The bold boy downed the drink in one go, only to hear the old man's voice say, "That’s fine, you’re not actually drinking sake. It’s poison.” Ryota's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Uzu, whose wrinkled face wore a cruel expression. Annoyed, Ryota clicked his tongue, but he could already feel a strange numbness starting to take hold. It began as a tingling sensation on his tongue and slowly spread inward. He wanted to scream, but he stayed quiet. His gaze turned icy, and his attitude shifted to a more serious tone, yet all he did was scold himself for letting his guard down, just because he had met this man a few times.
His limbs felt… off. They were heavy and unresponsive as if he were trying to move through quicksand. The word "noodly" popped into his mind, and he found it oddly amusing amidst the fog clouding his thoughts. He struggled to concentrate, trying to understand his dire situation. Poisoned. Being hunted. By his own master, after he had agreed to work for him... “There are six other soldiers in this room with me,” Uzu's voice echoed around Ryota, “Find me.”
Suddenly, a masked ANBU member emerged from the shadows and swept Ryota's feet out from under him. He crashed onto the hard ground, the air knocked out of him. Before he could even feel the pain, the ANBU disappeared back into the darkness, leaving Ryota gasping and disoriented. More figures appeared, flickering at the edges of his vision. It was a hit-and-run tactic. A kick to his ribs, a punch to his jaw, and a sharp sting as a kunai grazed his arm. They were using him for target practice, pushing his limits, trying to provoke him. This pain felt like nothing compared to what he had experienced before.
His vision blurred, and his arms felt heavy as if they were made of lead. He struggled to keep track of the movements of his unseen attackers. Each strike hit him with increased intensity, sending waves of pain through his already numb body. He attempted to fight back, swinging his arms wildly, but his sluggish movements were easily dodged. He realized he was losing. The poison coursing through him, combined with the relentless assault, was too much to handle. His thoughts became increasingly disjointed, slipping away like grains of sand.
He shut his eyes, forcing himself to breathe and regain his focus. A voice within him began to whisper to Ryota, not as a threat but as a challenge. "You are capable of more than you think, Ryota. Release what you keep hidden, and you will discover your true power."
What he kept hidden… For years, it had been buried deep. The technique he had avoided using, warned against by his spirit unless necessary. He concentrated on his chakra, not the sluggish, poisoned flow, but the raw, wild energy that lay dormant within him. He had held it back, afraid of its potential and the price it might demand. But now, he had nothing to lose. A frightened yet fearless version of himself emerged something he had never experienced before.
He tapped into that energy, channeling it and letting it surge forth. An Elemental Shockwave radiated outward, causing the air around him to shimmer. The temperature dropped slightly, and touching anything would result in a static shock. In the brief moments he lay there, taking hit after hit, he activated his Byakugan and his Jinchuriki, revealing them only at the last possible moment. If this was how Uzu intended to betray him, then he would respond in kind, standing tall in the full transformation of his elemental manifestation.
The shadows wavered. His attackers, caught off guard by the unexpected change, halted their strikes. Ryota opened his eyes, which shone with an eerie, golden light, his pupils resembling those of a cat. Although his muscles still felt numb, they also felt…different. Energized.
He moved not with the clumsy, unsteady gait of someone poisoned, but with a speed and accuracy he had never experienced before. The closest ANBU member, cloaked in mystery, barely had time to react before Ryota was upon him. In a swift motion, he dashed toward the ANBU who had first knocked him down, landing a hit before quickly retreating to avoid a counterattack. The ANBU let out a muffled cry of pain through his mask. Before he could strike back, Ryota lunged forward again, slamming his shoulder into the ANBU's chest and sending him crashing into a wall with a sickening thud.
Ryota didn’t allow them a moment to regroup. He moved like a storm, a blur of fierce energy. Though still weakened and poisoned, the power surging through him gave him an advantage, a ferocity he had never realized he had. To make matters more intense, he was in sage mode... Monkey. He had played all his cards. He wasn’t winning yet, but he was holding his ground. He was fighting back. The tide was shifting, even if just a little, in his favor.
His next target was revealed by the earlier elemental shockwave, and he landed multiple hits on the chakra points. With the Eight Trigrams 16 Palm Strike, Ryota was playing ruthlessly... There was a high chance of causing serious injury and immobilizing his opponent. He knew he had at least sprained something in this man. Yet, the numbness still threatened to overwhelm him. His mind struggled to form clear thoughts. But with every strike, every block, and every surge of energy, he felt a flicker of hope ignite within the frozen void of his being. He could find his master.
He would find Uzu. And he would make him pay. The ga
me was far from over. It had only just begun.
