Naruto: The Medical Ninja

Chapter 265: Chapter 262: Aerial Combat

The [Mind Palace] continued to rumble from the aftershocks of the lightning and wind jutus. Future-Ryu’s smile widened as he silently acknowledged Future-Rina’s skill in avoiding his long range jutsus.

”Great job dodging the last attack, Bunny,” Future-Ryu exclaimed, his voice resonating with a hint of mischief.

From the carbon that stuck to his body, Future-Ryu created a handful of razor-sharp shuriken withinhis grip. One more motion, and his free hand was suddenly adorned with a pair of expertly balanced carbon fibre kunai.

Yuki exclaimed, her eyes widening in astonishment. ”He can make weapons from his body?!”

Future-Ryu then flicked his wrist, sending the shuriken spinning towards Future-Rina. She moved with incredible agility, dodging and manoeuvring, her augmented legs kicking out to deflect some of the incoming projectiles. The shuriken whizzed past her, missing by mere inches.

Tsunade, her eyes fixed on the unfolding scene, was visibly surprised by the sheer versatility of Ryu’s jutsu.

”What material is that, Ryu?” Tsunade asked Real Ryu. ”Is it some form of Earth Style: Iron Skin Jutsu? That black skin... it’s not just hardening, is it?”

”They’re allotropes of carbon, Auntie Tsunade,” Real Ryu said with a bit of pride in his voice. ”I’ve learnt to control it at the molecular level in future, which lets me change its shape and density. That’s a new way I can use ninjutsu to control things. It is a very versatile substance. Hard as steel when I want it to be ... Otherwise soft.”

Tsunade said, ”Carbon, huh... You were going to use it to treat that boy.”

”Yes, this jutsu is just a byproduct of my work on carbon.” Ryu said.

Tsunade thought, ”This level of molecular control, to shape it into anything... that’s truly original. Just like him.”

Dan’s eyes lit up as he said, ”So this is how it will be when you can control it fully.”

Real Ryu nodded.

As they spoke, a ripple of chakra surged through Future-Ryu’s body. The dashing suit he wore shimmered, dissolving into his own body and reforming in a blink. In its place, he now wore sleek, skin-tight body armour of seamless carbon fibre, highlighting his lean, powerful physique. Then formed a long, flowing trench coat, also crafted from carbon fibre, waving slightly in the nonexistent wind of the [Mind Palace].

The change happened almost right away but slow enough to have a cinematic effect during transformation, which shows how well he knew how to control his own molecular structure.

”It can create more than just weapons,” Real Ryu stated with a smile. ”With this wardrobe change will happen with a snap of fingers.”

Yuki’s jaw dropped. ”He can change looks just like that.”

”Ready for the next level?” Future-Ryu said.

Future-Rina’s smile matched his, a predatory gleam in her eyes. ”Always!” Her leg blades hummed with chakra, extending subtly as she prepared her attack. Future-Rina kicked the air and launched a series of flying slashes that cut through the air, sending crescent-shaped projectiles of compressed long-range wind slashes towards Future-Ryu.

Future-Ryu moved extremely quickly, but the sheer volume and spread of the flying slashes were too much to deflect. Future-Ryu’s form shimmered briefly as one of the wind blades brushed against his side. Then, with a soft shredding sound, his form appeared to tear apart, hundreds of red and white hummingbirds bursting out of his body and scattering in all directions. Real Rina was mesmerised by the beautiful display.`

Each hummingbird seemed to flicker with [Lightning Style—Body Flicker], creating the illusion of his clone disassembling and then reappearing super fast, while his real body had already gone underground using Earth Mole Jutsu, evading the remaining slashes that tore through the space where he had been.

As Real Ryu observed, a sincere smile crept over his face. ”Cool jutsu,” he exclaimed to the others, praising his eventual self. The other nodded in agreement.

Ryu thought, ”Bird Clone Jutsu... What a cool jutsu.... Thank you, Itachi, for the inspiration; your crow clone jutsu is fantastic. And icing on the cake, my birds can use [Lightning Release - Body Flicker]. It creates the illusion of a body flicker, but it’s actually his birds disassembling and reassembling into his bird clone. Almost like a Logia-like ability similar to Kizaru, where his form disperses and reforms at a speed near that of light.”

The sudden, impossible disintegration and reassembly of Future-Ryu’s form stunned everyone, both the real observers and Future-Rina in the genjutsu. Future-Rina’s eyes widened in surprise, a flicker of genuine awe crossing her projected face, momentarily breaking her combat focus.

Yuki, witnessing the impossible transformation, remembered the hummingbird Ryu had saved in her orphanage and squeezed her hands together in sheer delight. ”He can think of such jutsus? It’s utterly brilliant!”

Future-Rina used a paper fuinjutsu tag, almost like a paper bomb, but instead of exploding normally, it released a burst of a shockwave that dispersed all the birds.

Dan asked, ”What was that?”

Real Ryu replied, ”A sound bomb that gives a concussive boom. Also on my to-do list. I guess I was also successful in creating that one.” Ryu spoke as if it were a vision of the future, not a genjutsu.

Future-Rina, momentarily frustrated. ”I know it’s a clone, Ryu! Just come out!” She called out, her voice echoing with a challenge.

As if in response, sharp, obsidian-black carbon spikes erupted from the ground below, almost impaling Future-Rina, who leaped back just in time. From the very spot where the spikes had emerged, Future-Ryu’s real form burst forth, a smirk playing on his lips. He had copied Rina’s assassin blades, and now, as Future-Ryu emerged, his carbon-fibre skin shimmered, and with a fluid motion using [Carbon Control], a pair of wickedly sharp, scythe-like blades snapped out from the back of his hands, extending past his knuckles. They were undeniably cooler than Rina’s.

”A blade fight, then!” Future-Rina roared, her voice filled with renewed excitement. Without a moment’s hesitation, her wrist blades retracted back into her gauntlets, and in their place, she drew a pair of wind-infused kukri knives from their sheaths on her back.

Future-Ryu and Future-Rina clashed in the [Mind Palace]. Future-Ryu’s obsidian carbon blades met Future-Rina’s onslaught of shining metal blades—two in her hands, two extending from her powerful artificial blade legs.

The air crackled with each impact, sparks erupting like miniature fireworks, showering the Mind Palace. Future-Ryu moved with the fluid grace of a master swordsman, his attacks economical and deadly, forcing Future-Rina to constantly defend against Ryu’s dexterous moves.

Future-Rina, however, was a blur of motion, her artificial blade legs granting her unparalleled long-distance jumping power and speed. She executed a full-body flip in breathtaking slow motion, her form a blur of controlled power as she dodged a sweeping horizontal slash from Future-Ryu’s sword. She landed lightly, immediately launching into a series of blindingly fast slashes from all four of her blades, attacking from unexpected angles.

Future-Ryu used his hardened forearms to block a low sweep from a leg blade, the carbon-fibre skin resonating with the impact, then countered with a rapid thrust, forcing Future-Rina to deflect with both hand blades simultaneously.

Future-Ryu parried, then unleashed a rapid volley of carbon shuriken and kunai, a deadly hail of projectiles that glittered ominously as they flew. Future-Rina, still in midair, twisted and contorted her body with impossible flexibility.

Just as the projectiles seemed unavoidable, she activated her [Sky-walk Jutsu]. With a series of rapid, almost imperceptible chakra bursts from her artificial blade leg pistons, she seemed to step on the air itself, shifting her position mid-flight, dodging each projectile with breathtaking precision, her movements a fluid dance against death.

As she landed lightly, Future-Ryu smirked. ”Don’t forget who taught you that technique, Bunny!” he called out, a playful jab at her aerial avoidance. Then, with a sudden, powerful flex of his carbon-armoured legs, he launched himself skyward, mimicking her skywalk.

A visible ripple of concentrated force spread outwards from his feet on the [Mind Palace] floor, distorting the ethereal light as he propelled himself upwards with immense power. He used [Reflexguard-Trampoline], conjuring multiple small hexagonal barriers wherever he needed to jump off and gain altitude, using them as invisible stepping stones to match her aerial mastery.

As Future-Ryu propelled himself with his [Reflexguard-Trampoline] barriers, Future-Rina countered with equal mastery. She compressed wind chakra within her artificial blade leg pistons, generating tremendous bursts of force that allowed her to leap and manoeuvre with breathtaking agility, seemingly walking on air just like Sanji from One Piece.

He soared through the air, effortlessly matching Future-Rina’s altitude. ”If I can invent flying ships, Bunny,” Future-Ryu declared, his voice ringing with boundless confidence, ”don’t you think I can fly myself?”

The statement surprised everyone. Flying machines in a world where long-distance travel was done on foot were like a punch in the gut. They were still wondering if they had heard him correctly.

Future-Rina said, ”I already told you I hate that nickname. Use my other codename... call me Jumper.”

”I hate this one too,” the real Rina muttered after hearing both of her future codenames.

Real Ryu, ”I know....”

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