As the saying went, the enemy of my enemy was my friend. In Hyuga Ritsu's eyes, the Uchiha Clan, which was viewed with suspicion, kept under guard, and suppressed by the village leadership, was a natural ally. Sure, the clan did have its share of mental issues, but nobody was perfect!
Besides,
the Uchiha Clan valued strength above all.
As long as you were strong enough, you could earn the Uchiha Clan's respect.
However, Uchiha Shisui wasn't a good person to approach. The Uchiha Clan's greatest prodigy and strongest fighter had been brainwashed by that so-called Will of Fire, and stubbornly believed that those old men in high positions could represent all of Konoha.
If Ritsu wanted to draw the Uchiha Clan into an alliance against those old men at the top of the village, he'd have to find someone else suitable to approach them.
Hyuga Ritsu filed that thought away.
Next,
Uchiha Shisui couldn't sit still, so he went to help clear the battlefield and repair the defenses. Hyuga Ritsu left him to it and began training in the earthen fort on the mountaintop, devoting himself to studying the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai.
Ever since he'd used the Chimera Technique to steal the Shikotsumyaku,
he had never slacked off in developing this Kekkei Genkai. It was just that not much time had passed, and he'd been so busy during that short period that he hadn't made much progress with it.
Of course,
both the Shikotsumyaku and the Byakugan were Kekkei Genkai with very high floors. Once awakened, their inherent abilities came naturally, and rigorous training only served to deepen those abilities.
For example,
when most people first awakened the Byakugan, their vision extended only one kilometer at most. They could gradually expand their range of vision through training, but they couldn't use training to master abilities they didn't already possess.
Of course,
the Shikotsumyaku and the Byakugan weren't entirely alike.
The Byakugan itself had no offensive capabilities. Unlike the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, the progenitor of genjutsu, it could only be put to use in conjunction with techniques like the Gentle Fist.
The Shikotsumyaku, on the other hand, was a Kekkei Genkai with powerful offensive and defensive capabilities. Its limitations lay in its rigid physical form and extremely short range, which left it with little room for variation. It couldn't produce all kinds of techniques like ninjutsu-based Kekkei Genkai such as Wood Release, Magnet Release, Storm Release, and Ice Release.
In the end, the Shikotsumyaku, like the Byakugan, needed to be combined with taijutsu techniques to bring its killing power to bear as fully as possible.
But,
nothing was absolute. There was always a "but" in this world.
Setting aside All-Killing Ash Bones, an attack so far beyond his reach that it might as well have been on the moon, the Shikotsumyaku also had one unique technique: Dance of the Early Wither. It overcame the weakness of its short range and, combined with the toughness of its physical form, could unleash astonishing killing power.
"The Shikotsumyaku's essence is manipulating the creation and concentration of calcium, but the earth is rich in calcium too, not just the human body. Generating such a vast forest of bones using Chakra alone would take too much energy. It must have used the calcium in the earth..."
"But how do I draw out the calcium scattered through the soil?"
Hyuga Ritsu ran a hand over the cold stone beneath him and muttered to himself.
"Ritsu-senpai."
Hyuga Ritsu didn't respond.
"Ritsu-senpai!"
Uchiha Shisui raised his voice.
Hyuga Ritsu rolled his eyes impatiently and, without turning around, said, "Shisui, what is it this time?"
"Um, Ritsu-senpai, how much longer are we going to stay here?"
Uchiha Shisui looked at Hyuga Ritsu, who was sitting cross-legged on a rock, with a rather troubled expression. They had already been at Shigushan Mountain for five days. By rights, after securing the Shigushan Mountain defenses and driving off the attacking Mist Ninja, they should have been able to return to the Frontline Camp and report in.
But,
Hyuga Ritsu had said their mission wasn't over yet. The Shigushan Mountain defenses weren't truly safe. The original garrison had been battered and nearly wiped out; the few remaining troops weren't enough to hold the mountain. As soon as they left, one Mist Ninja charge would punch right through the defenses.
So Hyuga Ritsu insisted that their mission wouldn't truly be over until the relief forces arrived at Shigushan Mountain.
"Have the relief forces arrived yet?"
Hyuga Ritsu asked.
"Not yet."
"Then what's the rush? Didn't we agree we'd report back once the Shigushan Mountain defenses were completely stable?"
Hyuga Ritsu was as calm as could be. He wasn't in the least bit worried.
What was the point of hurrying back to the Frontline Camp to report in? So Aburame Ryoma could keep assigning him more grueling, exhausting, and dangerous missions to train him?
That would be pointless. Hyuga Ritsu wasn't someone who'd spent ten years training in seclusion, building a solid foundation but lacking combat experience. His battle experience was already ample. He didn't need to hone himself through combat and hope for some miraculous breakthrough in the heat of battle.
What he needed was a wider range of combat options and better ways to defeat his enemies.
At that moment, Hyuga Ritsu wasn't the only one on the western slope of Shigushan Mountain, sitting on a rock and trying to sense the calcium buried deep in the earth. Looking around, more than ten Hyuga Ritsus were spread out in different spots, each trying something different. Some were testing Water Release Techniques, others were trying Earth Release Techniques, and in the distance, two Hyuga Ritsus were crouched together, making little balls of clay—every one of them was a Shadow Clone made by Hyuga Ritsu.
As it happened, Hyuga Ritsu's Chakra had originally been only Water Release in nature, but after he acquired the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai, it became Water and Earth Release, allowing him to study Earth Release Techniques as well as Water Release Techniques.
In short,
Hyuga Ritsu's thinking was that rather than hurry back to report and then be ordered to carry out another mission, he was better off dragging things out and using the extra time to improve his own abilities.
After all, this mission had never had a clear deadline. Most Konoha Ninja were simply as dutiful as Uchiha Shisui. They were eager to report back so they could take on new missions and make greater contributions to the village, rather than wondering if they could spare a little time to rest.
"That's what we agreed before, but Ritsu-senpai, what if the relief forces never come? Are we just going to stay here forever?"
"They won't never come. Unless they intend to abandon the Shigushan Mountain defenses."
"That's not what I meant."
Uchiha Shisui looked utterly helpless, frustrated by the feeling that he couldn't do anything about the situation. He had no idea how to persuade Hyuga Ritsu to change his mind and hurry back with him to the Frontline Camp to report in.
"I understand what you mean, Shisui. You think it's a waste for the two of us to stay here. We ought to be like spinning tops, whipped around without a moment's rest. That's what you think, isn't it?"
Hyuga Ritsu stood up, turned around, and met Uchiha Shisui's gaze.
Before Uchiha Shisui could say anything, he strode off. As he passed Shisui, he said, "Congratulations, Shisui! The relief forces have arrived. We can go on risking our lives in the most dangerous places for the village, dancing beneath the whip like spinning tops!"
The moment the words left his mouth,
all the Hyuga Ritsus on the slope vanished with a "pop," turning into milky-white Chakra. The Hyuga Ritsu who had been walking faltered, swayed, and steadied himself before continuing on as though nothing had happened.
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