In the early morning several days later, within the small forest on the mountainside of the Academy,
The sky gradually brightened, and rosy-red morning glow enveloped the entire forest like a transparent veil.
Two silhouettes, more agile than monkeys, leaped between the trees, occasionally colliding and producing muffled sounds of fists and feet colliding, starling flocks of birds.
It could vaguely be seen that these two silhouettes were of a man and a woman, the man having silver curly hair, and the woman with bright red long hair.
Somewhat surprisingly, although the two seemed evenly matched, the man's breathing had become somewhat heavy, while the woman's aura remained calm and she appeared to be at ease.
"Natsuhiko, I'm going to accelerate, okay?"
At this moment, the red-haired woman suddenly spoke, reminding him.
"Kushina, wait..."
Before Natsuhiko could finish his sentence, Kushina swiftly moved, leaving two shallow craters on the sturdy tree branches with her feet. Her figure turned into an afterimage, resembling a projectile heading towards him.
The usually delicate fists now turned into a terrifying weapon, fiercely striking towards him!
Helpless, Natsuhiko crossed his hands to block the punch, then took advantage of the force to fly backward.
As he soared through the sky, he adjusted his posture, concentrated chakra at the soles of his feet, and landed steadily on a massive tree trunk. His feet adhered to it, and his body was parallel to the ground.
Seeing Kushina preparing for another attack, Natsuhiko quickly formed a hand seal and spoke rapidly.
"Kushina, wait! Don't forget our goal for today! We've warmed up enough; we should get to the main part, or we'll be late for work later."
"Huh? But I haven't even loosened up yet!"
Upon hearing Natsuhiko's words, Kushina hesitated in her movements. Although she didn't continue the attack, her expression suggested, "Is that all you've got?" leaving Natsuhiko speechless.
Wait until you've warmed up; I might be exhausted by then!
Indeed, in this world, there were only tired oxen and no poorly cultivated land.
Never compete in endurance with someone from the Uzumaki Clan!
While Natsuhiko sarcastically thought in his mind, outwardly, he maintained a firm stance.
"A real opponent won't give you the chance to warm up. A ninja must be ready to fight at any moment under any circumstances."
"Well, you do make sense."
Unable to refute, Kushina obediently complied.
Natsuhiko sighed in relief at the sight. A few days ago, he promised Kushina that he would spar with her occasionally to help her understand her actual skill level.
Being a Special-Jonin against a Chunin, he held a condescending view.
He didn't expect that their first spar today almost ended in disaster during the warm-up. Natsuhiko realised that in pure Taijutsu, he seemed to be at a disadvantage against Kushina.
If he were defeated by the opponent during warm-up, how would victory or defeat be determined?
Although Natsuhiko had many reasons (excuses) to explain this situation, such as his combat style primarily focusing on Rune Ninjutsu, with little time spent on Taijutsu until recently, he acknowledged his shortcomings.
Therefore, in Taijutsu, where Kushina received guidance from a renowned teacher, it was reasonable and logical for Natsuhiko to be at a disadvantage.
Just like a mage not using Fireball and engaging in close combat with a warrior, of course, there would be no advantage.
Of course, if you were a certain white-bearded old mage who only knew Illumination Spells, Natsuhiko wouldn't mention it.
Moreover, initially, Natsuhiko and Kushina were evenly matched, with give and take. However, Kushina's Uzumaki Clan's overpowered physique gradually gave her the upper hand.
Regardless, Natsuhiko felt a bit embarrassed about being outlasted in a physical confrontation with a girl.
But he didn't dwell on it, as Kushina spoke again.
"Natsuhiko, shall we officially start the spar now?"
Still catching his breath, Natsuhiko surveyed the surroundings and pointed to a distant open space surrounded by trees.
"We've warmed up in the small forest, let's go over there for a ground battle!"
Natsuhiko insisted that his decision wasn't just to take a break on the way there.
"Alright." Kushina agreed, covering her mouth to hide a smile.
In fact, Kushina had already sensed that Natsuhiko's Taijutsu was slightly inferior to hers, especially in terms of endurance.
Discovering that the genius Natsuhiko Amou, praised even by Grandma Mito, had shortcomings, Kushina inexplicably felt a sense of relief.
With Natsuhiko intentionally delaying and Kushina intentionally accommodating, the two neither accelerated nor slowed down as they leaped between the trees. After a while, they reached the open space Natsuhiko mentioned.
After landing, Natsuhiko, whose breathing had stabilised, opened his mouth and said,
"The rules are basically the same as in actual combat practice, but because we have classes later, let's avoid using Ninja Tools. Is that okay?"
Kushina nodded, indicating no objection.
Thus, the two distanced themselves on the open ground, facing each other from afar.
"I'm ready anytime. Kushina, start whenever you're ready."
After saying this, Natsuhiko stood still, making no move.
Observing this, Kushina didn't dare to be careless.
Now, it was different from the warm-up just now; Natsuhiko could employ various means beyond Taijutsu.
What kind of battle method would Natsuhiko use?
Obviously, Sealing Jutsu and the Projection Jutsu that Natsuhiko had mastered to perfection were indispensable, but the range was too broad.
Moreover, Kushina had just noticed that during the warm-up, there seemed to be some issues in the transitioning of Natsuhiko's Taijutsu. It was evident because he hadn't allowed the use of Ninjutsu.
This meant that Natsuhiko likely possessed a Ninjutsu style that could complement Taijutsu.
Kushina remembered in her heart, reminding herself not to be careless later.
After some calculations in her mind, Kushina yelled, "I'm coming for you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she rushed towards Natsuhiko, swiftly forming hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Before the tone could fully drop, several white smoke clouds exploded consecutively beside Kushina, revealing four Shadow Clones exactly identical to her.
The Shadow Clones quickly dispersed, seemingly preparing to surround Natsuhiko from four directions.
Kushina's main body followed behind one Shadow Clone, ready to take advantage of the situation.
"Is this the ancestral Ninjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan?"
Indeed, for the Uzumaki Clan with abundant chakra, Shadow Clone Jutsu was a cost-effective style.
However, Natsuhiko remained motionless, not even assuming a combat stance, still leisurely observing the movements of Kushina's several Shadow Clones.
Soon, the four clones surrounded Natsuhiko, vigorously wielding their fists, launching a charge towards him.
Seeing the perfectly coordinated attacks of the four clones, it was evident that they had undergone deliberate practice.
Natsuhiko speculated that this was a Taijutsu tactic developed by the Uzumaki Clan for Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Sure enough, the coordination of the four Shadow Clones was exceptional tacit, leaving no room for evasion in any direction.
It seemed like they were about to hit Natsuhiko.
However, at that moment, Natsuhiko raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Simultaneously, he lightly uttered a phrase, "It's going to get dark; please close your eyes."
The next moment, darkness fell.
As the main body, Kushina, who was prepared to sneak attack while Natsuhiko dealt with the four clones, suddenly found herself in complete darkness!
This was not the "everything turns black" experience during unconsciousness.
It was a real and tangible darkness.
Kushina felt no discomfort; she just noticed that the surroundings had suddenly turned pitch black, and she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face.
Bang!
One clone disappeared, and the memory instantly returned to Kushina's main body.
However, Kushina gained no useful information from the clone because, like the first one, its vision turned black, and it had no idea what happened.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
Before Kushina could instruct her clones, they vanished one after another.
Similar to the first clone, they provided no information to Kushina.
At this moment, Kushina couldn't help but recall what Grandma Mito had mentioned – the Genjutsu developed by the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, the Infinite Darkness Jutsu.
That jutsu could achieve a similar effect.
However, Kushina knew that there was no disturbance in her chakra, indicating that this was clearly a variation created by Natsuhiko's projection jutsu.
Unable to dispel the Genjutsu through conventional methods, Kushina's brain rapidly worked to think of a way to break this jutsu.
Unfortunately, there was no time left.
Because Natsuhiko's cold and ruthless voice, akin to an icy mountain, had already echoed behind her...
"Konoha's Hidden Taijutsu Secret Art..."
(End of this chapter)
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