The explosion happened inside the Fox's stomach.
His belly distended, rounding outward until the proportion became absurd, followed by a muffled, undignified burp.
"Amazing," she said. "The kid is... something else."
Minato did not answer immediately. He was watching the fox shake his head and gather himself.
"He identified the flaw before I did," Minato said. "Forming them internally instead of externally—shorter charge time, better concealment, significantly faster release. It is a real upgrade." A pause. "I did not think about the destabilisation risk until he exploited it."
Kushina turned to look at him.
Minato looked at her. "He is smarter than me."
That was not a sentence Kushina had expected to hear, especially from Minato himself, who is considered a one-in-a-century genius.
"I don't think I would have lasted this long against a tailed beast," Minato then said.
Kushina said nothing.
The fox recovered and drew breath, compressing the chakra inside his body.
Ryu kicked one of his golden anchors, using the impact to throw himself sideways. The mini [Biju-Dama] passed through the space where he had been moments before.
As the next shots came, Ryu activated [ReflexGuard - Trampoline] twice in quick succession and dodged. Each one launched him off at a new angle, chaining redirections until he dropped back to the water's surface.
He gripped his golden staff. He spun it once and settled into a stance. Then he raised his free hand, palm out, and curled all four fingers toward himself.
"He is mad," Minato said. "completely mad. That child fights as if fear is somebody else's problem and death is not a consequence."
Ryu's golden chakra staff compressed, densified, thickened at one end and shortened until the shape had completely changed. A baseball bat, formed of solid golden chakra.
Minato thought, "He is reshaping a solid chakra construct. But what is it… a baton?"
"Come on," Ryu said.
The fox looked at the bat and took the challenge and fired.
Ryu settled his stance. Back foot braced, weight shifted, bat raised.
Ryu thought, "This is the right distance. I just need to hit it with the right force not too little or too much."
- [Overclocking] enabled.
The sphere came at him in slow motion, its surface rippling with contained dark red chakra. Ryu watched and tracked the approach angle. He calculated the required force needed to send it back without triggering the shell.
He stepped back. He raised the bat and swung.
It was a hit.
Ryu thought, "I will call it Homerun-no-Jutsu."
The crack of impact rang through the mindscape. The mini [Biju-Dama] reversed its path in an instant, blazing back the way it had come.
"As if I would let you use my attack on me again," the Fox said andspat another one.
The two spheres met very close to the nine-tailed fox. The collision resulted in an explosion and blocked the view of both Ryu and Fox.
Ryu was already planning his next attack.
He struck an anchor at a steep upward angle through the smoke, calculated to land at the fox's head.
The fox noticed the anchor at the last possible moment. What followed was lightning hitting the anchor and Ryu appearing beside him with a yellow flash.
[Lightning Style: Flying Raijin] pulled Ryu across the gap in a fraction of a second, right beside the enormous jaw.
The anchor whizzed past between them, missing Ryu's head by a few inches and making his hair flutter.
Ryu shouted, "[Thunder Bagua]!", as he swung.
The bat connected squarely with the Fox's jaw. Residual lightning raced from every nearby anchor, converging at the point of impact. And the [Senju-Style Chakra Impulse] detonated, throwing the fox sideways.
Fox landed on the ground sideways. The impact sent waves rolling across the entire mindscape.
Ryu landed in front of him and said, "I hope that fixes your head a little."
Ryu was standing too close. He expected a tail or a paw attack or the fox lunging forward to close the distance while Ryu was still on the ground and eat him. But the fox did nothing.
The fox looked up.
Not at Ryu.
Over him.
Ryu thought, "Shit…Naruto."
Nine-tailed Fox launched a [Mini Biju-Dama] toward the cage, aiming for the small figure sleeping near the cage bars.
Naruto had not moved. He was exactly where Ryu had left him.
Ryu hit an anchor with everything he had and sent it flying. Then another. Then a third, in rapid succession.
And then he disappeared in a yellow flash.
[Lightning Style: Body Flicker] jumped him to the first anchor in motion. From there to the second, chaining the teleports in sequence, using each moving anchor as a relay point. The third was the farthest, still accelerating outward.
Ryu thought, "Too slow. "
Ryu hit the anchor itself and transferred his own momentum. It was not fast enough.
The anchor surged forward and caught up with the [Mini Biju-Dama] just ahead of Naruto.
Ryu swung his baton and just grazed the [Mini Biju-Dama]. But it was enough. The trajectory changed by a fraction. Just enough.
Ryu watched it move upwards microsecond by microsecond. Ryu sighed in relief after calculating it would be safe.
The explosion went off on the other side — close enough that the shockwave rolled the water under Naruto and rocked him gently, but not close enough to matter. The light from it painted the corridor bright for a moment, and then the darkness settled.
Ryu looked through the bars. He could see the boy clearly — the chakra rings holding Naruto undisturbed, Naruto still softly snoring.
"Didn't I tell you not to try anything strange with my little brother?"
The Fox had returned to his full height. He looked down from above, all nine tails spread, with the red light in his eyes.
Ryu's rage exploded. The water at his feet trembled faintly, chakra and killing intent bleeding out through his skin.
- [Chakra Engine: Gear Second] Initiated
- [Chakra Circulation: 200%]
Fox smiled at Ryu's attempt to show off his chakra to a literal beast made of living chakra.
A few minutes ago — Hamura Estate training grounds.
They were all watching.
Dan and the ANBU stood nearest to the barrier, hands folded behind. Kaori stood nearby, her focus turned to reading the chakra. Kohinata was a few paces to the right.
The adoptive siblings stood further back.
Inside the innermost barrier, both Ryu and Naruto sat perfectly still — Naruto sleeping, Ryu cross-legged and unmoving, eyes closed, expression entirely blank.
Naruto's chakra leaked. Then it flared. A pulse of red light bloomed around him once and contracted.
In response, Ryu lit up.
A single, sharp flash of gold — and then it died. A moment passed. It returned. Died again. Returned. On and off, rhythmic and unceasing, like a faulty lightbulb that could not quite decide whether to stay on or burn out.
Kaia squinted at him. "Is Brother Ryu trying to be a firefly?"
No one answered her. Two of the ANBU juniors exchanged a glance.
A few metres away, Kohinata thought, "I want to analyse his chakra network with Byakugan to know the secret of this jutsu. What jutsu it is … powerful."
Then he noted the four ANBU positioned around the barrier. "But with so many ANBU around, that is a bad idea."
He let the thought go. Exposing his personal secret to the ANBU was not worth satisfying his curiosity.
The ANBU captain stepped forward.
"Elder Dan. What is happening?"
"I cannot say for certain," Dan said. "Ryu had been working on many original jutsu. A number of them are forbidden-class or at the level to be considered a secret jutsu. He does not report everything he develops, even to me."
The captain's attention stayed on the flickering light. "You think this is safe?"
"No jutsu is safe," Dan said. "Some are more dangerous than others, but none are perfect or safe. Every jutsu has a cost to pay. The question is whether the caster is capable of paying the cost."
Kaori then stated, "Every time Boss shines, the Fox's chakra weakens while Boss' strengthens. Whatever is going on in there is working to his advantage."
The ANBU captain said, "Let's hope the little genius wins."
"He will," Dan said, then he looked at the ANBU captain for a moment. "Just in case, I have a sealing jutsu prepared. I have learned from my grandson to be prepared for every possibility. But these barriers need to go down for that."
The training ground went quiet. Wind moved through the trees at the perimeter. Ryu continued to flicker — on, off, on, off — with the same steady pulse.
Then it stopped.
The pressure came without warning, as if gravity had suddenly risen. It arrived suddenly, a weight pressing against everyone present.
It was not the first time Kaori had felt this. Kohinata felt and remembered it too. They had felt this once before in the Land of Rivers when Ryu almost died, and they had not forgotten it.
"His chakra is moving at an unimaginable frequency," Kaori said. "Like a storm inside his body. I felt this before… from Might Guy."
ANBU misunderstood the Jutsu Ryu was using and said, "Eight Gates… but it's too dangerous for a growing child."
Kohinata looked around and felt no one was watching. He used his Byakugan stealthily, seeing everyone standing on the opposite side of his Byakugan and the other side only has kids. He put his hand on his face and activated his Byakugan, analysed Ryu for a few seconds and departed before anyone noticed him.
Kohinata then said, "No... That is not [Eight Gates]. If I have to explain, [Eight Gates] is like a tap with a wider pipe and hose, resulting in more water flow. But this is different. Ryu is like a tap with a smaller pipe but greater flow due to the pressure difference. He must have found a way to achieve greater flow without opening gates."
Everyone understood. But they also understood that this new powerful jutsu also has a different set of risks.
ANBU replied, "So it is a new kind of doping jutsu, different from Might Guy's."
Kohinata replied, "You can say that."
A/N:
Thank you,
Haydenaltman, MrDragneel, Some guy, Dalton Harris, Toyo, Cash, Marco, Codesavage, Hugh Jass, El Gordo, Zarassa van Cresh, Nova Gamer555, David Jenkins, Carlos Barker, Auzzo, McCallister Wilson, Timothy cordelle, Mason Erickson, Eymi Lopez, อวิรุธ อนุรัตน์, Vernan Stapleton, Monkey D. Murda, R3vo
for supporting me on P@treon.
Please support me on P@treon. and leave a review on WN if you liked the story.
Latest chapter on P@treon: Chapter 373 ~ Checkmate, Kurama!
A few free chapters are available for everyone to read on p@treon. com/PageTurnerPJ.
Your support is what gets this story going, so please like share and review the story and add it to your library.