Practical Combat Training

On the Ninja Academy training ground, everyone who had been studying for over half a year stood neatly in line, quietly listening to the teacher's lesson.

Just as most of them thought this was going to be a Taijutsu training class, they unexpectedly learned that they would be having practical combat exercises.

Some were delighted, while others were worried. Naturally, the delighted one was the uniquely dressed Might Guy, green from head to toe, with a watermelon haircut and gleaming teeth.

While the teacher patiently explained the sparring rules, precautions, and the meaning of the Reconciliation Seal, Might Guy restlessly turned around several times.

Although Kakashi always responded with Dead Fish Eyes, Might Guy seemed especially fond of that look.

Those Dead Fish Eyes seemed like glittering gold to him, making him turn around even more frequently, and he even waggled his brows several times.

"Alright, we'll now begin the one-on-one matches. The first pair is..."

"Snore..."

The sudden snoring made a vein pop on the homeroom teacher's forehead. He looked toward the source of the sound and immediately spotted Obito, his head tilted to one side as a sleep bubble rose from his nose.

The students were lined up by height, so Rin was not standing beside Obito. And Obito, who was relatively unpopular among his peers, had no one to remind him.

"Hahahaha!"

Compared to those willing to remind him, there were far more people enjoying his misfortune.

Seeing that Obito was still fast asleep, the homeroom teacher, whose mouth had gone dry from explaining the lesson, began trembling all over. His expression suddenly turned fierce as he pointed the rolled-up roster at Obito. "The first sparring pair: Obito Uchiha and Might Guy!"

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Hearing someone call his name in his dream, Obito jolted awake, flailing his arms and legs in every direction, looking completely like, Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

Seeing that Obito not only failed to step forward immediately but instead looked utterly helpless, the homeroom teacher's voice grew even colder. "Obito, you will be fighting Might Guy. Did you remember the rules and key points of combat I just explained!?"

"Uh, well..." Obito looked left and right, but no one gave him any hints. Still, he saw Might Guy step out and begin warming up.

The sight of Might Guy reminded him of the scene where Guy had fought Kakashi, and Obito suddenly got an idea. He nodded hard and said, "Yeah, I remember. I'll defeat him!"

"Then hurry up and step forward!"

Very soon, both sides took their positions. Once they had assumed their stances, the homeroom teacher loudly announced, "First match: Obito versus Might Guy. Begin!"

The instant the teacher gave the signal, Might Guy turned into a green blur and charged straight at Obito.

Bang!

Obito was sent flying and crashed to the ground.

The entire exchange had been incredibly fast. Perhaps defeating Obito had not been satisfying enough, because Might Guy immediately raised his hand at the homeroom teacher. "Teacher, please let me duel Kakashi!"

Although the teacher found Obito annoying, he had rushed over the moment Obito was sent flying. He had thought Might Guy might say something about looking after Obito, but instead, he realized there was another person who had not understood the rules at all!!

How infuriating!

But in order to maintain his composure, the homeroom teacher still said kindly, word by word, "Each practical combat class only allows one match. Might Guy, you may return to your position!"

"Ooh..." Might Duy lowered his head in disappointment. As he passed Kakashi, he gave him an intensely resentful look.

It made Kakashi feel as if countless alpacas had trampled over him, leaving him utterly depressed.

"Next match: Asuma versus Aoba Yamashiro."

"Ooh!! Asuma, Asuma, Asuma!"

"Ah!!! Aoba, Aoba, Aoba!"

Back when they were young, both Asuma and Aoba Yamashiro could be considered handsome little boys. There were not many girls in the class, but there were still eight if they were all counted together.

Of course, that was excluding Kurenai and Rin.

Soon, amid the girls' enthusiastic cheers, Aoba Yamashiro and Asuma both took their positions.

Each of them drew a Kunai. At the teacher's command, they dashed toward each other.

Clang!

Kunai struck Kunai, and both of their expressions changed slightly.

Such attacks were generally used for probing. After their Kunai collided, both of them gained some understanding of the other's strength.

"I didn't expect someone as low-key as you to be so strong."

"Uh... we're all still young. There's only so much our strength can improve, so it's nothing strange."

"Hmph!" With a cold snort, Asuma swept his Kunai in a half-circle, then raised his leg and kicked at Aoba again.

Both attacks were dodged, but Asuma failed to pull his leg back in time.

How could Aoba let such an opportunity pass? Without hesitation, he flashed behind Asuma and thrust his Kunai forward, landing a solid hit.

Poof!

The stabbed Asuma turned into a wooden log, while his real body had vanished without a trace.

Suddenly feeling a numbness in his back, Asuma kicked Aoba Yamashiro away.

Aoba rolled across the ground, only to turn into a wooden log.

"Tch, I knew you could use that trick too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he spun around and stabbed backward with the hand holding his Kunai, blocking Aoba's lethal strike.

It seemed that the fight had returned to square one, with their two Kunai locked together again.

"What you know, I know too. We use the same tricks, so I won't fall for them that easily."

Asuma retreated a step, putting some distance between himself and Aoba, then suddenly threw a Kunai.

Aoba had been wary of Asuma the entire time and dodged at once. But the moment he moved aside, a blue-green gust of wind struck him head-on.

"Wah!!"

Aoba was instantly knocked down.

"Wow, that was the E-rank ninjutsu Wind Blade, right? Asuma actually has Wind Style!"

"Wind Style is super rare. Asuma really is worthy of being the Third Hokage's son!"

Shisui glanced at the girls beside her, who were rapidly turning into fangirls, and revealed a proud smile.

Seeing that Aoba could no longer continue fighting, the teacher announced the result.

"Asuma versus Aoba Yamashiro. Asuma wins."

By then, Asuma had already walked over to Aoba Yamashiro. He formed a Reconciliation Seal and extended his hand to Aoba.

Aoba knowingly took Asuma's hand and rose from the ground. "As expected of you, Asuma."

"Ha, it's nothing. It won't be so easy for me to beat you next time."

After the two returned to the line, the teacher announced several more matches. Almost none of them were as exciting as Asuma and Aoba's match; most were ordinary Taijutsu sparring.

"Next match: Shiranui Genma versus Kakashi Hatake."

Shiranui Genma's face darkened. He had not expected to run into Kakashi in his very first match.

Wasn't it supposed to be king versus king and general versus general? How had a pawn ended up facing a general!?

After roaring inwardly for a while, he helplessly walked to the center of the field, only to hear quite a few people begin discussing the match.

"Ooh, it's Kakashi. He's the greatest genius in our class, so he should be really strong, right?"

"Of course. I heard Kakashi already has the level of a Genin. He'll definitely defeat that kid with the unknown background in one move."

"Oh, that's the kid who didn't take the entrance exam, right? That's kind of strange."

"Genma! Go for it!" A voice that was neither outstanding nor loud, yet exceptionally sincere, rang out. Shiranui Genma immediately knew that it was Kurenai.

He nodded and began seriously considering his strategy, but then...

"Go, Genma! Knock Kakashi down in one second, then beat him up with punch after punch like this!"

A dreamlike encouragement suddenly rang out. Shiranui Genma rubbed his forehead and knew it was Obito.

Kakashi also saw Obito's vicious punching motions and gave him a speechless glance with his Dead Fish Eyes.

Obito's little interruption distracted both of them for a moment before they immediately regained their focus.

At that moment, Genma's emotions were somewhat complicated, while Kakashi's Dead Fish Eyes remained unchanged as ever.

Genma believed that he had no chance of winning this match. After all, Kakashi had already learned the Shadow Clone, so he had likely mastered even simpler offensive ninjutsu long ago.

Although the power of ninjutsu did not necessarily represent a ninja's overall strength, for students still in the academy, it was enough to determine who was stronger and who was weaker.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down. Are you both ready?"

The two of them nodded at the teacher in perfect unison.

"Then the match officially begins!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"

The students in the class cried out excitedly. The girls especially were screaming, with seven out of ten shouting at the top of their lungs.

The pressure bearing down on him made Genma grit his teeth as he charged toward Kakashi.

He was not moving especially fast, but Kakashi rushed at him immediately as well. Just as they were about to collide, Genma flashed behind Kakashi and launched a Kunai at the same time.

Clang!

Like a stone falling into water, the Kunai was blocked and dropped to the ground. But in that brief moment, Genma, who had anticipated the outcome, instantly adjusted the distance between himself and Kakashi.

From their first exchange, his opponent really was strong, but Genma was also quite excited.

Another Kunai appeared in his hand, and he rushed toward Kakashi.

In terms of speed, Kakashi was a little faster than Genma, so a long-range fight was clearly unsuitable.

Kakashi did not retreat either. He charged straight at Genma, and their Kunai ultimately collided.

At the instant of impact, Kakashi seized Genma's hand and swept out with a side kick.

Most people would dodge or block, but Genma instead yanked hard on the hand Kakashi was using to restrain him, trying to throw him off balance.

However, Kakashi was not that easy to deal with. Just as he was about to lose his balance, he grabbed Genma's shoulder and flipped backward.

Genma's body was leaning forward slightly at that moment. By doing this, Kakashi could use his own body weight to drag Genma backward, and once Genma was pulled down, Kakashi would be able to pin him beneath himself.

With one hand restrained, neither of them could form hand seals, and Genma was practically on the verge of defeat.

Losing like this might show that he had some impressive qualities, but it was still far from meeting Kurenai Yuhi's requirements.

Genma, who always liked leaving himself a way out, moved. Before he could be pulled down, he shifted the direction of his forward lean and instead used the momentum to slide out from beneath Kakashi.

When the two landed, they had just managed to separate.

Only, Kakashi landed with one foot on the ground, while Genma was lying flat on his back. From the outcome of that exchange, Genma was still at a disadvantage.