Chapter 47: Spinning Like a Top Driven by the Whip
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In Hyuga Ritsu's view, the Uchiha clan—suffering vigilance, wariness, and suppression from the village's upper echelon—were natural allies. Though admittedly, people from that clan all had some mental issues to varying degrees, nobody was perfect!
Moreover, the Uchiha clan respected strength above all.
As long as you were strong enough, you'd earn the Uchiha clan's respect.
However, Uchiha Shisui wasn't a good target for such communication. This Uchiha clan's number one genius and strongest fighter had been brainwashed by that Will of Fire nonsense. He stubbornly believed those old bastards occupying high positions represented Konoha.
To rally the Uchiha clan to resist those old bastards in the village's upper ranks, he'd need to find another suitable person to contact.
Ritsu committed this to memory.
Next, Uchiha Shisui, unable to sit idle, went up to help clean the battlefield and repair the defense line. Ritsu didn't bother with any of that. He began training in the earthen fort at the summit, single-mindedly researching the Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit.
Since using the Chimera Technique to seize Shikotsumyaku, he'd actually never relaxed his development of this bloodline limit. It was just that the time that had passed was ultimately too short, and during that brief period, there had truly been too many matters demanding his attention, leaving his development of Shikotsumyaku at a low level.
Of course, both Shikotsumyaku and Byakugan belonged to the type of bloodline limits with very high baseline capabilities. As long as you awakened the bloodline limit, you'd naturally master its inherent abilities. Diligent training simply expanded the depth of those abilities.
For example, when the Byakugan first awakened, most people's maximum vision range was about one kilometer. Afterward, through training, they'd gradually expand their field of vision bit by bit, but training wouldn't enable them to suddenly gain abilities they didn't originally possess.
Of course, Shikotsumyaku and Byakugan weren't entirely identical.
The Byakugan itself possessed no offensive capabilities—unlike the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, which was the progenitor of genjutsu. It could only function through coordination with techniques like the Gentle Fist style.
The Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit itself possessed both powerful offensive capabilities and defensive strength. However, Shikotsumyaku's inherent limitations lay right there—its solid material form and overly short attack range meant it lacked sufficient versatility. It couldn't develop the diverse variety of techniques like ninjutsu-type bloodline limits such as Wood Style, Magnet Style, Storm Style, Ice Style, and so on.
After all the analysis, Shikotsumyaku actually resembled Byakugan in needing to coordinate with taijutsu techniques to maximize its lethality.
However, nothing was absolute. There were always exceptions in this world.
Setting aside the All-Killing Ash Bones—that finishing move so distant it couldn't even be touched—Shikotsumyaku still had the Dance of the Seedling Fern as a signature technique. It broke through the limitation of overly short attack range, and when combined with the characteristic of solid material form, actually demonstrated extremely shocking lethality.
"The essence of Shikotsumyaku, at its core, is manipulating calcium element generation and density changes. But aside from the human body, soil is also rich in calcium. Generating such a vast bone forest using only chakra would consume too much. It should also utilize the calcium within the earth..."
"But how do I mobilize the calcium dispersed throughout the soil?"
Ritsu extended his hand, touching the cold stone beneath him, muttering to himself.
"Ritsu-senpai."
Ritsu didn't respond.
"Ritsu-senpai!"
Uchiha Shisui raised his voice.
Ritsu rolled his eyes somewhat impatiently, not even turning his head. "Shisui, what is it now?"
"Um, Ritsu-senpai, how much longer are we staying here?"
Uchiha Shisui looked somewhat helplessly at Ritsu sitting cross-legged on the stone, appearing quite troubled. This was already their fifth day at Stone Drum Mountain. Logically, after stabilizing the Stone Drum Mountain defense line and repelling the attacking Mist shinobi, they could return to the forward camp to report.
However, Ritsu insisted their mission hadn't ended yet. The Stone Drum Mountain defense line hadn't truly been secured. The original garrison had been decimated, leaving only those few remnant soldiers who absolutely couldn't hold Stone Drum Mountain. As soon as they left, one Mist charge would pierce through the defense line.
Therefore, Ritsu insisted on waiting until replacement troops arrived at Stone Drum Mountain before their mission could truly be considered complete.
"Has the replacement unit arrived?"
Ritsu asked.
"Not yet."
"Then what's the rush? Didn't we agree to return and report only after the Stone Drum Mountain defense line is completely stabilized?"
Ritsu remained perfectly composed, not anxious in the slightest.
Why rush back to the forward camp to report? So Aburame Torune could continue assigning him hard, exhausting, dangerous missions to "train" him?
That had no meaning whatsoever. Ritsu wasn't someone who'd trained behind closed doors for ten years with solid fundamentals but lacking combat experience. His battle experience was sufficiently rich—he didn't need combat to temper himself while hoping for some miraculous battlefield breakthrough.
What he needed were more diverse combat methods, more formidable techniques to overcome enemies.
At this moment, on Stone Drum Mountain's western slope, not only was Ritsu himself sitting on a stone exploring the calcium deeply hidden within the earth—looking around, over ten Ritsus were scattered across different positions, all conducting various experiments. Some attempted Water Style techniques, some tried Earth Style techniques, and in the furthest distance, two Ritsus leaned together molding spheres. These were all shadow clones Ritsu had created.
Speaking of which, Ritsu's chakra had originally been single Water affinity. But after seizing the Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit, it had become dual Water and Earth affinity, allowing him to research Earth Style techniques while studying Water Style.
In summary, Ritsu's thinking was: rather than rushing back to report and then being ordered about to execute new missions, it was better to drag things out and squeeze time to improve his own abilities.
After all, this type of mission had no clear time limit to begin with. It was just that most Konoha shinobi were honest and obedient like Uchiha Shisui, single-mindedly thinking that returning early to report would let them execute new missions and make greater contributions to the village, rather than thinking about whether they could spare time to rest.
"We said that before, but Ritsu-senpai, if the replacement troops never come, are we just going to guard here forever?"
"It's impossible they won't come, unless they're planning to abandon the Stone Drum Mountain defense line."
"That's not what I meant."
Uchiha Shisui's face was full of helplessness, his heart filled with the powerless feeling of having strength but being unable to use it. He didn't know how to persuade Ritsu to change his mind and return quickly to the forward camp to complete their report.
"I understand what you mean, Shisui. You think that you and I staying here is wasteful. We should be like tops, constantly spinning under the whip's lashing. That's your thinking, correct?"
Ritsu stood up, turned around, his eyes meeting Uchiha Shisui's gaze.
Before Shisui could say anything, Ritsu strode forward, passing by him and saying, "Congratulations, Shisui! The replacement troops have arrived. We can continue going to the most dangerous places for the village, risking our lives in combat, dancing like tops beneath the whip!"
The instant his words fell, all the Ritsus on the slope simultaneously disappeared with "poof" sounds into milky-white chakra. The walking Ritsu's movements stuttered slightly, swaying before steadying himself. Then, as if nothing had happened, he continued forward.
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