After the match, Mao immediately informed Rikusei of what had happened, giving him the intelligence along with the scroll.
But now that the moment had truly arrived, the people around them still couldn't help feeling surprised. They, too, wanted to know just how strong Rikusei had become over the past two years.
"Don't let him get in close and keep you tied up."
That was Danzo's advice, offered from where he sat not far away, after Hiruzen had handed him his clothes.
"What does it mean to be a true Uchiha?!"
Baru's eyes seemed to spit fire as he glared at Yotsuki Yamanari in the middle of the training ground, his pride wounded by the slight.
Luckily, Rai, Naka, and Kagami held him back. If he'd gone into the fight in that state, he would have taken a serious beating—and might have ended up in even worse shape than Danzo over there.
A flicker of worry passed through Naori's eyes. Her slender fingers rested on her sash as she undid its knot, gripping two Ninja Blades in her palm, ready to hand them to him.
Rikusei waved her off and gave her a reassuring look. Then he made his way through the crowd to the front and said to Kaku, who was clearly enjoying the spectacle, "No problem."
"Then the match—"
Rikusei cut him off. "Give Yamanari some time to recover his chakra."
Yotsuki Yamanari gave him a long look, then sat cross-legged on the grass and closed his eyes, hurrying to refine chakra within his body.
The shinobi from the other Hidden Villages on the raised platform looked down at the silent training ground, where only the wind stirred, and stared in surprise at the boy who had dared to challenge the Uchiha.
A conversation between Kumogakure shinobi by