Richard understood that Yugao Uzuki wanted to get closer to him through the pretext of exchanging sword techniques, but he didn't mind playing along. He was free anyway, and sparring with Yugao was certainly more interesting than standing idle in his shop all day.
"In that case, let's have a proper match," Richard said. "Do you know a suitable place nearby?"
Yugao immediately replied, "There might not be one right here, since we're in the center of the village. But I know a park not far from here that would be perfect for our match."
Though Richard had no idea where this park was located, he didn't hesitate. "Alright, let's head to this park you mentioned."
The location didn't matter to him. Even if the Third Hokage himself led a squad of ANBU ninjas to ambush him there, it wouldn't pose any threat to Richard's abilities.
He stepped out from behind the counter and slipped the lone vibranium kunai and vibranium short knife from the display case into his system space. Then he approached Yugao and said calmly, "Let's go."
"Right!" Yugao nodded, turning toward the exit.
After closing the shop door—ending business early for the day—Richard followed Yugao away from downtown Konoha toward the park she'd mentioned.
As they walked, Yugao casually chatted with Richard, asking seemingly innocuous questions that were clearly meant to verify his background. What foods did he prefer? What kind of weather did he enjoy most?
Richard knew perfectly well that she was fishing for information on behalf of the Third Hokage, trying to confirm his true origins. Still, he answered truthfully about his preferences. No matter how thoroughly the Hokage and his people investigated, they'd never discover he came from another world. Unless Richard himself chose to reveal it, no one would ever know he was an "outsider" from a different reality.
Their stroll through Konoha drew plenty of attention from passersby. Richard, with his impossibly long and elegant silver hair, striking appearance, and unique aura, naturally attracted stares. As for Yugao, while her beauty might not quite match Richard's ethereal looks, she was still stunning by any standard. Her distinctive purple hair and refined features made her stand out among Konoha's kunoichi.
If she had any shortcoming, it was that her current attire didn't properly showcase her figure. Although her outfit differed slightly from the standard Chunin and Jonin uniform—missing its sleeves—it was still far from fashionable. The clothes, pants, and green vest were typical ninja gear, not stylish items. In simple terms, her current appearance was standard for Konoha shinobi. If not for her exquisite features and unique purple hair, she'd blend in with the nameless Chunin and Jonin passing by.
Both Richard and Yugao noticed the scrutiny from onlookers but paid it no mind, continuing their conversation as if they were old friends who'd known each other for years.
After about twenty minutes, Richard spotted the park Yugao had mentioned. She'd been right—it was indeed perfect for sparring. This wasn't strictly a park but more of a small forest with minimal infrastructure. While it couldn't compare to the Forest of Death used in the second round of the Chunin Exams, it was still sizeable. More importantly, since it wasn't fully developed as a recreational area, there weren't many visitors.
Not many civilians, that is. Like Richard and Yugao, several Genin teams were using the forest for training sessions, supervised by their Jonin instructors. Konoha had many Genin, but Richard was most familiar with the well-known "Konoha Twelve." Similarly, among the Genin instructors, he recognized only Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai. The others were merely vague impressions from what he'd seen in the source material—characters with brief appearances and lines, but not ones he knew intimately.
To avoid unnecessary spectators, Richard and Yugao walked deeper into the forest. Without much effort, they found a clearing perfect for their duel.
Upon reaching the spot, Yugao asked, "Does Richard-san plan to use a wooden sword or one of those special blades you crafted yourself?"
"Wooden sword," Richard replied. With a simple gesture, he produced a wooden training sword from his system space.
Seeing him summon the weapon out of thin air—in a method completely different from standard ninja summoning techniques—Yugao's eyebrows furrowed slightly. After witnessing Richard collect her payment and now summon this training sword, she became increasingly convinced he possessed some unique ability beyond normal ninjutsu.
Just as she was about to use her own skills to retrieve a wooden practice sword, Richard's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Just use the vibranium sword," he said casually.
Vibranium sword? Yugao paused momentarily, then realized he meant the blade she had purchased from him earlier. So that special metal was called vibranium? She mentally noted this information for her report.
"Wouldn't that be unfair?" she questioned. "The vibranium blade you crafted is exceptionally sharp. It seems inappropriate to use such a weapon against your wooden sword."
"It's fine," Richard assured her. "Just use the vibranium sword. And there's no need for such formality—just call me Richard."
Compared to her vibranium sword, his wooden training blade was vastly inferior—it might shatter at the first clash. But from Richard's perspective, any discussion of fairness was meaningless. Even using less than a tenth of his true strength, Yugao wouldn't be able to withstand a single strike from him.
Yugao initially wanted to protest further but thought better of it and drew the vibranium blade.
When she'd first visited his shop, Richard had noticed she carried this same sword that he'd crafted. Though she'd shown affection toward Hayate Gekko in front of him during her purchase, it was obvious Hayate hadn't fully reciprocated her feelings. Still, Hayate had apparently felt it appropriate to let Yugao keep the vibranium sword.
After drawing the weapon, Yugao gripped it with both hands and nodded respectfully to Richard. The next second, she channeled chakra throughout her body and lunged toward him, aiming the vibranium blade at his neck.
Her speed wasn't slow by any measure—fully worthy of her Special Jonin rank. But to Richard, her movements might as well have been in slow motion.
As Yugao closed in, he calmly raised his right hand and pivoted the wooden sword in his grasp.
Instead of meeting her attack directly, Richard angled his wooden sword to deflect the vibranium blade. Though not a conventional defensive technique, it was more than sufficient against Yugao's strike.
Clack!
The vibranium sword in Yugao's hand was knocked off-course by the wooden blade, its trajectory forcibly altered.
Before she could adjust her stance, Richard swung his wooden sword again. He initially intended to thrust at Yugao's chest—the same move he'd used on Sasuke during their special training sessions. However, considering he was facing a female opponent, he changed tactics mid-swing, transitioning from a direct thrust to a diagonal slash that struck the armguard on Yugao's right arm.
Richard had barely exerted any effort, yet for Yugao, the power behind his attack was overwhelming.
Thud!
Even with her protective gear, Yugao felt searing pain shoot through her right arm. Worse, Richard's relentless assault broke her center of gravity, causing her to stumble backward.
As Yugao struggled to regain her balance, Richard launched a third strike.
I can't block this!
Though the blow hadn't landed yet, the moment Yugao saw Richard raise his hand, she knew instinctively she couldn't defend against it. Her assessment was accurate—having lost her balance, it was impossible to counter Richard's incoming attack.
However, Richard stopped his swing with gentlemanly restraint, halting the wooden sword mere inches from Yugao's body.
"You're a bit too impulsive," he advised, lowering his weapon. "Next time, try using feints or probing attacks first."
Well, that's embarrassing...
Yugao's expression turned sheepish. When she'd accepted this mission, she'd known Richard was no ordinary person. But she hadn't expected that she—an expert in Konoha-style swordsmanship—would be lectured like an Academy student who hadn't even graduated yet.
Seeing her embarrassment, Richard realized he'd unconsciously slipped into his instructor tone. After spending so much time training Sasuke recently, he'd instinctively fallen into coaching mode upon noticing Yugao's offensive weaknesses.
"I apologize," he said quickly. "I'm not suggesting your swordsmanship is inadequate. I've been coaching a young shinobi lately, and I inadvertently used that same directive tone with you."
Normally, Richard wouldn't make such a minor social misstep. But since there were few people in the Naruto world who could actually threaten him, he'd grown increasingly relaxed during his time here.
"It's fine," Yugao replied softly. "What you said was correct—I was too impulsive. Let's continue."
"Good!" Richard nodded.
Having tasted defeat, Yugao became more focused and cautious. She decided to employ Konoha-style swordsmanship's signature technique: Dance of the Crescent Moon.
While the Dance of the Crescent Moon was famously Hayate Gekko's specialty, he wasn't its creator. Both Hayate and Yugao were simply inheritors of Konoha's traditional sword arts.
Konoha-style swordsmanship contained many secret techniques, with the Dance of the Crescent Moon considered its ultimate form. Despite its intimidating reputation, from Richard's perspective, the technique wasn't particularly sophisticated.
The Dance of the Crescent Moon involved using the Shadow Clone Technique to create two duplicates, allowing the user and clones to attack simultaneously from the left, above, and right. This three-pronged assault made it exceptionally difficult to defend against.
When executing the Dance of the Crescent Moon, the user's movements were elegantly flowing, with attack trajectories forming crescent moon shapes—hence its name.
Beyond the basic version, there was another approach to the Dance of the Crescent Moon: creating three shadow clones to assault the enemy while the user observed from hiding, waiting to deliver a fatal strike once the enemy revealed a vulnerability while defending against the clones.
Though these methods differed tactically, they shared a common element—every attack, whether from clone or original, targeted vital points. Anyone struck by the Dance of the Crescent Moon would likely suffer fatal injuries.
While both Yugao and Hayate specialized in Konoha-style swordsmanship, Yugao's mastery was somewhat less refined. Nevertheless, she had developed her own variant called Moonlit Night.
Unlike the Dance of the Crescent Moon, which required shadow clones, Moonlit Night was a solo technique. When performing it, Yugao would swing her sword through the air with such speed that it created moon-like afterimages, then descend upon her enemy with lightning quickness from above.
In the source material, Yugao had only used Moonlit Night once—during the Fourth Great Ninja War when facing Hayate's reanimated body. She'd defeated him with the technique, though her victory was largely because Hayate had allowed it. Even with Moonlit Night's ability to confuse opponents between real and illusory attacks, she might not have prevailed against Hayate otherwise.
Regardless of who might've been stronger between Yugao and the living Hayate, she certainly couldn't match him after his Impure World Reincarnation. An Edo Tensei body feared no injury—even fatal wounds healed almost instantly. Yugao, being flesh and blood, would die or suffer critical injury if struck in a vital spot.
Despite Yugao employing both variations of the Dance of the Crescent Moon, she couldn't land a single hit on Richard. First, his enhanced vision easily distinguished between her real body and the clones. Second, both Yugao and her shadow clones moved far too slowly by his standards. Even when attacked from three directions simultaneously, he could effortlessly defend himself.
As for her attempt to hide and strike from his blind spot—that was even less effective. While Richard lacked the Byakugan's 360-degree vision, his superhuman hearing allowed him to precisely track movements behind him. The only way to successfully attack his blind spot would be to move faster than his reaction and movement speed—an impossibility for nearly anyone in this world.