"Sure, sensei. Let's spar."
Those words acted like flint and steel. The spark that made both shinobi fire a burst of flames at their opponent.
The bursts cancelled each other out and Hitomi dashed in with blinding speed. Her fist expelled a fireball that shot forward at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, Suguru retreated. He kicked with all his strength and fired a constant stream of orange flames.
Hitomi dodged to the side and waved her arm. A huge wave of fire burst forth, making Suguru's expression change.
"Sensei... your chakra is way too high for me—"
This forced Suguru to flicker first. Thus, Hitomi now had access to the same jutsu. A battle of speed meant that Suguru was able to fend for himself. Had it been pure power, he would've been overwhelmed by the earlier fire wave alone.
Suguru moved quickly — but not as fast as he once did. He was fighting a real jounin, so he employed more tactics than when he fought his own clone.
His slow movement broke Hitomi's timing, thinking that he would've struck at full speed. Suguru then began varying the speed of his flickers, further creating confusion.
However, Hitomi simply relied on her heightened senses and immense reaction time to defend herself. Every punch, kick, fireball, fire arc, and fire wave that Suguru threw were all dodged with minimal movements.
"Ha!" Hitomi roared and slammed the ground with her fist. Instead of the ground fracturing from the force, a huge pulse of flames emerged from where she stood.
'Damn!' Suguru cursed in his mind and flickered onto the treetops. 'That's crazy... I didn't expect this jutsu to be able to do that.'
It was supposed to be a way to augment his strikes. The fact that he could expel projectiles had already been an unexpected bonus. But to be able to create the same effects that Hitomi could...
That was a wonderful bonus.
The spar continued, with each side exchanging ideas on the jutsu's utilization. Eventually, Suguru ran out of chakra first, signaling the end of the sparring session.
"This jutsu is amazing, you little brat. I never expected it to be this versatile when you first explained it to me. The Hyuga clan would pay for you to teach them."
Suguru imagined what the technique would look like in the hands of someone like Neji. The Blaze Battle Body seemed more suitable for other people despite it being his own creation.
'Oh well, it's like Tobirama inventing the Flying Raijin. Someone else, namely Minato, was able to master it until it became known as his signature jutsu.' Suguru sighed.
Such was the life of an inventor. His talent lay in creation — not application.
***
After that day, Hitomi and Suguru regularly refined the Blaze Battle Body. They were able to figure out a few weaknesses and minimize them. They kept sparring regularly, figuring out any other characteristics it may have.
"It is indeed a jutsu for those with larger chakra reserves. Perhaps only jounins can use this technique for longer periods. Even then, to have lethal power, too much chakra is expended. It's a very flashy jutsu, but its lacking lethality will be a problem."
Suguru surmised the day's findings, looking at an exhausted Hitomi and the various burns on his own body.
"It also doesn't provide protection from the heat of your own released flames. Hence, the possibility of injuring oneself in the same attack is highly likely."
A pinch of frustration could be heard in Suguru's voice.
'Is the Blaze Battle Body going to be classified as a Kinjutsu, like the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu?' He thought.
"I think those things can be fixed with time," Hitomi wrenched Suguru out of his thoughts. "I'm not the best at chakra control. If I was better at it, the chakra expenditure wouldn't be as great. Perhaps one of the Legendary Sannin like Tsunade would be able to make great use of this jutsu."
'Or Naruto,' Suguru thought, 'But he doesn't have an affinity for fire.'
"I understand, Hitomi-sensei." Suguru nodded and closed the notebook he had been using to write his notes. He sighed, "I guess I'll have to train harder then."
Hearing this, Hitomi laughed. "Training hard is a given."
***
Upon being reminded of the Legendary Sannin, Suguru realized there was an iconic jutsu that he could learn to enhance his abilities.
'The Rasengan,'
Such a jutsu relied only on chakra control, and Suguru's fighting style was predominantly centered around fine control given his small reserves. Furthermore, with the Sharingan and Byakugan's abilities, he would be able to make rapid progress in learning it.
It would be a good use of his time in between missions.
'I'll start learning it after meeting with Hiruzen,' Suguru thought as he accompanied Hitomi to the Hokage's Office.
They were going to ask him for a copy of the Uchiha's jutsus.
'Hopefully, everything goes well. Otherwise, I would have to ask for something different.'
Suguru took an expectant breath and listened to Hitomi knock thrice on Hiruzen's door.
"Come in," Hiruzen's slow, gruff voice echoed in Suguru's ear.
Walking in, Suguru saw that Hiruzen was still behind his desk. Presumably, he had been doing paperwork before their arrival.
"Lord Hokage," Hitomi bowed, and so did Suguru.
"Hitomi, I see. What do you need from this old man?" Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe.
"Lord Hokage, one of my brats has created quite a unique jutsu." Hitomi smiled. "He's willing to trade it in for a copy of the Uchiha clan's Fire Release Jutsus."
"Hoho," Hiruzen chuckled, "Do tell,"
Hitomi quickly explained the jutsu's mechanics and versatility. By the end of the explanation, Hiruzen couldn't help but stroke his goatee.
"That's an interesting jutsu indeed. The Hyuga clan would surely desire such a revolutionary jutsu. Furthermore, most of our shinobi know Fire Release. This will be very useful for them." Hiruzen thought for a moment, "Very well, it seems like a fair trade-off."
Hearing these words, Suguru's eyes gleamed.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Then, he stepped forward. "Here are my notes regarding the jutsu. It should help anyone willing to learn it."
"You even have something like this? Wonderful, young lad." Hiruzen's eyes flashed as he retrieved the notebook from Suguru.
It seemed like even Hiruzen was keen on learning the Blaze Battle Body. Knowing that he was hailed as the Professor, it made sense.
'Now, I've got a lot of things on my plate,' Suguru thought, 'I'll have to slowly digest my food...'
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Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
You can read up to Chapter 75, where I update more than once a day!
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