Chapter 220: Breakthrough in Mental Power

Day by day, time passed, and soon it was the day before the Pokémon Battle Tournament.

In the afternoon, with the sun high in the sky, tension hung in the air at the backyard of the Pokémon House.

Ryo sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut. Around him, tangible waves of mental energy floated in the air. The pressure radiating from them stirred up the wind, making it noticeably more intense.

"Gardevoir, are you sure this is okay? Ryo hasn't moved all afternoon," Cynthia asked worriedly as she watched him remain still.

Gardevoir nodded calmly. "It's alright. This kind of breakthrough is difficult—it's perfectly normal."

"Rooarrr—"

Dragonite and Garchomp nodded in agreement, supporting Gardevoir's assessment.

If Pokémon strength were used as reference, breaking through from Kage-level to Super Kage-level was equivalent to moving from the Champion level to the Master tier.

If this stage could be overcome easily, then Master-level Pokémon wouldn't be so rare in the Pokémon world.

The same applied to the Super Kage level in the Naruto world—it wouldn't be so exclusive if it were simple.

"Alright, but how much longer will it take?" Cynthia pressed further.

Ryo had been like this the entire afternoon. Could it possibly last until tomorrow? Would he still be in this state when the tournament started?

Gardevoir shook her head. "I don't know. That depends entirely on Ryo himself."

"It won't be much longer."

At that moment, Nagato, who was standing nearby, suddenly spoke up.

Cynthia looked toward him. "Not much longer?"

Nagato nodded. "Yeah. The energy inside the boss's body has already reached the Super Kage level. He's just one step away now."

Cynthia nodded with a bit of relief. As long as he could finish before tomorrow's tournament, she had no worries.

As for why Nagato was here in the Konoha Pokémon House—it was a bit of a mystery.

After all, Nagato usually stayed outside and rarely showed up here.

Cynthia didn't know the reason. Shortly after Ryo entered his meditative state post-lunch, Nagato had appeared and stayed quietly ever since.

It was clear he had something to report, but whatever it was, Cynthia didn't ask—she wasn't one to pry.

Whooosh—

Suddenly, the mental energy around Ryo surged violently. The air compressed into swirling vortexes, and the wind kicked up chunks of earth that floated skyward as if gravity had lost its grip.

"Everyone, stay alert!" Gardevoir quickly shielded Cynthia with her own mental force and warned everyone around.

Other than Cynthia, the people and Pokémon present were powerful enough to withstand the surge. All turned toward Ryo with serious expressions.

"Gardevoir, is he breaking through now?" Cynthia asked, gritting her teeth as she held her ground behind Gardevoir.

Gardevoir nodded. "Yes. Ryo is beginning his breakthrough."

But concern flickered in her eyes. The disruption caused just from the start was already so intense—what would it be like at the peak? Would the entire Pokémon House be torn apart?

Whooosh—

Suddenly, the energy around Ryo expanded again. The tornadoes intensified, and cracks split the earth as more dirt was lifted toward the sky.

"This is bad! We have to contain the boss's energy or the entire place will be wrecked!"

Nagato was shocked, and also a bit distressed.

Shocked because Ryo's power from merely breaking through was overwhelming.

Distressed because he had only come to report intel—who knew he'd get caught in this?

Gardevoir, Dragonite, and Garchomp all nodded. They immediately unleashed their powers to contain the out-of-control energy surrounding Ryo.

With their joint efforts, the tornadoes gradually faded, and the flying dirt slowly fell back to the ground.

The apocalyptic scene from moments before returned to calm.

But although it looked peaceful, anyone standing close to Ryo could still feel the violent churning of his mental force—it was like countless sharp blades swirling around him.

Whoo—

Behind them, Cynthia sighed in relief as she watched the tornado disappear. "He's so troublesome… even his breakthroughs are this dramatic."

She couldn't help but feel a little lucky—thankfully she specialized in chakra and ninjutsu rather than mental power. Her own breakthroughs had always been calm and quiet.

Ever since she learned how to refine chakra, Cynthia hadn't slacked off. By now, she was already at Chūnin level, and reaching Jōnin wasn't far off.

Had she started training younger—say, at around ten years old—she might already have broken into the Jōnin level by now.

Whoo—

Just then, Ryo slowly opened his eyes. Instantly, the swirling energy around him vanished.

He exhaled deeply. Seeing the looks on everyone's faces, he blinked in confusion. "What's with those expressions? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

Everyone's lips twitched at his question. But soon, they relaxed and withdrew their powers.

Realizing what had happened, Ryo gave an awkward smile. "Uh… I lost control again during the breakthrough, didn't I?"

"What do you think?" Cynthia walked up and rolled her eyes. "You almost brought this whole place down."

"Ahem…" Ryo coughed awkwardly. "I kind of forgot, sorry about that."

Everyone twitched again at his response, all inwardly speechless. How could he forget something so serious?

"Ryo, how are you feeling now?" Gardevoir stepped closer with concern in her voice.

Dragonite also looked toward him with care in its eyes.

Ryo shook his head. "I'm fine. More than fine, actually—I feel amazing."

The breakthrough brought a massive improvement—far more than he had expected.

Just his mental power alone had multiplied in strength to an almost unbelievable degree.

Before the breakthrough, the mental energy inside his body was already immense, but now… it was more than tenfold—maybe even dozens of times stronger.

>>>>><<<<<>>>>><<<<<

[If you like this story, please don't shy away from adding to the collection, giving a power stone, and leaving a review. You can even follow my patreon.com/Yueru1 for 50+ advanced chapters]