Chapter 22: Super Assembly!
Right fist clenched at his waist, left pinky and ring finger curled, the other three fingers held straight—this was the Ishanatena Seal.
In the past, this was the necessary hand seal for Hiiro Rinko to activate his Domain Expansion. Now, for him who had lost his past Cursed Techniques, this hand seal's meaning had changed.
It was now a suggestion.
A 'suggestion' to release the limiters on his Chakra refinement.
To fully experience every minute detail of Chakra flowing through his body's pathways and tenketsu, Rinko had, until now, only refined the minimum amount of Chakra—barely enough to perform a single circulation.
How should the left hand circulate it? How long should it pause at the lungs? How should it stimulate the feet? In what way should the Chakra spread through the tenketsu in the back? To what degree can vision be enhanced...
Ever since learning how to refine Chakra, he had been tirelessly repeating these tests.
Test, adjust, increase the Chakra amount. Test, optimize, adjust, increase the Chakra amount again... After testing his current Chakra ceiling, Rinko began to periodically adjust his refinement volume.
One reason was to adapt his body to different Chakra levels; the other was to deliberately preserve his spiritual and physical energies for various other experiments.
Though he had no results to show for it yet, when did an experiment ever produce a quick conclusion?
But right now, having a satisfying fight was clearly more important.
Chakra, fully released.
"I have to do this, or it's no fun, geniuses!"
His words were tinged with a near-manic glee. What assaulted the senses, as fierce as the sword-like words piercing their eardrums, was the figure that tore straight through the wave of flame, his entire body reflecting a fiery red.
"Yes, yes, yes! Show me more, more interesting techniques!"
Compared to the thrown-back Rasa and Pakura, Rinko, who had stomped a deep footprint into the training ground to propel himself forward, was several times faster.
The Chakra emitting from his fists looked like a blazing blue aura, leaving two conspicuous trails in the air as he moved. The ignited hem of his clothes scattered embers, which were then promptly extinguished by the wind pressure of his charge.
BOOM!!!
A foot-stomp so heavy that everyone could hear it rang out. Rinko twisted his body, stepped—toe, ankle, knee, hip, waist, shoulder, elbow, wrist—the momentum of his charge passed through each joint, rotating and converting, until it was all poured into the tip of his limb.
Into the open palm of his hand, four fingers held tight.
"I won't let you!"
The alliance that had been using combination ninjutsu just a moment ago instantly collapsed. Pakura, with Rasa at her back to brace her, quickly twisted, grabbed the collar of the person behind her, and spun him in front. She then pushed off with both feet, kicking Rasa toward Rinko while simultaneously retreating to gain distance.
Six hand seals were completed in an instant, and the light of the Great Fireball once again bloomed on the training field!
"Tch!"
Rasa, his expression even sourer, was not about to just sit and die.
A single hand seal, and his figure vanished with a poof!. In his place was a ragged wooden log, which was immediately blasted into splinters by Rinko's palm strike.
This was one of the Three Basic Jutsu: the Body Replacement Jutsu (Kawarimi no Jutsu).
"Heh. Just as I thought. How interesting~"
Seeing this, Rinko raised an eyebrow with great interest. A soft chuckle, and his figure was swallowed by the explosion of the Great Fireball.
"!"
This entire series of events happened in just a few seconds. The vast majority of the students couldn't tell what had happened at all; they just cried out in alarm at the flashy ninjutsu.
Karura, who was noticeably more perceptive than the other students, was much more nervous. Seeing Rinko take a direct hit from the Great Fireball, she instantly clutched her sleeves.
Misawa-sensei's expression also grew serious. The current situation had clearly exceeded the normal standards for first-year Academy students.
If this were just a one-on-one spar between Rasa and Pakura, it would have already reached the point of getting overheated, and it would be time for him to stop the match.
However...
'That child's Chakra… it's outstanding even among Genin...'
Even though he wasn't a Sensor-type and couldn't pinpoint other shinobi from a distance or perceive the minute traces of Chakra flow like Rinko, at this close range, Misawa could feel his Chakra had suddenly swelled by several times.
Thinking of Rinko's performance earlier, Misawa decided to wait and see a little longer.
Sure enough, the smoke and flames from the explosion had barely risen before they were cut to pieces by several slashes.
Then, Rinko's figure, surrounded by several streams of faint green light, emerged from within.
Pakura, who had thought she'd taken him out and had already re-engaged Rasa, tilted her head to study his figure.
Never mind being covered in soot, he was completely unscathed.
"Ah—That's ENOUGH!"
Pakura's shoulders slumped, her expression one of resignation.
After all, when she sparred with Rasa, they were evenly matched, with wins and losses on both sides. Today, they were forced to team up, and even now, they had achieved nothing.
She thought two Great Fireballs would decide the match, but not only had she exhausted her usable Chakra, her opponent seemed completely unharmed except for a few singed clothes.
It wasn't that Pakura couldn't accept defeat, but to be so completely crushed by a peer—as someone who held a bit of a genius's pride—she couldn't help but feel frustrated.
"A man who clings on like this is really annoying!"
A dozen shuriken were thrown at Rinko along with her complaint. This was clearly Pakura's last stash.
"Not at all. A battle is just a matter of who is still standing after all the punching and kicking, isn't it?"
The pale green streams of light moved through the air like living things, blocking every single shuriken. It was only then that Pakura saw clearly: those streams of light seemed to be... barrier fragments.
Her tricks exhausted, and feeling that any further struggle was meaningless, Pakura sat down in exhaustion, signaling her surrender.
"What is that stuff? Your Kekkei Genkai?"
She was, however, very curious about the barriers Rinko was manipulating. It seemed he had relied on this to escape the Great Fireball unharmed.
And his 'impossible' movements from before... they must have been achieved using this as well.
"It's just Barrier Jutsu (Kekkaijutsu). With a few adjustments, it can be changed into this easy-to-manipulate form. See? Like building blocks."
The pale green, glowing barriers, under Rinko's control, assembled into a long staff, which he caught in his hand.
"It's convenient, but it has almost no weight. The balance is just weird."