Ryujin Jakka

The spar between Anko and Itachi ended in a total victory for Itachi. After he let her down from the tree branch, Anko immediately rushed back toward him with a look of defiance, eager to wash away her shame.

Itachi remained calm, activating his Sharingan once more as he brought his right hand to his chest, fingers pressed together in a hand seal.

"Genjutsu: Genso Gen."

Genjutsu: Genso Gen was a technique Itachi had mastered that required the Sharingan to activate. It allowed him to control the target's mind, forcing them to relive vivid, deep-seated memories until they became trapped in an inescapable illusion.

Naturally, the illusions created by this technique could be scenes from the target's fondest memories or moments from their most painful ones.

In the eyes of Yusuke and Kurama Naki, Anko, who had been charging rapidly toward Itachi, suddenly froze in place.

But in Anko's own perception, her vision flashed, and she found herself hanging back on the tree branch.

"What's going on? Didn't I already get down?"

Finding herself suspended in the air again, Anko was completely bewildered, unable to make sense of the situation.

At this moment, seeing that Anko had been caught, Kurama Naki performed a hand seal.

"Release!"

As her voice fell, the scene before Anko flickered, and she returned to reality.

Anko realized she had fallen for Itachi's genjutsu. Having been controlled by him twice, she felt too embarrassed to continue competing for victory.

Her face flushed red, and she huffed, "You brat actually has some skill. I'll count this round as my loss."

Itachi replied politely, "Thank you for going easy on me, Anko-senpai."

After speaking, Itachi turned his gaze to Kurama Naki and said, "Anko-senpai is truly skilled in genjutsu to have broken my Genjutsu: Genso Gen so quickly."

He was very confident in his illusions; in his view, his Genjutsu: Genso Gen required at least a Chunin proficient in genjutsu to have any hope of breaking it.

Kurama Naki's tone remained stuttering, "I only know a little bit of genjutsu; my taijutsu and ninjutsu are quite ordinary. I hope you will all continue to guide me in the future."

Following the spar between Anko and Itachi, and Kurama Naki's ability to dispel Itachi's illusion, everyone had a rough understanding of each other's strength.

Yusuke offered some suggestions for their future training and, after leading the three through some squad coordination exercises, announced that they were dismissed.

With their departure for Sunagakure in two days, Yusuke did not want his team members to be fatigued from overtraining, so he left them a day to rest and adjust.

Returning to his clan's compound, Yusuke began his own preparations. Regarding this mission to Sunagakure, Yusuke actually harbored other thoughts.

After sealing the Yin Release Chakra of the Nine-Tails and using that power to fight Shisui, Yusuke had confirmed that the amount of Yin Release Chakra significantly impacted his strength, leading him to consider acquiring the Yin Release Chakra of other Tailed Beasts.

As it happened, the mission to lead the team to Sunagakure for the Chunin Exams provided Yusuke with an opportunity to come into contact with the One-Tail, Shukaku!

Ever since the death of Sunagakure's first jinchuriki, Bunpuku, the One-Tail Shukaku had been sealed within the Teapot of Shukaku by the village.

However, after Bunpuku, Sunagakure had allowed many other ninjas to attempt to become the jinchuriki, but none could withstand the tyrannical personality of the One-Tail, and all of them suffered mental breakdowns and died.

When the last jinchuriki died, the One-Tail Shukaku found an opportunity to break the seal and escape into the Nara Desert near Sunagakure.

Because there had been no suitable candidate to become a jinchuriki, neither the Third Kazekage nor the Fourth Kazekage were in a rush to expend the energy required to recapture the One-Tail.

However, Yusuke knew that as Gaara grew older, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, would eventually conceive the idea of using Gaara as a jinchuriki. He would then head to the Nara Desert to find the One-Tail, capturing it single-handedly and sealing it back into the Teapot of Shukaku.

Although the chakra volume of the One-Tail was far less than that of the Nine-Tails, as a Tailed Beast, it should still be on the same power level. One had to remember that during the Nine-Tails Incident, the Third Hokage was almost helpless against the rampaging Nine-Tails and had to rely on Minato and his wife to save the day.

From this perspective, the strength of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was actually quite formidable. Although he was assassinated by Orochimaru in the original plot with little effort, there must have been unknown circumstances behind that event.

After preparing the various scrolls needed for sealing techniques, Yusuke activated his Sharingan and entered a state of mental introspection.

In this state, time in the outside world passed in an instant. However, this process continuously consumed his ocular power, and once it was exhausted, Yusuke would be forced out of the introspection state even if he wanted to remain in his mental world.

Arriving once again on the mist-filled land of his mental world, the Zanpakuto Ryujin Jakka stood between heaven and earth, still wrapped in raging flames. The giant Sharingan in the sky rotated its gaze as Yusuke looked around, while the Nine-Tails lay obediently on the ground, bruised and battered, not daring to move.

"Wait? Something is wrong. Why is the Nine-Tails bruised? And why is it acting so submissive?"

Yusuke couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Seeing Yusuke walking toward it, the Nine-Tails suddenly screamed in terror, like a battered wife: "Ah! Don't come over here, I know I was wrong!"

Yusuke had nothing but big question marks in his mind, unable to understand why the Nine-Tails was so afraid of him.

"Nine-Tails, what's going on with you? Why are you bruised?" Yusuke asked.

The Nine-Tails retreated slowly while shouting, "Isn't this all your doing! Don't tell me you want to do it again?"

"Please, just let me go!"

Looking at the trembling Nine-Tails, Yusuke was completely confused, not knowing how he had managed to make the beast fear him to this extent. He also had no clue where the injuries on the Nine-Tails had come from.

"Tell me what happened, or I'll make you experience it again," Yusuke said indifferently, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

Although he didn't know the specifics, in order to get to the truth, Yusuke could only play along and threaten it.

Hearing Yusuke's threat, the Nine-Tails shuddered all over and had no choice but to recount the events once more.

However, in the Nine-Tails' heart, Yusuke was a complete pervert; after beating it black and blue, he actually wanted it to repeat the story. For the mighty Nine-Tails to be reduced to such a state was simply outrageous!

Hearing the Nine-Tails finish, Yusuke frowned and began to ponder.

According to the Nine-Tails, he had been to the mental world not long ago. And at that time, because the Nine-Tails had talked back to him, he had beaten it severely, even leaving injuries on its spiritual body, which was truly incredible.

"Could it be..."

Yusuke turned his gaze toward the Zanpakuto standing in the mental world and tried to call out, "Ryujin Jakka, is that you?"

Following the call of Yusuke, a figure slowly walked out from the raging flames. Although the specific features were not yet clear, the gaze of this figure pierced through the layers of fire like two sharp blades of light.

Swept by the opponent's sharp and overbearing gaze, Yusuke felt his breath hitch, as if he were facing an unrivaled opponent.

Seeing this figure, the Nine-Tails immediately retreated a great distance, shouting in terror: "It's him, it's him, it's definitely him!"

"It's this gaze! No wonder I felt something was off when I first saw you; although you look exactly the same, the eyes are completely different!"

As the voice of the Nine-Tails faded, the figure fully emerged from the flames, revealing himself to be a man who looked and dressed exactly like Yusuke.

However, through their eyes, one could discern the difference between this person and Yusuke. Yusuke's gaze was as calm as water, while this person's eyes were filled with sharpness and dominance.

"Not bad, it is indeed me!"

Ryujin Jakka stared at Yusuke, and Yusuke felt an unprecedented pressure wash over him; his entire body felt as if it were sinking into a quagmire, making it difficult even to speak.

"Is this Reiatsu?" Yusuke asked with great difficulty.

Ryujin Jakka retracted his Reiatsu and said slowly: "You have some ability, at least you weren't so intimidated by my Reiatsu that you couldn't speak."

"But as you are now, you are still far from reaching the level I would acknowledge!"

Hearing the words of Ryujin Jakka, Yusuke frowned slightly.

He knew that he hadn't unleashed the true power of Ryujin Jakka, yet he had never found a clue on how to cultivate the power of his Zanpakuto.

Although he had thought of using the Yin Release Chakra of the Tailed Beast to drive Ryujin Jakka, Yusuke also vaguely sensed that this was not the entirely correct path.

"The possessors of a Zanpakuto are known as Shinigami, and all Shinigami fight by wielding their Reiatsu."

"As long as the spiritual power is strong enough, let alone my flame power, any technique will have immense destructive force."

As Ryujin Jakka spoke, two katanas identical to his Zanpakuto form appeared in his hands, and he tossed one of them to Yusuke.

"Watch closely." Ryujin Jakka warned.

Guessing that the opponent intended to spar with him to instruct him on the techniques of using a Zanpakuto, Yusuke braced himself, preparing to counter the opponent's moves.

Ryujin Jakka held the scabbard in his left hand and the hilt in his right, assuming a stance ready to draw his blade.

"Nadegiri!" A flash of light crossed Ryujin Jakka's eyes, and the blade in his hand was unsheathed at an incredible speed.

Yusuke felt his vision blur and immediately raised his katana to block. By then, Ryujin Jakka had already sheathed his blade and was standing behind Yusuke.

With a clatter, the katana in Yusuke's hand snapped into two pieces, the tip falling to the ground.

Yusuke stared blankly at the broken blade in his hand, reflecting on the exchange that had just occurred in that split second.

"Is it because of the Reiatsu? I could feel the sharp Reiatsu on your blade; it seemed impossible to resist." Yusuke turned to look at Ryujin Jakka and asked.

"Correct, this is the difference in the quality of our Reiatsu. Although you use the soul power of the Tailed Beasts of this world to drive your Zanpakuto."

"However, this is merely a supplement in quantity. Even if you were to collect ten Tailed Beasts, or a hundred, your soul power would not change in quality!"

"But if the quality of your soul reaches a certain level, you could even suppress an enemy's soul or erase it entirely just by relying on your Reiatsu."

Ryujin Jakka said slowly.

"Then how can I improve the quality of my soul power?" Yusuke asked.

Standard thanks to everyone for your support!!

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The author will cancel the double-update announcements from now on, as readers interpreted them as intentionally leaving them hanging! ▄██●

Anyway, as the author mentioned before, I expect to finish resigning in mid-September, at which point I will start the double-update mode!!