Ryusei quickly noticed something unusual.
The bear wasn't just ferocious; it was more intelligent than beasts from his past life.
It could anticipate his movements with uncanny accuracy, though its bulk still made it too slow to act on them.
He made his decision in an instant.
He met one of its massive paws head-on with Flowing Willow Guard, his forearm absorbing the crushing weight, then used his fastest Body Flicker to climb up its arm in a blur.
In the next heartbeat, he brought down a full-force 'Senju Heel-Drop'.
This was the technique he had held back against Renjiro earlier, a slower, heavier strike that required a committed setup.
In Ryusei's eyes, it was likely the original version that later inspired Tsunade's famous Heaven Kick of Pain.
Hers was the perfected form, layered with advanced medical chakra enhancement control to amplify the force.
That was the nature of taijutsu.
Unlike ninjutsu, where more chakra usually meant a separate technique altogether, taijutsu was built on form.
The movement itself never changed; it scaled with the strength of the body and the depth of the chakra behind it.
For now, Ryusei had three cornerstone 'C-rank' techniques.
Flowing Willow Guard, his defensive base.
Coiling Serpent Fist, his fastest close-range attack.
And Senju Heel-Drop, his heavy strike, was an area-control technique that could crush multiple enemies or even blast the ground to send rock bursts flying if aimed correctly.
He thought of them as his foundation, the core forms that would only grow sharper as his body and chakra matured.
Under the bear's stunned gaze, Ryusei's heel came crashing down. The blow struck its skull with a sickening crack, splattering it like a pumpkin. The massive body crumpled, blood spraying as its bulk slammed into the ground.
Ryusei stood atop the headless corpse, breathing steady, his thoughts already elsewhere.
'Three C-rank taijutsu techniques… Once I open even a gate or two, or learn Tsunade's Chakra Enhanced Strength, each of them will rise in rank naturally.'
Take the Body Flicker, for example.
It wasn't classified as pure taijutsu, but it followed the same principles, and on paper, it was only a D-rank technique.
Yet someone like Shisui had used that very move to carve his name into history and earn a legendary nickname.
That was the truth of body-related techniques. Their rank mattered far less than ninjutsu.
What truly defined their effect was the user — their body, their chakra, their mastery.
He didn't plan to stop there. These three were just the foundation, chosen because they were efficient and adaptable.
In time, with stronger reserves and sharper control, he would create his own techniques, higher-ranked, personal weapons no one else could use.
As for the inner gates, Ryusei had once asked Might Duy about them directly.
The man didn't hesitate in the slightest; he politely agreed and demonstrated how the first few gates were opened.
Of course, Ryusei couldn't see the internal process without a Byakugan, but by relying on his sensory ability and careful observation of the external effects, he gained several valuable insights.
Duy even offered him a handful of verbal pointers at that to go along generously.
Even so, Ryusei knew he was still far from success.
At best, it would take him months of grinding effort before he could open even the first gate.
As for Tsunade's famed Chakra Enhanced Strength, the so-called Monster Strength technique, he had learned she still visited the village occasionally.
But Ryusei wasn't foolish enough to approach her here. Not while the Hokage's faction kept such close watch over him.
If he were to draw her in, it would only be during the chaos of war, when the waters were muddied enough that he could act unseen.
Still, Ryusei was satisfied with his rate of progress.
It was not by chance.
He had shadow clones to multiply training, solid taijutsu manuals left by his parents and predecessors, and strong comprehension.
Having Might Duy, the best taijutsu specialist alive, as a mentor also made a difference.
The original owner of this body had been a bit lacking in taijutsu, which made it the lowest-hanging fruit for Ryusei to improve.
The early stages always came faster, so it was no surprise that he rose so quickly in physical strength and taijutsu within just a few weeks.
He knew the pace would slow from here.
But with each inner gate he opened, the growth would become exponential.
The gates were not just bursts of power; they were limiters on how much chakra could flow inside the body.
Removing those limiters allowed the body to run at higher performance and let the chakra enhance it further.
The danger came from trying to force too much chakra through a body that was not yet adapted.
That was why the gates existed only for internal chakra flow.
With ninjutsu, the limitation was mental.
A shinobi could not simply push more chakra into a jutsu; the mind would break first.
This was also why the chakra released from the gates could not normally be turned into external ninjutsu.
In theory, you had more chakra available. In practice, you lacked the control to shape it.
It was not only about his current strength, but about the foundation he had been laying over the last month.
He was setting the stage for exponential growth across multiple domains.
His rise so far was not slow at all, only steady compared to what it would become once the restraints on him were removed.
If he could survive the coming chaos and carve out more freedom for himself, then the Third Shinobi World War would be his chance.
In that chaos, he could finally move like a fish in water and soar into the sky. All the good things are for those who wait, after all.
As for news of his current level and growth being sent back to the higher-ups of the village, by his team, that was still within Ryusei's calculations.
He was not stupid enough to expose himself if he thought it would be the end of him. He understood a few things very clearly.
First, his recent improvement would reach their ears eventually, so what was the point in hiding it completely?
Second, he had made sure his tangible progress was only in taijutsu. That was not accidental.
Yes, it was the lowest-hanging fruit for him right now, but more importantly, taijutsu was still looked down upon in the shinobi world.
Ryusei had to grow stronger in some way. Otherwise, within a few months, he would still die in the war or even before then on dangerous missions like the B-rank ambush he faced right after transmigrating.
If he did nothing, death was certain. The only way forward was to gamble on being strong enough when the time came, while still not provoking an eradication attempt too early.
And the best way to achieve that was to advance in the most underestimated branch of shinobi arts: taijutsu.
Along with his brain and careful deflections, this might let him survive the sinister plots aimed at him.
The higher-ups would probably expect no real breakthroughs from him beyond the basics of taijutsu. After all, how rare was it to open even a single gate? Rarer, in fact, than learning a new elemental release.
Nearly no one had the dedication or knowledge to tap into them. Even opening one or two gates could take decades.
Men like Duy and Guy, who would eventually open all eight in their early thirties, were unheard of to Konoha's leadership at this point.
So from their perspective, Ryusei's growth would look like nothing more than some initial gains in taijutsu, explained away by his bloodline and recent motivation.
They would likely dismiss it as him finally training harder after experiencing near-death on two missions.
Logical enough. In truth, he was deliberately throwing them a bone.
He was distracting their eyes from stuff his fuinjutsu research, his elemental immersion, and the other projects he had underway. Who would believe he had the energy to pursue all of that at once?
Had he foolishly displayed some A-rank elemental jutsu, or even two or three B-rank ones, let alone a new kekkei genkai elemental release or combination jutsu arsenal, he would have been killed far earlier.
But using a handful of C-rank taijutsu techniques, logical extensions of his clan heritage, did not make him look like a genius.
And no one could measure how far behind he had been before in taijutsu or how far ahead he was now. They had no way to count his cells in real time.
For Ryusei, the choice was simple. He already considered himself a dead man. He had to progress if he wanted any chance to live.
Better to gamble on this exposure and maybe survive than to wait and die certain months later. A few months meant nothing.
The only consequence he anticipated was that the higher-ups would likely begin watching Might Duy more closely.
It would be impossible to hide that this was the real source. Ryusei was sure they were not that incompetent.
If they looked seriously at Duy, they would finally understand what had been in front of them for decades: one of the strongest men in the village.
And Ryusei did not feel guilty about exposing him. What was the original fate of Might Duy anyway?
To die a few years later on the battlefield against the Seven Swordsmen because his son's team was thrown in as fodder somewhere along the lines, probably.
But if the village realized before the war how strong he actually was, if they treated him with the respect of a top asset, then who would dare neglect his son?
If Duy were recognized on time, he could become a key war hero.
His strength would finally be used against enemy shinobi, and his reputation would rise to the level of a legendary figure like Sakumo once was.
As for Hiruzen or ANBU moving against Duy because of his link to Ryusei, that was unlikely.
For one, Duy could not possibly know Ryusei's real identity or that he was being targeted.
For another, even the most incompetent Hokage would not risk losing such a powerful, and pretty harmless and ambitionless, subordinate right before the greatest war in history.
They had already suffered once from forcing Sakumo to his death, weakening the village badly. To repeat that mistake now would be insanity.
Ryusei was certain of it. By changing his own course, he had already changed Might Duy's fate for the better. He had also created a literal ally who would stand at the top of the village.
Of course, the village's realization of Might Duy would not happen overnight.
How could anyone go from being the Eternal Genin, famous only for odd jobs around Konoha, to someone spoken of in the same breath as the Third Hokage in terms of strength?
It would have to come gradually, through repeated testing and observation.
They would likely start by giving him a new C-rank mission, then another, watching him carefully from a distance.
Next would come assignments with a team to observe him more closely.
After that, B-rank missions, then A-rank, and finally the war itself.
Only then, once he proved himself with real battlefield merit, would they be forced to recognize him for what he was.
This, too, was part of Ryusei's calculations. If Duy's full strength was exposed all at once, suspicion would immediately fall on Ryusei.
He would look like the direct student of the man, of some capacity, a boy whose sudden leap in taijutsu came from that very training and who carried the same future potential by default.
And in that case, assassination would come swiftly.
Fortunately, bureaucracy never moved quickly, especially in chaotic times like these.
It would take many months for the higher-ups to fully catch on to Duy's true level.
By then, Ryusei intended to be strong enough that if they still tried to erase him, the risk would cut both ways.
However, by then, he would no longer be prey. He would be a cornered predator, one ready to bite down and drag his hunters into the grave with him if they pushed him too far.