, his head lolling to the side, unmoving.

Hmph... serves you right for being a smartass.

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!"

Hyuga Natsuki, seeing Hiruzen sent flying, immediately used Rotation to protect himself.

Boom!

Natsuki's rotating chakra sphere was smashed half a meter into the ground by Ryusei's Monster Strength. Seeing that Natsuki was still maintaining the rotation, Ryusei prepared to strike again.

Whirrrrr!

Inuzuka Rō's Fang Wolf Fang had turned around and was now rushing towards Ryusei again, trying to sandwich him between it and Natsuki's chakra sphere.

"Rasengan!"

Ryusei formed two Rasengans in his hands. He pressed one against Rō's Fang Over Fang and the other against Natsuki's Rotation.

BOOM!

In an instant, it was needle against wheat awn. Rō pushed Ryusei and Natsuki back more than ten meters in a sandwich-like formation. Natsuki's entire chakra sphere was completely buried in the earth, with only his head exposed. Ryusei's feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground before Rō finally stopped. Ryusei delivered a whip kick to the two heads of the giant wolf, sending it flying. The giant wolf transformed back into Rō and Rōmaru in mid-air, and they landed on either side, unconscious. Ryusei turned back and kicked the chin of the chakra-depleted Natsuki, whose rotation had already stopped, sending him flying out of the crater, where he fainted.

Six down.

"Wh-what... what is that ninjutsu?"

"To think it can block the Inuzuka clan's Fang Wolf Fang!"

"And it can be pressed against the Hyuga clan's Rotation, pushing it forward while it's rolling... I've never seen such a ninjutsu!"

Another jutsu we've never seen before. The Chunin felt as if this was no longer the ninja world they knew. The power to send the Akimichi clan's Expansion Jutsu flying with a single punch, the speed that made a person's figure invisible, and the unknown ninjutsu that could block the Inuzuka's Fang Wolf Fang and the Hyuga's Rotation... where did all these jutsu come from? We've seen our fair share of the world! Give us back the familiar ninja world we know! Don't make us feel like we're country bumpkins who have just started learning ninjutsu!