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-Kazuya's POV-
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It was like every other day I was busy with my work. As a vice leader of a big mercenary group, I always have lots of work to do, especially in such a chaotic period.
The leader was outside, doing a rather important mission. And I… I was left behind to protect the base and also find the culprit behind the recent attacks on our branches.
I was looking over all the clues when I felt the Chakra signature of the guards start disappearing quickly.
And before I could react the door of my personal study slid open and a small masked Shinobi walked in.
'Were they called Anbu?'
His attire was completely matching the description of Konoha's new organisation.
I was going to speak when the Anbu spoke in a nonchalant tone.
"You're not the leader…"
'What the-' his words immediately made my sour mood worsen.
I can feel the innate arrogance waving off of him, his every small movement contains a confidence that says everything is under his control.
It reminded me of that man… I still remembered those lofty red eyes with spinning tomoe looking at me like I was some waste… not worth his time.
It made me feel rage like never before when the little Anbu's action reminded me of my most humiliating memory. It reminded me that the only reason I was alive was because my life was not worth for him to waste his time taking…
With those humiliating memories going through my mind, I charge at the Anbu, intending to wash them away today, but… I couldn't.
The Anbu only had the innate arrogance of that person, but not the power to back it up.
He was just an arrogant brat who didn't know his limits.
And that's why I didn't take him seriously when he called for a second round.
But I was wrong again, the brat didn't only have the arrogance of that person but also the capabilities. He was just crazy enough to not use it just to enjoy the battle.
'Crazy fucker just went from emotionless puppet to laughing psychopath!!!'
My thoughts weren't that far from the truth, the brat was definitely emotionally challenged. It was hard to see before with his emotionless eyes, but now that he's letting some emotions out, I can see all his suppressed emotions, guilt, regret, sadness, fear, and finally anger lots and lots of anger ready to explode. No one with that much suppressed emotion is sane.
Those Emotions have been bottling up for quite a long. How can someone so young have so many suppressed emotions is beyond my understanding.
But those are the last of my worries. I looked at his giant formation that was messing with my Chakra.
My Clan's secret Jutsu that gave me the proud title of Impenetrable defence got dispersed from the formation.
The formation was targeting the Chakra and disrupting its flow to make one unable to mold it, although it didn't completely stop the flow as I could still reinforce my body with Chakra… but only slightly.
"So this was your trump card, huh?" I questioned the brat who had finally calmed down and returned to his emotionless state.
"Yes…" he answered.
"It's quite the trump card then, I will definitely make you hand it over before I kill you," I said with a grin which caused him to shake his head in disappointment…?
'I'm gonna break that fucking head!'
"You don't understand… me using this formation means that you already won our duel…"
"So you're accepting your defeat? Quite opposite from your earlier statement."
The crazy brat shook his head again at my word.
"No, you don't quite get it… this formation was never meant to be used against you, I just built it as a precaution…"
'Huh'
"So you're saying that you were going to defeat me without this formation originally, but miscalculated and now are forced to use it?" I questioned not getting what he was tryna say.
"As much as it pains me to accept, but yes, I wanted to defeat you with my own strength, not with something that I need days to prepare. My future enemies won't give me that luxury." He answered and that made me finally realise what he meant.
For a minute I just stood there silently thinking that the crazy bastard was messing with me, but then I saw his emotionless face through his half-broken mask.
'Hahah! Fuck!!! This bastard means it!'
"Hey, brat! I think you're giving this formation a lil too much credit I can still use Chakra reinforcement which was enough to nearly kill you in few blows, remember?!"
"That's true, but…" the brat spoke as his skin turned red and started fuming.
He exploded towards me nearly twice as fast as before and rotated his body in a kick which made me raise my arm to block.
The kick connected and immediately I noticed the kick was a few times heavier than before.
'Is this Justu similar to Raikage's lightning cloak?'
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-3rd POV-
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Ryoichi fought Kazuya without holding, he even used a Jutus that he hadn't had the chance to test before.
The Justu he was using was simply called ELEMENTAL REINFORCEMENT JUSTU.
He got the idea from a novel called Supreme Magus where each separate element can be used as reinforcements with every element having different effects on the body.
Although that world's setting was different from this one, Ryoichi knew he could recreate the effect here. Raikage himself is a living example that element reinforcement is possible.
And with many examples and final product in mind Ryoichi managed to create the Jutus.
He could possibly use Fire and Water reinforcement because they were his highest affinity though he could not use them simentaneously as his body isn't strong enough yet. But he should be able to in future.
Just letting the Fire element reinforce him made his body feel a few times more explosive, but that's not all, Ryoichi could easily tell his efficiency was bad- really bad, and if he increased it not only would Fire reinforcement give even bigger boosts, but it also shouldn't burn his body like it's doing right now.
Ryoichi's prediction wasn't far from the truth. As long as his proficiency increases, not only would his boost increase, the toll on his body would also decrease considerably to the point he would be able to use another element.
'Left hook, right jab, right low kick, left round kick…' Ryoichi slowly started predicting Kazuya's move, and as they fought more, he started dismantling Kazuya's fighting style slowly.
"Wha-" Kazuya tried to speak, but Ryoichi didn't let him and kicked his chin. "Aghh!!!" Kazuya grunted painfully as Ryoichi's kick cracked his jawbone.
Ryoichi did not let Kazuya have a breather and threw himself at him again. He mercilessly started attacking Kazuya with his precision increasing after every blow.
As their fight continued, Ryoichi started predicting Kazuya's attack more and more to the point Kazuya barely hit him.
Kazuya's frustration peaked after the continuous one-sided beat down, he wanted to word out his frustration, but his broken jaw didn't allow him.
After 10 or so minutes since the second round started a thought stuck bloodied Kazuya which made his heart sink.
'I have to retreat or I'll die here'
Kazuya immediately acted on his thoughts and one last time exploded with everything. His unexpected action caught Ryoichi slightly off guard, but that didn't stop him from blocking the attack.
Ryoichi like always launched himself back to cushion the blow, but that was what Kazuya aiming for. He quickly turned around and started running.
Ryoichi frowned at Kazuya's shameless actions but followed him quickly. He knew if Kazuya escaped the formation area, it would be him who would be running.
Ryoichi chased Kazuya with all the speed he could muster, but as the seconds ticked by, his frown deepened. The distance between them kept increasing like the toll on his small body.
His body was completely dehydrated from overusing Elemental Reinforcement, he could feel his blood boiling. It was so painful that it was taking his all willpower to not scream.
Judging the situation being hopeless, Ryoichi swallowed his pride and stopped running.
He immediately deactivated his Jutsu and collapsed on the ground.
After a few seconds of calming his ragged breath, he screamed with frustration clear on his face.
"FUCKKK!!!"
Ryoichi started taking deep breaths to calm his emotions, but it was harder than usual. After all, It was his first "loss" since his rebirth. Although it wasn't really a loss, it's just him holding the bars that high for himself.
Ryoichi weakly raised himself in a lotus position and started absorbing Natural energy.
He splitted his consciousness and let it use the Iryojutsu while he refines Natural energy to heal.
It took two hours of combined efforts from his natural regeneration, Natural energy and Iryojustu to heal his injuries.
After healing himself back to ample condition, Ryoichi stood up and started making his way towards Akihara village while simultaneously reflecting on his mistakes.
He knew he made many mistakes which cost him his months of effort. It will not be as easy to find Mizuki again as he's a hundred percent confident they would lay low, or be more cautious.
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