Chapter 191 : Blowing Hundreds Of Meters Away With One Move
Tsunade gave Riku a blank look, and Riku simply said she was a villain.
Although she had indeed been harsh while training Sakura, she didn’t see herself as a villain.
Sakura looked a little embarrassed at Riku’s words. Still, she was genuinely afraid of Tsunade—whether in terms of identity or strength, she was in no position to compare.
Even after learning Tsunade’s medical ninjutsu and monstrous strength, Sakura still couldn’t match her. The gap was still far too wide.
Even if she did find Tsunade terrifying, there was no way she’d admit it to her face.
Riku was clearly teasing her.
At that moment, Naruto stepped forward and said, "Riku! Spar with me—I want to see how far I’ve come compared to you!"
Both Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged helpless looks.
"Why is this kid so stubborn? How could he think he’s on the same level as Riku?" Tsunade thought to herself.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, had a different view. I don’t know the full extent of Riku’s power, but it’s definitely far above Naruto’s current level. Not just the Riku of now—even the Riku from three years ago would’ve been more than enough to overwhelm him.
Still... it’s a good opportunity. Let Naruto at least gauge where he stands.
Kakashi walked over and smiled. "I’d like to know, too. I haven’t seen you fight in three years, Riku."
In the past three years, not many shinobi had died at Riku’s hands. Though he’d completed several S-rank missions and over a dozen A-rank ones, and had encountered many Jōnin-level opponents, he rarely needed to kill. More often than not, they were frozen in place by his sheer presence—unable to put up any resistance before he even moved.
And Riku never had any intention to kill unless necessary.
Because of that, while Riku had built a tremendous reputation in the shinobi world over the past three years, he was known more for his overwhelming power and precision than for brutality.
Kakashi hadn’t had many chances to interact with Riku during that time. The only time they crossed paths was when Riku returned to Konoha to accept missions.
Even then, there wasn’t time for a proper conversation.
That was thanks to Tsunade assigning Kakashi a constant stream of missions.
There wasn’t much choice. While Konoha’s ranks of Genin and Chūnin had recovered after the war, Jōnin were a different matter—they weren’t so easily replaced.
That was why Tsunade had promoted Neji to Jōnin.
Though Neji did have the strength for the rank, he still lacked enough field experience.
It was similar to how Kakashi had been promoted to Jōnin during the Third Great Ninja War—mainly to make it possible for him to take on higher-level missions.
Even after his promotion, Neji had never left Guy’s team, because he wasn’t ready to lead one on his own. For now, he could only take on lower-level missions solo—B-rank, at most.
So over the past three years, Kakashi had never had a real chance to speak with Riku, let alone see his progress.
But he was curious.
Kakashi was still Riku’s teacher, closer than even Jiraiya or Tsunade in that regard.
Riku was the only student Kakashi considered his direct disciple.
Not even Naruto or Sasuke had earned that title in his eyes.
Riku looked at Kakashi and smiled. "Sensei Kakashi, I haven’t really trained much in the past three years. I might’ve even gotten weaker."
But Kakashi didn’t buy that for a second.
He knew Riku. Someone like him wouldn’t stagnate.
Once, he had pursued strength to survive. Now, he trained because he enjoyed surpassing his limits.
No matter what motivated him, Riku would become stronger. That much was certain.
Kakashi had seen that potential from the very first moment they met.
He smiled. "If I didn’t know your personality by now, I’d be a failure of a teacher. There’s no way you’ve gotten weaker."
Jiraiya and Tsunade both nodded in agreement.
None of them believed Riku had fallen behind.
Especially Tsunade—she was the one most familiar with Riku’s strength. Even if she didn’t know everything, she had seen firsthand that his power far surpassed most of the Sannin.
Naruto grinned. "Well then, let me be the judge. I’ll find out if you’ve really regressed!"
Sakura stood up beside him and said with a smile, "I want to try too. I need to know where I stand now."
Riku nodded. "Alright then. Let’s do this."
He walked toward the open training grounds.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi stayed behind to observe.
All three of them were serious. They were eager to witness Riku’s current strength—but none of them knew whether Riku would reveal anything significant.
After all, Naruto and Sakura could hardly bring out even a fraction of his full power. It would depend entirely on how Riku chose to respond.
As Riku walked onto the grass, Naruto and Sakura exchanged glances.
Sakura clenched her fists and charged forward with everything she had.
"Take this, you jerk!"
With a shout, she rocketed toward Riku, her punch aimed straight at his chest.
The air around her fist crackled with explosive force, friction igniting sparks in the air.
If Riku hadn’t moved, that punch could’ve obliterated a normal person’s body into shreds.
Sakura’s monstrous strength was no joke.
Halfway through the strike, she suddenly noticed—Riku wasn’t even preparing to block.
He’s not really going to take this hit head-on, is he?! If I land this, even steel would shatter!
But it was too late to pull back.
In the instant before impact, Riku suddenly turned and extended one arm—so fast that Sakura didn’t even realize what had happened until it was over.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous crash, Sakura was sent flying like a cannonball.
"BOOM!"
A massive trench tore through the training field, hundreds of meters long.
Thankfully, the grounds were enormous—several kilometers wide. Otherwise, the impact might’ve reached the edge of the village itself.
The trench was dozens of meters wide, cutting deep into the earth. Trees had been uprooted, torn apart, or completely pulverized in its path.
Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya were all stunned.
"That... that speed..." Kakashi murmured, eyes wide. "Even with my Sharingan, I couldn’t see it. Riku, your speed has skyrocketed in these past three years..."
Even with his fully activated Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Kakashi hadn’t seen how Riku launched Sakura across the field.
One moment she was mid-punch—then a blast sounded, and she was gone.
Tsunade was reminded of the time years ago when Riku had awakened the Rinnegan—when the force of his chakra had blasted her hundreds of meters away, just like this.
At the far end of the trench, Sakura groaned, disoriented and covered in dirt. While she hadn’t taken a fatal injury, the impact had definitely left her reeling.
If Riku had wanted to kill me just now... I’d be dead.
She stared back across the field at Riku, who stood there calmly, not even winded.
The gap between us is still far too wide...
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