The gray clone

Time flew by, and Ruri and the others reached the Hyuga Clan Compound.

"Ruri, thank you so much! If you hadn't stepped in today, I think the two of us would've gone down at Uchiha Itachi's hands!" the two Hyuga Clan children said as they were about to part ways and head home.

Ruri nodded and smiled. "It's fine. We're all from the same clan, so it's only right that I helped. You're not hurt, are you?"

"We're fine. Just a few scrapes, and we're a little sore. It's nothing serious. We'll be all right after some rest!" the two Hyuga Clan kids said.

Just then, Reika Hyuga and Momokusa Harukawa walked over. Reika Hyuga said, "All right, as long as you're okay. It's getting late. Everyone should go home!"

The two Hyuga Clan children nodded, said goodbye to Ruri, then turned and headed home.

Reika Hyuga turned to look at Ruri Hyuga. "Ruri, how are you so strong when you're still so young?"

Ruri looked at Linghua and smiled. "I'm a genius! I can learn anything straight away. How could I not be strong?"

"Keep bragging! If you really had that kind of ability, you'd already be at the pinnacle of the ninja world. Why would you still be a student at the Ninja Academy?" Linghua said disdainfully after hearing Ruri's words.

"No matter what Ruri is like, he's still the strongest. There's no question about that!" Momokusa Harukawa chimed in from beside them.

"All right, all right. If there's nothing else, let's all head home! Harukawa and I will come find you tomorrow, and we can hang out," Reika Hyuga said.

Ruri nodded. "Yeah, bye! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Ruri! See you tomorrow!" With that, Momokusa Harukawa skipped home.

"Bye, I'm heading off too! See you tomorrow!" Reika Hyuga said, then walked toward home.

Ruri watched the two of them disappear from view, then smiled and returned home himself.

Once home, Ruri didn't go straight to bed. Instead, he sat in a chair, looked at the Ring in his hand, and murmured to himself, "It's so late, but I'm not sleepy at all. I might as well go in and train for a while!"

With that, Ruri raised his hand, pressed the Ring against his forehead, and entered it.

Welcome to the Ring. Please select a mode.

The line of virtual text appeared inside the Ring as Ruri entered.

"Training mode," Ruri said after reading the virtual text.

Once Ruri spoke, the space inside the Ring changed dramatically. The surrounding peach trees moved back, leaving a large clearing in the middle.

Objective for this training session: defeat your own clone!

"Oh? This training session looks interesting!" Ruri said with a smile as he watched the space transform.

After several dozen seconds, the space inside the Ring looked completely different. A circular arena had appeared in the middle, with someone who looked exactly like Ruri standing on it, except his entire body was gray.

Today's training task is to defeat your own clone. The clone is as strong as you are!

A line of virtual text appeared in the air.

After reading the virtual text, Ruri smiled, then slowly stepped into the arena.

"Really? This clone is as strong as I am? Then I'll really have to put in some effort today!"

With that, Ruri walked toward the gray clone, but just as he was about to reach him-

The gray clone suddenly unleashed his power and charged at Ruri, calling out, "Rasengan!"