"Cold Light": Ninjutsu Is Just a Hobby — What I'm Really Good At Is Taijutsu!**
The black sphere slowly floated out of the crater and rapidly ascended into the air.
"What the hell is that thing?"
Huang Tu stared at the black orb, an ominous sense creeping into his heart.
"Captain, let's shoot it down," a subordinate suggested.
"Doesn't matter what it is — just smash it!"
"Try it!" Huang Tu nodded.
The Iwa ninja quickly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release — Earth Sphere Cannon!"
A dense ball of earth condensed between his palms.
HUM!!!
In the next instant—
A terrifying gravitational force erupted.
The earth sphere had just formed when, before it could even be fired, both the ninja and the sphere were yanked violently into the air.
And not just him.
One after another, the surrounding Iwagakure ninjas lost control of their bodies, dragged helplessly toward the black sphere suspended in midair.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
Huang Tu was horrified.
He could feel an overwhelming force pulling at his body.
He tried to anchor himself to the ground—
But it was useless.
Whoosh!
His body lifted into the air as well, flying toward the black sphere.
Crack! Crack!
Under the crushing gravity, the ground below shattered inch by inch.
Huge slabs of rock and soil tore free from the earth, floating upward.
At this moment—
Over a thousand Iwagakure ninjas were completely panicked.
They realized something terrifying:
They couldn't escape this gravitational pull.
Not one of them.
It was an utterly surreal sight.
Densely packed Iwa ninjas floated helplessly in the air like a swarm of black ants, all being dragged toward the same point.
Because there were so many of them — and they were packed so tightly — collisions began to happen midair.
In desperation, they grabbed onto one another, hand in hand, forming a long, floating chain.
"Captain! What do we do?!"
"Think of something!"
"If we get close to that black sphere, we're dead!"
"Mom— I want to go home!"
The entire formation collapsed into chaos.
Just moments ago, they had the absolute advantage.
Yet in the blink of an eye… total annihilation stared them in the face.
If there was anyone still thinking clearly, it was Huang Tu.
"That black sphere! Everyone attack the black sphere!" he shouted anxiously.
Hearing the order, many Iwa ninjas leapt onto the floating rocks around them.
But the moment they prepared to use Earth Release—
They froze.
"Captain… the rocks are floating. Does Earth Release even work like this?"
"Yeah! Even if we use jutsu, we're only affecting these floating stones!"
"It's pulling us closer— we're finished!"
"Huang Tu, you bastard!"
As they were about to be dragged into the sphere, the last of their composure snapped.
Some even started cursing openly.
"I was doing just fine at Outpost No.1! Huang Tu dragged us here to die!"
SPLAT!!!
One Iwa ninja slammed straight onto the black sphere.
In front of everyone, his body was flattened instantly—
Reduced to nothing but a stretched, bloodless skin.
The sight made every scalp go numb.
"It's over…"
Despair consumed them.
Bang!
Suddenly, Huang Tu's body exploded into a pile of mud.
"Holy shit! The captain already escaped — that was an Earth Clone!"
someone screamed.
Only now did they understand.
Huang Tu had hidden his real body from the start, leaving behind nothing but a disposable clone.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
More and more Iwa ninjas were sucked into the black sphere, followed by massive chunks of mountain rock and soil.
Inside the Crater
Drake stood with his arms crossed, head tilted upward as he watched the scene.
"This is my first time using it. I didn't bring out its full power,"
he said calmly.
"But the effect is clear enough. Test complete."
Whoosh!
At that moment, Minato Namikaze appeared beside him, covered in dirt.
"…Huh? Sensei, did you fall?" Drake asked in surprise.
"I almost got sucked in by your jutsu," Minato spat out soil, still shaken.
He had rushed over to support Drake, but before he even reached the base of the slope, the black sphere had already risen into the air.
At first, Minato wasn't worried.
He could always escape using Flying Thunder God.
But to his absolute shock—
Within the sphere's range, Flying Thunder God didn't work.
If he hadn't been far enough from the center — and hadn't used the shockwave from an explosive tag to fling himself away — he would never have seen Drake again.
"Sensei, didn't I tell you to run?" Drake said, puzzled.
"How was I supposed to know you had this kind of monster jutsu?!"
Minato replied helplessly.
"But you do know this jutsu," Drake said seriously.
"What? I do? Impossible!"
"This is the Rasengan," Drake replied calmly.
Minato: "..."
For a long moment, Minato stood there completely frozen.
Rasengan?
This is Rasengan?!
Are you joking?!
"You're saying… you practiced Rasengan… and it turned into this?"
Minato asked slowly, word by word.
"Yeah. Didn't you say it yourself?" Drake replied.
"Rotation. Compression. Stability. Control."
He pointed toward the sky.
"Sensei, doesn't that perfectly meet all four requirements?"
Minato took a deep breath.
His gaze became incredibly complicated.
Then he finally said:
"Drake… in the path of ninjutsu, you are a true genius."
Drake scratched his head shyly.
"It's not that impressive. Ninjutsu is just a hobby for me.
What I'm really good at is taijutsu."
"…You're very humble," Minato muttered, no longer wanting to talk.
"Wait a second."
Drake suddenly clasped his hands together.
Boom!
A massive tree burst from the ground, slamming violently to the side.
CRASH!!
As the dust cleared, a figure was revealed.
"No way… my Rock Concealment Technique couldn't possibly be seen through!"
Huang Tu stared in terror, disbelief written all over his face.
Even his father couldn't detect this technique!
Yet Drake had?
"You don't have the Byakugan — how could you detect me?!"
"You talk too much."
Drake vanished in a flash and grabbed Huang Tu by the arm.
"What are you doing?! We can negotiate! Anything can be negotiated!"
Huang Tu panicked.
Unfortunately—
"You're not qualified."
"Try again in your next life."
Drake sneered as power exploded from his body.
WHOOSH!!!
Huang Tu was hurled violently into the air.
"DRAKE!!!"
"My father won't let you get away with this!"
Screaming in rage, Huang Tu was seized by the gravity and dragged toward the black sphere.
Minato opened his mouth, about to say something—
But Huang Tu was already gone.
"…Drake," Minato sighed,
"if you do this, who are we supposed to negotiate with?"
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