Chap 27 - The Girls' Training (3) and Senjutsu Training.

While one of the clones trained with Morgiana, the other clone followed Mikoto deep into the rainforest that surrounded Uzushio.

" Mikoto, how do you feel about training your strong point? "

Hearing Ryuuji(c)'s words, Mikoto stopped walking and turned around.

" Do you think this will be enough for me to break this barrier I'm facing in my strength? You know, since my Sharingan evolved into Three Tomoe, I haven't felt a huge improvement in my strength. "

" Don't worry too much about it, Mikoto. "

Ryuuji(c) created some arrows with his Solar Chakra and let them move in a circular motion behind his body.

" In the last year you've only focused on perfecting what you were already very good at, like Fire Release and Genjutsus. Your next training will focus on strengthening your body, your Taijutsu and most importantly, your Sharingan's perceptive capabilities. "

With Mikoto's intellectual level, it didn't take long for the black-haired woman to realize what Ryuuji(c) meant by improving her Sharingan's visual perception.

" Come on, Mikoto, activate the Red Devils' Seal's gravity control function and increase the gravity around you. I'll warn you, you better use 100% of your talent, because these arrows will really hurt you. "

The young girl from the Uchiha Clan's beautiful face turned slightly pale.

" Clone-kun, do you have a problem with me? Why am I the only one who needs a mortal training? "

Ryuuji(c) smiled and pointed his forefinger in Mikoto's direction.

" Your Sharingan will only improve if you go through life or death situations, so don't complain. "

With a thought, Ryuuji(c) sent an arrow towards Mikoto, at a speed that bordered the speed of sound.

The black haired beauty widened her eyes and shifted her body slightly to the side, dodging the arrow that flew towards her shoulder.

" Clone-kun, I didn't say I was ready! "

Mikoto dodged another arrow and started to run away from Ryuuji(c).

" Of course you didn't, Mikoto. Enemies won't ask about you being ready or not. "

Mikoto cursed under her breath and continued backing away from Ryuuji(c), forcing her body to adapt to the increased gravity covering her, as well as improving her Sharingan's eye ability with each shot fired at her.

…

Two hours later, Ryuuji(c) felt that Mikoto couldn't go on any longer and stopped shooting.

In just two hours, Ryuuji(c)'s shots needed to exceed the speed of sound a few times to really send a sense of danger to Mikoto.

Ryuuji(c) walked slowly towards Mikoto, who was lying on the rainforest floor with a golden arrow stuck in her left calf and right shoulder.

" Clone-kun, you have the same personality as the original, right? "

" You're right, Mikoto. Why the question? "

Mikoto let a mocking laugh escape her lips before replying:

" Why? You know, the original always treated me so kindly. I never imagined that I would be attacked with such intent to kill by an exact copy of him! "

Ryuuji(c) shook his head negatively.

" Don't think from that perspective, Mikoto. Think that if I go easy on your training, you won't be as strong as you could be and that's dangerous. Unless, of course, you wanted to be protected by the original all your life. "

Mikoto shook her head.

" Although I like being protected by Ryuuji, I don't want to depend on him for everything. I was just venting my anger. Now I'm ready to continue, Clone-kun. "

" Very good. If it's any consolation, seeing you hurt like this also breaks my heart. I'm sure the Original would destroy me with his heat vision if he saw your current state. "

As Mikoto laughed as she imagined Ryuuji angrily destroying his own clone, said clone reached out and with a burst of chakra, healed her body completely, as well as regaining her chakra.

Feeling Ryuuji's golden chakra (c) rejuvenating her body, Mikoto jumped up from the ground and moved again, hiding her presence among the trees.

" It's good to see you're so excited, because we're going to pick up the pace! "

With a burst of chakra, Ryuuji(c) created a clone and together, the two went after Mikoto while shooting projectiles at her from all directions.

…

Ryuuji held onto Kushina's body, who simply gave in to extreme fatigue and passed out after nearly twelve hours of uninterrupted extreme training.

A few moments later, two clones appeared beside him as they carried Mikoto and Morgiana, who were also exhausted.

Ryuuji waved at his clones, who disappeared and left the original to deal with the fainted girls.

Ryuuji noticed that the girls' bodies were completely worn out and with a burst of his innate healing chakra, he repaired their bodies to the peak again.

Of course, mental fatigue isn't something that can be cured that easily, so the three of them stayed asleep. Ryuuji had to use his golden chains to carry the girls to their mother, who is sure to have finished her training.

…

After leaving the girls with Benihime and Mito, Ryuuji prepared to start his own training.

He was currently suffering from a bottleneck, caused by his own age. But he already knew how to keep getting stronger even though he was limited by his young body.

Ryuuji shaped his chakra and slammed his hand to the ground. A cloud of smoke covered his body as he disappeared from his current location.

…

Arriving in a large swamp, Ryuuji released his senses to find the boss there.

Before Ryuuji could find Kurowani, the water below him began to bubble and a few moments later, a large blue crocodile appeared.

" Ryuuji-sama. Welcome to our home. Kurowani-sama asked me to take you to him. "

" Thanks. I'll be right behind you. "

" Ryuuji-sama, you're going to need to dive, so don't let me out of your sight. "

Ryuuji smiled and nodded at the big crocodile. The summoning animal dove and Ryuuji, after covering his body with a strong force field, slowly flew after it.

A normal person would certainly get lost trying to follow the giant animal thanks to the dark waters of the swamp, but Ryuuji was not a normal person.

The red-haired boy could see through the dark water as clearly as the very animals that lived in it. He wasn't even getting wet while diving.

After a ten-minute "dive", Ryuuji entered a small submerged island, covered by an air bubble.

By placing his foot on "firm land", Ryuuji canceled his force field and walked to the center of the small island. The big crocodile that guided him to the spot was slightly surprised, but quickly ignored it and walked away.

" Ryuuji-sama, have you finally decided to start your Senjutsu training? "

Seeing the small bipedal crocodile walking towards him, Ryuuji nodded.

" Exactly, Kurowani. I'm having a hard time getting stronger and something tells me that learning to control Natural Energy can help me. "

" Very well, follow me. I'll take you to the place where we train Senjutsu. "

After walking for a few minutes with Kurowani, Ryuuji arrived at a pool of mud, which looked more like a pool of acid because of the bubbles that covered the surface.

" To become a Senjutsu master, the first step is felling the Natural Energy around you and if you dive into that pool, you can do that very easily. "

" Is it just diving? Won't you give me some cautionary notice? "

Kurowani gave an amused laugh and jumped on Ryuuji's shoulder, wrapping his long tail around the red-haired boy's right bicep.

" You're our summoner, so I'll certainly not let anything bad happen to you. Now, stop curling up and dive into the mud! "

Ryuuji raised his arms in surrender, showing the little crocodile that he understood.

Ryuuji started to take off his clothes and quickly jumped into the mud pool.

" Now you need to feel the volatile energy that will invade your body and try to balance it with the physical and spiritual energy that makes up your chakra. "

Ryuuji replied with an "hum" and closed his eyes.

After having his body covered by the special mud, it didn't take even a minute for the Natural Energy around the place to start converging on his body.

Ryuuji used his perfect control over his chakra to force natural energy to his desires and with that, he could balance the three energies in his body, but for just a second.

Even after achieving the perfect balance of 1:1:1, the natural energy kept invading his body and broke his balance. Ryuuji felt a tug on his forearm and opened his eyes.

Seeing the scales that grew on his arm, Ryuuji was slightly curious.

Unfortunately for him, Kurowani didn't wait for him to satisfy his curiosity and quickly used his tail to draw the natural energy out of Ryuuji's body.

" You can't lose concentration, Ryuuji-sama. The best way to learn to control natural energy is to become one with nature, which humans are terrible at. Carry on and take your time."

Ryuuji didn't correct the little crocodile and closed his eyes again.

…

The red-haired boy did the same process dozens of times in less than an hour and each time, he became more proficient at controlling the natural energy within his body.

" Kurowani, take your tail off my arm. I think I'll make it now, but I need the sense of danger as a motivator. "

Kurowani did as Ryuuji asked and the redhead went back to absorbing natural energy.

A minute later, Ryuuji managed to balance the three energies in his body, causing small square red scale-like shapes to appear on the sides of his face.

In the next minute, Ryuuji forced out the natural energy that was trying to forcefully invade his body.

Kurowani, seeing that Ryuuji was able to access Sage Mode with just an hour of training, let out a sigh.

" You really are a genius, Ryuuji-sama. "

The corners of Ryuuji's lips turned up slightly, but he remained focused.

Kurowani noticed that Ryuuji was not fully in sync with nature and spoke in a teaching tone:

" You may be a genius, but you still have a lot to learn. "

As if it was a curse from Kurowani, as soon as his words rang in Ryuuji's ears, the natural energy went out of the redhead's control and invaded his system.

In the next instant, Ryuuji's skin took on a scaly texture and his fangs grew to the point of escaping his mouth.

Ryuuji tried to use his chakra to suppress the volatile energy, but to do so, he would need to unleash his Strength of a Hundred Seal, which he didn't want to do without it being extremely necessary.

Kurowani, seeing the situation, whipped the red-haired boy with his tail, absorbing the excess natural energy.

" Come on boy, keep trying. We have all the time of the world. "

" Certainly. "