First clash with Izuna

The wind was still blowing through the valley.

Ryuto looked at the Uchiha several dozen meters away. Those red eyes stood out in the shadows.

Uchiha Izuna watched him too, without moving.

After a dozen seconds or so, Izuna spoke first, his voice calm, as though making small talk.

"You ran pretty fast, and your acting was convincing," he said. "But your attempt to bait me was too obvious. Next time you want to lure someone out, don't cast your bait so hard."

Ryuto ignored that and asked directly, "Who are you? Did you follow me all this way just to say that?"

"Uchiha Izuna." Izuna gave his name and took a step forward, emerging from the shadows. "I followed you to see just how capable that oddball with the 'golden energy' mentioned in our intelligence really was."

"And now you've seen?"

"A little." Izuna stopped, bringing the distance between them to about twenty meters. "You really are fast, and your bursts of energy are powerful. You could block the Sharingan of Huan from our squad, which means your abilities aren't just for show."

He paused, looking at Ryuto. "I've been watching you fight for a while. From when you started helping the Uzumaki defend their border through several smaller clashes afterward. You have plenty of potential, but your fighting style is too wild. You lack systematic training."

Ryuto said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"The Uchiha Clan can provide you with the best resources and training," Izuna continued, his tone direct. "Chakra ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, tactics-we have complete systems for all of them. That 'ki' of yours would have even greater potential if paired with the Uchiha's Sharingan."

He stared into Ryuto's eyes. "Join the Uchiha. You won't have to keep hiding or let the Uzumaki use you as a weapon anymore. We'll give you the standing and resources you deserve and make you stronger."

After hearing him out, Ryuto smiled.

"Finished?"

"Finished."

"Then here's my answer." Ryuto stopped smiling, his tone serious. "No."

Izuna's eyebrows didn't so much as twitch. "Why?"

"It's simple," Ryuto said. "I don't want to get mixed up in your clans' bullshit. Whether it's the Senju or the Uchiha, you keep fighting, and ordinary people are the ones who die. I don't have any lofty ideals. I just don't want you moving me around like a pawn, and I don't want to help you kill people I don't want to kill."

"Neutrality?" Izuna asked.

"Right. Neutrality." Ryuto nodded. "Fight among yourselves. Just leave me and the people I care about alone."

Izuna fell silent for a few seconds.

Then he shook his head.

"There's no neutrality in the Warring States Era," he said. "You're either a friend or an enemy. You've helped the Uzumaki, so the Senju already have you on their list. Refusing the Uchiha now means offending both sides. Do you think you can keep living so freely?"

"I'll give it a shot," Ryuto said.

"Then let's see."

As Izuna finished speaking, the tomoe in his Sharingan suddenly began spinning rapidly.

Almost at the same instant, Ryuto sensed something wrong. The air around him seemed to freeze, and a cold mental force stabbed straight toward his brain like a needle.

Here it comes!

He immediately mobilized his ki, instantly building three layers of protection around his head. This was the result of half a month's practice in the Uzumaki Clan's territory: a multilayered defensive structure with focused protection.

Humm-

The mental force struck the first defensive layer, making it ripple violently like water hit by a stone. The second and third layers shook along with it.

Ryuto felt some pressure building in his head, but his mind remained clear. Izuna's genjutsu was more than a level above that of the Uchiha named Huan he had faced at the border, but it was still within his ability to withstand.

"Oh?" Izuna sounded a little surprised. "You really did block it."

His Sharingan spun faster.

Ryuto immediately felt the pressure multiply. The ki barriers around his head rippled more and more violently, giving off faint cracking sounds, as though they might split at any moment.

I can't just keep taking hits!

Ryuto pushed off the ground, darting left as he flicked his right hand.

Whoosh!

A fist-sized golden ki blast shot straight toward Izuna's face.

Izuna tilted his head slightly. The ki blast skimmed past his ear and struck a rock behind him.

Boom!

Half the rock exploded.

"Decent power," Izuna remarked, then suddenly vanished.

A moment later, he appeared on Ryuto's right, a kunai having appeared in his hand at some point, thrusting straight beneath Ryuto's ribs.

So fast!

Ryuto was startled, but his body reacted even faster. Twisting hard at the waist, he forced himself half a foot aside, letting the kunai miss while driving his left elbow backward.

Thud!

His elbow struck the forearm Izuna raised to block, and both of them retreated several steps.

"Your taijutsu is decent too." Izuna shook out his hand, his Sharingan fixed on Ryuto. "Covering your whole body in energy to enhance it? Interesting. It's a little like Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but the nature of the energy is completely different."

Ryuto said nothing. He pushed off and charged.

He knew his advantages were speed and strength. He couldn't give Izuna too much time to observe and analyze him.

Whoosh!

He closed in instantly, driving a punch straight at Izuna's face.

Izuna didn't meet it head-on. He drifted backward as though weightless, his Sharingan locked firmly onto Ryuto's fist. He could "see" the dense layer of golden energy covering it, the paths of its flow clearly visible.

"The energy's paths... I can predict them."

He turned sideways, easily avoiding the second punch, and slashed his kunai toward Ryuto's wrist with a reverse stroke.

Ryuto pulled back his fist and swept a leg across.

The two exchanged blows rapidly in the narrow valley, the sounds of colliding fists and feet, the kunai slicing through the air, and exploding ki blasts mingling together.

The longer Ryuto fought, the more alarmed he became.

Izuna's taijutsu was exceptionally refined, every move simple and effective, and the Sharingan's perceptiveness was absurd. Several times, Ryuto changed his moves, only for Izuna to see through them in advance and counter them with ease.

More troublesome still, Izuna kept observing and analyzing. Those red eyes were like two high-speed cameras, recording every movement and every burst of energy with perfect clarity.

I can't keep fighting like this!

Ryuto knew that if they continued, all his hidden tricks would be laid bare.

He abruptly leaped backward to create distance, waving both hands in rapid succession.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Seven or eight ki blasts shot toward Izuna like buckshot, cutting off all his escape routes.

Izuna's Sharingan spun, instantly discerning the blasts' trajectories and the gaps between them. With several tiny twists at nearly impossible angles, he slipped through the gaps between the ki blasts without a scratch.

So you've maxed out prediction and evasion, huh? Ryuto grumbled inwardly.

He was about to attack again when Izuna suddenly stopped.

"Enough."

Izuna put away his kunai, and his Sharingan returned to ordinary black eyes.

Taken aback, Ryuto stopped too, watching him warily.

"That's enough for today," Izuna said. "I have a rough idea of your strength now. Your speed, strength, and bursts of energy are all above jonin level. Your defense against genjutsu has its own merits, and your taijutsu foundation is solid, but lacks a systematic approach."

He paused, looking at Ryuto. "Most importantly, your reason for refusing my offer wasn't a dishonest excuse. You genuinely don't want to get involved in clan conflicts."

Ryuto didn't respond.

"Staying neutral is difficult in the Warring States Era." Izuna turned and walked toward the valley's exit. "But if you insist, the Uchiha won't deliberately push you toward the Senju. Provided, of course, that you stop helping the Uzumaki or the Senju fight us."

At the mouth of the valley, he stopped and glanced back at Ryuto.

"I look forward to our next meeting."

With that, his body turned into a flock of crows that scattered with a poof and disappeared.

Ryuto stood where he was, without pursuing him.

He slowly relaxed his tense body and let out a long breath.

His back was a little damp. He didn't know whether it was sweat or something else.

"So this is... one of the Uchiha's strongest fighters?"

He recalled their exchange. Izuna hadn't even used any ninjutsu. With nothing but taijutsu, genjutsu, and those Sharingan, he had already put Ryuto on the back foot. If he got serious and used those legendary techniques-Fire Release, Susanoo...

Ryuto shook his head, casting those thoughts aside.

There was a gap between them, and it wasn't small.

But he didn't feel discouraged. Instead, he felt a little excited. Having a goal gave him motivation.

He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists.

"The Weighted Scroll... I have to get used to it as soon as possible."

"Five times the weight. I wonder if I can hold up."

He turned and headed in the opposite direction from the Uzumaki Clan's territory.

He needed to find somewhere safe first and put the black scroll to use.

Uchiha Izuna's appearance had been like a bucket of cold water, completely dousing the little bit of conceit his recent gains in strength had given him.

In the Warring States Era, he still had a long way to go.