I Just Awakened My Sharingan, and You're Telling Me This Is DanMachi? Chapter 72: The Lineup Is Set—The War Game Draws Near!

Ryota reached up and touched the corner of his left eye.

—No pain, and no familiar trace of blood.

"...Just as I thought."

The side effects he'd felt the first ti he used the Mangekyō Sharingan hadn't appeared.

That crushing sense of Chakra depletion he'd been bracing for also never ca.

Ryota quickly realized it was thanks to the Hashirama Cells within him quietly working their magic.

Even a re 10% fusion of the so-called "God of Shinobi's" cells was enough to grant him enhanced cell activity, ntal endurance, and Chakra recovery, completely suppressing the Mangekyō Sharingan's side effects.

But what truly surprised him was another, gentler, deeper Chakra stirring inside him.

—Sage Jutsu Chakra!

Like a vast reservoir, it supported his body in absolute silence.

From first summoning Susanoo's initial form to switching up to the first form had taken him barely thirty seconds.

Ryota had been fully prepared to collapse, or at least feel half-crippled from exhaustion.

But instead, he was still standing tall, breathing steady, not even a hint of shortness of breath!

"...These two cheats stacked together really are broken as hell."

But Ryota didn't let himself get complacent, not for a second.

Feeling the Mangekyō Sharingan still gently spinning in his eyes, a deeper desire burned within him.

—This isn't the finish line.

Even with Hashirama Cells and Sage Jutsu Chakra right now, even if he could stably command Susanoo's first form already, Ryota knew that was only a temporary tolerance granted by those two incomplete boosts.

They weren't enough to rest on.

Because Dōjutsu he carried were simply too many.

Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Kamui, Susanoo...

And in the future, maybe even more.

If he wanted to wield all of those freely, there was no way 10% would cut it.

More importantly—

Dual Mangekyō isn't the end.

What Ryota truly sought had never been just this much power.

He was after a far higher summit.

The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the Rinnegan, maybe even the Karma from Boruto's era.

Not just to keep the Dōryoku from devouring his own body, but to push these ultimate Dojutsu to a more complete, more terrifying, more unstoppable dinsion!

That was the ladder of evolution.

The only road to stand at the pinnacle.

No matter if he was in the shinobi world or here in Orario, he had to keep climbing, step by step.

"Whew—"

He exhaled slowly, letting the thought fade.

At the sa ti, the Chakra skeleton behind him crumbled apart, dissolving on the breeze.

He glanced around and finally noticed the Twilight Manor's backyard was a total wreck.

Cracks spidered across the ground, debris everywhere, like a small battlefield had swept through.

Riveria stood across from him, silent, deep in thought, still processing what had just happened.

And farther away, Loki, Finn, and the other core Familia mbers kept their silence too—so quiet you could have heard a single drop of water stir a hurricane.

No muttering.

No comntary.

No shocked shouting.

Even their breathing was hushed.

Their eyes on Ryota weren't just full of awe or admiration anymore.

It was the look one gave a monster.

This black-haired boy they'd watched climb from Level 1 with their own eyes—had just shown them a completely different realm of power.

Beyond levels.

Beyond rules.

Beyond... even "human."

A long mont passed before Finn finally broke the stillness, turning slightly to murmur,

"...Has Ryota updated his status recently?"

Loki looked like she'd just been struck by lightning, blinking before she answered,

"Updated? Uh... yeah, just yesterday."

She still sounded a bit dazed.

"He's still Level 2, stats just reached C across the board."

Finn: "..."

Silence.

Crushing silence.

He raised a hand to scratch at his head, like if he didn't dig deep enough to spark fire, he wouldn't be able to untangle this ss.

"You sure you didn't copy it down wrong?"

Loki looked uneasy too.

"Probably... maybe... should be right?"

Finn glanced down at the scorched, shattered flagstones, then over at Riveria, who still had a grave expression on her face.

This was the Nine Hells, who had just deployed a third-tier defensive spell.

And she hadn't even gotten the chance to finish reacting before those twin giant hands smacked it into pieces.

What the hell...

"...Forget it, forget it..."

"I already can't make sense of Ryota anymore..."

Finn muttered, eyes still full of shock.

If only he were a master of human anatomy—he'd grab Ryota and study him for years without a second thought.

Nearby, Lefiya leaned close to Loki, whispering nervously,

"Just now... with that huge impact, isn't it kind of violating Orario's ban on magic use?"

As soon as she said that, everyone seed to rember, and turned to look at the backyard's ruins.

Charred marks.

Cracks.

Shattered paving stones...

If you didn't know better, you'd swear soone had just fired off a large-area magic blast here.

"Ahem."

Loki waved her hand dismissively, acting like it was no big deal.

"No worries, if anyone asks, we'll take the bla—just say Bete did it."

"Huh???"

Next to her, the completely confused Bete sprouted giant question marks over his head.

"???"

He pointed at himself, face turning green,

"I didn't say a single word this whole ti, how's this my fault?!"

Loki grinned,

"You've got a bad temper, you're loud, it's only natural you take the fall~"

"Loki, you..."

Bete opened his mouth, then shut it again with a cold snort, turning away in frustration.

anwhile Ais kept blinking those pretty eyes, staring intently at Ryota down below.

She tilted her head slightly, murmuring under her breath,

"...A giant skeleton, huh."

The golden-haired girl's eyes locked on Ryota, shining with a rare seriousness and sothing like fire.

She couldn't help recalling that day, sparring with him in the backyard, still vivid in her mory.

Back then, Ryota had already matched her in speed, reaction, even swordsmanship.

But now...

If he'd used that giant skeleton back then...

Her thoughts drifted off.

She tried to picture it but ca up blank.

Yeah, no way to imagine that.

Far off, Ryota stepped up to Riveria, smiling.

"Lady Riveria, I'll represent the Loki Familia in the first War Ga match five days from now."

The ice-cold beauty looked at him, still with her trademark poker face.

"...Okay."

She answered softly, almost like she was accepting him, or perhaps acknowledging him.

But then, as if rembering sothing, Riveria's gaze shifted toward the battle-scarred ground, and she suddenly asked,

"That... giant of yours."

"Can it get even bigger?"

Ryota nodded, replying gently,

"Of course."

In the shinobi world, Susanoo was never a single form.

It was a layered, godlike power, the ultimate manifestation of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

From a simple skeletal frawork, to a half-skeleton, to armored forms with weaponry, until finally—

Perfect Susanoo!

That was true power.

Of course, the higher you climbed, the more monstrous the Chakra cost.

Ryota hadn't even tried to push it further yet.

After all, this was only a qualification match, not a fight to the death.

Riveria nodded faintly, a complicated look crossing her face.

She still couldn't fully understand how Ryota had summoned that enormous skeleton warrior.

But her instincts as a mage told her—

That power had a clear progression system, just like her magic, with a first stage, second stage, and third stage.

It was just that his source was different.

His ca from sothing deeper, more primal, etched into blood, soul, even the very blueprint of his being.

As she watched Ryota walking off toward Loki, Riveria felt a spark of relief.

Relief that he wasn't an enemy, but an ally.

Even if he was still just Level 2 right now, she had a creeping certainty.

This boy would beco the Loki Familia's sharpest sword in the future—

no, even Orario's most world-shaking variable.

She whispered softly to herself,

"Thank goodness... he's on our side."

This sparring match that had overturned everyone's understanding ended in a silence too heavy to describe.

But from that mont on, no one dared question Ryota's right to fight a 1v1 match.

As for victory or defeat—

that would only be revealed five days later.

Night fell, and everyone drifted away.

Back in his room, Ryota finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He took off his outer clothes, leaned the Kusanagi Sword against the bedside, then flopped onto the mattress, and in just a few minutes fell into a deep sleep.

He slept so soundly, even his usual battle-honed vigilance lted away.

...

The next day.

As the first light of dawn stretched across Orario, climbing over the rooftops of Twilight Manor and bathing every inch of the city in warmth, a new day quietly began.

At that mont, atop Babel Tower, the morning sun poured through the crystal-clear floor-to-ceiling windows, sketching a razor-sharp silhouette of the city.

Freya stood there, eyes locked toward Twilight Manor, perfectly still.

Behind her, the great doors opened, and the sound of footsteps followed.

"The Guild sent word."

Ottar's voice reached Freya's ears.

"The challenger slot has been confird."

Freya didn't turn around, as if she had already guessed,

"It's the Nine Hells, isn't it?"

"No."

"...?"

Freya tilted her head slightly, her expression freezing for an instant before quickly recovering.

"It's Ryota."

Ottar reported truthfully.

"What?!?!"

The instant that na reached her ears, she spun around, a flicker of undeniable surprise crossing those beautiful eyes.

A mont later, Freya seed to understand, covering her mouth with a soft laugh,

"What a naughty child."

She lifted a hand, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"He wants to be defeated by in front of all of Orario, does he?"

"And then, as a defeated man, join my Familia?"

"Truly..."

She whispered,

"...even the way he offers himself up is so entertaining."

Ottar said nothing, his face showing not even the slightest emotion.

Freya, however, as if savoring so delicious treat, turned back to stare out the window again.

"Ryota, Ryota... just how many surprises will you bring ?"