When Shimura Danzō heard the news, he kept repeating it under his breath, frowning as he considered the implications.
Last night's group was most likely Senju.
They'd confirmed the security measures, and now they knew where the manpower had come from.
They'd rushed back from the front-line staging point in the middle of the night.
The order must have been urgent!
What exactly were the Senju trying to do by locking down the area inside and out?
With so little information, he couldn't tell what had brought about the Senju's change.
Yesterday's events alone couldn't have caused such a huge shift.
Could Daiki have been exposed?
Thinking of the consequences, Shimura Danzō shook his head, casting aside that worst-case scenario.
No, he couldn't scare himself like this!
If Daiki had really been exposed, the Senju would have already stormed the Shimura compound. They wouldn't be so calm.
Most likely, something new had come up at a clan meeting!
Unable to find a reason, Danzo waved his hand in frustration and gave his orders. "Keep watching. If anything..."
"Boom-!"
A deafening crash rang out, leaving everyone in the room with their ears ringing.
Before they could react, a massive wave of Chakra, filled with boundless malice, swept past like a hurricane.
The overwhelming malice made their hair stand on end. Instinctively, they gripped the weapons they carried.
The sudden upheaval interrupted Danzo as he was giving his orders.
He rose and went to the window, looking toward the source of the noise.
The disturbance came from the center of the Senju Clan Compound. Who was fighting Mito Uzumaki, forcing her to use the Nine-Tails' power?
There were only two people in the Senju clan who could make Mito Uzumaki use the Nine-Tails.
Who was it?
What on earth had happened?
Watching the red Chakra fluctuations radiating from the center of the Senju Clan Compound, Shimura Danzō felt his heart sink.
He could only hope that woman hadn't joined the fray. As long as it wasn't her, there was still a chance.
Then he turned to glare at his subordinates, his tone a little hurried. "Use the Anbu investigation as an excuse to get close. I want to know who's fighting Mito!"
"Yes!" two members of Root replied, bowing in their cat masks.
One o'clock. Training Ground Nine.
The training ground for combat and Taijutsu had two medium-sized arenas and over a hundred Iron Man targets, sandbags, and other Taijutsu training equipment.
Opening the gate, Yuhi Katsuyo led everyone to an open space and cleared his throat. "Today's lesson is Taijutsu training. I'll teach you a set of Konoha Strong Fist Style Taijutsu developed by the Second Hokage."
"Most Chunin currently use this Taijutsu to fight, so you need to study it seriously."
"All right, those who've learned it can train on their own. Everyone else, stay where you are and wait!"
"Yes, teacher!"
The civilian students answered in unison and stayed put, waiting for class to begin.
The Shinobi Clan students scattered and began practicing Taijutsu with their friends.
Uka Senju led his friends to claim a corner, too.
Then he began his own practice.
After awakening Wood Release last night and developing the Battle Armor Technique, he no longer had to limit himself to punches, kicks, or the blade in his hand. But he needed to figure out how to combine the two more effectively.
When he made a horizontal slash at the Iron Man target, the armor on his back should produce Wooden Spikes.
When he made an upward slash, the armor at his ribs should produce Wooden Spikes.
Uka practiced each movement with effort.
An hour later...
Slightly out of breath, Uka Senju lowered his sword and stepped aside to rest.
He couldn't use Wood Release at school, so he could only imagine how to coordinate the techniques in his mind. After an hour of practice, he felt he'd made very little progress.
Instead, he'd made a mess of his original sword techniques.
Going over every detail of the practice in his mind, Uka Senju let out a sigh.
Four years of training had conditioned his body to the Senju's fighting style.
He had too little combat experience now and had never fought a real life-or-death battle!
Trying to combine the two on his own seemed a little difficult.
Seeing his friend stop, Hatake Bunkei stopped training too and sat down beside Uka.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, puzzled, "What's going on with your sword technique today?"
"Your swings just seem a little off!"
He came from the Hatake clan, a family renowned for its swordsmanship, and often sparred with Uka. So he was the first to notice the change!
Glancing at his friend, Uka Senju couldn't tell him that he was trying to combine the Battle Armor Technique with Senju Taijutsu.
He couldn't explain how he had a similar ability to Shikotsumyaku.
After thinking for a moment, he answered from a different angle. "I recently read about Shikotsumyaku at home. I was curious what kind of fighting style the Senju would have if they had that ability, so I was imitating it just now!"
Hearing this, Hatake Bunkei shook his head speechlessly. "Shikotsumyaku is an unorthodox style, while the Senju fight head-on. One doesn't wear armor, and the other wears heavy armor. Their fighting styles are fundamentally different!"
"Do you want to take off your heavy armor and use bones instead? Wouldn't that mean giving up your advantage?"
"That's not it. What if the Senju's armor wasn't a hindrance?" Uka Senju said.
"What do you mean?" Hatake Bunkei asked.
After gathering his thoughts, Uka described it to his friend. "Suppose the Senju's armor could attack and defend like the abilities of Shikotsumyaku! Then, if you combined that with the Senju's Nintaijutsu... What would that look like?"
Hatake Bunkei scratched his head, feeling like his brain couldn't keep up.
What would it look like?
Damn, it'd be two freaks combined into one. Would anyone else even have a chance?
The Senju's physical strength and Chakra reserves made them as agile in heavy armor as if they weren't wearing any. They were already hard for others to kill!
And now you want to add Shikotsumyaku?
Why not add the Sharingan and Byakugan too? You want every good thing you see, huh?
Seeing his friend's reaction, Uka Senju patted him on the shoulder consolingly.
But inside, he was delighted. This was exactly the effect he'd wanted when he developed the Battle Armor Technique first last night!
Did he not know that the two fighting styles were different?
Combining them was difficult, but powerful!
After more than an hour of instruction, Yuhi Katsuyo saw that everyone had learned the basic moves and the key points of the training.
He called to the Shinobi Clan kids who were training on their own. "Everyone, come gather here!"
Hearing the teacher call, Uka Senju said to his friends, "Come on, let's see what the old class monitor's up to!"
After about two minutes, everyone had lined up.
Yuhi Katsuyo clapped his hands to get the students' attention, then said, "Everyone, I have good news! The school will hold a major exam in a month. The results will determine your training plan for the entire semester."
"Of course, there'll be rewards for the exam too!"
"Everyone who places in the top ten will get three times the resources! Those in the top fifty will get twice the resources! Those in the top one hundred will get one and a half times the resources! Everyone below one hundred will only receive a training plan prepared by your instructors."
After Yuhi Katsuyo explained the exam, he looked at the students in front of him and noticed that most of them, except those in the first two rows and a few Shinobi Clan members, didn't seem very interested.
He'd expected this. After all, even if the school multiplied its resources fivefold, some of the lower-ranked Shinobi Clans wouldn't find that very appealing!
To get everyone interested, Yuhi Katsuyo brought out the school's backup plan and continued. "There's another special reward. If you get a perfect score on the academic exam and place in the top twenty of the practical exam, the school will grant you the 'privilege of training on your own'!"
"That means you only need to check in once every Monday and take an exam at the end of each semester. Other than that, you can arrange your own time freely!"
"You can also exchange the resources you earn for a lecture! Anyone in Konoha can teach it-just tell us who you'd like, and the school will contact them for you!"