‘Haah… Haah… Why? Why can’t I hit him at all, but he keeps hitting over and over?’ This question kept buzzing in Shira’s mind as he struggled to catch his breath.
They had already fought for several rounds, yet none of Shira’s attacks had connected with his opponent. Shira, a practitioner of the Silent Fist, found it hard to believe that his strikes were being dodged so easily. Not a single one had landed, while his opponent’s attacks kept finding their mark. Although Shira managed to dodge or block so of them, he was still baffled by the situation.
The advantage of the Silent Fist is that it makes the user’s movents completely silent. Taijutsu users heavily rely on the sound of their enemies’ movents to react, so by eliminating sound, one becos unpredictable—a key principle of the Silent Fist. Yet here, Shira was the one who seed utterly predictable.
‘It’s as if he knows exactly what move I’m going to make!’ Shira thought, his frustration growing.
Although predicting an opponent’s moves based on attack patterns isn’t impossible, it’s a difficult skill. One usually has to lead the opponent into making certain moves or reactions to anticipate their next step. But Tengu wasn’t leading Shira at all, making it even harder for Shira to believe that all his attacks were being read. ‘It feels like he can read my mind!’ he thought in disbelief.
But sothing like that shouldn’t be possible.
“So much for being the most talented Taijutsu genius of Sunagakure,” murmured Tengu in a disappointed tone, before asking, “Is this truly the best you can do?”
Shira’s lips twitched at Tengu’s words, and he questioned in a dissatisfied voice, “What do you even want from ?”
First, the other party interrupts his training and forces him into a fight "for the sake of fun," and now he’s expressing disappointnt, as if Shira hasn’t t his expectations. Although Shira has a high tolerance for mockery, given the condescending environnt he grew up in, hearing such disdain after working so hard for every ounce of strength he has acquired doesn’t sit well with him.
Moreover, Shira still isn’t sure about Tengu’s true motive for wanting to fight.
“What do I want from you? Just so amusent,” Tengu replied lightly. “Also, I want to see how strong the most talented Taijutsu user of Sunagakure really is.”
“Why? What does that have to do with a ninja from Agakure?” Shira asked, confused.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Tengu responded, then added, “Just show how strong you actually are.”
“No, this doesn’t make sense… I have no reason to fight you,” Shira replied, shaking his head. “That barrier—I’m certain it’ll alert the Konohagakure authorities, and my squadmates and Maki-Sensei will be here soon. I don’t want to get involved in troubleso things. If you want to see how strong I am, just wait for the final phase—you’ll see then!”
Shira’s words were suddenly cut off as he saw Tengu sprout crow-like wings and lift off the ground. Hovering in the air, Tengu unleashed a rain of Senbon, each with crow feathers attached to the ends, toward Shira. “Less talking, more fighting.”
“Damn it,” Shira cursed under his breath as he dodged the barrage of Senbon. “Why the hell are you going this far?”
“I already told you, didn’t I? It’s for amusent!” Tengu replied.
“Bullshit! I don’t buy that!” Shira shouted, drawing a kunai from his Shinobi Bag to deflect the Senbon as he moved swiftly through the training ground.
“You’re free to believe whatever you want,” Tengu said, continuing to target Shira from above, then added with a chuckle, “But if you don’t want to die, you’d better get serious…”
“Do you think you’ll get away with this? The other ninjas—” Shira tried to reason.
“Who cares about the consequences?” Tengu laughed, once again interrupting Shira and increasing the intensity of his attack.
“Aaaaaarrgghhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Shira roared in pain as two needles pierced his shoulder and thigh. He saw that Tengu had no intention of backing down.
“Now then, are you going to get serious?” Tengu asked.
Shira gritted his teeth and roared, “Fine, I’ll get serious! Rember, you asked for it!” Imdiately, the air around him shifted as his aura changed. “Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!” he yelled, activating his secret taijutsu.
Seven Heavenly Breaths: First Activation!
Seven Heavenly Breaths: Second Activation!
Seven Heavenly Breaths: Third Activation!
Seven Heavenly Breaths: Fourth Activation!
Seven Heavenly Breaths: Fifth Activation!
A golden aura enveloped Shira as his muscles swelled, his lungs expanded, increasing their capacity, and his blood flow quickened.
“This is it… this is what I wanted to see!” Tengu chuckled, watching Shira intently.
After completing the fifth activation, Shira vanished from his position and attacked Tengu with such speed that, even though Tengu could sense Shira's intent, it was still difficult to dodge. He barely managed to avoid the full impact, but Shira’s fist still grazed his shoulder, dislocating it.
Tengu, however, didn’t seem to care about the dislocation. He simply laughed and began fighting back. This ti, though, he found it much harder to dodge Shira’s attacks compared to earlier.
…
As Shira began using the Seven Heavenly Breaths, the corner of Raijin’s lips arched in a smile, and he praised Tengu, “Good job.” He then activated the Byakugan in his eye socket, carefully observing Shira’s every move on the field. From the rhythm of Shira's breathing to the frequency of his heartbeat and other minute details, Raijin recorded everything ticulously.
For most people, it would be nearly impossible to deduce the "Seven Heavenly Breaths" technique just by watching Shira use it. But Raijin was different.
First, he possessed the Byakugan, which allowed him to observe every intricate detail inside Shira’s body, including the flow of chakra as well as the flow of blood. Secondly, Raijin himself was a master of Taijutsu and various combat styles, including Gentle Fist and Strong Fist. Lastly, he was the foremost expert in human cloning technology in the ninja world, with a deep understanding of human anatomy that surpassed even 99% of Iryō ninjas.
With these advantages, Raijin easily captured all the details of Shira’s technique and murmured to himself, "This is indeed interesting!"
Although the technique has so flaws and limitations, Raijin doesn’t need to fully master the ‘Seven Heavenly Breaths’ or all its activations. Instead, he only needs to incorporate the concept into his Lightning Chakra Mode to increase the oxygen levels in his body while in that mode. This adjustnt would make things easier for him and help prevent potential heart attacks or lung damage caused by prolonged exposure to high-voltage lightning chakra.
As Raijin observed Shira’s movents while the Sunagakure ninja confronted Tengu, two figures suddenly appeared beside them. One of them spoke, “Raijin and Samsara of Agakure… what the hell are you two doing?”
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