Hunter and Prey

Clang, clang, clang—

The sound of metal colliding repeatedly burst through the air.

A thin, small black figure darted swiftly through the woods, freely stretching his body within the Hyuga Main Family's vast private Training Ground.

Behind that shadow was another, taller and sturdier figure, calmly following close behind. From time to time, he tossed Kunai from his ninja tool pouch to disrupt him.

Likewise, Kunai mixed with Shuriken and all kinds of ninja tools flew from Ryosuke's hands like bullets, shooting toward Hyuga Hiashi, who was pursuing him from behind.

He was trying to hinder Hiashi's pursuit while knocking away the ninja tools Hiashi threw.

His speed and strength were pushed to their limits. Ryosuke's mind was taut, yet his thoughts remained exceptionally clear.

His internal organs were working rapidly, adapting to the burden that such intense movement placed upon his body. Aside from thoughts of this battle, he discarded every other distraction.

This was a kind of battle he had never experienced in his previous life. Confrontations between cold weapons—real, tangible combat—had been strictly forbidden in his past life.

Yet Ryosuke did not feel the slightest discomfort. Instead, he was incredibly... excited!

Scenes that had once existed only in anime or film clips in his mind were now things he could accomplish himself.

The feeling was strange, and he thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Yet beneath his excitement, he remained calm—a supreme calm born from excitement pushed to its very limit.

The expressionless face that only appeared when he was alone at night surfaced on Ryosuke's face. He was taking this real combat seriously, and he was enjoying it just as much.

Without needing to turn around, the Byakugan in Ryosuke's eyes allowed him to clearly perceive everything nearby from every direction, even with the incoming Kunai and Shuriken speeding toward his back.

His petite, immature body nimbly evaded the bombardment of ninja tools. Like a spirit of the forest, he displayed an alluring dance.

But Ryosuke was not deliberately pursuing that sense of beauty. Compared with looking impressive, he valued practicality more.

Every one of his evasive movements was minimal, nearly brushing past the attacks. They came within a hair's breadth of cutting his body.

But this was not for the thrill, nor was it to chase the rush of adrenaline. Smaller movements gave him greater room to adjust.

The larger the movement, the greater the inertia it produced.

If the enemy changed their method of attack or altered their fighting technique at that moment, he might not be able to respond in time.

It was like jumping to evade an attack. Once in the air, there was nowhere to exert force, leaving one as nothing but a live target.

But by evading with smaller movements, he would have enough room to alter his own evasive actions should the enemy change their attack.

Chasing after him with a stern face, Hyuga Hiashi was very satisfied with Ryosuke's performance. After only a few practical sessions, he could already handle such fierce combat with ease. His talent was already remarkably high.

It's time to raise the difficulty a little.

Hyuga Hiashi thought to himself.

But just then, as strength burst from his hand again and the Kunai flew out faster and more fiercely than before, Ryosuke suddenly slowed in Hiashi's eyes.

Ryosuke had made a mistake!

And the Kunai Hiashi had just thrown was aimed directly at the back of Ryosuke's head!

In an instant, a sharp glint flashed through Hyuga Hiashi's eyes. Chakra attached to the soles of his feet erupted, and his movements suddenly accelerated.

The figure Ryosuke had still been able to see clearly became nothing more than an afterimage in an instant.

A fierce gale rose with Hiashi's movement, slicing the fallen leaves in his path cleanly in half.

Faced with Ryosuke's mistake, Hyuga Hiashi actually accelerated further, intending to intercept the Kunai he had just thrown while it was still in the air.

And just as he reached the Kunai and stretched out his hand to catch it—

The next moment, Ryosuke, who had been facing away from him, suddenly turned and lunged at him. A palm infused with Chakra struck toward him, completely disregarding the Kunai that was about to hit him.

Then, under Hyuga Hiashi's approving gaze, Ryosuke passed straight through the Kunai, while the palm that should have struck Hiashi passed through him as well.

This was the first time, after so many practical combat drills, that Ryosuke had tried to change his identity as the prey.

But unfortunately—

"I won't fall for the same tactic so easily a second time."

Hyuga Hiashi's tone was filled with praise. He then abruptly spun around and struck a palm toward his back.

The last time he had fallen for it was entirely because he had treated Ryosuke as an ordinary child.

But this time, he no longer regarded Ryosuke as a child. He treated him as a true ninja.

There was no room for carelessness in a battle between ninja. Even though he had not activated his Byakugan and could not guard his entire body at all times, the powerful perception of a Jonin had already detected something wrong behind him.

Sure enough, another Ryosuke had somehow appeared behind him. He was charging forward with Eight Trigrams Palms, preparing to strike the Tenketsu on Hiashi's back and seal his Chakra.

With a soft chuckle, Hyuga Hiashi swung his palm and stepped forward at close range. He used Eight Trigrams Palms as well, intending to neutralize Ryosuke's force.

This was a child of the Hyuga Clan. A child of their Main Family.

Faced with such an outstanding junior, Hyuga Hiashi's sense of gratification and pride was immensely fulfilled, washing away his usual rigidity and sternness.

Ryosuke had made up for the disappointment Hinata had given him.

But at that moment, Hyuga Hiashi, who had been charging forward, suddenly stopped. A ninja's vigilance made him instinctively sense danger.

And the source of that danger was definitely not the Ryosuke in front of him, nor was it his Eight Trigrams Palms.

Byakugan, activate!

Without the slightest hesitation, Ryosuke before him was attacking, but the sense of danger in his heart was far too real. Though he had not intended to use the Byakugan, Hyuga Hiashi had no choice but to activate his dojutsu.

Veins bulged around his eyes as Chakra surged from within his body and into them.

There was nothing unusual. Everything before him remained exactly as it had been.

But it was precisely because nothing had changed that Hyuga Hiashi felt something was even more wrong. The Ryosuke charging toward him was also a clone! There was no trace of Chakra flowing through his body!

Then where was the real Ryosuke?

And where was that sense of danger powerful enough to be fatal?

He pushed his Byakugan to its limits, and as even more Chakra poured into it, the world before Hyuga Hiashi changed.

His expression turned stunned, then incredulous.

Genjutsu!

The Ryosuke before him was no longer one person, but two.

One was the Ryosuke he had first seen, expressionless as he swung a palm at him.

The other was Ryosuke standing less than two steps away, smiling as he held a Kunai high and horizontally in the air.

If he had not sensed danger just now and had charged forward directly, he would have run straight into that sharp Kunai. Judging from where Ryosuke had positioned it, the blade would only have cut his left shoulder.

But if it had truly cut his left shoulder, that would have meant Ryosuke could have won the practical combat drill just now.

It was only a drill, but it would still have been quite embarrassing.

"I thought that, with my abilities, any attack I made would be impossible to keep silent. So I could only come up with this method and make you run into my Kunai yourself."

"Only then would there be no sound for you to notice during the attack. But I didn't expect you to see through it anyway. Is this what they call combat instinct? Even if you can't see it, your body can still instinctively sense danger."

Ryosuke smiled and silently put away the Kunai.

Ever since learning the Gentle Fist Style, he and Hyuga Hiashi had held a practical combat drill once every other week.

But out of all those sessions, this was the first time he had tried to become the hunter. He had not expected to fail anyway.