The Warm-Up Was Over

"Shadow Clone!"

His heart skipped a beat. Shimura Kentei hurriedly focused on the several Tsunade shadow clones around him and swiftly drew his bow.

He had previously used arrows to destroy four shadow clones, leaving six. Senju Nawaki and Hyuga Suzune were dealing with two of them, leaving four.

Ordinary shadow clones were nothing, but the problem was that Tsunade's real body was hidden among them.

Even Hyuga's Byakugan could not see through shadow clones, putting him at a disadvantage.

"You little pervert, eat my fist!"

Brushing aside an incoming Steel Arrow, Tsunade wore a fierce grin as she used the Body Flicker Technique to cross more than ten meters in an instant. Her five fingers clenched into a fist, which came smashing down.

Not daring to be careless, Shimura Kentei threw aside his battle bow, raised his greatshield to block, and received the violent blow with the force-dispersing technique he had developed through training against iron balls.

His body bent slightly like a spring. Once the force behind Tsunade's punch had been exhausted, he suddenly rebounded and forced her back a step.

"Interesting!"

Tsunade's beautiful eyes lit up as she saw through the mystery of that technique, and her interest was piqued.

Although she had not used her full strength just now, not just anyone could withstand that punch. This kid was quite good.

She took a step back and adjusted the chakra that had been affected by the Sealing Crystal radiation on the shield. Then she threw another punch.

Her fist slammed hard into the shield, yet strangely, there was not much sound, because Shimura Kentei had dispersed most of the force.

However, he was not merely defending passively. He controlled the wings behind him to strike repeatedly while directing Chakra Threads toward Tsunade to bind her.

"Earth Style: Hardening Jutsu!"

Sensing the Chakra Threads winding toward her, Tsunade took a moment to form hand seals and used the Earth Style hardening technique, turning the skin across her body as hard as steel.

With her hardened body and the Monster Strength Technique, she forcibly snapped the Chakra Threads winding around her.

"What a violent woman!"

Feeling all his Chakra Threads snap, Shimura Kentei could not help complaining.

This woman's strength was seriously unfair!

"An impressive force-dispersing technique!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, seated in the stands, was interested as well. As a taijutsu expert, he naturally saw the brilliance of Shimura Kentei's technique.

Though the principle was simple, executing it required an extremely high degree of control over one's body. Such control could not be cultivated overnight.

Senju Tōsu and the others beside him also became more interested, while their assessment of the Shimura Clan rose another notch.

They did not believe Shimura Kentei had invented such an exquisite force-dispersing technique himself. It had to be the crystallization of the Shimura Clan's accumulated efforts.

They had underestimated the Shimura Clan before!

"Your battle suit is too much of a cheat!"

After throwing thirteen punches in a row, Tsunade had no choice but to pull away and retreat rapidly, calming the chakra in her body that was on the verge of losing control.

Although the Sealing Crystal's influence on Kage-level powerhouses was greatly reduced, it still existed.

It was fine for a short time, but if it went on too long, it could still cause chakra to lose control or even run wild.

Fighting this kid at close range was far too disadvantageous!

And this thing was practically immune to ninjutsu. It was simply the nemesis of ninjas like them.

Only someone like her, proficient in taijutsu, could handle it somewhat. If it were ninjutsu-focused ninjas like Jiraiya or Orochimaru, they definitely would not be able to do anything about it in a short time.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

Without wasting time, once she had calmed the chakra in her body, she raised her hands to form seals again.

A massive surge of chakra transformed the ground within thirty meters ahead into a swamp, quickly swallowing Shimura Kentei. Even using the technique of walking on water could not stabilize his footing.

"I knew this kind of ninjutsu would be hard to counter!"

Watching his body rapidly sink into the swamp, Shimura Kentei complained helplessly. He then controlled the Venom Suit to spread upward and envelop his entire head, took a deep breath, and finally assembled his helmet.

"Earth Style: Rock Solid Jutsu!"

Sensing Shimura Kentei sink to the bottom of the swamp, Tsunade smiled maliciously and formed hand seals again. A huge amount of chakra poured forth, hardening the swamp into rock.

"Did that kid offend Tsunade?"

Watching that ruthless display of digging a pit and burying someone alive, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not help looking at Senju Tōsu beside him. This assessment felt a little too brutal.

No matter how he looked at it, Tsunade seemed determined to kill that kid!

"Probably!"

Rubbing his chin, Senju Tōsu could not understand his niece's actions either. It was only an assessment. Was there any need to be this ruthless?

It was not only Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others who were shocked. The Elite Class students from every grade watching around the perimeter were frightened as well.

"Minato, will we have to go through this kind of assessment from our team leader after we graduate?"

Yakushi Nonō, a first-year freshman, had a pale little face and was filled with fearful worry for her future.

Could it be that after graduating in the future, she would die during her team leader's assessment before even becoming a real ninja?

"P-probably!"

Minato Namikaze swallowed hard, his scalp tingling from what he was seeing.

Was this really just an assessment?

"Hm?"

Tsunade on the training field seemed to sense something and lowered her head. She sensed that not only was Shimura Kentei not suffocating, he was actually rising rapidly.

Before long, a blade pierced through the hard rock. After a few slashes, it shattered the stone, and a figure leaped out from underground. It was Shimura Kentei.

However, Shimura Kentei now held a greatsword in his right hand, an enormous blade eighteen centimeters wide and fully one meter eighty long.

That greatsword had just cut through the rock, clearly making it a rare and valuable weapon.

Slightly out of breath, Shimura Kentei bit open a specially made Military Rations Pill and swallowed it, quickly restoring the chakra in his body.

Although the Super Speed Technique and Super Strength Technique did not consume much chakra by themselves, his chakra reserves were too low. In this short time, he had already used up more than half.

"Kid, I'm getting serious now!"

Tsunade's expression turned solemn, and she became more serious.

Though she still hated that little pervert enough to grind her teeth, she acknowledged his strength.

Even if most of it relied on that battle suit, making it somewhat of a trick, that still counted as strength in the ninja world.

She took out a Sealed Item Scroll from the ninja tool pouch on her back and released the seal upon it. A massive sword, taller than her entire body, appeared.

"That sword!"

Senju Tōsu, watching the fight, froze. He had indeed known that Tsunade had gone to the clan treasury yesterday, but he had not expected her to take out that katana.

"That's the First Lord's personal sword, isn't it?"

Taking a drag from his cigarette, Sarutobi Hiruzen became increasingly convinced that there was a story between Tsunade and that kid. Otherwise, why would she spend so much?

"It is Uncle's personal sword!"

Senju Tōsu nodded without denying it, while wondering why Tsunade would go so far as to take out Uncle's relic.

Could that girl really have done something with the Shimura Family's kid that they did not know about?

For a moment, the flames of gossip burned fiercely within the two men. They desperately wanted to know what had happened between that teacher and student.

"Bang!"

Shimura Kentei slammed the lower edge of his greatshield into the ground, released the many clasps on it, and removed the outer shield, revealing the much smaller Inner Shield within. He held it in his hand like an oversized buckler.

He had specially designed this Inner Shield to fight alongside the greatsword in his hand. The outer shield was too thick, heavy, and huge. It was fine for pure defense, but if he attacked actively, it would become a burden.

This Inner Shield, only sixty centimeters in diameter, was much better and more agile. It weighed only one hundred and eight kilograms, equal to the greatsword in his right hand.

"Teacher Tsunade, the warm-up ends here!"

It was time to get serious!

But those words left the many young Ninja Academy students watching from the perimeter utterly dumbfounded and shocked.

"What? That was only a warm-up?"

"If that only counted as warming up, what would a real fight look like?"

"Is that guy really not even thirteen?"

Cries of shock rose one after another. In their eyes, even the Chunin Ninja Exams would probably not be much more intense than this. Who would have thought that the fierce battle just now had merely been a warm-up?

However, everyone soon noticed that Tsunade's clothes were spotless, her breathing steady, and not a drop of sweat was visible. It seemed that she had not even warmed up yet.

As expected of Tsunade Hime!

Without another word, Shimura Kentei connected ten Chakra Threads to the heavy outer shield. After spinning it several times like a chained mace, he violently hurled it at Tsunade.

Of course, because he had flung it, the angle was not very accurate. He could only aim roughly, and Tsunade avoided it with a slight turn of her body.

Unfortunately, directly behind her was the second-year Elite Class. Seeing the massive shield whip toward them at high speed, the Anbu ninja hurriedly formed hand seals and slammed a hand onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

A wall of rock rapidly rose from the ground, blocking the shield's path.

However, the outer shield weighed nearly a ton. Combined with the potential energy accumulated through its rapid rotation, the force it carried was terrifying. Along with the radiation from the Sealing Crystal, its destructive power was immense.

"Bang!"

It smashed straight through the hard stone wall before crashing heavily into the Anbu ninja, sending him flying. While still in midair, he spat out a huge mouthful of blood.

"I don't think we can stay here anymore!"

Wiping the blood that had splattered onto his face again, Shikaku Nara made the suggestion, earning unanimous agreement from Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi.

There was no helping it. Their homeroom teacher had previously been taken down by an arrow, and now even an Anbu ninja had been taken down. There was truly no sense of security here.

At the same time, after hurling the outer shield, Shimura Kentei disregarded the chakra expenditure and pushed the Super Strength Technique and Super Speed Technique to their limits. Shield in one hand and sword in the other, he charged forward at high speed.

Tsunade raised the massive katana and slashed down fiercely. Empowered by the Monster Strength Technique, the strike carried savage force.

"Clang!"

This time was different from before. As the huge blade collided with the Inner Shield, only part of the overwhelming force could be dispersed. A violent impact rang out, shaking Shimura Kentei's entire body.

At the same time, the greatsword in his hand thrust out like lightning, aiming straight for Tsunade's vital chest and abdomen.

That was not all. With his mind divided into four, the wings behind him swept out at the same time.

Tsunade twisted aside to evade the incoming sword edge, then swung her blade to knock away the wings.

Honestly, she did not care about the wings' meager force, but the problem was that they also contained quite a few Sealing Crystals. Once they came within half a meter of her body, they would affect the chakra inside her.

If she were truly affected, she would not be able to fight.

The two engaged in an intense clash. Tsunade's swordsmanship was inherited from the Senju Clan and further refined by Senju Hashirama, fierce and domineering.

Shimura Kentei was no less impressive. His swordsmanship was primarily inherited from the Shimura Clan, ruthless and swift. After several years of real combat training against Keiko's duplicate in the Black Cauldron Space, it had become even sharper.

Combined with the coordination of his wings, he could barely trade blows with Tsunade.

Of course, that was mainly because Tsunade was not using her full strength. At the very least, she had not unleashed Kage-level combat power. Otherwise, she could have decided the battle with a single strike.

The strength of a Kage-level powerhouse was not something a battle suit alone could withstand. Even if it could not break the suit, the sheer force would still be enough to shake Shimura Kentei to death.

But this was only an assessment, and Tsunade had her own pride. Though she wanted nothing more than to kill that little pervert, she would never use Kage-level power in this assessment. She even kept her combat ability at the level of her former special jōnin self.

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