In mid-air, Ryan's final kick had sent Tokimune hurtling like a ragdoll, limbs flailing helplessly. His figure slammed downward, toward the cracked terrain like a meteor.
"Hmph." Ryan's cold gaze followed the arc of Tokimune's body, his expression calm as he landed lightly on the opposite side of the crater. He looked down from above, emotionless.
"No…!"
Just as Tokimune's weak protest slipped from his mouth, Ryan raised his right leg high, focusing an immense amount of chakra into his foot. Without hesitation, he stomped straight down onto Tokimune's chest—the area just above the heart.
"Boom!"
With a dull, thunderous crack, Tokimune's body was driven deep into the earth. The ground beneath him exploded with force, spiderwebbing cracks radiating several meters outward. A crater formed at the point of impact.
As the dust settled, a lifeless figure lay twisted at the center of the pit.
Tokimune.
His eyes were wide open, face drenched in blood, frozen in an expression of disbelief and terror. It was as if the unwillingness to die had been carved into his very flesh, as if he still clung to the world in his final moment.
That final kick from Ryan wasn't just raw physical force—it was also infused with devastating chakra, which had shattered Tokimune's heart from within. It was a double kill: even someone tenacious like Orochimaru wouldn't walk away from that unscathed.
Ryan landed softly nearby, barely sparing a glance for the corpse. No joy, no pride. Just calm.
Natural selection. Survival of the fittest.
This was the unchanging law of the shinobi world—and Ryan had already begun to accept it. No, more than that… he was starting to enjoy the feeling of becoming stronger.
"Better make sure."
Though Tokimune was dead, Ryan still followed protocol. He gathered a sliver of chakra into his eyes and scanned for any residual signs of life.
Only when he was sure did he crouch to loot his spoils of war.
After yesterday's mission with Yamashima Kaze, Ryan had become quite the scavenger—skilled in stripping value from every corpse. And Tokimune, a rogue elite jōnin, certainly wouldn't be traveling light.
He didn't find any rare secret scrolls, but inside Tokimune's ninja tool pouch, Ryan uncovered a storage scroll. When opened, it revealed over 3 million ryo in cash—his eyes lit up instantly. That alone was worth more than a standard A-rank mission reward. Not to mention the bounty for Tokimune himself was another 2.2 million ryo!
Ryan took his time, storing Tokimune's corpse into a preservation scroll, then vanished into the forest, leaving no trace behind.
What he didn't know was that the underground world was already shaken by his recent actions—completing two A-rank bounty missions in two days, without a single scratch.
Completing one A-rank mission wasn't impressive. But two in such a short time? And performed by a boy who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen?
(Ryan, exasperated: "I'm only twelve, okay!?")
Noon. The peak of summer. The sun scorched the land.
Deep in an uninhabited forest in the Land of Birds…
Towering trees stood proudly, their lush canopies blotting out the blazing sun. Golden sunlight filtered softly through the upper leaves, but down below, the forest remained cool and calm.
"Splash… splash…"
A crystal-clear stream trickled gently through the woods.
Beside a massive boulder near the creek, a small, lean figure sat cross-legged in the shadows.
It was Ryan.
Shirtless, eyes closed, not moving an inch. His breathing was long, steady, and carried a subtle rhythm.
His pale, smooth torso was lined with defined muscle—not bulky, but coiled like a young dragon, exuding natural strength and control.
"Thump… thump…"
Suddenly, those muscles tightened, twitching and rippling slightly in rhythm with Ryan's breath.
Then his entire body began to vibrate—not visibly, but if one looked closely, they'd be shocked. The blood flow within him surged to incredible speeds. If this were an ordinary person, their blood vessels would've burst from the pressure.
…
After an unknown amount of time, Ryan's skin turned bright crimson, as if flushed with blood. His forehead was slick with sweat. The change looked intense—almost dangerous.
Yet the rhythmic pulse of his muscles continued undeterred. It was hypnotic—raw power condensed in motion.
Minutes later, the red hue faded. His complexion returned to normal. The vibrations stopped. Ryan slowly opened his eyes, and a flicker of light gleamed in their depths.
"I'd say my current body strength is about on par with a taijutsu specialist," he muttered with a small grin. "Still got a long way to go before I hit my first human limit. But no rush."
What had just occurred was a result of years of experimentation—a method Ryan had developed himself to enhance physical strength through inner muscle control and blood flow regulation. It was a big part of how his taijutsu had grown so rapidly.
That blood-flush state only triggered when he pushed his body to its daily maximum. If he pushed too far beyond it, the damage would outweigh the gain—something he learned the hard way.
According to his own theory, Ryan divided physical growth into three major thresholds:
First Human Limit
Second Human Limit
Third Human Limit
Beyond that, he couldn't categorize. Not even Madara as the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki seemed to reach the third limit—after all, Might Guy nearly beat him to death with Eighth Gate.
That was the price of cheating.
Might Guy's eighth gate was a one-time explosion of strength traded for life itself. If not for Naruto's Six Paths Yin-Yang power, even Tsunade wouldn't have saved him. Even so, Guy was left crippled for life.
Generally speaking:
Breaking the First Limit would elevate a taijutsu user to quasi-Kage level.
Breaking the Second meant full Kage-tier taijutsu.
The Third Limit was rare, monstrous, and let one punch above their weight class—like Guy did.
Ryan doubted Guy had even broken the First Limit without opening the Gates. Without them, Guy's strength was likely only elite jonin level.