Chapter 28 : Little Lesson

Using the shadows and bushes of the forest to camouflage themselves, the three young ninjas surrounded Akeno, who stood still in the center of a small treeless clearing.

Akeno held the sword in his hand, and two small bells were attached to his belt.

As silence hung in the air, it was Kaede who emerged first from the forest shadows, rushing towards Akeno.

With her fist covered in chakra, Kaede was prepared to give it her all. Seeing the fist coming, Akeno didn't try to dodge but rather faced it head-on.

Using the flat of the blade, Akeno used the Qi in his body to cover the blade and prepared for the impact.

In the few seconds that Kaede emerged from the forest, Chikara, who was waiting his turn, rushed in the direction where Akeno was supposed to be propelled and began preparing his ninjutsu.

And as Kaede's fist reached the blade, Akeno was indeed propelled like a rocket towards the trees.

"Uzumaki blood, what a cheat!" murmured Akeno with a slight smile.

While Kaede had not yet evolved her body through cultivation and was only ten years old, she had the strength to propel him, a cultivator at the fifth level of cultivation, Organ Strengthening.

The Otsutsuki's chakra and descending blood are a cheat!

But as Akeno was propelled towards a tree, a powerful fireball was heading towards him.

Chikara, who had predicted Akeno's trajectory, had performed a fire jutsu in record time and was not going to let an opportunity like that pass.

Keeping a smile on his face, Akeno used Kaede's propulsion to increase his speed and focused on his sword to slice through the fire in front of him.

Using footwork technique, Akeno tripled his speed and disappeared almost before the eyes of the young ninjas. Only Izaya could somewhat see Akeno's movements thanks to his activated Byakugan.

Letting his Qi circulate through his body, Akeno used his Qi and all his strength to pass through the fire, whose heat didn't even reach him.

Chikara took advantage of Akeno's lack of visibility to arrive behind him with his tantō.

As Akeno prepared to turn around to parry the blade coming towards his neck, Izaya's hands appeared from under the ground beneath his feet, directly towards the bells.

"Well tried!" Jumping in a spinning motion, Akeno parried Chikara's blade with his sword and used his other hand to smash Izaya's head into the ground.

Under Akeno's force, Chikara was thrown several meters backwards, and Izaya simply ate dirt where he had emerged.

Walking among the three ninjas, Akeno seemed calm and relaxed. "Come on, my young brothers, I know you can do better than that."

Akeno wasn't going to beat them up; the goal was only to show what he was capable of and to gauge the strength of his young proteges. Thus, Akeno preferred to wait for the others to act rather than attack. At least, for now...

As Kaede watched her comrades easily get taken down, she concentrated her chakra to form two adamantine chains behind her. Izaya adopted a firm stance, palms forward in the Juken posture, while Chikara prepared to deploy any jutsu.

Seeing this view, Akeno was incredibly surprised, especially by Kaede. "So you've already mastered this technique..."

Adamantine Sealing Chains...

This technique was unique to the Uzumaki, composed of chakra, and could even control Kurama, the Nine-Tails, the most powerful Tailed Beast after the Ten-Tails. Its power was terrifying and a cheat at all levels.

Akeno didn't know to what extent Kaede had mastered this technique, but one thing was certain: if he were caught by her chains, it would be the end for him.

The chains were attached to Kaede's back and seemed to have a life of their own, moving as if by telekinesis.

"It seems that facing ninjas as well-qualified as you, I really have to give it my all."

"It was time to show himself," Akeno thought.

And in a periodic rhythm, a sound of beating emanated from Akeno's body. The pulsations resonated in the air, making the atmosphere between the two camps even more tense.

Boom boom

Boom boom

"My dear brothers and sisters, I will now show you the true power of someone who has reached Organ Strengthening."

BANG!

As the three young ninjas waited for their opponent's next move, Akeno disappeared before their eyes.

"Chikara, behind you!" shouted Izaya, who had managed to see where Akeno had appeared.

It wasn't a teleportation or ninja instant movement technique. It was just pure speed.

"When one reaches Bone Reinforcement, our bones are so reinforced that when we activate 100% of our strength, our bones make explosive sounds, and when we reach Organ Strengthening, blood can flow much faster through our bodies, thus increasing our reflexes, vision, strength... And just like our bones, our heart produces a drum sound that can be heard by everyone," Akeno surprised Chikara, not forgetting to lecture them.

Parrying Chikara's blade coming horizontally, Akeno didn't even move an inch, just watching the children regain their composure and attack him from all sides.

Bang!

While the adamantine chains were about to capture him, Akeno used his speed again to disappear and reappear where he had been just before appearing behind Chikara.

The wind was gentle, and only Akeno's heartbeats and the ninjas' breaths could be heard.

The scene, although tense, remained peaceful from an outsider's perspective.

Seeing that he wasn't moving, Chikara, Izaya, and Kaede gathered to brace themselves for another possible attack. Thus gathered, they were preparing to try once again to obtain those cursed bells.

The training was only just beginning.

...

After several hours of continuous fighting, the three young ninjas collapsed to the ground, sweating and gasping for breath.

Akeno stood a little breathless beside them. Although not physically exhausted, after several hours of using movements that utilized 100% of his strength, his Qi reserves were almost empty.

With still his two bells on his belt, Akeno had a new view of his little siblings.

Running on trees, hidden under the earth, with flawless perception, Chikara, Izaya, and Kaede had cooperated perfectly throughout the training and had shown unmatched prowess compared to what he had seen in the manga for children their age.

Certainly, the war had given them a much harsher environment.

The feats they had demonstrated could easily qualify them to fight cultivators at the third level, Qi Refinement, and fell just short of those at the fourth level, Bone Reinforcement.

Akeno was delighted and confident that their strength would easily reach new heights after they learned to master Qi.

"Well, I think a break is in order. You've been impressive; I didn't imagine you could have such advanced teamwork in such a short time," said Akeno.

Kaede and Chikara, who were struggling to breathe, didn't bother to respond, but Izaya, who felt a certain disappointment at this defeat, seemed more than disappointed with his performance.

Even with his Byakugan, he couldn't follow Akeno's movements, only being the fastest to see where he appeared.

Without speed, he could do nothing.

"...ha ha... Qi... when will we be able to use it too?" asked Izaya.

They could always perfect their ninja techniques, but without Qi, they couldn't do anything more at their age. In Izaya's view, this question was becoming more and more urgent.

"Very soon. From tomorrow onwards, I will recruit the three remaining members of our little group, and we can dedicate our time to obtaining Qi for you and chakra for me," said Akeno.

"Do you even have any idea how to do it?" asked Izaya, somewhat lacking confidence in his words.

Arms crossed, Akeno gave his young brothers a mysterious smile. Looking confident, he replied with certainty, "Not the slightest idea."

"The Palm of Hakke!" in fury, Izaya gathered the last of his strength for one final attack towards the one who seemed to be royally making fun of him!

...

*** Glory City ***

In the inner courtyard of the Liu clan, a team of about twenty people was gathered in front of the clan patriarch.

With straight backs, immaculately white clothes, without a single wrinkle, and serious faces, his various men and women were part of the clan's elite, awaiting the patriarch's next orders.

They all had one thing in common. They were all at the sixth level of cultivation, Muscle Purification.

Most of them were over sixty and didn't have much chance of reaching the stage of rebirth, but their experience was all the greater.

In this silence, beside the patriarch, Liu Mei, who was waiting for the next directives, waited calmly while thinking about her goals.

The Liu clan had to become stronger, and more quickly. Today, she and the members of the clan in front of her had to leave for Hope City and then cross the border into the Empire of Chaos.

It was a most dangerous mission, but she knew its stakes.

For her clan, for her family, she feared no challenges, no obstacles.