"Catch!"
The medical ninja, who loved nothing more than stirring up trouble, tossed his own ninja tool pouch and Yuya's to Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato.
After catching them, the two skillfully strapped them on.
"Please guide me!"
Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato formed the Seal of Confrontation toward each other once again.
Then, without waiting for Yuya to call the start of the battle again, they simultaneously reached for the ninja tool pouches at their waists, took out three shuriken each, and threw them at one another.
At the same time, they gripped a kunai in reverse and chased after the shuriken, their gazes locked tightly on each other through the gaps between the flying blades.
Their eyes reflected the sight of the shuriken colliding and streaking past each other.
As if looking into mirrors, Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato raised their kunai at the same time and knocked away the incoming shuriken.
Clang—
The sounds of two blades colliding nearly overlapped.
From the students' perspective, Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato, who had been several meters apart just moments ago, suddenly turned into black afterimages after knocking away the shuriken and crashed toward each other.
The moment their figures reappeared, they launched into an incredibly intense, dazzling exchange of blades.
While first- through fourth-year students were still forbidden from using kunai, Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato wielded them as naturally as their own limbs. Their dynamic vision also seemed like the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, allowing them to precisely capture every movement their opponent made, as well as the trajectories of the kunai attacks.
With their terrifying reflexes, their blocks, dodges, and attacks seemed effortless, as though this was not a deadly clash between ninja, but a contest between samurai.
The medical ninja, who had not taken this No-Rules Duel seriously at first, had long since lost his amused expression. His eyes were filled with shock.
Was this agility and reaction speed really something two fourth-year students could possess?
Anyone who did not know better would think two Uchiha with awakened Sharingan were fighting!
Yuya's body was tense as well, ready at any moment to use Body Flicker and interrupt the battle.
He did not want his carelessness to cause anything to happen to these two students who made him so proud.
A high-intensity blade fight tested one's concentration immensely.
The slightest lapse could allow the opponent to seize an opening and decide the victor directly.
And in this regard, Gojo Yoru undoubtedly held the advantage.
After only a few exchanges, Gojo Yoru created an opening.
With an upward diagonal slash, his kunai collided with Namikaze Minato's once more. Taking the opportunity, Gojo Yoru slipped his index finger into the ring at the end of the hilt, used the leverage to switch the kunai from a reverse grip to a forward grip, then slashed fiercely at Namikaze Minato's chest.
Anyone else would have been caught completely off guard by Gojo Yoru's sudden change.
But Namikaze Minato, whose reflexes were astonishing, instinctively gathered Chakra in his feet the instant he saw Gojo Yoru change moves.
Before Gojo Yoru's kunai could reach him, Namikaze Minato turned into an afterimage and vanished.
Gojo Yoru did not seem surprised.
The instant Namikaze Minato vanished, he spun around and threw his kunai toward the eight o'clock direction.
With a clang, the two kunai collided, bounced away, and fell to the ground.
Then came a series of "bang, bang, bang" sounds as Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato shifted from a kunai fight to a Taijutsu Duel.
This time, Gojo Yoru gained the advantage even faster.
The gap in their physical abilities was simply too obvious.
At this age, girls often developed faster than boys.
Gojo Yoru, who had already grown to 1.6 meters tall, was only nearly a head taller than Uzumaki Kushina—roughly twenty centimeters.
But he was more than a head taller than Namikaze Minato, by around twenty-five centimeters.
The difference brought by that height gap was absolute suppression in strength.
After merely using his arm to block one of Gojo Yoru's roundhouse kicks, Namikaze Minato immediately felt his entire arm go numb. His body tilted to the side, and he nearly got kicked to the ground by Gojo Yoru.
Namikaze Minato's eyes filled with shock. He clearly had not expected Gojo Yoru's strength to become so powerful after only a year without fighting him.
Without any hesitation, Namikaze Minato leaped backward and widened the distance between them.
Before he even landed, his hands had already begun forming seals.
The moment they saw the nature represented by his first hand seal, Yuya and the medical ninja's expressions changed.
Gojo Yoru, whose academic grades were also among the top three in his year and who had memorized every hand seal by heart, likewise recognized at a glance what nature of ninjutsu Namikaze Minato intended to use.
So he rapidly began forming seals as well.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Earth Style: Earth Return!"
The two voices rang out almost simultaneously.
The instant Namikaze Minato landed with his cheeks puffed out, he opened his mouth and exhaled a twisted stream of air.
The next second, the airflow spread and swelled, turning into an invisible tidal wave that roared toward Gojo Yoru.
Just as the gale was about to swallow Gojo Yoru, a massive square stone slab suddenly rose from the ground in front of him.
The gale crashed against the slab. Rather than blowing it over or smashing it apart, it scattered in all directions, kicking up clouds of dust and forcing the students watching from nearby to hurriedly raise their hands to shield their eyes.
"They can both use Five Element Ninjutsu already. As expected of geniuses."
Yuya and the medical ninja sighed softly.
Since the gale had not yet dispersed, even Namikaze Minato, who excelled at Body Flicker, could not use the chance to flicker behind Gojo Yoru for a surprise attack.
Gojo Yoru, however, took the opportunity to form seals again.
With two bangs, two puffs of white smoke appeared out of thin air.
When the wind blew the smoke away, two clones identical to Gojo Yoru appeared on his left and right.
Yuya and the medical ninja were not surprised to see the two clones.
From Gojo Yoru's hand seals, they knew this was only the most basic Clone Technique.
Those two "Gojo Yoruas" were merely Phantom Clones without physical bodies.
If Gojo Yoru had created Shadow Clones, they would not have remained so calm.
But what happened next made their eyes widen in horror.
Once the gale dispersed, Gojo Yoru and the two Phantom Clones rushed out from behind the stone slab together and charged toward Namikaze Minato.
Namikaze Minato's pupils shrank slightly. He hurriedly pulled out three shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and threw them at the three Gojo Yoruas, intending to determine whether his opponent had used the basic Clone Technique or the more advanced Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Facing the incoming shuriken, Gojo Yoru's real body shifted aside to dodge, while the other two Gojo Yoruas allowed the shuriken to pass straight through them.
Seeing that Gojo Yoru had only used the Clone Technique, Namikaze Minato secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then charged forward without fear.
Perhaps because Gojo Yoru was too close, Namikaze Minato had no time to think further.
As a result, he overlooked one crucial point.
The Clone Technique could only create Phantom Clones without physical bodies.
Moreover, even the slightest touch would cause such Phantom Clones to turn into smoke and disappear.
Yet Gojo Yoru's Phantom Clones had clearly been pierced by shuriken, but they had not vanished.
Obviously, these were not ordinary Phantom Clones.
However, Namikaze Minato quickly realized this.
As he rushed forward, he dodged Gojo Yoru's suddenly much slower straight punch by turning sideways, then swiftly drove a spinning backfist toward Gojo Yoru's chest.
However, the punch did not produce the feeling of striking something solid. Instead, it passed through Gojo Yoru's body.
But the earlier sight of the shuriken passing through the Phantom Clones clearly proved that this was Gojo Yoru's real body.
Could it be that all three were Phantom Clones, while Gojo Yoru's real body was hidden somewhere else?
Just as Namikaze Minato thought this and warily scanned his surroundings, a rapidly enlarging fist suddenly filled his vision.
Seeing the Phantom Clone throwing a punch at him, Namikaze Minato's expression changed drastically. At last, he realized something.
Unfortunately, it was too late!
With a deafening bang, Namikaze Minato's cute face was punched out of shape.
The tremendous force not only distorted that handsome face, but also sent his body flying into the air, showing just how powerful Gojo Yoru's punch was.
And... this was only the beginning of the combo!
Before you continue