"This ought to be interesting. The Hokage Assistant's son against the Hokage's son? They really are evenly matched opponents." Upon hearing the names of the two combatants, Ibiki Morino could not suppress his curiosity either and left his seat.
Faced with such chaos in the classroom, Saito, the teacher, not only failed to stop it but joined in himself, heading to the window.
This was a rare match. How could he possibly miss it?
That was what Saito thought.
Quite a few people shared the same idea. Small disturbances broke out in several upper-year classes as well, and everyone's eyes turned toward the training ground.
"Let me say this first, Kazashiro. I won't hold back either." Asuma patted the ninja tool pouch strapped to his leg and revealed the kunai inside.
"Is that so? Then I suppose I'll have to hold back." Unwilling to be outdone by Asuma's show of force, Kazashiro—well, he did not have a kunai on him, though he had a few shuriken.
Not that he needed a kunai anyway.
"Now then, both of you, form the Opposing Seal!" Makoto Ito grew tense as well, his eyes fixed closely on the two in front of him, afraid of missing even the slightest movement.
"Come on, Kazashiro!"
"Hmph, here I go!"
As soon as the Opposing Seal was formed, Asuma shot forward, using the Body Flicker Technique to instantly close the distance between them.
"So fast! But..." Compared to Aburame Ryoma, Asuma's speed was merely passable.
After all, Kazashiro was beaten up by jonin every day. He had long since become mentally prepared for surprise attacks.
He abruptly crouched down, dodging Asuma's hard-swung punch. Seeing his opponent prepare to kick, Kazashiro slammed both hands against the ground and quickly pulled away, causing Asuma's kick to miss.
"Excellent dodge." Makoto Ito could not help praising him.
"You're pretty fast, but still a bit slower than me." While Asuma had yet to regain his footing, Kazashiro, already having opened the distance, threw two shuriken to harass him while rapidly closing in.
If he dodged the shuriken, he would have to face Kazashiro's attack head-on. Then...
With a bang, the two shuriken embedded themselves in a broken log, while Asuma's real body appeared elsewhere through the Substitution Technique.
"I'll return your move to you in full." Throwing out a kunai, Asuma chose the same tactic Kazashiro had used.
Seeing the kunai approaching him and Asuma aiming for his possible escape routes, Kazashiro did not use the Substitution Technique. Instead, taking advantage of his greater speed, he pulled out a shuriken to block the kunai head-on, then kicked at Asuma, who had just rushed over.
Asuma crossed his arms to block Kazashiro's kick, intending to seize his calf in the motion, but he had not expected the seemingly slender Kazashiro to possess such astonishing strength. The kick sent him flying outright.
Did he wrap Chakra around his foot? What outstanding Chakra control.
Asuma praised Kazashiro inwardly as he flew backward.
Then...
Using the momentum of being sent flying, Asuma began forming hand seals before he had even stabilized himself.
"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"
A small amount of smoke spilled from Asuma's mouth, enveloping Kazashiro.
"This is bad, that ninjutsu!" Complaining inwardly about Asuma's recklessness, Makoto Ito prepared to step in and end the fight.
"Old Ma Banana Salt? Then I'll use this move..."
Kazashiro began forming hand seals as well, finishing before Asuma could ignite the smoke. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A howling gale scattered the smoke and made Asuma choke into a fit of coughing.
"Holy shit, what kind of monsters are in Class Two? Every single one of them knows ninjutsu?" Watching the two clash with ninjutsu, Namiashi Raidō voiced his heartfelt amazement.
"Seriously, it looks like Class Two has more than just one genius in Kakashi." Aoba Yamashiro agreed.
"Want to admit defeat, Asuma?" Seeing Asuma half-kneeling on the ground and coughing violently, Kazashiro kindly reminded him.
"Hmph, the battle isn't over yet." Wiping the corner of his mouth, Asuma assumed an opening stance that looked somewhat familiar to Kazashiro.
Is that the Office Guy's stance? Don't tell me he's about to send me out of the shinobi world in three punches.
Kazashiro silently cracked a small joke and readied himself for battle.
"I'm not the only one who knows Wind Release!" Asuma charged forward, but rather than using taijutsu, he continued forming hand seals.
"Wind Release: Gale Slash!"
A wind blade shot forth, speeding toward Kazashiro.
He had already learned both Fire Release and Wind Release ninjutsu at this age. As expected of the Third Hokage's son. It seemed Kazashiro was bound to lose.
While admiring Asuma's talent, Makoto Ito inwardly pronounced Kazashiro's defeat.
"This level of Wind Release can't defeat me." Facing the rapidly approaching wind blade, Kazashiro did not dodge and instead chose to meet it head-on.
Rat—Snake—Horse—Dog
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Cross-shaped wind blades dispersed Asuma's Wind Release at an even faster speed, then slashed toward Asuma with unstoppable force.
Because of his age, the Vacuum Serial Waves Kazashiro used were still far weaker than Danzo's, but even so, they were not something Asuma could handle.
In terms of Chakra reserves, Kazashiro, who possessed a Kekkei Genkai, was naturally much stronger than Asuma.
"Whoa, what incredible Wind Release."
"If it were me, I probably couldn't dodge that move."
"Hmph, if it were you, you'd probably be in pieces by now."
The students watching from inside the school building all exclaimed in amazement.
"Earth Release: Mud Wall!" Realizing that Asuma would become a corpse under that Wind Release if he did not intervene, Makoto Ito hurriedly acted. He created an earthen wall in an attempt to block Kazashiro's Wind Release, while using the Body Flicker Technique himself to appear beside Asuma and carry him out of the Vacuum Serial Waves' attack range.
The instant the Vacuum Serial Waves struck the earthen wall, they cleaved it into fragments. They passed so quickly that they nearly grazed Makoto Ito's back.
What incredible speed. It's hard to believe that a child this age could use Wind Release of this level! Feeling several strands of his hair get cut off, Makoto Ito inwardly marveled that using Earth Release to block it had been the right call.
Otherwise, he might have become the first teacher in Konoha history to die at the hands of a student during class.
"Boom!"
In the end, the Vacuum Serial Waves flew across more than half the training ground and blasted down part of the school wall before finally dissipating.
"Hey, Kazashiro, why did you use such a terrifying ninjutsu against me?!" Seeing the power of that strike, Asuma's face turned pale with fright as he protested from Makoto Ito's arms.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't hold back?" Kazashiro had not expected that Wind Release to be so powerful either, and he awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"That doesn't mean you should try to kill me, you bastard!" Asuma continued protesting.
"If you're going to say that, wasn't your Ash Pile Burning the same? If you ignited it, I'd have been done for too." Kazashiro began looking for fault in Asuma as well.
"My Fire Release isn't anywhere near as terrifying as yours!"
"Who says it isn't? Compared to Obito's Great Fireball, this thing can actually burn people to death!"
"Huh? What does that have to do with me?" Obito, whose face was swollen badly, looked utterly baffled.
Before you continue