Chapter 13: A One-Sided Battle
An hour later, Dana and Hiroto, now changed into training clothes provided by the servants, stood in the training grounds. A was already waiting for them.
"You two," A said, standing casually with his arms crossed, the very picture of a martial arts master. "Come at me with everything you've got. You can use any ninjutsu you know... if you know any." If you ignored the fact that his opponents were two small children, Dana would give his form a solid 9 out of 10 for style.
The comment about ninjutsu was obviously directed at Hiroto. A knew perfectly well that Dana couldn't use a single jutsu.
The blunt opening left Hiroto at a complete loss. Dana, on the other hand, took a step back. "Hiroto, you go first. We don't know each other's fighting styles, so attacking together would just be a mess. This is a good chance for my father to see what you can do."
Hiroto was devastated by this betrayal. This whole situation was getting weirder by the second. Wasn't he just here to hang out with a friend? Why was he suddenly supposed to be attacking the Raikage? How was any of this reasonable?
Dana just thought, Go nuts. If you can actually break his defense, I'll let you be the main character.
Seeing that there was no way out, and with A waiting in silence, the unspoken pressure mounted. Hiroto had no choice but to steel himself. He took a few deep breaths and then charged at the Third Raikage.
To Dana's eyes, the charge was clumsy but surprisingly powerful. It was strange to use the word "powerful" to describe a six or seven-year-old boy, but it was the truth.
Hiroto let out a war cry, but it was a bit premature. He'd lost most of his momentum by the time he reached the Raikage. He leaped up and threw a kick at A. The move had plenty of force, but it also left him wide open. Obviously, A wasn't going to exploit the opening to take him out in one hit. He just stood there, unmoving.
THWACK!
Hiroto felt like he had just kicked a solid wall. His opponent hadn't budged an inch, while he himself stumbled back. He quickly recovered and circled around to attack from the side, unleashing a flurry of wild, ineffective punches.
A remained motionless, but his brow furrowed. "No form at all. It seems this child has had no prior training."
Sensing A's disapproval, Hiroto grew anxious. He had only been in the village for a week and had just started at the Academy, but he didn't want the leader of the village to look down on him. How was he supposed to earn a fortune and give his family a better life if the Raikage thought he was a scrub?
Hiroto racked his brain. Besides the chakra basics, there was only one other thing his teacher had taught them. He quickly leaped back to create some distance and began to form hand seals. His fingers were clumsy, taking about three seconds for each seal. Luckily, the jutsu only required three.
Nearly ten seconds later:
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
A few feeble strands of lightning crawled across the ground towards A, fizzling out about ten feet in front of him.
The field fell silent. Hiroto panicked for a second, then walked forward about ten feet, repositioning himself so the Raikage was back in range. He then began the hand seals again.
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
Dana covered his face. This kid is a total goofball.
The second jutsu made it a little farther, managing to reach A's feet. It dealt grievous damage to the Raikage's hair, causing a few strands to flutter up, one of which was nearly lost entirely.
A C-rank lightning jutsu against the Raikage. Perfectly logical.
At least the Hidden Cloud was better than the Leaf in this regard. They didn't make their civilian-born ninja spend years learning only the three basic academy techniques, essentially marking them as future cannon fodder.
"Continue," A said coldly.
What he meant was, "Show me what else you've got." But the simple-minded boy misunderstood.
"Yes, sir! Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
Crackle. A few more of A's hairs danced in the air.
"..."
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
By the time Hiroto had launched his eighth Earth Runner, Dana couldn't hold it in any longer. Even A's face showed a flicker of surprise.
Whoa, whoa, whoa... Dana thought. I know the Uzumaki clan's name is practically synonymous with 'bottomless chakra,' but this is ridiculous! Is this even fair?
By his understanding, a kid this age should be able to manage one or two C-rank jutsu, tops. Even his prodigy of a brother, Arashi, could only manage six or seven at this age.
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
"Boar—Ram—Snake! Lightning Release: Earth Runner!"
Like a perpetual motion machine, Hiroto fired off a total of seventeen Earth Runners, costing A three whole strands of hair (which might have just fallen out naturally), before he finally started to show signs of fatigue.
Dana was numb.
How is this a balanced part of the world-building? Was the Land of Whirlpools destroyed by a divine punishment or something? Is that why there's no official explanation? Because the author couldn't write his way out of this mess?
Suddenly, A moved. He flashed to Hiroto's side and threw a whip-like kick. Seeing that the boy's reaction was slow, he pulled back most of his strength, waiting until Hiroto managed to raise a defensive block before his leg made contact with the boy's arm.
BAM!
Hiroto was sent flying, crashing hard against the training ground wall.
"Can you still get up, red-haired kid?!"
Hiroto's vision went black from the pain, but he gritted his teeth and pushed himself up. A had held back 99% of his strength, but it still hurt like hell. He wobbled to his feet, ready to charge in again.
Just then, a flash of silver shot past the edge of his vision. A figure seemed to materialize out of nowhere behind him.
WHAM!
Hiroto didn't have time to react, but A certainly did. He raised an arm to block a powerful kick that came flying in low to the ground.
"Good timing," A said.
"Well, you did say to come at you together," Dana replied with a grin, his leg still pressed against his father's arm. "So it's not technically a sneak attack."
In mid-air, Dana twisted his body and lashed out with his other leg. As he put force into the kick, silver arcs of electricity crackled from the sole of his foot with a loud hum.
The Third Raikage blocked the impressive-looking kick with a deadpan expression, then chopped down at Dana with his hand, mercilessly turning his fingers into a blade.
Dana reacted instantly, bringing his knee up to intercept the blow before A could put his full power into it. He used the force of the impact to push himself away, then quickly circled to the side and launched into a rapid-fire series of attacks.
As he moved, arcs of lightning flashed and crackled around him, leaving Hiroto staring, dumbfounded.
This was Dana's unique constitution. This condition—be it a cheat ability or a bloodline disease—had left him unable to use or store chakra. But it had also gifted him with unparalleled physical abilities and an electrical discharge he couldn't turn off.
In the ninja world, even taijutsu required the use of chakra. The entire profession revolved around it. The only ones who fought using pure physical strength were the samurai, who were made obsolete centuries ago. A modern samurai would be no stronger than a common civilian; even they used chakra now.
And yet, here was Dana, fighting with speed and power rivaling a trained ninja, using nothing but his own body.
And with every punch and kick, there was the added force of lightning.
This was why Dana was the treasured prize of the Yotsuki clan. This was why countless people were counting down the days until they could find him a wife.
His abilities were a match made in heaven for the Yotsuki's secret lightning-style techniques. It was hard not to believe that this was the Kekkei Genkai the clan had been developing through generations of training.
Many of the clan elders estimated that if Dana could ever be cured of his inability to store chakra—or if he could produce a healthy heir who inherited his abilities—then the baseline for this new bloodline would be an elite Jonin, with a potential far exceeding even the Third Raikage, the so-called "Strongest Raikage."
At this age, A had possessed nowhere near this level of monstrous physical talent.
The thought of a future where every Yotsuki was an elite Jonin and Raikage-level shinobi were commonplace made the old men of the clan practically drool. Every time they thought of it, they would get excited, wipe the drool from their chins, and continue their search for Dana's future formal wife, secondary wives, concubines, mistresses, handmaidens, and...
If someone were to rip Dana's shirt off during a fight, they would see his purple spine glowing faintly through his skin with every movement.
Back at the training ground, Dana and the Third Raikage exchanged a rapid series of blows.
Well, to be more accurate, the Raikage effortlessly deflected Dana's ferocious assault. Dana then leaped high into the air and brought his hand down in a powerful chop, channeling all his strength into the blow. Lightning flickered around his body.
"Not bad. You've gotten good at the Horizontal Dance of a Thousand Thunderous Torments," A said, blocking the attack with one hand and nodding in satisfaction.
"No, no, it was just a regular jump chop," Dana protested. "Please, do not use that ridiculous name."
Dana's fighting style was naturally based on the Yotsuki clan's nin-taijutsu, but since he had no chakra, it was just taijutsu. And considering that even taijutsu required chakra, what Dana did could only be described as... a set of moves. He refused to use his father's flashy naming conventions for his own attacks. In fact, besides his brother Arashi, no one else in the clan was that cringey.
"I'd rather just call it 'Thunder Jump Chop'."
Hiroto, watching from the sidelines, was completely floored.
His new friend was on a whole other level.
Born into a noble clan, the son of the Raikage, and an absolute beast in a fight...
Mom, he thought, my new friend is terrifying.