11 AM, at one of the Private Training Grounds of Central Ninja Academy…
Kamishiro Kirito had gathered the students of class 1-S, along with two other assistant instructors.
These two assistant instructors were both Special Jonin-ranked Shinobi.
They were here to help Kirito analyze and assess the students as they dueled against their fellow classmates.
Kirito smiled and said, "I know you are already itching to go up against each other. So, I won't waste too much time."
"We will start the duel within the next five minutes."
"We will pair you up with your opponent based on everyone's final combat assessment rank in the last semester."
"Let's see how much you have grown since then."
After saying that, Kirito started talking to his assistants to pair suitable students with each other.
They would analyze each student's combat ability based on their performance today and see if they needed to adjust the training plans.
Meanwhile, the students could no longer hold back.
They really wanted to jump in and showcase their strength.
After all, they worked really hard to polish their combat abilities during the long break.
Exactly after five minutes, Kirito spoke up again, "Alright! Get ready."
"Since we are having the first practical combat exercise of the second year, let's start it with a bang."
"Uchiha Reina. Senju Seimei. You two go up."
Seimei wasn't surprised. He and Reina topped the combat ability evaluation last year.
Even though he was ultimately defeated by her, he still possessed enough strength to make everyone in his class, except Reina, eat dust.
Without further ado, both of them walked to the dueling area.
The dueling area was large enough to accommodate 2 full-sized football stadiums.
For Shinobi, however, it wasn't that big.
A single activation of the Body Flicker Technique was enough for an average Chunin to cover at least 50 meters.
Meanwhile, Seimei and Reina finally took their positions. Both were standing 10 meters apart, ready to unleash destruction at a moment's notice.
Their classmates were cheering for them. They also wanted to see something exciting.
After all, who didn't like an exciting match?
Kamishiro Kirito, who was acting as the referee, asked in a loud voice, "Ready?"
Seimei and Reina nodded in unison and made the seal of confrontation for a second.
(A/N: For those who are not familiar with the Naruto franchise, ninjas from the same side create a seal of confrontation with their right hand and fingers before participating in a friendly duel with their opponents.
It's not a necessity, but more like a symbol or tradition.)
Seeing this, Kirito stepped out of the area and shouted, "Okay."
"But remember, it's a friendly spar."
"Give your all, but you can only use C-rank or lower-rank techniques when it comes to offensive Ninjutsu."
"No restriction for defensive Ninjutsu."
"Also, you are not allowed to use any Ninja tools or weapons."
"Now…"
"Begin."
As soon as the words fell, Seimei and Reina both darted toward each other in a flash.
They arrived in front of each other in the blink of an eye.
Seimei punched Reina in the gut. However, Reina easily blocked it with her left palm and threw a punch at his face with blinding speed.
Seimei ducked his head to avoid the punch by a hair's breadth and used his left hand to throw another punch upwards to hit her chin.
Reina reacted quickly and used her right elbow to block the punch before using the momentum from the elbow block to throw a quick, straight jab at his face.
Seimei quickly found himself at a disadvantage and jumped backward to get away from the jab.
He wanted to get some breathing space, but Reina wasn't willing to give him such luxury.
She quickly followed him and attacked with a fierce round kick with terrifying momentum.
Seimei could clearly hear the sound of air being cut as the kick approached him. He couldn't let it hit him squarely. And he didn't have enough time to dodge it either.
So, he used chakra to reinforce both of his arms.
Then he positioned his left arm vertically upward to the ground while keeping it close to his body to block the kick. He also supported his left arm with his right one.
Bang!
The moment the kick connected with his left arm, a little shockwave emerged from the point of contact, causing Seimei's snow-white hair to flutter violently.
The force of the kick caused him to slide a little over 1 meter to his right.
However, at the very next moment, Seimei responded with a right kick of his own before Reina even had the time to retract her right leg.
But Reina wasn't nervous at all.
She used her left leg as the support, jumped into the air, and did a quick backflip, causing Seimei's kick to miss.
Seimei quickly calculated her landing location and quickly formed a few hand seals to unleash a relatively low-powered but extremely quick Fire Release Ninjutsu.
Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique
Seimei spat a stream of fire, which quickly formed a vague 3-meter-wide, pointed flaming projectile before speeding towards Reina in a straight line.
It looked akin to a bright yellow mini comet.
Seimei timed it perfectly. It would hit Reina the moment she touched the ground.
And it did.
Booooom!
The moment the flames of the Ninjutsu touched Reina, it completely engulfed her.
However, Seimei was not looking at the burning figure at all.
Why?
Because…
Poof!!
The flaming figure was replaced with a charred wooden log. She clearly used one of the three simple yet effective Three Body Techniques—Substitution Jutsu, just before Seimei's Ninjutsu could hit her.
Suddenly, Seimei felt burning hot air coming from his left side.
He didn't think much and instinctively activated the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from his spot and reappear nearly 50 meters away.
Half a second later, Seimei flickered away, a giant fireball of 4-meter diameter crashed into his previous location and exploded with a thunderous sound.
BOOOOOOM~
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
The resulting shockwave from this Ninjutsu explosion caused fire and dirt to fly into the air, and the blast zone was left with a 3-meter-deep and 7-meter-wide crater.
Meanwhile, Seimei already spotted Reina's figure and quickly formed another set of hand seals, causing Lightning Release chakra to crackle and condense around him.
Crackle~ Crackle~
Lightning Release: Lightning Ball
20 tennis ball-sized lightning spheres formed around Seimei and quickly moved toward Reina, ready to electrocute and immobilize her.
(A/N: Are you wondering why his Lightning Ball jutsu formed tennis ball-sized lightning spheres when he effortlessly unleashed basketball-sized ones during his battle against the Rock Golem?
Well, he is fighting against his classmate right now, not a mortal enemy. So, it's only natural to use the standard version of this C-rank Ninjutsu instead of a supercharged one.
His goal is to immobilize Reina here, not to fatally injure her.)
Reina also finished forming her hand seals and spat a stream of fire, which quickly split into exactly 20 tennis ball-sized, burning-hot fireballs.
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu
The fireball charged forward and met with the crackling lightning spheres halfway, causing both jutsu to explode with flaming wisps and crackling lightning arcs.
Bang~ Bang~ Crackle~ Booom~
Before the dust from the explosion could even settle down, Seimei had already made his move.
He made a cross seal and used the Shadow Clone Technique. An identical physical clone that looked exactly like him came into existence with a puff of smoke.
Instantly, they both formed two separate hand seals and unleashed their Ninjutsu together.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
The Ninjutsu released by Seimei and his clone mixed together, fueled each other's powers before turning into a sea of searing inferno.
The wind intensified the flame, and the flame caused the wind to heat up and expand.
The combination of two C-rank Ninjutsu created a devastating sea of fire that charged toward Reina, ready to engulf her completely.
Its power wasn't any less potent than an offensive B-rank Ninjutsu.
However, Reina didn't show any fear of facing the incoming inferno.
With a smirk, she completed a series of hand seals, which caused the surrounding moisture to condense and mix with her chakra, only to create a huge 8-meter-tall and 15-meter-wide wall of transparent water.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall
Just as the wall of water was formed, the sea of inferno hit the wall, causing the water to boil.
However, the fire couldn't penetrate the wall.
The B-rank defensive Ninjutsu successfully halted the momentum of Seimei's combination Ninjutsu while releasing tons of steam as a result of the clash.
Seimei used the mist as his cover to form another set of hand seals and gathered Water Release chakra in his mouth.
Water Release: Wild Water Wave
Seimei quickly released a stream of concentrated, high-speed waves of water, poised to wash her away and knock her out.
Meanwhile, Reina, who had already activated her Sharingan, clearly sensed a huge amount of chakra gathered in one place and coming toward her.
She quickly dodged to her left, letting the wave of high-speed water pass by her.
Just at that exact moment, Seimei came out of the mist, reinforced his arms with chakra, and launched a solid right hook at her face.
However, Seimei, who had already activated his Tenseigan, looked confusedly at the girl whom he was about to punch.
Hmm?
Why does she have so little chakra?
Something's not right.
She should at least have 8 times more chakra at this point.
So, this one here is a clone?
Then where is…
However, before Seimei could think further, Reina had already dodged the punch and kicked him hard with a chakra-reinforced kick.
Seimei quickly disappeared with a puff of smoke after getting hit by the devastating counter.
It was clearly his shadow clone, not his real body.
At the same moment, the real Seimei arrived right behind Reina and was about to grab her neck.
But he suddenly froze on the spot.
The memories of his destroyed shadow clone just hit him along with its analysis.
He quickly activated his own Tenseigan and realized that the Reina in front of him was just a shadow clone.
He instantly distanced himself from her shadow clone and tried to use Tenseigan's 360° vision.
But at the next moment, he detected movement right behind him.
He tried to change direction and retreat quickly.
However, it was of no use.
Before he could even move, a soft hand grabbed him by his neck.
A gentle yet teasing sound came from behind, "Do you surrender, Seimei?😁"
Seimei's lips twitched violently.
Damn it! He lost again.
What a blunder! He should have activated his Tenseigan from the start.
He must be careful next time.
This was one ridiculous defeat!
At least she didn't throw him to the ground and sit on him this time.
Yes!!!! Let's surrender quickly before she takes any further action.
Let's withdraw before she starts pulling her usual shenanigans again.
I can at least save my dignity that way.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he immediately held his hands up.
He quickly declared, "I lost!"
Reina raised an eyebrow but didn't do or say anything further.
She let him go with a slightly amusing smile on her face.
Kamishiro Kirito, the acting referee, announced the result, "Seimei surrendered and cannot continue the duel any longer."
"Uchiha Reina wins!"
"Good job, you two."
"Now, form the seal of reconciliation."
Seimei and Reina formed the seal of reconciliation and stepped out of the dueling area.
Reina stepped closer and grinned, "Want to spar again tomorrow?"
Seimei gazed at her and said calmly, "In your dreams."
But then he paused for a bit and said with some hesitation, "But we will fight again next week."
"I will look forward to it," replied Reina before she sat alongside Seimei, ready to enjoy others' matches.
Seimei briefly glanced at her but said nothing.
I lost this time because of my carelessness.
I must reflect on it.
If it were a life-and-death fight, my corpse would have already been 6 feet under the ground by now.
I can't die. I won't die.
Not when I barely got a second chance in my life.
I will train hard, and I will grow strong.
For my family.
And for my dreams!
Seimei clenched his hands mentally as his eyes shone with determination.
He would reflect on his mistakes after the practical combat classes.
For now, it was time to relax a bit and watch others getting thrashed.
Hehe…😎😎
--------------------------------
A/N: If you like what you're reading, consider supporting me on P@treon and read up to 25 Advanced chapters!
patreon.com/Seigan