Chapter 56: Body Flicker and Shave
Another ten days passed.
In the secluded valley hidden from the village, beneath the cascading waterfall, three figures moved like dancers across the water's surface. They fought and intertwined in an elaborate choreography of attack and defense.
Swish swish swish!
One tall figure and one short figure surrounded the silver-haired youth in the center. Their slender, jade-like palms shot out like arrows, aiming for various tenketsu points across his body. Each strike carried piercing palm wind, showing no mercy despite the training context.
Ryuzen faced their assault with eyes closed, seemingly unconcerned.
When their palms were still ten centimeters from his body, his red eyes snapped open. Light flashed in their depths.
His feet pressed against the water. He took a single step—slow, almost casual.
Hinata and Hanabi's attacks passed through empty space where he had been standing.
THUD! THUD!
Before they could register their surprise, force exploded against their abdomens. Ryuzen's feet had struck them simultaneously—one after the other in such rapid succession it seemed like a single motion—sending them skidding backward across the water.
Their bare feet carved long ripples across the surface before they finally stopped. When they looked up, both pairs of pure white eyes shone with joy.
Hinata walked toward him, surprise evident in her voice. "Ryuzen-kun! Did you succeed?"
"Ryuzen-nii!" Hanabi's admiration was less restrained. "Was that short-range Body Flicker? That was amazing!"
Ryuzen glanced down at his right foot, where weighted training gear was still attached. His expression showed dissatisfaction rather than pleasure.
"One success in ten attempts. That's far from success."
He looked up, meeting their eyes. "Doing it occasionally isn't enough. I need to reach the point where I can do it every time—effortlessly, instinctively."
Short-range instantaneous movement—what Ryuzen called "micro-body flicker"—had become his next training priority.
After his battle with Uchiha Itachi, he had spent over a month simulating the fight in his mind countless times. He had analyzed every exchange, every possible variable, every scenario where Itachi used his Mangekyō Sharingan abilities.
The results were sobering.
If Itachi held back—if he didn't use his ultimate techniques—the battle was roughly fifty-fifty.
But in a true life-or-death struggle?
Ryuzen's chance of dying exceeded eighty-five percent.
And that eighty-five percent already accounted for Itachi's terminal illness and the physical toll of using Mangekyō abilities. Without those factors, the probability would be even higher.
Beyond his sword skills and two types of Haki, Ryuzen's speed was merely average by Kage-level standards. Against true taijutsu specialists, it was downright inadequate.
Long-range Body Flicker was acceptable—he had enough time to build momentum and charge. But short-range teleportation, the kind needed to dodge attacks at the last second or close distance instantly?
During the invasion a month ago, he had entered that state once. Just once. In the heat of battle, when his killing intent had reached its peak, he had moved in ways he couldn't replicate since.
Nine out of ten attempts failed.
Speed. It was the flaw that, in his simulations against Itachi, consistently led to his death.
Amaterasu was particularly problematic. In theory, the black flames were nearly inescapable. In the original timeline, they almost never killed anyone—but that was plot armor, not realistic combat analysis. In reality, those flames never extinguished. Unless you had Orochimaru's substitution techniques or Izanagi's reality rewriting, getting hit meant losing the affected body part at minimum.
The Fourth Raikage had chosen to sever his own arm rather than let the flames spread. That was the fate of anyone touched by Amaterasu.
Including Ryuzen.
If only I had talent in ninjutsu.
But he didn't. Or rather, he had wasted whatever potential he might have had by focusing entirely on swordsmanship from childhood. His chakra control was excellent, but his actual jutsu repertoire was embarrassingly limited.
The Body Flicker Technique itself required chakra burst—instantaneous release to propel the body forward. For movements measured in half meters, the timing was incredibly tight. The margin for error was almost zero.
Six or seven times out of ten, he failed completely.
That was why he trained on water. That was why he trained with weights. If he could succeed consistently on an unstable surface while burdened, succeeding on solid ground would be easy.
Thus far, one success in ten attempts.
He wasn't satisfied.
Of course, Ryuzen had considered alternative solutions.
In the spiritual world of his inheritance template, he had witnessed countless swordsman masters who had crossed blades with Mihawk. Among them, more than five had mastered Shave—the Navy's signature movement technique. He understood the theory: kick the ground ten times or more in an instant, using the explosive force to propel yourself at impossible speeds.
But the physical gap between worlds was significant.
The One Piece world was an ocean world. Its biology, its environment, its very nature produced humans with fundamentally different physical potential. Even ignoring the giants—who were born destroyers—ordinary humans in that world grew stronger, faster, more durable than their Naruto counterparts.
Shave wasn't just a technique. It was a skill that required superhuman physical condition to even attempt.
For now, trying to learn it was wishful thinking.
So Ryuzen continued refining his Body Flicker. Continued failing. Continued trying again.
Seeing his furrowed brow, Hinata misinterpreted his expression as frustration. She moved closer, her voice gentle with reassurance.
"Ryuzen-kun, it's okay. We still have plenty of time. We're still in the stage of rapid growth—this flaw will definitely be overcome someday."
Hanabi nodded vigorously beside her. "Yeah! Ryuzen-nii, in Hanabi's eyes, you're already the strongest!"
Their voices pulled Ryuzen from his calculations.
He looked at gentle Hinata, then at Hanabi with her devoted fangirl expression. Despite himself, a smile tugged at his lips.
"Don't worry. I'm not bothered by any of this."
Three more months, he decided silently. If I still have no talent for Body Flicker by then... I'll focus entirely on improving my physique and switch to Shave.
The decision made, he pushed the matter aside for now.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
He glanced toward the forest on the right bank, where trees cast deep shadows. His Kenbunshoku Haki had detected something—someone.
"Hinata. Hanabi." His voice was calm but carried authority. "Go to the shore and cover yourselves."
The two sisters looked down at themselves. Their training clothes, soaked through from water walking, clung revealingly to their bodies. From close range, even the details of their undergarments were visible.
Understanding dawned. Hinata's face flushed. Even Hanabi's cheeks colored slightly.
"Mm."
They trusted his perception completely. Without question, they walked to the shore and retrieved the dry clothes waiting there.
Not long after, a figure emerged from the forest.
He wore an ANBU mask—a cat design, white with red markings. His face was invisible, but his chakra signature identified him as a jōnin-level operative.
The ANBU appeared directly before Ryuzen, his movement speed impressive. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but clear:
"Yagyu Ryuzen. The Fifth Hokage summons you."
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