"That Move"

More than half a month passed in a flash.

In the cave on the back mountain, Ryuto peeled the last dark gray weight patch off his leg.

"Phew..."

He let out a long breath, feeling so light he could almost float.

But that was just an illusion. He walked to the middle of the cave and jumped straight up without putting much strength into it.

Bang!

His head nearly hit the cave ceiling.

"Not bad." Ryuto landed and patted his arms. His muscles were much more defined than before, not exaggeratedly bulky, but firmer and tighter.

For the past half month or so, he had done almost nothing else. Eating, sleeping, and spending every remaining moment struggling against the patches on his body.

From the palest gray to the current dark gray. Triple weight.

When he first covered his whole body with them, even walking from the stone bed to the spring left him panting for ages. Now he could perform a leisurely routine of "weighted tai chi" in the cave while wearing them.

His movements were slow, but the wind stirred by every punch and kick sounded heavier than when he used to swing barehanded at full strength.

"Physique is the foundation." Ryuto recalled how things worked in Dragon Ball: ki was the application, and the body was the vessel. If the vessel wasn't large or sturdy enough, no amount of ki could be put to use, and it could easily burst him apart.

He clenched his fists, feeling strength flow through his muscles. The ki inside him flowed more smoothly too, more obediently. Coating individual parts of his body in ki, which had once required deliberate control, had now almost become instinctive.

"I've leveled up my physique, at least." Ryuto was quite satisfied.

But physique and basic applications alone weren't enough. He thought back to his previous clashes with the Uchiha.

The Ki Blast attacked in a straight line and was easy to dodge. It worked fine against a single target, but lacked the power to settle things in one blow. The Dodon Ray had strong penetrating power, but its area of impact was too small. The protective barrier was an even bigger mana hog; activating it once left him feeling utterly drained.

He lacked a big move that could clear the field and decide the outcome.

"That move..." Ryuto muttered. The big move everyone in Dragon Ball knew, the one that could settle everything in one blow.

He raised both hands, palms facing each other, and held them at his waist.

Ki began gathering in his palms.

Rather than pushing it out quickly like a Ki Blast, he continuously compressed and condensed large amounts into that single point.

A golden ball of light appeared between his palms. At first, it was only the size of a fist, then it slowly expanded, its glow growing increasingly dazzling as it gave off a low hum.

Sweat began beading on Ryuto's forehead.

He could feel that the amount of ki compressed inside this ball of light was several times that of a Ki Blast, and it was still increasing.

"Still not enough... concentrate all the power in my body and unleash it all!" Gritting his teeth, he kept pouring ki into it.

The ball of light swelled to the size of a basketball. Its hum became a piercing whine, and even the surrounding air began to distort.

Ryuto's arms were shaking. He slowly dispersed the ki.

"A prototype. Barely a prototype." Once his breathing steadied, he slowly stood up. "It still needs refining. I need to find a way to shorten the charging time, or reduce the consumption..."

As he pondered this, his ki sense picked up a familiar chakra signature.

It was Rena, coming up from the foot of the mountain.

Ryuto walked back into the cave, reactivated the weight patches he had just peeled off, and put them back on. The moment the dark gray patches touched his body, that familiar heaviness returned, but he was far more accustomed to it than he had been half a month ago.

Before long, Rena pushed aside the vines at the cave entrance and slipped inside, carrying a cloth bundle as usual.

"Mr. Ryuto, your supplies are here!" Her voice was as cheerful as ever, but after she put down the bundle, her expression was a little different.

"What's wrong?" Ryuto asked, picking up his waterskin and taking a sip.

Rena hesitated, then said, "Mito asked me to tell you that things outside have... changed a little lately."

"Are the Uchiha stirring up trouble again?"

"Not trouble. They've just been... more active." Rena lowered her voice. "Our informants stationed along the border and in the surrounding areas reported that the Uchiha have sent out several times their usual number of scouting teams. They've been roaming everywhere."

"Still looking for me?"

"Not just you." Rena shook her head. "They're asking very detailed questions. Not just, 'Have you seen a strange person who uses golden energy?' They're also asking which villages are in the nearby mountains, whether any took in a young outsider a few years ago, and even... what happened to those villages afterward."

Ryuto's hand paused as he drank.

"They've traced me back to the first village I stayed in?"

"Very likely." Rena nodded. "Mito said their scouting is clearly heading toward the mountains where you first appeared. And they're being very discreet. If we didn't have so many informants, we wouldn't have noticed at all."

Ryuto put down the waterskin without speaking.

The Uchiha were no longer satisfied with collecting data on the battlefield. They had started digging into his roots. They wanted to understand him from the source, learn about his past, and find out what he might care about.

Izuna is leading the team himself... looks like they're serious.

"Mito also said," Rena continued, looking at him, "that you should be prepared. The fact that the Uchiha are putting this much effort into investigating you means they consider you very important. Next will come either more precise attacks, or... some other way of making contact. In any case, you might not have much time left to train here in peace."

Ryuto looked at the dark gray weight patches on his body, then thought of the mass of ki he had just gathered.

His physique had grown considerably stronger, and his new move had taken shape.

But it wasn't enough.

Not nearly enough.

"I understand," Ryuto told Rena. "Thanks. Sorry to make you come all this way every time, and you've brought such important news too."

"It's no trouble, no trouble." Rena waved her hands, then looked at him curiously. "Mr. Ryuto, how has your training been going lately? You seem a lot lighter."

"It's going fairly well," Ryuto said. "I've been working on a new move lately."

"A new move?" Rena's eyes lit up. "How powerful is it?"

"I haven't actually used it yet." Ryuto smiled wryly. "It uses a lot of energy too. I reckon one shot would put me out of commission."

"That's still really impressive!" Rena was very encouraging. "Just keep practicing. You'll get the hang of it eventually. It's like getting used to the weights. You could barely walk at first, but now you can run and jump, can't you?"

Her words gave Ryuto a reminder.

Right. Being unpracticed and using too much energy now is just like when I first put on the weights. If I keep practicing and find a more efficient way to control it, I can refine it eventually.

"You're right." Ryuto smiled. "I need to keep practicing."

Rena stayed a little longer, took out the dry rations and jerky and put them away, then reminded him not to push himself too hard and to get enough rest before leaving.

Ryuto was alone in the cave again.

The Uchiha were closing in.

He didn't have much time left.

Before trouble came knocking, he had to build his physique up enough to withstand heavier weights and practice his new move until he could gather ki quickly.

He turned and walked deeper into the cave, looking at the black scroll on the stone table, which represented fivefold weight.

Then his gaze fell on the dark gray patches on his body.

"Looks like I'll have to speed things up."