Naruto: Tango with Death

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Curious about the progress Takashi had made, I approached the other carriage's window, and leaned against it to look outside.

With a quick swipe, I counted 15 attackers, all armed with a bow, but some of them had taken out close quarter weapons as Takashi and Kazuma had gotten in close.

Takashi planted his spear into the ground, causing a strong tremor that destabilized the men around him, and made a large circular swipe, trying to make his enemies trip.

However, they were obviously quite skilled as they managed to dodge, but one of them was also attacked by Kazuma, who struck him from the back, directly shredding his entire side with his claw weapon.

But as the fight continued, I was quite surprised by Takashi. Not only had he grown strong, he also grew in an unexpected path. I expected him to be a Bender, most warriors are Benders in the five Great Nations.

However, as I had trained one myself, I easily recognized him to be a Blade Dancer. His chakra remained neutral, and he used it to strengthen his body, as well as his attacks with his spear.

Blade Dancers weren't the strongest within open field battles, but within small confines, such as these streets, they were especially deadly.

Seeing the two of them, along with Asuma who joined them, didn't seem to have too much trouble dealing with the assassins, I raised a hand outside the carriages, signalling to the hidden Anbu following me not to interfere.

They didn't show any sign of any movement, meaning they understood, or maybe I was being paranoid and they weren't following me.

Yeah, as if. I may be much stronger than them, it was customary for important people to have bodyguards. Like the Hokage, literally the strongest in the village, has a guard.

A minute passed, and three of the assassins were already dead, and it seemed they knew when to cut their losses as they all tried to flee.

Looking at Takashi and his two guards, it became rather obvious they wouldn't be able to stop them, so with a sigh I opened the door of the carriage, stepping out.

As I did so, I started releasing my enormous chakra out, and I saw every pair of eyes turn my way, the assassins stopping.

But my chakra only rose as by the time I fully stepped out of the carriage, the entirety of my chakra weighed down on the people in front of me.

Takashi didn't look very good, despite having made a lot of progress, he wasn't at Jonin level yet, only at Tokubetsu Jonin since only his spearmanship had reached Expert Level. He looked like he was having trouble moving.

As for the assassins, who were only Chunin level, the poor guys were frozen in fear. My eyes coldly looking over each of the 12 remaining assassins.

Then, I used the Body Flicker to move. I was so fast that even Asuma and Kazuma could barely follow me with their eyes, as I was in base form, but the assassins just remained frozen in place, their eyes not moving from my previous position as I knocked out all of them with a chop to the back of the neck.

Then, I stepped back into the carriage, and closed the door as I finally stopped using the Body Flicker.

Fortunately for the three accompanying me, and everyone in the surrounding area, I had a good grasp on the air around me, or the sonic boom caused by my sudden burst of speed would have deafened them.

But now, all they could see was me standing at one moment, and all the assassins falling in the next, with me back in the carriage.

The three looked stupefied for a moment, before a bunch of soldiers came running in. When they saw Takashi, the platoon leader bowed down to him, and he showed righteous anger when he learned of the attack, and quickly detained the assassins, while the three came back to the carriage.

As Takashi came in, he looked a little on edge, and so our way to the Daimyo's Palace was silent for a while. It was only when we came near to it that Takashi said, "Thank you for the help."

I smiled and replied, "I'm sure you would have been fine, but I doubt the three of you could have stopped them all from leaving."

Takashi nodded slowly, before asking, "How did you move so fast? Are all S Rank this fast?"

I shook my head and replied, "No, I'm in the top three fastest in the world. But I'm much faster than this when I'm at my best. The speed you saw is probably top ten."

Takashi's eyes widened as he asked, "Does that mean you are within the top ten strongest in the world?"

I was stunned for a second, before I laughed, "I don't know about that, but there are some much slower than me whom I don't stand a chance against. Speed isn't everything."

That was true. I'm pretty sure Hashirama and Madara are slower than me, and so was the Third Hokage, but I don't fancy my chances against them in a one on one fight.

But what I said seemed to confuse Takashi as he asked, "But how can you fast someone as fast as you if you aren't as fast? It looked like you teleported! I didn't see anything!"

I snorted, "Speed isn't everything. You have more than one sense, so learn to use the others. And when you've figured how to use all of them, then work on enhancing them. Then, even if you aren't as fast, you will be able to react, and then you will stand a chance."

Takashi looked enlightened, but then confused as he asked, "How do I do that?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "You probably rely too much on sight, like most people, so start by banding your eyes, and working on your ears. Then, you can slowly go through all the senses. But more than anything, you need to experience a real battle, or you will never truly become strong."

Takashi leaned forward as he asked, "Why is that?"

"Experience. If you never face danger, then not only may you freeze in the face of true danger, but you will also not know how to sense it."

Takashi commented, "That sounds like an awful amount of work."

I nodded, "It is, but if you manage to master what I told you, then even with your current capabilities, you could give any Jonin a run for their money. But that's a little too far for you. Besides, you aren't a warrior, you are a prince. Your duties reside elsewhere."

Takashi sighed, he didn't look too happy with that. Classic. The Prince who doesn't anything to do with his life, and go to a 'simpler' life.