Fierce Battle

The moment his words fell, Ryōken immediately charged out, showing no intention of holding back.

He went all out on speed, rushing straight at Minato Namikaze.

Before this, neither Kouichi Uchiha nor Hyuga Chizoku had been enough to make Ryōken take things seriously.

At the end of the day, the two of them were still students.

But Minato Namikaze, whether from the original story or from Ryōken's personal experience, had made him understand that this was a terrifying opponent.

Even though he was still young, he was not someone Ryōken, who had not even extracted chakra until last month, could afford to underestimate.

In the previous battles, Ryōken had not needed to use his full strength. His superior power alone had been enough to win easily.

As Ryōken's speed exploded, cries of amazement instantly rose from the crowd.

To the Ninja Academy students, Ryōken's figure had become completely impossible to follow, leaving only streaks of afterimages.

"Such speed!"

"That's incredible!"

"It's almost on par with a Chunin!"

Exclamations rang out from the surrounding crowd. Even some Jonin revealed looks of surprise.

Kouichi Uchiha, who had just been defeated, watched the scene and heard those comments. His expression darkened, his face clouded over.

Seeing this, how could he not understand?

In their previous battle, Ryōken had been toying with him from beginning to end.

Even though everyone was focused on the match, he felt as if they were all laughing at him.

Every word of praise for Ryōken sounded like mockery of his own overestimation of himself.

"Damn it!"

A fierce sense of humiliation surged into his heart and gnawed at him. As Kouichi Uchiha looked at Ryōken, a trace of venom appeared in his eyes, along with a faint, almost imperceptible bloody glint.

"So fast!"

Shock flickered through Minato Namikaze's blue eyes. Fortunately, there was still quite some distance between them, but he did not dare relax in the slightest. His hands rapidly formed seals.

By the time Ryōken had rushed halfway across the distance between them, Minato Namikaze brought his hands together, having already completed the hand seals.

"Genjutsu, Hell Viewing Technique!"

"Ryōken!"

Minato Namikaze called out, and Ryōken's gaze immediately turned toward him.

Those blue eyes seemed to carry an inexplicable magic. Ryōken's mind jolted, and his gaze went unfocused.

At that moment, the surroundings seemed to fall silent without a sound.

At the same time, bloody scenes appeared before Ryōken's eyes—countless different ways he might die. Some showed him dying in battle against enemy ninja, while others showed him killed by the aftermath of battles between powerful warriors.

Yet when Ryōken saw them, he calmed down instead.

Before obtaining the system, these scenes had often appeared in his nightmares, jolting him awake.

In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an ordinary person, suddenly cast into the cruel Naruto World.

Every day, Ryōken could sense a powerful threat of death, a naked and palpable malice.

Without sufficient strength, one was no different from an ant in this world.

But now, those scenes could no longer shake his heart in the slightest.

He now possessed the will of a true strong person—fearless, ready to face any hardship or obstacle head-on.

In the blink of an eye, Ryōken steadied his mind. An overwhelming Sword Intent burst forth, drawing upon the chakra within his body and sending it surging and boiling.

The illusory images before him instantly shattered, and he returned to reality.

"Not good!"

A piercing whistle of wind suddenly came at him. Before he had time to react, Ryōken instinctively raised his sword to block. A tremendous force crashed through the blade, sending him flying backward before he could brace himself. He let out a muffled grunt, and the Sword Intent he had been about to unleash was interrupted and settled back down.

Ryōken twisted slightly in midair and retreated several steps, repeatedly exerting force before finally stabilizing himself. His expression was somewhat grim.

Minato Namikaze did not pursue the advantage. His eyes showed deep surprise; he had not expected Ryōken to break free from the genjutsu so quickly. It was far beyond his expectations.

Although the Hell Viewing Technique was only D-rank, it was still genjutsu. Genjutsu had always been bizarre and difficult to guard against, and once successfully cast, it could usually determine the outcome of a battle.

Yet Ryōken had broken free in an instant. There had not even been enough time for the kunai Minato Namikaze had thrown to hit him.

However, when he remembered that Ryōken had grasped Sword Intent, he understood. He took another kunai from his ninja tool pouch.

The Ninja Academy students watched the scene in confusion, unable to make sense of it. It seemed like something had happened between the two of them?

"Genjutsu? I didn't expect Minato Namikaze to know that."

"Did he teach himself? That would be astonishing!"

"But Ryōken broke the genjutsu so quickly too. That's impressive."

The Jonin discussed it among themselves, their words full of praise for both boys. The seemingly calm battle had just contained an extremely dangerous clash.

With that single move, Minato Namikaze had halted Ryōken's seemingly unstoppable momentum, making him suffer a hidden loss and temporarily gaining the upper hand.

"Tch, I really can't let my guard down."

Ryōken muttered quietly. A trace of cold sweat belatedly seeped from his forehead, and his expression was a little ugly.

He had nearly been taken out in one move.

Ryōken looked up at Minato Namikaze, meeting the other boy's gaze.

Without any prior agreement, both of them pushed off the ground and charged at each other with their weapons in hand.

In the blink of an eye, they collided. Ryōken casually knocked away a shuriken and swung his sword down.

Minato Namikaze raised his kunai to block, but the blow drove his body downward, and shock rose in his heart.

"What heavy strength."

They exchanged several rounds. Ryōken naturally had no fear; relying on the sword light around his blade and his sharp eyes, he kept Minato Namikaze suppressed.

Almost there!

A thought flashed through Ryōken's mind as his eyes glanced at the kunai in Minato Namikaze's hand.

A moment later, Ryōken's eyes suddenly widened, bursting with a chilling gleam. He pushed the sword light to its limit, making the already sharp longsword even more unstoppable. Wind howled around the blade as it slashed directly toward the heavily damaged kunai.

With a sharp hiss, the kunai split apart. The longsword continued downward, striking toward Minato Namikaze.

Though victory seemed within his grasp, Ryōken remained as calm as ever.

How could it be that easy? If Minato Namikaze could be defeated like this, then he would not be the Fourth Hokage who had dominated the ninja world.

Minato Namikaze's neural reaction speed was nearly beyond everyone else's. Even the Fourth Raikage had admitted he could not compare in the original story. Even if he had not noticed such a detail, he would still have reacted in time.

Sure enough, with a bang, Minato Namikaze's body turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

Seeing this, Ryōken quickly turned around and assumed a defensive stance.

"It's time to end this!"

Not far from him, Minato Namikaze wore a calm expression as his hands rapidly formed seals.

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

That C-rank ninjutsu again.

The technique immediately drew countless startled gazes. Ryōken was also stunned for a moment, confusion appearing in his eyes.

Ryōken had taken Kouichi Uchiha's Great Fireball Technique head-on. The Uchiha were the most skilled at Fire Release Ninjutsu, and Kouichi Uchiha had poured all his chakra into that attack, making it even more powerful.

Just as Ryōken was wondering about it, his eyes suddenly twitched. Another Minato had appeared behind Minato at some unknown point.

Clone Technique?

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