My Fierce Little Wife

After the two landed, they were still tugging at each other's hands. Genma had originally been at a disadvantage, but Kakashi voluntarily let go.

Seizing the opening, Genma quickly got to his feet and looked at him in surprise.

"It's nothing. I just felt that pulling each other around like that was pretty uncomfortable~"

"Uh, between two men, it really is kind of awkward..."

Genma's face darkened slightly as he resumed his fighting stance, but Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals.

Genma recognized those seals immediately.

He pulled out four Shuriken and fired them in quick succession, but Kakashi dodged while continuing to form seals.

He could multitask!

Although Genma could do the same now, it required long periods of practice.

Just as Kakashi evaded the barrage of Shuriken, four identical clones suddenly appeared beside him.

It was the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It could create solid clones that were somewhat weaker than the original but could still use certain ninjutsu.

With four additional opponents appearing at once, Genma's pressure increased and the atmosphere grew tense. But Obito's ill-timed voice rang out again. "Ah, using numbers to bully someone alone is too shameless, Kakashi!"

Since Obito's fight had already ended, he had long since eagerly run over to Rin's side.

Faced with Obito's simple-mindedness, Rin could only remind him in exasperation, "They're Shadow Clones. Besides, ninjas use whatever methods they can in battle. Using Shadow Clones to increase one's numbers is a tactic too, Obito!"

"But... wasn't it supposed to be one-on-one~"

Obito scratched his head, still unable to understand.

At that moment, Kakashi and his clones began closing in on Genma from all directions.

To prevent Kakashi from taking full advantage of his numbers, Genma fired four Shuriken at one of the Shadow Clones.

The instant he released them, he retreated rapidly and widened the distance between himself and the Kakashis once more.

That Shadow Clone, far weaker than the original, was struck by the Shuriken and immediately dispersed.

But the Kakashis charged in again. Genma could not fire another volley of Shuriken because he was not fast enough, and each Kakashi held two Shuriken in his hands.

In other words, while destroying Kakashi's Shadow Clones, he also had to dodge several Shuriken.

His hands rapidly formed seals. Just as Kakashi launched his Shuriken, two earthen pillars suddenly erupted from the ground and pierced through two Shadow Clones.

The Shuriken were already right before his face. Genma cautiously dodged them, but one of the Kakashis in front of him suddenly vanished, sending a chill down his back.

Pfft!

A Kunai plunged into Genma's body.

"Ah! Kakashi killed Genma!!"

Obito cried out immediately, while Kurenai in the crowd bit her lips so hard they turned pale with worry.

Bang!

Genma's lifeless body turned into a wooden stake. Kakashi frowned slightly, tossed aside the wooden stake, and began watching his surroundings.

However, instead of suddenly attacking Kakashi from a corner as everyone expected, Genma stepped out directly in front of Kakashi and raised a hand.

Everyone was baffled, but the panting Genma made a decision none of them expected.

"I surrender! I don't have the stamina to keep fighting. Dodging Kakashi's attack just now was already my limit."

"What? He actually surrendered? I thought that guy was pretty strong."

"Hah, my Kakashi is still the strongest~"

"Hey, what do you mean your Kakashi? Kakashi is mine!"

Asuma, however, looked gravely at Genma in the field and said to Aoba Yamashiro, whom he had fought before, "There seem to be quite a lot of strong students in this class~"

Aoba adjusted his sunglasses and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but it isn't entirely a bad thing. At the very least, more pressure also means more motivation."

As an adult, the homeroom teacher naturally viewed things from a completely different perspective than the students.

If anyone had looked into his eyes at that moment, they would have seen approval in them.

To the students, Genma might have seemed somewhat cowardly. But in the teacher's eyes, Genma did not fight recklessly for a momentary victory. He could assess the situation and knew when to advance and retreat—qualities a Chunin should possess.

Though Genma had been held back two grades, his previous teachers had all thought well of him. In particular, when studying theory, he could draw inferences from one example and often came up with bold yet practical ideas. His poor grades had only been due to his strength failing to improve; his theoretical knowledge had always been excellent.

Now, his strength was also quite impressive, and he was already infinitely close to the level of a Genin. With Genma's learning attitude, if he continued building his foundation for another two years, he could still graduate early.

During these years of constant war, Konohagakure allowed Early Graduation, especially for children of major clans.

Children from major clans often had nothing left to learn after three or four years at the academy, and outstanding students would apply for Early Graduation.

For a student like Genma, who had been held back two grades but whose strength was now nearly at Genin level, graduating in another two years would not be a problem at all.

The homeroom teacher hid the approval in his eyes, cleared his throat, and announced Kakashi as the winner.

The two walked over to each other, formed the Seal of Reconciliation, and shook hands.

"You're very strong. I look forward to fighting you again someday!"

Kakashi saying such words came as a great surprise. Genma stared blankly for a moment before nodding with a smile. "I'm looking forward to fighting you again too."

The two returned to the group. Those who had finished fighting could rest, so Genma shamelessly made his way over to Kurenai.

"Kurenai, I did pretty well, right~"

Kurenai cast a resentful glance to the side, pouting as she said, "Not bad, I guess. You had me worried for so long just now. Don't do anything that dangerous next time."

"Hey, didn't I surrender voluntarily? Aside from the fact that I really couldn't beat him, it was also because I saw you worrying. Seeing my Kurenai worry like that makes my heart ache. I really can't stand it~"

Genma's shameless muttering earned him a reproachful, angry glare from Kurenai. "Who's your Kurenai? And I'm not some ordinary girl. I'm very strong~"

As she spoke, Kurenai flexed her arm at Genma, trying to show off her strength.

Just then, the homeroom teacher began calling names from the roster again.

"Next match: Kurenai Yuhi versus Mitarashi Shigure."

Suddenly hearing her name called and catching the teacher's gaze, Kurenai, who had been flexing her muscles at Genma, instantly returned to a natural stance like a startled rabbit. After secretly rolling her eyes at Genma, she left the group.

Kurenai Yuhi, with her black hair, red eyes, and adorable appearance, stood facing Mitarashi Shigure, who had purple hair, brown eyes, and an exceptionally refined yet bold outfit.

A match between two highly attractive girls of completely different styles was truly eye-catching.

As Kurenai's boyfriend, Genma naturally could not simply stand there quietly. But he was too embarrassed to cheer by himself, so he ran over to Obito and began egging him on.

"Go, Kurenai! Defeat that vain girl! Go for it!"

"Cough, cough, Obito, isn't that a little too much~"

Kurenai shot them a thoroughly bewildered look. Genma quickly dragged Obito behind him and waved. "Kurenai, good luck!"

"Hey, hey, hey, Genma, your spirit is way too weak. If you ask me, you should just call that purple-haired girl an ugly freak~"

Bang!

Rin, her face darkening, gave Obito a fierce knock on the head and snapped in a low voice, "Enough, Obito. Everyone is classmates. How can you just insult people like that?"

Seeing Obito clutching his head with tears in his eyes, Rin gave him a warm smile before calling out to Kurenai.

"Kurenai, don't listen to Obito. Just perform normally. You can do it~"

Kurenai had people cheering for her, but Shigure, as the leading girl among the female students, was naturally extremely popular.

After Genma and the others' scattered encouragement, the girls all began cheering for Shigure. Emboldened, Asuma excitedly joined in as well.

But it became far too noisy, so the homeroom teacher directly stopped everyone's shouting and announced the start of the match.

Kurenai had taken out a Kunai early on and stood ready, while Shigure looked utterly relaxed. She rolled her neck and loosened her joints, then said teasingly, "Such a cute face, pretty red eyes, but your hair is such a mess. Are you trying to live like a boy?"

Kurenai gave Shigure a cold look. "What does how I dress have to do with you? This is a fight. You'd better take it seriously!"

"Mm, it really has nothing to do with me. But girls who know how to dress and are pretty can be dangerous too~"

With that, Shigure reached into the ninja tool pouch at her waist and took out several Senbon.

She was actually a ninja who used Senbon as weapons, making quite a few of the boys draw in a sharp breath.

After all, even one of those thin, sharp, painful things felt dangerous enough, let alone several.

Whoosh!

While everyone was briefly distracted, Shigure shot out a Senbon.

Kurenai noticed it instantly and shifted her body to dodge it, then charged straight at Shigure without pausing.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two more Senbon sliced through the air. Just as they were about to strike Kurenai, she dodged them with a backward flip.

How could Shigure miss the brief moment while Kurenai was flipping backward? She pulled out several more Senbon and began running while firing them.

Sensing the Senbon shooting toward her, Kurenai performed several backward flips in succession. Seizing the moment Shigure reached for more Senbon, she fired the Shuriken in her hand.

This prevented Shigure from pulling out more Senbon, forcing her to turn sideways to dodge.

In that brief instant as she turned, Kurenai flashed in front of Shigure and threw a punch.

Bang!

Shigure was sent flying several meters. Seeing that result, Genma's mouth fell open into an O.

His little wife seemed... a bit fierce~

Shigure struggled to get up, but Kurenai gave her no chance and pressed a Kunai directly to her throat.

"This match goes to Kurenai Yuhi!"

"Wow! Kurenai, you're amazing! I told you that vain girl was no match for you! I didn't expect Kurenai to knock her down in just a few moves. That was incredible, hahahaha!"

Obito, incapable of reading the room, burst into wild laughter. Suddenly, malicious gazes began gathering on him from all around.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Rin tugged on Obito's clothes. "Obito, tone it down. Everyone's classmates. Saying that is too much~"

Remembering the pain in his forehead, Obito gave everyone around him a closed-mouth smile.

Before Kurenai could return to the group, Genma went to meet her. On the other side, Asuma also gathered his courage and helped Shigure up.

After several more rounds of battles, the one-on-one sparring session came to an end.