Sparring and weaknesses

The day after the border battle ended, Ryuto had just finished breakfast at the guesthouse when someone knocked on his door.

He opened it to find Rena Uzumaki standing outside, with four or five young men and women behind her. All wore Uzumaki Clan clothing and looked at him with shining eyes.

"Mr. Ryuto!" Rena greeted him with a smile. "We didn't disturb your rest, did we?"

"No." Ryuto stepped aside. "Want to come in and sit down?"

"No, no." A short-haired young man squeezed forward and said rather excitedly, "We came to... well, Mr. Ryuto, we all heard about what happened at the border yesterday! You took down several Uchiha all by yourself. That was incredible!"

A girl with a ponytail nodded beside him. "Right! Yan told us when he came back that your taijutsu was so fast it looked like teleportation, and you could even fire beams of light!"

Ryuto looked at these young people, whose average age was under twenty, and felt like laughing.

They were acting like fans chasing a celebrity.

"So..." Ryuto asked, "did you need something?"

They exchanged glances before the short-haired young man spoke again, rubbing his hands. "Mr. Ryuto, we... want to spar with you! Just a friendly match, nothing serious! We're so curious about how you use that 'ki'!"

Rena quickly added, "Please don't take offense, Mr. Ryuto. They're among the stronger members of our clan's younger generation. They're just curious, with no ill intentions! Mito knows too. She said it was fine as long as you didn't object."

Ryuto considered it.

Sparring could indeed help him familiarize himself with the Uzumaki Clan's fighting methods faster, and test various uses of ki.

"Sure." He nodded. "Where?"

"The training ground!" they answered in unison.

The Uzumaki Clan's training ground was in the eastern part of the valley, a fairly large clearing with various runic circles drawn on the ground and wooden posts and targets set up along the sides.

When they arrived, more than a dozen people were already practicing there. Seeing Rena arrive with Ryuto, they all stopped to look.

"Rena, is this Mr. Ryuto?" A middle-aged ninja practicing sealing jutsu walked over.

"Yes! Uncle, we want to spar with Mr. Ryuto!" Rena said.

The middle-aged ninja looked Ryuto over and nodded. "Know your limits. Don't get hurt."

"Understood!"

The short-haired young man was the first to jump into a runic circle. He cupped his fist toward Ryuto. "Mr. Ryuto, I'm Ken Uzumaki! Please show me what you've got!"

Ryuto stepped into the circle. "Ryuto. Go ahead."

Everyone else backed out of the circle and gathered around it.

Ken Uzumaki took a deep breath and formed hand seals. "Sealing Jutsu: Bind!"

Several chains formed from chakra shot from his hands, winding toward Ryuto.

They weren't slow.

But Ryuto shifted his feet, poured ki into his legs, and slid sideways. The chains caught nothing.

"So fast!" someone outside the circle exclaimed.

Ken Uzumaki froze, then hurriedly changed his move, making the chains turn and pursue him.

This time, Ryuto didn't dodge. He raised his right hand, gathered pale golden ki in his palm, and thrust it forward.

"Ki Blast."

A golden ball of light the size of a fist flew out and struck the chains.

Bang!

The chains blasted apart, and the shock forced Ken Uzumaki two steps back.

"What jutsu was that?" he asked, stunned. "You didn't form any hand seals!"

Ryuto didn't explain. His figure flickered, and he was already in front of him.

His fist stopped before Ken Uzumaki's nose, the wind from his punch blowing his hair upward.

"Thanks for the match." Ryuto withdrew his fist.

Ken Uzumaki stared blankly for a moment, then scratched his head and laughed. "I lost. Mr. Ryuto, your speed is ridiculous."

"I'm next!" The ponytailed girl jumped in. "I'm Aoi Uzumaki! Watch out, Mr. Ryuto!"

She formed hand seals faster than Ken Uzumaki, finishing in an instant. "Sealing Jutsu: Adamantine Sealing Chains!"

Several thicker, more solid golden chains extended from her back, winding toward Ryuto from different angles as though alive.

Ryuto still relied on speed to dodge.

But this time, there were more chains, blocking him at tricky angles.

Ryuto dodged three, but the fourth was about to wrap around his ankle.

Golden light flashed around his foot as his ki erupted.

Crack!

The chain was knocked away.

Aoi Uzumaki's eyes lit up. "You can repel sealing jutsu? Then try this!"

She pressed her palms together. The chains suddenly scattered, becoming dozens of fine golden needles that shot toward him like a downpour.

An area attack.

Ryuto traced a circle with both hands in front of him, forming his ki into a round shield.

Clink, clink, clink, clink-

The golden needles struck the ki shield and all bounced away.

Ryuto seized the chance to rush forward, using the same approach. He closed the distance instantly, stopping his finger in front of Aoi Uzumaki's throat.

"Thanks for the match."

Aoi Uzumaki stuck out her tongue. "I can't even get close to you. Mr. Ryuto, how is anyone supposed to break through that defense?"

"Let me try!" Another young man stepped forward.

Over the next half hour, Ryuto sparred with three more people.

The results were all the same.

Whether his opponents restrained him with sealing jutsu, attacked head-on with taijutsu, or harassed him from a distance with ninja tools, Ryuto could dodge with his speed or withstand them with a ki shield, then close in and end the fight.

His fighting style was brutally simple-high speed, great strength, energy blasts, and shields.

But it worked.

The crowd kept growing, eventually reaching twenty or thirty people.

"We can't beat him at all."

"What exactly is that golden light? Even released chakra isn't that solid, is it?"

"And he hasn't seemed to form a single hand seal?"

A buzz of conversation filled the air.

Rena stood outside the circle, watching intently.

When the fifth person conceded and stepped out, she suddenly raised her hand. "Mr. Ryuto, may I make a suggestion?"

Ryuto looked at her. "Go ahead."

"Could we... try genjutsu?" Rena said. "Just the most basic kind. No fighting, just a test."

Genjutsu?

Something stirred in Ryuto's mind.

Since coming to this world, he really hadn't encountered a genjutsu attack.

"Sure." He nodded.

A quiet-looking girl wearing glasses stepped into the circle. "Mr. Ryuto, I'm Shizuka Uzumaki. I specialize in genjutsu. I'll use the most basic Hell Viewing Technique to make you see images of your inner fears. Just try to break free."

Ryuto stood ready. "All right."

Shizuka Uzumaki formed hand seals. "Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Ryuto saw her form the seals, and then...

He felt nothing much.

His vision merely blurred for a moment. He seemed to see a fleeting image of Yamano Tarō falling, but it immediately vanished.

"Hm?" Shizuka Uzumaki adjusted her glasses. "It failed? Let me try again."

She formed hand seals again.

This time, Ryuto didn't even feel dazed.

"Strange..." Shizuka Uzumaki frowned. "My chakra clearly entered your brain, but it seems... something kept it outside? No, it wasn't blocked. It's... your brain has no chakra pathways to receive it?"

Ryuto understood.

Genjutsu worked by using chakra to invade the other person's cerebral nervous system.

But he had no chakra pathways in his body, only ki.

So the most basic genjutsu doesn't work on me? Because it can't find an 'interface'?

"Try another one," Rena said. "Use Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique. It creates visual illusions directly, without relying on invading the nervous system."

"All right." Shizuka Uzumaki formed hand seals again. "Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

Ryuto suddenly saw his surroundings change.

The training ground vanished. He stood in a blood-red space as several enormous wooden stakes descended from above, about to pin him to the ground.

A visual illusion.

Ryuto knew it was fake, but his body instinctively wanted to dodge.

Then he realized he couldn't move.

It wasn't that he truly couldn't move. His brain believed his body was pinned down, so it couldn't issue the command to move.

He tried to mobilize his ki.

The ki circulated normally inside him.

But his body simply wouldn't move.

"Mr. Ryuto?" Rena's voice came from outside the circle. "You... you've frozen."

Ryuto struggled to raise his hand, but it felt like lead.

After about five seconds, the feeling of restraint slowly faded. The blood-red space receded, and he returned to the training ground.

He could move again.

Ryuto had broken out in a cold sweat.

Five seconds.

In a real battle, that was enough to die ten times over.

The spectators fell silent.

Just moments ago, Ryuto had dominated everyone like a god of war, yet now a basic genjutsu had immobilized him for five seconds.

The contrast was too great.

"As I thought..." Shizuka Uzumaki let out a relieved breath. "You aren't completely immune. Visual genjutsu that works by disrupting the five senses affects you. But it requires finer chakra control and consumes more chakra."

Rena ran into the circle. "Mr. Ryuto, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Ryuto shook his head, his mind in turmoil.

A weakness.

A fatal weakness.

He had only been thinking about improving his strength, speed, and defense. Mental attacks had never crossed his mind.

In the Dragon Ball world, things like genjutsu hardly seemed to come up.

But here, genjutsu was one of the three major ninja arts.

"Ryuto." A gentle voice reached him.

Mito Uzumaki had arrived at some point and was standing outside the circle.

She stepped inside and looked at Ryuto. "Your power system is very strong in physical enhancement and energy projection, even surpassing most jonin. But on the mental level, you have almost no protection."

She paused. "It's like a fortress with very thick walls, but a wooden gate."

The analogy was straightforward.

Ryuto understood.

"Is there a way to make up for it?" he asked directly.

"Yes," Mito Uzumaki said. "The usual method is to train your chakra and mental strength to build resistance. But your energy isn't chakra, so that route may not work."

She thought for a moment. "You can start by understanding the principles of genjutsu. Only by knowing how it works can you find ways to defend against it. The clan has basic genjutsu textbooks you can read. You could also have Shizuka and the others teach you some basic techniques for breaking it."

Shizuka Uzumaki nodded. "Yes, Mr. Ryuto. I can teach you how to recognize the warning signs of genjutsu, and how to quickly mobilize your own energy to disrupt the illusion after you're caught."

"Sorry for the trouble," Ryuto said earnestly.

"It's no trouble at all!" Shizuka Uzumaki flushed a little. "As long as I can help."

Rena smiled. "Mr. Ryuto, then you'll have to come to the training ground often! Everyone would love to exchange pointers with you!"

The other young clan members around them nodded as well.

"Right, Mr. Ryuto, how did you fire that beam of light just now? Could you teach us?"

"How did you train to move that fast?"

"What exactly does ki feel like?"

They all spoke at once.

Looking at these enthusiastic young people, Ryuto felt much of his frustration at having his weakness exposed fade.

At least there were people here willing to help him.

"All right." He nodded. "I look forward to learning from you."

The sparring was over, but the crowd didn't disperse.

Surrounded by people asking all sorts of questions, Ryuto shared some ki techniques he could talk about, such as how to concentrate it and release it.

Shizuka Uzumaki began explaining the basic principles of genjutsu to him, including manipulation of the five senses and invasion of the nervous system.

Rena listened beside them, occasionally chiming in.

The training ground was lively.

Mito Uzumaki watched for a while, then turned and left.

She reached the edge of the training ground and glanced back at Ryuto, surrounded by young people.

"Top-tier physical strength, zero mental defense..." she murmured. "Where on earth did such an extreme power system come from?"

"Still, at least for now, he doesn't seem to be an enemy."

She smiled and left.

Back at the training ground, after listening to Shizuka Uzumaki's explanation, Ryuto had a vague idea.

Ki could strengthen the body. Could it strengthen the brain too? Or could I use Ki to form a filtering layer outside my body to interfere with genjutsu chakra?

I'll have to try it.

"Mr. Ryuto," Reina said softly as she came over, "don't worry too much. You can gradually train your resistance to genjutsu. Besides, you're so strong that you'd send most genjutsu ninja flying before they even got close!"

Ryuto smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

He knew she was trying to comfort him.

But his weakness had already been exposed. Next, he had to shore it up.

Starting tomorrow, Ryuto decided, I'll practice Ki and taijutsu in the morning, then study genjutsu principles and defensive techniques in the afternoon.

The Uchiha, the Hyūga, and those unknown enemies...

Want to catch me off guard with genjutsu?

It won't be that easy.