Chapter 36: A Duel That Breaks Away From the Original Work
Ryuzen sheathed his sword and turned to look at Akado Akamatsu's body lying on the arena floor. Blood pooled around the fallen ninja, spreading slowly across the concrete. Ryuzen's voice carried through the silent hall with flat apology: "I'm sorry. I tried my best to control my power. I hope he's not dead yet."
The utterly plain statement fell into dead silence.
Not only the candidates stared in horror, but even the Third Hokage and all the jōnin watching from above showed traces of shock on their faces.
"Such a simple and deadly sword technique... it looks familiar." Orochimaru, disguised as the Sound Ninja Murakami, studied Ryuzen with renewed interest. A figure he had not forgotten despite many years appeared in his mind—the White Fang of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake, whose blade had been feared across all nations. Unexpectedly, in this generation of Konoha, besides Uchiha Itachi's younger brother and the new Nine-Tails jinchūriki, the village had hidden such an unremarkable civilian genius.
Konoha truly was the cradle of geniuses.
Kurenai Yūhi glanced at Kakashi beside her, noting his tightened pupil. She smiled and asked, "Kakashi, what do you think?"
"Amazing talent. Worthy of being the top student." Kakashi came back to himself, and perhaps a trace of nostalgia flickered beneath his mask. He praised without hesitation: "Drawing the sword was ordinary. The Body Flicker was ordinary. But after he perfectly integrated the two, it became a drawing technique capable of killing with one strike."
Hearing this evaluation, Kurenai's smile showed a hint of pride.
Her former peers had all become jōnin and elite jōnin. In this class, both Kakashi and Asuma Sarutobi were serving as instructor jōnin alongside her. Guiding this new generation together naturally created some competition between them. Because she had only become a jōnin recently, Kakashi and the others might not look down on her exactly, but they didn't necessarily hold her in high regard either.
Now, the most outstanding genin was her student. Kurenai felt a quiet sense of victory.
Unlike the jōnin's layered thoughts, the other candidates were filled with pure horror. Even fear.
Uchiha Sasuke covered his neck with one hand, staring at the calm-faced Ryuzen with horrified eyes. His thoughts raced: Dodge... I can't dodge. Damn it!
Though he hadn't experienced the technique personally, Sasuke had to admit he couldn't evade that quick, concise sword now. Even if he activated his Sharingan.
Because that sword carried no chakra at all. It wasn't ninjutsu, wasn't genjutsu—it was a sword technique, pure taijutsu. Even if his eyes could see it clearly, his body couldn't react fast enough.
Damn it! It's only been four months. Is the gap this big already?
A powerful sense of unwillingness surged through Sasuke's heart.
He didn't know that Ryuzen's true strength would make him despair completely. If he knew that the shadow clones he'd fought against over the past few years had been the only opponents, he would feel endless shame.
Naruto Uzumaki didn't share Sasuke's complicated thoughts. He simply marveled at Ryuzen's power with honest admiration: "So... so strong! This guy Ryuzen is amazing!"
Moonlight Hayate watched Ryuzen ascend to the second floor, shock and confusion mingling in his eyes. As a swordsman himself, he could better appreciate the power behind that single stroke. It was flawless—simple and deadly.
But Ryuzen's sword had carried no trace of chakra.
What kind of wrist strength could cut through a person's ribs? How much power lay hidden beneath that slender appearance?
Moonlight Hayate, knowing nothing of the Breath of All Things, could only puzzle over the mystery. He remembered his duty and called out: "Medical team, please come and tend to the injured."
Several medical-nin in white hurried in with a stretcher to remove Akamatsu's body.
But they were already too late. Whether they came or not made little difference. His ribs were severed, and his internal organs had been punctured when he fell. Unless someone possessed Tsunade's miraculous medical skills, there was no way to snatch his soul from the Reaper's hands. Even if he survived by some chance, he would never be a ninja again.
In full view of everyone, Ryuzen walked to the second floor and stood beside Hinata.
Below, the display board flickered to life for the second match.
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Koizumi Ryota
Seeing his name on the screen, Koizumi Ryota's face went pale.
He was one of two lucky survivors from Inuzuka Kiba's Team 9 who had managed to graduate. Now matched against the Academy's second-ranked student, despair washed over him completely.
Even if he'd been matched against Kankuro or Temari, he wouldn't have felt this hopeless. Six years of Academy training had drilled one truth into everyone: you couldn't beat the top students.
Though his opponent filled him with despair, he had no choice but to descend to the arena. This would be a meaningless battle.
Uchiha Sasuke, despite being tortured by the Curse Mark's pain and unable to activate his Sharingan, still outclassed Koizumi Ryota completely. He defeated the unfortunate genin in seconds, then was quickly led away by Kakashi, who recognized the signs of Orochimaru's influence.
Orochimaru himself, still disguised as the Sound Ninja Murakami, slipped out quietly behind them.
The next match seemed to follow the original track.
Aburame Shino vs. Zaku
Zaku was one of the three Sound genin who had accompanied Orochimaru. His ability, the Decapitating Airwave, could destroy rock with compressed air projectiles launched from the tubes in his arms.
However, Shino's insects proved immune to such attacks. They swarmed Zaku's sound amplifiers, clogging the mechanisms and rendering his techniques useless. Shino claimed victory without significant difficulty.
But the fourth match veered off course again.
The names on the display made Ryuzen's eyes narrow slightly.
Hyūga Hinata vs. Kin Tsuchi
Kin was one of Yakushi Kabuto's companions, along with the already-defeated Akamatsu. Her abilities included senbon needles and sound-based genjutsu techniques.
What concerned Ryuzen wasn't her as an opponent, but the fact that Hinata had been matched against her at all.
What's happening?
From the carefully arranged matchups in the original work, it wasn't difficult to see that someone manipulated the display board behind the scenes. In canon, Hinata had faced Neji, allowing the Third Hokage to observe the dynamics between clan and branch family in this generation of Hyūga.
But this...
This is fine.
Hinata had trained alongside him for years. Her strength far exceeded her original counterpart. But Ryuzen knew very well that she still couldn't face Neji in heaven—not yet. The prodigy's rotation and gentle fist mastery would overwhelm her current abilities.
Ryuzen didn't want Hinata harmed. If she were injured, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going berserk. Knowing that the later ninja world would involve power on completely different scales, he would rather Hinata remain a protected presence in his life than fight for survival every day.
This matchup, against a Sound genin of ordinary ability, was actually preferable.
Hinata squeezed his hand gently before descending to the arena floor, her red scarf a bright spot of color against the gray concrete. She turned back once to meet his eyes, and he nodded slightly.
She would be fine.
Below, Kin Tsuchi waited with senbon already drawn, a cruel smile playing at her lips. She saw only a shy Hyūga heiress—easy prey to eliminate from the exam.
She had no idea what was coming.
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