Chapter : 22 : So That's His Trick :
Location : Konohagakure No Sato : Shinobi Academy Training Ground :
" Slash !!!! "
Just as Takeru was about to close the distance he suddenly felt a threat coming towards him .
Without waiting for a single moment he decisively dodged sideways balancing his footwork by an inch before stabilizing and getting back up .
When he looked closely he found that his prediction was entirely correct .
Just from the distance from where he was standing he could see a thin, almost invisible wire.
' So that's his trick. ' - Takeru thought to himself .
Just now when he was dodging all those projectiles and saw many of them change directions mid air he was a little confused .
At first Takeru thought that it was just how good the opponent was .
' But now it seems it happened because the opponent is using strings to control the battlefield . '
That means Mr Yagami must have used these almost invisible strings and tied them to the shurikens.
But while it may sound simple it suddenly was not as easy .
As when the time came Mr Yagami just held the string in such a masterful and effortless manner that even Takeru who was focused all the time failed to notice anything .
' And if not for my good fighting instincts that told me something was off I might have fallen for this trap . '
Thinking about it he felt a deep reflection within himself .
' Just now I had become a little too overconfident and made this mistake . '
Takeru's strength is formidable and he has battle experience both from the character templates and fighting dangerous beasts in the forest .
But since he had not ever been properly challenged to show his true potential in a fight against a shinobi he had made some basic mistakes .
And this was the reason why he failed to notice the strings used by Mr Yagami .
' But I want make that mistake again . '
With that thought in mind he once again took up his position prepared to continue the battle .
" So he saw that . "
Shino sensei who was looking at the match with intensity saw everything very clearly .
And to say that he was so far impressed by Takeru's performance would be an understatement .
' So far he has managed to expertly dodge, deflect and counter strike all of the attacks coming from Yagami . '
Adding to that just now Takeru managed to dodge from a situation that would have been difficult even for some inexperienced chunin .
" Sigh ! It seems I have greatly underestimated his capabilities . "
At first both he and Shikamaru had put Takeru in the same league as Boruto and Sarada due to their natural talent and genius .
But now it seems they would need to refine that understanding .
It was because while all three of them were geniuses and yet their style of fighting and battle were completely different.
" Boruto fights with much energy and flexible movements . "
" Sarada on the other hand had shown herself to be very good at precise shurikenjutsu. "
" But Takeru, especially his kenjutsu, is on another level . "
So far throughout the battle Takeru has shown a very fluid form of fighting .
He often changed his grips and positions mid-fight according to the situation and never stuck to a rigid form .
And not only that, the biggest surprise for Shino was his instinctual reflexes and how well he performed with his combat form .
" Such ease of movement can only be achieved from continuous training and real battle experience . "
Shikamaru had already told Shino about Takeru's exceptional strength and decipline .
So he told him to keep a good eye on this new prodigy and to constantly give him reports .
' And there is another thing . '
Although he doesn't know why Shikamaru is so concerned about this matter, the last time they talked he felt there was something going on .
He knew that there was a meeting in the hokage office which included many important members of the village .
Although no one was told about the topics discussed during the time it must have been quite serious for even the lazy Nara to have looked so attentive .
" Sigh ! It seems even after all this time the village still has a lot to worry about . "
With that Shino once again focused his attention on the practice arena where things have already heated up once again .
Location : Practice Arena :
" Wow ! I did not expect you to be able to dodge that . "
Mr Yagami said as he finally looked at the boy in front of him in a different light .
At first when he saw the boy moving so efficiently against his projectiles he was impressed .
And this impression was became more profound when he dodged that attack from the blind spot .
But what happened just now made his impression even better .
' After all, even many chunins have failed to dodge my strings before . '
" Thank you for your praise Mr Yagami . "
" But I believe the battle has only started . "
Takeru on the other hand did not show any other emotion and kept a neutral face while holding his katana and wakizashi .
" Alright then let's continue to see just how far you can push your limits . "
With that finally Mr Yagami who had not yet moved from his position changed his stance .
" Swish ! "
With the swift movement he left his position and charged forward .
Seeing this Takeru didn't back down either and chose to have a close range combat which was a good for his kenjutsu technique .
" Tang ! Tang ! Ting ! Ting ! "
With that a high speed combat began between the two opponents which put every battle that had happened to this point to shame .
Both of them were moving very fast, sometimes using the body flicker technique or sometimes just using their physical speed .
The raw intensity of their battle and the clashes between the Katana and kunais made sparks fly everywhere .
Takeru was the first one to attack with his Katana as he moved at his opponent with precision .
Mr Yagami on the other hand quickly dodged attacked and let out a punch intending to hit the opponent at his right abdomen .
But Takeru quickly blocked the attack by bringing his wakizashi forward in a defensive position forcing Mr Yagami to pull back .
But this was just a trap .
Because as soon as Mr Yagami fell back he quickly used his strings trying to bind one of Takeru's hands .
" Oh no ! "
Looking at this sudden move Takeru quickly reacted and opted to sacrifice his wakizashi which was caught in the string .
This allowed him to get free of the binding and quickly launched his own counter attack .
And since the distance between both of them were close , Takeru's attack quickly reached Mr Yagami .
At this critical moment Mr Yagami took out a kunai to defend against the incoming attack .
However,in order to successfully blocking the attack, he could not hold on to the captured wakizashi anymore as it loosely fell on the ground and was quickly recovered by Takeru .
With that both of the quickly made some distance and the battle came to a stand still once again .
The students who are watching this battle including Boruto and the gang couldn't help but be in awe .
This was the first time for many of them to look into a battle of this intensity .
And the fact that it was happening between a real jonin against an Academy student was even more mind boggling .
But before they could even react to the situation that battle on the stage both combatants were once again fighting each other with full intensity .
Takeru used all the knowledge and skills he learned from Miyamoto Mashashi's character template to push the other side .
Mr Yagami on the other hand was also not giving up any space and by every attack and defence proving why he was a jonin .
But even then Mr Yagami was beyond surprised right at this moment .
" Boy what kind of training did you do to get to this level? "
Takeru not only managed to block, deflect and defend against his attacks but even managed to counter attack perfectly .
The situation at times became so tense that even he had to step back and defend with all his seriousness .
Takeru on the other hand did not talk anymore and quickly came forward and struck with his Katana .
However this time Mr Yagami did not defend against the attack .
" Poof !! "
And when the attack finally met Mr Yagami suddenly turned into a cloud of white smoke .
" A shadow clone ? But when ? "
Turns out that the person standing in front was actually a shadow clone, not the original Mr Yagami .
During the battle somewhere he had actually used shadow clone technique to escape.
Thinking about it must have been when during earlier he dodged the string for the first time .
At that moment he had been distracted for a few seconds which for a jonin should have been enough time to create a shadow clone .
But right now the most important question was were was Mr Yagami .
" There you are . "
Just then Takeru quickly thrust his katana backward without even turning around .
" Tang ! "
And just he did that his katana directly hit an attack coming towards him from behind .
" I must say your reflexes and instincts are quite extraordinary . "
Mr Yagami, who had just tried to ambush Takeru, couldn't help but say with a smile .
While saying that he also looked down at his arm where there was a small visible cut .
This was the first wound since the start of the fight .
Soon everyone in the crowd also noticed that .
" OMG ! Is this really happening? "
" I can't believe that after this intense fight the first one to get injured in this battle is actually Mr Yagami . "
" How is this possible? I mean how can an Academy student injure a jonin . "
" I truly don't know what to say anymore or maybe we are all just in a dream . "
This outcome was really hard to believe for anyone .
After all, who was Mr Yagami?
He was a jonin .
And on the other hand Takeru was a fresh Academy student .
At the same time after watching the fight no one could deny that Mr Yagami was very strong .
Because none of them could even match his projectile skills in the first half of the fight let alone in a close combat .
And this puts Takeru's achievement of fighting on an equal foot and even causing the first injury of the battle far above anything they can even dream of .
So by this point for many of the students in the class Takeru had already became the role model they would need to follow in the future .
Well this was going on between the students on the stage both combatants had stopped in their original position .
" Takeru, you have shown exceptional skills and calm during the battle so far . "
" As a jonin I have no advice to give to you about your skills in close combat and kenjutsu . "
Mr Yagami said as he looked at the boy in front of him with a proud simple without trace of negative feelings .
Because to him the fact that there is such a genius in the younger generation meant that the future of the village was in good hands .
And to him this mattered more than anything else .
" But as you said before does battle is for you to push your limit to as much as you can . "
" And since I have already seen your ability in close combat . "
Just then Mr Yagami's expression became very serious .
" However, close combat is just one part of being a shinobi . "
" And the battle till now was just a beginning . "
With that Mr Yagami started to make hand seals .
" So let's see just how you good you can be against ninjutsu . "
To Be Continued .
( Author's Note : Hello guys I hope you all are doing well and before ending this chapter I would like to say something .
Next month I will be releasing my new FanFiction - " Reward Ascension System . "
It will be a Naruto FanFiction and will focus on the main protagonist Kirishima Akira who will be starting his journey during the troubling times of the third great shinobi war . And with the help of the system and his hard and smart work little by little he will gain various achievements and rewards and eventually make a name for himself alongside other legends of the era .
So I hope that all of you will check it out and support it just like you have been supporting my other works .
And if you have anything else to say on the matter do tell me in the comment section .
However, as I have said before, while I am open to constructive criticism, please refrain from using too harsh and negative language which is not good for us both .
So that's all I had to say today .
And see you soon in the next chapter . )