Konoha, Ninja Academy.
During recess, just as Shinji was lying face-down on his desk with his eyes closed, a classmate suddenly ran to their classroom door and shouted inside, "Hurry! Sasuke's going to spar with Kimimaro! Come watch!"
"What!?"
"Where? On the training ground?"
"A battle between geniuses? It's been ages! We can't miss this!"
In an instant, the classroom erupted. The students swarmed toward the training ground below.
Shinji slowly raised his head and glanced out the window. Sure enough, Sasuke and Kimimaro were facing off on the training ground.
On the training ground.
As Sasuke loosened up his wrists, he smirked. "Kimimaro, it's taken you long enough to finally accept my challenge!"
Kimimaro, looking somewhat pale, said, "I just wanted to test myself against the Sharingan. Unfortunately, you're the only one I could find in the village."
"You want to test yourself against the Sharingan? Hmph. I'll make sure it's an experience you'll never forget!"
Sasuke snorted and activated his Sharingan. His dark eyes instantly turned scarlet.
Kimimaro studied Sasuke's Sharingan. "Can we begin?"
Sasuke nodded and beckoned him over. "Of course! You don't have any ocular jutsu, so you can make the first move. I don't want to take advantage of you!"
Back in the classroom, Shinji furrowed his brow.
Because he had implanted the "biological exoskeleton" in Kimimaro, his Dojutsu, Naobi, let him sense Kimimaro's condition even better than Kimimaro himself could.
The "biological exoskeleton" had been steadily improving Kimimaro's physique. The Shikotsumyaku Chakra it absorbed had also slowed the progression of his illness to some extent, but his condition had still worsened far more than he and Orochimaru had expected.
Both Shinji and Orochimaru had advised Kimimaro to spend less time training and ease the burden on his body.
But Kimimaro refused to listen. Perhaps,