Chapter 12: Soru
"Those are some good eyes," Madara Uchiha said with appreciation. "Come at me. Don't you want to be the strongest in the ninja world? Show me your caliber."
"Then please, guide me, Lord Madara." Yamamoto Ryusei gripped his kunai, threw several shuriken at Madara, and then activated Soru, charging directly at him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Madara swiftly knocked the shuriken aside with his own kunai, then blocked Ryusei's attack. Ryusei moved past Madara, immediately turned back, and continued to use Soru to move and attack with his kunai, repeating this over and over again.
Yamamoto Nami watched her son attack Madara with a worried expression, terrified that he would be harmed.
Tobirama Senju, who hadn't moved a single step and was only defending against Ryusei's attacks from all directions, observed carefully and said, "It's definitely not the Body Flicker. It's a taijutsu technique. Because it doesn't require hand seals, it's faster and more fluid than the Body Flicker."
Hashirama watched Ryusei, who had already charged back and forth more than twenty times. "Not only that, but this taijutsu also seems to cause far less damage to the body than the Body Flicker. If this could be popularized, the strength of the Chunin and Genin would increase by a huge margin."
Mito Uzumaki carefully gauged Ryusei's speed. "Ryusei's taijutsu has already reached the level of an average Chunin. However, his methods of attack are rather simple. Little Miyuki, what ninjutsu have you taught him?"
Miyuki, who was watching nervously, replied without turning her head, "Just basic D-rank ninjutsu like the Transformation and Substitution Jutsu. The only B-rank jutsu is the Shadow Clone Jutsu I gave him today."
Ryusei's repeated attacks had failed to make Madara move a single step.
'This isn't working. It seems I have to try that move.'
Ryusei gathered chakra in his hand and, as he swung his kunai, released the chakra in an explosive burst.
Crack! Madara felt an immense force transmit from Ryusei's kunai, and both weapons shattered upon impact.
Madara released his broken kunai, sidestepped, and chopped at Ryusei's arm with his fingers, deflecting the boy's hand and sending it hurtling towards the ground.
With a loud boom, Ryusei's fist slammed into the earth, creating a crater a meter in diameter and half a meter deep. The ground within the crater was fractured with spiderweb-like cracks, and the surrounding soil was overturned.
Snap. Ryusei pulled his right hand out of the crater. His entire hand had already swollen up, and his arm was covered in cuts from the rocks. However, protected by his chakra, the wounds were not deep.
Ryusei sat down on the ground with a thud. "Lord Madara, I surrender. That last strike used up all of my chakra."
Madara glanced at the crater, then at the exhausted boy on the ground. "Not bad, kid," he said, before turning and walking back into the house.
Yamamoto Nami and Senju Miyuki ran over to Ryusei with a medical kit.
Nami helped her son up, looking at his bloody arm. "Ryu-chan, does it hurt?" she asked, her heart aching.
"It doesn't hurt," Ryusei reassured her. "This was much easier than my training."
Miyuki had already carefully examined his arm and found only skin and muscle abrasions, with no other major issues. "Still trying to act tough, are you? You're lucky you didn't break any bones, or you'd really be in trouble."
Miyuki tied a bandage into a sling and put it around Ryusei's neck. "Don't let this hand touch water for the next few days, and no exercise. Let's go, time to eat."
Hashirama looked at the returning Madara. "So, what do you think of Ryusei, Madara?"
Madara said with a straight face, "His attack patterns are too simple, but his reaction speed is decent. His physical condition is passable. He didn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, so his aptitude there is undetermined. His talent in taijutsu is not bad. We can try cultivating him."
"Then let me teach him," Tobirama interjected. "Look at the two jutsu he developed today. He's clearly a genius in ninjutsu development. It's more suitable for me to teach him."
"Ninjutsu?" Madara sneered. "The final blow could be considered nintaijutsu, but that move similar to the Body Flicker is clearly taijutsu. I am more suited to teach him taijutsu."
Before Tobirama could say more, Hashirama cut him off. "Ryusei is still young. Let him stay in the academy for a few years before we consider who should teach him."
Nami and Miyuki helped Ryusei into the house. After greeting the four leaders, he sat down at the table.
Mito looked at the food, which was getting a bit cold. "Let's all eat first, otherwise the food will be completely cold."
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Ryusei created his Liu Maoxing clone again and had him continue teaching the others how to cook.
Only Ryusei, Miyuki, and the four leaders remained in the main hall.
The four leaders sat in a row on one side of the table. On the other side sat Ryusei, his right arm in a sling hanging from his neck. Miyuki had taken on the role of a handmaiden, serving them tea and water.
Under what felt like a criminal interrogation, Hashirama spoke first. "Ryusei, what's the deal with that taijutsu you have that lets you move at high speed without using chakra?"
"That's a taijutsu I developed, inspired by the Body Flicker Technique. My legs hurt a lot when I practiced the Body Flicker, so I wanted to create a version that used only the body. After some experimentation, I invented Soru."
"Soru? That's quite an impressive taijutsu," Hashirama remarked. "Ryusei, what about that final strike?"
"That was also inspired by the Body Flicker. Since the technique uses a burst of chakra in the legs to move, I figured it must be possible to use a burst of chakra in the hands to gain power." Ryusei took a sip of tea and continued, "But it's very difficult to implement because the hand has to directly bear the force of the attack. It requires very high chakra control, and you have to protect your arm with chakra to use it. I've named this technique 'Monster Strength,' but it's currently incomplete."
Soru combined with Monster Strength. The four leaders could almost see a future Ryusei flashing across battlefields, and wherever he stopped, the bodies of enemy ninja would be pulverized, exploding like fireworks.
"Not bad, Ryusei," Tobirama said, looking a little embarrassed. "However, Soru is extremely important for the village's ninja. Would you be willing to submit it to the village? Of course, the village will compensate you."
The ninja world was very strict about protecting clan-hiden techniques. One could not casually inquire about them, let alone demand them. Tobirama's actions were indeed a bit improper.
Of course, Ryusei was willing to hand it over. Soru was a physical technique; it couldn't be kept secret. Not to mention a master of jutsu development like Tobirama, any Uchiha with an activated Sharingan could probably learn it after seeing it once.
"Of course, no problem." Ryusei pointed to his injured right hand. "I can't write right now, so could Big Sister Miyuki help me write it down?"
With Ryusei dictating, Miyuki wrote down the training method for Soru and handed it to Tobirama.
"Stamp the ground ten times in 0.6 seconds, using the explosive speed generated by the reaction force to move." Hashirama thought for a moment. "Mm, this requires a rather strong body. Only those with the physical conditioning of a Chunin or higher could learn it."
Madara added, "Not only that. Soru's speed can be increased by increasing the number of steps, but the limiting factors are physical conditioning and reaction time."
Tobirama glanced at Madara. "In addition to that, one's eyes must be able to keep up. The Uchiha and Hyuga clans would find it easier to learn and achieve greater mastery."
"Correct," Madara said with a sneer. "It seems only our Uchiha clan will be able to learn it in large numbers. The Hyuga clan will just keep guarding their Gentle Fist; why would they care for an external taijutsu like this?"
Hashirama was very dissatisfied with the Hyuga clan's system, but it was their family's internal affair, and he couldn't interfere. He frowned. "We'll leave the Hyuga clan aside for now. In any case, it would take at least five years of physical training to master Soru. But Ryusei, you haven't been training for five years, have you?"
Five years? I've only trained for three. Wait, my physical condition has improved by leaps and bounds since I learned to nourish my body with chakra. That must be the reason. But I can't tell anyone this secret for now. It has to be my ultimate trump card.
Ryusei pretended to think back. "Lord Hashirama, I have only trained for three years."
Hashirama was surprised. "It seems you are very talented in taijutsu. Not only is your physical condition excellent, but your reactions are also much faster than others your age."
So, nourishing the body can also increase reaction speed and perception. That makes sense, since it nourishes the entire body. Ryusei buried this secret a few layers deeper in his heart.
Tobirama mused, "In that case, the value of Soru isn't as great as we imagined. After all, spending so much time learning Soru, one might as well learn a few more ninjutsu. In the later stages, the speed of the Body Flicker and Soru are about the same."
Hashirama, Madara, and Mito all nodded in agreement. The overlap between Soru and the Body Flicker was too great; it wasn't worth the time investment for high-level shinobi. After all, against a large-scale ninjutsu, neither Soru nor the Body Flicker would be of any use.
"But it still gives a huge advantage to Chunin and Genin who learn it," Hashirama said, putting away the scroll. "Ryusei, your contribution of Soru to the village is immense. What do you want?"
Ryusei spoke directly. "I have two friends who also want to become ninjas. I want them to be able to learn ninjutsu as well."