"What does he mean, cutting off all desires?! How could Ryuji's situation possibly be the same as his?! Something like that is completely impossible! What Super Ninja? He's just an idiot!"
Mai stood with her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely at Ryu's departing back, clearly very unhappy.
Telling someone else's husband, right in front of his wife, to abandon love and cut off all desires, what kind of behavior was that?
That was the behavior of a bastard!
"Ah, he's probably just an incredibly powerful expert. You know, the kind whose blade is cold and whose heart is just as cold."
Ryuji didn't think too much about Ryu's situation. One look at Ryu was enough to tell that he was an expert, and experts were usually like this, cutting off their own desires and constantly doing all sorts of things, like being willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good.
It simply wasn't something ordinary people could understand.
Unfortunately, Ryuji is definitely not that kind of person.
It was perfectly normal for Ryu to be wary of the Forbidden Power within his body. It would be strange if he wasn't wary of such a power. But as for his suggestion, Ryuji simply pretended he hadn't heard it.
What a joke. With so many beautiful women around him, instead of cherishing them, he was supposed to cut off all emotions and desires? Did Ryu think he was an idiot?
"So, is this guy called Ryu Hayabusa really that strong?"
Cammy couldn't help asking from the side.
"Very strong. If I don't use that forbidden power, there's a very high chance I won't be able to beat him. And even if I do use the forbidden power, the odds of either of us dying are still fifty-fifty."
Ryuji became serious as he said this. He really had underestimated the power level of this world. If nothing else, Ryu alone had made Ryuji feel the danger of death!
However, he also believed that he could kill Ryu. It would simply depend on who could make their move faster.
Would his space-time slash be stronger? Or the power he could unleash while under the double intelligence-lowering effects of the Forbidden Power and the Satsui no Hado? Or would Ryu become stronger the moment he grasped the Dragon Sword on his back?
Either way, Ryuji didn't think it would truly count as his victory.
So, Ryuji spoke somewhat helplessly.
"But the conventional power he can use is undoubtedly stronger than mine. Even if I completely transform the Satsui no Hado into something of my own, without using the Forbidden Power, that Super Ninja's full strength would probably still be above mine."
His senses told him this very clearly. Although Ryu's physical strength might not necessarily be greater than his, if they only compared physical strength, then wouldn't qi and all the various forms of energy exist for nothing?
More importantly, Ryu was undoubtedly a genius as well. And judging by how casually he talked about severing emotions and desires, he was obviously an extremely hardworking expert too.
Someone who was both talented and hardworking, while also possessing an extraordinary bloodline, how could someone like that possibly not be powerful?
"How can he possibly be that strong...?"
Mai couldn't help but open her mouth in shock as she asked in disbelief. She knew that the visitor was an expert whom even Ryuji treated politely, but she hadn't expected him to be a ninja who could be stronger than Ryuji!
But she had personally tested Kasumi Shiranui's skills before, and the difference between them wasn't very large. According to what Kasumi Shiranui had told her, there wasn't anyone in their entire ninja village who was stronger or more talented than the original Kasumi.
And it wasn't as though Mai had never joined Tifa, Kasumi Shiranui, and Cammy in attacking Ryuji together. Every one of them had used killing moves, and they had even practiced their coordinated attacks beforehand. Yet Ryuji had still been able to toy with them as though he were playing with children. There was simply no possibility of defeating him!
Yet Ryu Hayabusa and Kasumi's older brother Hayate were ninjas of equal reputation, and people generally believed the two of them were evenly matched. But the person who had managed to cripple Hayate had also been defeated by Kasumi.
"If that's the case, if someone thought they could beat Hayate and then went to challenge Ryu, wouldn't they end up in a really miserable state...?"
Mai could already imagine the scene. Those people would go all out against Hayate, then confidently go looking for trouble with Ryu, and then...
There would be no 'then.'
"Could this actually be part of Ryu Hayabusa's strategy?!"
She couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, while Ryuji speechlessly pressed a hand against his forehead.
"Simply put, a lot of powerful experts don't really like showing off what they're capable of..."
Ryuji could understand Ryu Hayabusa. After all, in far too many movies and dramas, powerful experts would somehow get dragged into trouble, or someone would learn that their family possessed some treasure years ago, only to come knocking on their door when they were old. If they were strong enough, they would have no choice but to act like some great senior expert, giving away various treasures to show that they had nothing left and telling those people to go bother whoever had received the treasures instead.
And if they weren't strong enough...
Then they could only die, and usually their entire family would be wiped out along with them.
Ryuji could sense that although Ryu was incredibly powerful, his body was still human. In other words, he would still grow old and wouldn't live forever. His strength would decline along with his age, which meant...
It wasn't impossible for him to be attacked in his old age.
~~~~~~~~~~
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