Ryoma seemed completely surprised when he heard that Tobi was going to have his trained samurai prove his abilities, and the three Guardian Ninja with him were also surprised. However, the Konoha Guardian Ninja felt that by observing from the sidelines, they had indeed noticed some clues.
Kana had already told Asuna and Mizuki about Tobi secretly training samurai, and the two of them had then informed the others. Everyone knew the strength of chakra samurai, who could quickly close the gap with ninja. The Daimyo having Tobi undertake this task was clearly ill-intentioned. They had originally planned to gather some intelligence, but Tobi brazenly displayed it to everyone.
"Your name is Tobi, right? Although you said you're teaching samurai chakra training, the time shouldn't be long, right? Do you think such samurai can defeat us ninjas who specialize in chakra training?" Ryoma asked.
"You can try it. The fact that I dared to bring them here means I have confidence in their strength." Tobi shrugged. "Precisely because the training time is short, if they can give you some trouble, doesn't that prove my ability?"
"Then you better be careful; I won't hold back," Ryoma said with a soft hmph to Tobi.
"No worries, go all out. If you're too careless, something unexpected might happen," Tobi said indifferently.
The Daimyo, seeing that neither side had any objections, nodded slightly and said, "In that case, let the samurai trained by Tobi fight Ryoma. This place is a bit small, let's move somewhere else!"
So, everyone began to move to a wider training ground. On the way, Mizuki, seeing that he was some distance from the Daimyo, quietly said to Asuna, "Asuna, what do you think of the samurai that guy trained?"
"I don't know. Judging by the time Tobi appeared, the samurai's training time should still be relatively short. Although samurai have a foundation in taijutsu, whether they can quickly master chakra and apply it… it's hard to say." Asuna shook her head.
"Our clan has some understanding of samurai. Compared to ninjas, samurai don't need to learn as many techniques. Therefore, after they master chakra, in terms of raw power, a ninja and a samurai of the same level, the latter can shorten their training time by at least half. But even so, I still think that samurai trained in such a short time cannot compare to ninjas," Hyuga Hizashi said.
"Since Mr. Hizashi said it, there must be some truth to it. I really don't know how confident that guy is. By the way, how strong is that guy named Ryoma?" Fujimura Yuki also joined in.
"I just used my Byakugan for a quick look.
Based on the toughness of his chakra pathways, he's definitely at the level of a Special Jonin. And the structure of those pathways suggests he might be a lightning-style or fire-style chakra user. Only these two chakra natures could form pathways like that," Hyuga Hizashi replied.
"So, his strength is quite outstanding," Fujimura Yuki said. A Special Jonin is already considered upper-middle tier in the ninja profession. Although ninja rank doesn't represent absolute strength, under standard circumstances, higher-ranking ninjas are generally stronger than lower-ranking ones. Rare exceptions like "Konoha Genin" are few and far between.
Amidst their hushed discussions, everyone arrived at a spacious training ground. After the Daimyo took his seat, the others stood attendant on either side of him. Tobi and Ryoma went to the center of the training ground. Tobi then clapped his hands, and more than a dozen samurai quickly walked in from both sides of the training ground, carrying katanas and looking solemn.
In front of the Daimyo, Hyuga Hizashi dared not use his Byakugan from behind as he had before; that would be too disrespectful. He could only rely on his experience to judge. The samurai's steps were uniform and steady as they walked, indicating they were rare elites with a very solid foundation. Even so, dealing with a Special Jonin-level ninja was almost impossible.
It was a well-known fact that the individual strength of a ninja far surpassed that of a samurai. As long as they weren't chakra samurai, a professionally trained Genin could deal with more than ten samurai. Although the outcome was uncertain, they could at least contend with them, let alone a Special Jonin.
Although these samurai were said to have received chakra training, as everyone had previously judged, with such a short time, chakra training couldn't have achieved much. Even calculating at the high end, these dozen or so people could at most deal with a professional Chunin, and it was equally impossible for them to defeat a Special Jonin.
Unless this Ryoma was all bark and no bite, not as formidable as Hyuga Hizashi had observed, then the outcome of this match should be meaningless. However, seeing Tobi's composed demeanor, the Konoha group couldn't help but feel nervous, wondering if there was something they hadn't considered.
—Indeed, there was, a possibility they were reluctant to consider.
At the same time, the battle began. After Ryoma and the samurai bowed to the Daimyo, Tobi exited the battle arena. The samurai drew their katanas and surrounded Ryoma. When Tobi called out "start," they rushed forward almost simultaneously, their katanas aiming for Ryoma's vital points.
Ryoma threw out a large number of shurikens, and a faint lightning glow could be seen on them, confirming Hyuga Hizashi's judgment that this person was indeed a lightning-style ninja. At such close range, the samurai could only choose to block the shurikens. The lightning glow on the shurikens could be conducted through metal, paralyzing the body. At that point, with their bodies stiff, Ryoma, who enhanced his body with lightning-style, would undoubtedly be able to quickly decide the victor.
Everything that followed was as everyone had predicted: the samurai blocked the shurikens, and electric sparks immediately flashed. Ryoma then charged forward with astonishing speed, knocking the samurai flying—the only difference was the outcome. The samurai who were knocked flying did not fall. Although some of their katanas were broken, they all adjusted their stances in time and stood on the ground.
This caused Ryoma to show a somewhat surprised expression. Then the samurai charged again. This time they changed their formation. Ryoma used shurikens to block some samurai, but his back was exposed, and one of the samurai stabbed towards his back.
Bang—
Accompanied by a puff of smoke, the samurai only stabbed a log. Ryoma, having used the Substitution Jutsu, formed hand seals and unleashed Lightning Release: Falling Thunder. A large number of electric arcs surged towards the samurai. He had expected this move to be enough to take down the samurai, but something unexpected happened again. Two of the samurai leaped high and forcefully swung their katanas.
Lightning Release, just like that, was cut down by the opponent!
Ryoma was startled again. He immediately deduced that the opponent was using Wind Release; only Wind Release could counter Lightning Release. But could samurai who had only trained for such a short time really use Wind Release like that?
Although not all samurai could use Wind Release, eight of them had fallen, with only four or five still standing. But the strength of these samurai was indeed extraordinary, making Ryoma take them very seriously. What made his pupils constrict was that the samurai who had been shocked and fallen were twitching slightly, seemingly still able to get up.
"How long have they been training?" Ryoma made a pause gesture, then looked at Tobi and asked.
"No more than three months," Tobi replied calmly.
"Less than three months?" Ryoma murmured, "They can train samurai of this strength in three months?"
"That's because they have a good foundation, but I certainly deserve some credit. How about it? My strength might not be the strongest among you, but do you have the ability to train like I do?" Tobi said with a grin. "I can also command these samurai well. Believe it or not, I can bring you even greater trouble."
"I believe you," Ryoma nodded. Although he would definitely win, it wouldn't be that easy. And considering that these samurai had only trained for less than three months, their future strength would likely be even more astonishing. "If there were more lightning-style ninjas among them, I reckon it would be even more troublesome."
"Of course there are. Because I wasn't sure what your chakra nature was, I arranged a few people for each type. If you're willing, I can replace them all with wind-style samurai," Tobi said.
"Forget it, I admit your ability." Ryoma shrugged. Even if they were all wind-style, he would still win, but that would be too embarrassing and he would lose points in front of the Daimyo.
"Good, then I wonder if anyone else has any objections, for example, the people from Konoha?" Tobi smiled and nodded, then looked at the Konoha side.
Among them, Asuna suddenly felt that the other party's gaze seemed to fall on her. She pursed her lips slightly. For some reason, she felt an ominous aura from Tobi.