Phantom Body Flicker Technique

"Both of you, catch!"

The medical ninja, eager to stir up trouble, tossed his and Yuya's ninja tool pouches to Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato.

After catching them, the two put them on with practiced ease.

"Please take care of me!"

Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato once again formed the Seal of Confrontation toward each other.

Then, without waiting for Yuya to restart the fight, they both reached for the pouches at their waists, pulled out three shuriken each, and hurled them at one another.

At the same time, they gripped a kunai in their reverse hands, chasing behind the shuriken, their eyes locked on each other through the spinning blades.

In their field of vision, the shuriken clashed and grazed past as they flew.

Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato moved like mirror images, simultaneously raising their kunai to knock away the incoming shuriken.

Clang—

Two metallic clashes rang out, almost perfectly overlapping.

From the perspective of their classmates, the two, who had been several meters apart, knocked away the flying shuriken and then turned into black blurs, crashing toward each other.

As their figures materialized, a fierce and dizzying close-quarters battle erupted.

While first- through fourth-year students were still forbidden from using kunai, Gojo Yoru and Namikaze Minato wielded them as if they were extensions of their own arms. Their dynamic vision was so sharp it seemed like the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, allowing them to precisely track every move and every kunai trajectory.

With terrifying reflexes, they blocked, dodged, and attacked with such effortless grace that it felt less like a ninja skirmish and more like a duel between samurai.

The medical ninja, who had initially dismissed this No-Rules Duel as trivial, had long since replaced his amused expression with a grim one, his eyes filled with shock.

What the hell? Agility and reflexes like this from just two fourth-years?

If he didn't know better, he'd think two Uchiha with activated Sharingan were fighting!

Yuya's body was tense, ready to use Body Flicker to intervene at any moment.

He didn't want his carelessness to cause harm to these two students he was so proud of.

High-intensity close-quarters combat demanded immense focus.

One slip, and an opponent could exploit an opening to end the fight.

And in this regard, Gojo Yoru held the advantage.

In just a few exchanges, he created an opening.

With a diagonal slash that clashed against Minato's kunai, Gojo Yoru slipped his index finger into the ring at the kunai's base, using the momentum to flip it from a reverse grip to a forward grip, then slashed fiercely at Minato's chest.

Anyone else would have been caught off guard by Gojo Yoru's sudden change in technique.

But Minato, with his astonishing reaction speed, instinctively gathered chakra in his legs the moment he saw the shift.

Before Gojo Yoru's kunai could reach him, Minato vanished in a blur.

Gojo Yoru didn't seem surprised.

The moment Minato disappeared, he spun and hurled his kunai toward the eight o'clock direction.

Clang! The two kunai collided, bounced off, and clattered to the ground.

Then came a series of thud thud thud sounds as Gojo Yoru and Minato transitioned from kunai combat to taijutsu.

This time, Gojo Yoru gained the upper hand even faster.

The gap in their physical abilities was simply too obvious.

At this age, girls often developed faster than boys.

Standing at 160 centimeters, Gojo Yoru was only about twenty centimeters shorter than Uzumaki Kushina—roughly a head's difference.

But he towered over Minato by more than a head, about twenty-five centimeters.

This height difference translated into absolute strength dominance.

When Minato merely side-blocked a roundhouse kick from Gojo Yoru, his entire arm went numb, and his body tilted, nearly knocked to the ground.

Minato's eyes were wide with shock. He clearly hadn't expected that after just a year without sparring, Gojo Yoru's strength had grown so immense.

Without a second thought, Minato leaped backward to create distance.

Before he even landed, his hands began forming hand signs.

Seeing the nature of his first hand sign, Yuya and the medical ninja's expressions shifted.

Gojo Yoru, whose academic scores were also in the top three of his grade and who had memorized every hand sign by heart, instantly recognized what kind of jutsu Minato was about to use.

So he, too, quickly began forming hand signs.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Earth Style: Earth Return!"

Both voices rang out almost simultaneously.

Minato, his cheeks puffed out, landed and spat out a twisted stream of air.

The next second, this air current expanded and intensified, transforming into an invisible giant wave that roared toward Gojo Yoru.

Just as the gale was about to engulf Gojo Yoru, the ground ahead suddenly flipped up a massive square stone slab.

The fierce wind slammed into the slab, failing to topple or shatter it, instead scattering in all directions, kicking up a great cloud of dust that forced the observing classmates nearby to quickly raise their hands to shield their eyes.

"As expected, they can all use Five Element Ninjutsu now. Truly geniuses."

Yuya and the Medical Ninja murmured in slight awe.

Since the gale had yet to dissipate, even Namikaze Minato, who excelled at the Body Flicker, couldn't seize the chance to flicker behind Gojo Yoru for a sneak attack.

Gojo Yoru, however, took this opportunity to form hand seals again.

With two bang sounds, two puffs of white smoke appeared out of nowhere.

When the wind blew the smoke away, two clones identical to Gojo Yoru materialized on his left and right.

Seeing these two clones, Yuya and the Medical Ninja weren't surprised.

Because from Gojo Yoru's hand seals, they knew this was just the basic Clone Technique.

Those two "Gojo Yorus" were merely intangible illusionary clones.

If Gojo Yoru had created Shadow Clones, they wouldn't have been so calm.

But the next scene made their eyes widen in sheer shock.

As the gale dissipated, Gojo Yoru and his two illusionary clones charged out from behind the stone slab, sprinting toward Namikaze Minato.

Minato's pupils contracted. He quickly pulled three shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and hurled them at the three Gojo Yorus, aiming to confirm whether the opponent was using the basic Clone Technique or the more advanced Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Watching the incoming shuriken, Gojo Yoru's real body sidestepped to dodge, while the other two Gojo Yorus let the shuriken pass straight through them.

Seeing that Gojo Yoru had only used the Clone Technique, Minato breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then charged forward to engage without fear.

Perhaps because Gojo Yoru was too close, Minato didn't have much time to think.

So much so that he overlooked a crucial point.

The Clone Technique could only create intangible illusionary clones.

Moreover, these illusionary clones would vanish into a puff of smoke at the slightest touch.

But Gojo Yoru's illusionary clones, despite having shuriken pass through them, did not disappear.

Clearly, these were no ordinary illusionary clones.

However, Minato soon noticed this.

As he charged in, he sidestepped a suddenly sluggish straight punch from Gojo Yoru, while simultaneously driving a reverse back fist toward Gojo Yoru's chest.

Yet this fist didn't connect with a solid body—it passed straight through Gojo Yoru.

But the earlier sight of shuriken piercing the illusionary clones had clearly confirmed that this was Gojo Yoru's real body.

Could it be that all three were illusionary clones, and Gojo Yoru's real body was hidden elsewhere?

Just as Minato was thinking this and scanning his surroundings warily, a rapidly enlarging fist suddenly entered his field of vision.

Watching the illusionary clone swing its fist, Minato's expression shifted drastically as realization dawned.

But it was too late!

With a loud bang, Minato's adorable face was deformed by the punch.

The immense force not only twisted that handsome face but also sent his body flying through the air, a testament to the sheer power behind Gojo Yoru's blow.

And this... was only the beginning of the combo!