Chapter 29 (Patreon)

Thud!

Lee’s foot struck Sasuke squarely in the face, sending him flying backward with a look of disbelief.

“How is that possible? Even with the Sharingan...” Sakura stared at Lee in shock.

“Damn it! I still can’t see through it?” Sasuke hit the floor, his Sharingan fixed on Lee. “Then his technique is...”

“That’s right. I’m not using ninjutsu or genjutsu. This is pure taijutsu!”

Lee rushed forward again, landing another solid blow on Sasuke.

“Even if your Sharingan can follow my movements, your body isn’t fast enough to respond!”

That was the problem. Sasuke’s eyes could keep up. His body couldn’t.

If Sasuke, with his Sharingan, represented natural talent, then Lee represented relentless hard work.

And right now, hard work was winning.

Unwilling to accept it, Sasuke charged again.

Lee kicked him into the air once more.

Lee, could you stop aiming for his face?!

Watching from a short distance away, Naruto was beginning to worry. At this rate, Sasuke’s face would swell beyond recognition—and Naruto certainly didn’t know any miraculous technique that could punch it back into shape.

“Sasuke!”

Sakura ran forward and caught him as he came down.

His face was filled with frustration and despair. He had thought awakening his Sharingan would make him strong enough to defeat Bushy Brow.

Instead, nothing had changed.

“Why? Why is this happening?!”

Sasuke clenched his fists and slammed one against the floor.

“I can’t beat Naruto, and now I can’t even beat this guy!”

Lee turned away from his defeated opponent and looked at Naruto.

“Are you the Naruto Sasuke was talking about?”

“That’s me.” Naruto nodded.

Lee’s expression turned serious.

He hadn’t expected so much talent among this year’s rookies. Someone even stronger than their top graduate had been standing right here all along.

“I want to challenge you properly,” Lee said. “For that, I’ll use my forbidden technique!”

He had barely finished speaking when a puff of smoke erupted nearby.

Might Guy appeared atop his summoned tortoise.

His eyebrows were even thicker than Lee’s, his bowl cut even more severe, and somehow he looked even stranger.

Sasuke and Sakura stared, speechless. Even Naruto, who knew exactly who Guy was, found the sight difficult to take in.

Konoha’s Green Beast, huh? To think a monster like Kisame would one day lose to this man...

Guy looked at Lee and smiled.

Then his expression abruptly changed.

His fist sent Lee flying.

A moment later, he was embracing his student, tears streaming down his face as he cried out.

“Lee! How could you even think of using a forbidden technique so carelessly?!”

“S-Sensei, I... Sensei!”

“This is youth!”

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura could only gape at the pair.

Sasuke stared blankly.

“I got beaten by someone like that...”

After a while, Guy finally noticed the three watching him.

“Are you three Kakashi’s students?”

Naruto made a face, while Sasuke answered.

“Yes. You know Kakashi?”

“Know him? We’re eternal rivals! That’s what everyone calls us!”

Guy struck another pose, his teeth flashing as he smiled.

For a moment, he seemed lost in memories of racing Kakashi beneath the setting sun—the days of their youth.

“That can’t be true!” Sasuke and Sakura said together.

Neither could imagine this eccentric man being Kakashi’s equal.

Only Naruto knew that Guy’s strength went far beyond what they could imagine. In taijutsu, he was on an entirely different level from Kakashi.

“Well, I’ll let you see for yourselves!” Guy declared.

His voice still seemed to be coming from in front of them, but he was already standing behind all three.

Sasuke and Sakura froze in astonishment.

Naruto’s eyes lit up.

Could taijutsu make that much of a difference?

Of course it could.

He had enormous chakra reserves and powerful techniques at his disposal, but a ninja who couldn’t hold his own at close range was still vulnerable.

If someone like Guy or the Raikage caught him by surprise, he might be killed before he had a chance to react.

Even Madara, with all the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, possessed formidable taijutsu.

And after watching Lee land one punishing blow after another on Sasuke, Naruto wanted to improve his close-combat skills more than ever.

He turned toward Guy with a smile.

“What should we call you, sensei?”

“I’m Might Guy, Konoha’s Sublime Green Beast!”

Guy gave him a thumbs-up, his white teeth gleaming.

“Then could you teach me taijutsu?” Naruto asked hopefully. “I think you’re better at it than Kakashi-sensei. I’d like to learn from you.”

“Naruto, you...”

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him in surprise. Neither thought it was appropriate to ask so openly.

“Hm?”

Guy gave Naruto an odd look as well.

He could be eccentric, but he wasn’t foolish. He understood the awkward position Naruto’s request put him in.

“That... might not be a good idea. Kakashi’s my friend, after all.”

He hesitated, glanced around, and then abruptly left.

Disappointment settled in Naruto’s eyes.

Kakashi wasn’t willing to give his training much attention, and now Guy had turned him down too.

Still, why should Guy go out of his way for him? They weren’t family. They barely knew each other.

The foundations of taijutsu weren’t mysterious. They came down to steady training: building a stronger body and sharpening his reflexes. There were no shortcuts in that work.

Naruto had been doing those exercises ever since coming to this world. But not enough time had passed for them to produce much of a result.

Forget it. If nobody’s going to teach me, I’ll have to rely on the system.

He opened the system shop in his mind and examined two powerful close-combat abilities: [Eight Inner Gates] and [Lightning Release Chakra Mode].

Strictly speaking, the Eight Inner Gates was a forbidden technique that removed the body’s natural limits to unleash tremendous power. The side effects were severe, and mastering it required relentless physical training.

Lightning Release Chakra Mode, on the other hand, directly enhanced the body, increasing strength, speed, and even defense.

The shop listed it as an S-rank skill worth 1,000 points.

Naruto had exactly that much.

Unfortunately, purchasing it required him to possess Lightning-nature chakra.

He didn’t.

Disappointed but unwilling to give up, Naruto continued searching the shop.

Then a B-rank listing caught his eye.

[Body Flicker Technique]

He glanced at Sasuke, who had only recently learned it from Kakashi.

The technique immediately brought Shisui Uchiha to mind—Shisui of the Body Flicker.

If someone could become famous for using it, then mastering it could certainly make a difference.

This should help with close combat too, right? After all, even the strongest attack is useless if it can’t catch you.

The Body Flicker Technique cost 100 points. A [Skill Upgrade Scroll] also cost 100 points.

Naruto made up his mind.

System, purchase the Body Flicker Technique and upgrade it straight to the Transcendent level!

[Ding! Purchase and upgrades complete. Total cost: 400 points.]

Naruto checked his status panel.

The newly upgraded Body Flicker Technique was there. Just below it was [Substitution Technique], still at the Proficient level.

Both techniques could help him evade attacks. The Body Flicker Technique let him cover far more ground, while the Substitution Technique was generally used to escape immediate danger at close range.

What would happen if he combined them?

System, spend 100 points on a Skill Upgrade Scroll and raise the Substitution Technique to the Transcendent level. Then spend another 200 points on an Ability Fusion Scroll and combine it with the Body Flicker Technique into a single supernatural ability!

[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have acquired your third supernatural ability: Phantom Step!]