Narak dodged the incoming shuriken with a sidestep.
Just as he was about to land, Kai kicked at him from the side. Narak raised both arms to block the blow.
With nothing to push off against in midair, Narak was sent flying backward by Kai's kick. When he landed, his feet carved two long furrows into the ground.
It had only been a probing attack, and the two separated the instant they made contact.
Narak rubbed his slightly numb arms. Good grief, if an ordinary person had taken that kick, both arms would have been injured on the spot.
"Yo, kid! You've got a pretty tough body!"
Unknown to Kai, Narak had taken his kick without suffering the slightest injury. Kai was secretly shocked as well. Although he hadn't opened any of the Eight Gates, that kick still wasn't something an ordinary person could easily block.
"Such youthful vigor! My blood is boiling! Today, let's see whether my Steel Fist is more powerful, or the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan is superior!"
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
Kai's fighting spirit soared as he continued his offensive against Narak.
"Perfect. I want to find that out too!"
"Gentle Fist!"
Narak used the Hyuga Clan's secret art. His movements appeared slow, but he rapidly blocked Kai's attacks.
In an instant, the two figures crisscrossed across the arena, exchanging dozens of blows!
Kakashi stood to one side, having already lifted his forehead protector. His scarlet Sharingan focused on the movements of the two fighters.
"Boom..."
After clashing once more, Narak and Kai instantly pulled apart.
"Fire Release—Great Fireball Technique!"
Before Narak could even catch his breath, Kakashi, who had been preparing on the side, hurled another ninjutsu at him.
"Tch, what a nuisance. Hado #31—Roaring Cannon!"
Facing Kakashi's interference, Narak casually flung out a Hado.
"Bang!"
The fire-based ninjutsu collided with the fire-attribute Hado in midair. Terrifying energy erupted with an ear-splitting boom, shaking the entire central tower. Several roof tiles even fell from the top. Narak felt that if they did this a few more times, the tower would probably collapse.
The people watching from the second floor couldn't help frowning. Clearly, the destructive power displayed by the two men had exceeded their expectations.
The Third Hokage sighed and said, "That was careless. We shouldn't have let them fight inside the tower. If they damage it, repairs will cost a fortune!"
"ANBU, seal them inside a barrier!"
As soon as the Third Hokage finished speaking, four ANBU ninja appeared inside the tower. They formed a square, each taking up one corner.
"Barrier—Four-Square Seal Array!"
The four formed hand seals and shouted. As their roar faded, a curtain of light appeared, enclosing the entire space inside the tower.
The Third Hokage nodded in satisfaction and stroked his beard. "Mm, this should do the trick."
The three people fighting below merely glanced at the surrounding barrier before ignoring it.
At that moment, only one-third of an incense stick's time had passed since the three began fighting.
"Oh! Narak, you're really strong! In my normal state, I can't do anything to you. Next, I'm going to get serious, so watch out!"
Seeing that his attacks had no effect on Narak, Kai couldn't help raising the corners of his mouth and grinning at him.
This is... he's planning to open the Eight Gates? Narak's heart tightened, and his expression grew serious. After all, judging from his performance in the original story, Kai with the Eight Gates open possessed power that was unquestionably at the Six Paths level. The only thing lacking was that he couldn't maintain it for long.
Although this examination wasn't enough to make him open all eight gates, even opening a few would make him extremely powerful. He would have no trouble fighting an ordinary Kage.
Narak couldn't help grumbling inwardly. This is only an upper Jonin examination. Are you really planning to open the Eight Gates just to fight me? Aren't you taking me a little too seriously?
However, Narak had clearly overthought it.
Just as he had thought, an upper Jonin examination wasn't enough to make Kai open the Eight Gates against him. That would have been excessive, exceeding the limits of what an upper Jonin should be able to handle!
Kai stood there and began removing the weights from his body.
First came the weights on his arms, then those on his legs, and finally the Konoha flak vest he was wearing. Kai removed them all and casually tossed them behind him.
"Boom!"
When the weights hit the ground, they produced a deafening crash like an asteroid slamming into the earth, accompanied by clouds of dust.
Although Narak had known this would happen, he still clicked his tongue at the exaggerated sight. That pile must weigh nearly a thousand jin, right?
Sure enough, the title of Konoha's Blue Beast wasn't undeserved. He isn't even human!
"Um... Kai-senpai, can I ask you a question?"
"Narak, ask me anything you want to know. I'll tell you everything I know!"
"Ahem, it's nothing much. I just want to know—if you normally wear so many weights, how do you eat and use the toilet? Don't the chairs and toilets collapse?"
"About that, I'll tell you a secret. Although I usually look as if I'm sitting on them, I'm actually holding a horse stance the whole time. That way, I can train while eating and using the toilet. Hahahaha..." Kai explained to Narak. Afterward, he even raised the corners of his mouth into a smile, revealing his gleaming teeth.
"Oh... as expected of you, the Blue Beast of Konoha! You're truly diligent—the role model of our generation!"
Listening to the conversation between the two, whether it was Kakashi on the battlefield or the Konoha higher-ups and clan heads watching from above, everyone was covered in black lines.
This had been a perfectly good upper Jonin examination battle. How had the two of them managed to derail it with their conversation?
"These two... Water Release—Water Dragon Bullet!"
Kakashi couldn't take it anymore. He opened his mouth and launched a Water Dragon Bullet, interrupting their pointless conversation.
Narak used Flash Step beneath his feet to dodge Kakashi's sneak attack.
"Kakashi, don't attack yet. Let me have a proper fight with Narak first."
"Take this—Konoha Gale!"
Seeing Kai charge toward Narak at high speed, Kakashi, who had been about to attack again, could only retreat helplessly.
Meanwhile, after removing his weights, Kai's speed became blindingly fast, surpassing the limits of what ordinary eyes could follow. If Narak hadn't also specialized in speed, and if his years of training hadn't long since accustomed him to such movement, he probably wouldn't have been able to track Kai's movements at all.
Facing Kai's feet as they came at him like a raging storm, Narak moved both fists in rapid succession and unleashed the Gentle Fist. The spiritual pressure throughout his body transformed into Chakra and clung to his hands, allowing him to block Kai's attacks.
From the stands, seeing that Narak was holding his own against Kai, the Third Hokage turned to Hyuga Hiashi and said, "Clan Head Hyuga, your son's Gentle Fist is exceptionally refined. He must have inherited all your teachings by now, hasn't he?"
Hyuga Hiashi smiled modestly. "You flatter me. In truth, I had little left to teach him long ago. Most of it came from his own experimentation. His attainments in the Gentle Fist have probably already surpassed mine!"
A modest smile appeared on his aged face, but as the heads of Konoha's other clans watched him, they all felt that the smile was filled with smugness.
Damn, he really showed off this time! No, when I get back, I'll have to train the kids in my clan. Every one of them has to catch up, or how am I supposed to save face?
At that moment, the young prodigies still attending classes at the Ninja Academy all shivered at the same time, suddenly feeling that something bad was about to happen!
Before you continue