Faced with the sweeping ice spear, Might Guy did not choose to dodge. Instead, he accelerated his landing speed and stomped heavily on the ice spear, forcing Kazashiro to abandon his weapon.
"My weapons are inexhaustible, Kay."
Having decisively discarded the ice spear, Kazashiro was about to forge a new weapon when Might Guy suddenly closed in and began a close-quarters battle with Kazashiro.
Fist against fist, leg against leg. Faced with this brutal fighting style, Kazashiro used his speed to continuously widen the distance between himself and Kai.
This guy is fighting me while carrying such a heavy load.
Feeling the sharp pain in his calf, Kazashiro suppressed the urge to use Ninjutsu and continued searching for Kai's weakness.
He had just exchanged a kick with Kai and almost broke his own bone, which meant that now, when faced with Kai's flying kick, his only option was to dodge.
"Hmph, Kazashiro, if you don't want to fail, using Ninjutsu is fine too."
Kai noticed Kazashiro's predicament and looked at him smugly. "Otherwise, I would have won this match!"
"Yeah?"
Kazashiro, who had been searching for Kai's weakness, suddenly swung out three Senbon, shooting them straight at Kai's shoulder.
Hearing the sound of wind breaking, Kai hurriedly used a backflip to block the Senbon with the weight on his legs, while Kazashiro took the opportunity to create a new ice spear.
The Taijutsu taught by Hiruzen Sarutobi were more like Taijutsu than physical techniques.
Without the stick, the stick technique is just the technique itself.
"Hmph, take this, Ground Shatter!"
This time, instead of thrusting the ice spear, Kazashiro imbued it with a large amount of Chakra to reinforce its structure before slamming it into the ground.
Just like the move's name suggests, the hard ground of the training field was cracked by this strike, and the resulting shockwave also affected Might Guy's movements.
Seeing Kai's steps begin to falter, Kazashiro did not give up the opportunity. He swung his ice spear and pressed his advantage, forcing Kai to the edge of the training field.
"As expected of my lifelong rival, that attack was truly dazzling, Kazashiro!"
Dodge the thrust with his head down, feeling a chill run down his scalp, but Kai showed no fear. Instead, he flashed his gleaming teeth and praised Kazashiro: "I can't show weakness either! Take this, Konoha Whirlwind!"
Seeing Kai spinning around like he had a cheat code activated, Kazashiro also swung his ice spear in a dazzling display. "Adamantine Whirlwind!"
The two whirlwinds collided, accompanied by a violent roar. Might Guy drew a beautiful arc in the air and was caught by Kazashiro, who suddenly appeared behind him, just as he was about to crash to the ground.
"Are you alright?"
After the two landed safely, Kazashiro, panting heavily, asked Might Guy about it.
"It's nothing, my leg just hurts a little."
After jumping twice on the spot and finding nothing obviously abnormal, Might Guy gave a thumbs up. "This victory is yours, Kazashiro. By the way, how did you appear behind me in an instant?"
"The Flying Thunder God Technique; he left a mark on you when he lost his ice spear and engaged you in Taijutsu combat."
Before Kazashiro explain, a gentle voice sounded behind him.
"Brother Minato?"
Turning his head sharply, Kazashiro saw the familiar blond-haired man and the red figure at the entrance of the training ground.
"Kushina."
He greeted her sweetly, and Kazashiro's attitude pleased Kushina.
Kushina strode forward, ruffled Kazashiro's hair, and sensed his Chakra at the same time. "You kid, your Yin Seal technique is pretty good."
"Thanks Tsunade Kushina for their excellent teaching."
Faced with the praise, Kazashiro chuckled and attributed all the credit to the other party.
"Hmph, you have such a sweet tongue. Come to my house for dinner tonight, and I'll cook you something delicious."
Crouching down, Kushina pinched Kazashiro's cheek, then looked at Minato beside her, her tone more dangerous than before. "Alright, you've seen it all, shouldn't we...?"
After Kushina's "kind" reminder, Minato realized that his task for the day was to accompany the girl beside him shopping. He gave Kushina an apologetic look, said goodbye to Kazashiro, and left the training ground with her.
"Uh, who is he again?"
Kai couldn't recall Minato's name for a moment.
"Brother Minato, forget it, what's the point of me explaining? You wouldn't remember their faces anyway..."
As for whether or not to go to the other party's house for dinner that night...
Ask your dad for his opinion first.
"Brother Yiku?"
Kazashiro called out in a random direction, but after waiting for a while without receiving a response, he scratched his head in confusion. "Strange, when did they leave?"
On the other side, inside the tunnel.
Shimura Ikko is diligently checking the wiring inside the tunnel, trying to find the cause of the light bulb not working.
Meanwhile, Sunagakure.
The Third Kazekage, hailed as the Strongest Kazekage in history, is listening to Ebizo's report in a dark and quiet little room.
"The defenses along the Land of Land of Fire's borders are much weaker than during the Second Shinobi World War. Many border fortresses have been abandoned, and the main forces are concentrated in the stronghold on Mount Kikyo."
After numerous probes and at the cost of dozens of Sand Ninja lives, Ebizo, based on information brought by the survivors, roughly ascertained the defensive arrangements of the Konoha Ninja on the border of the Land of Fire.
"The most troublesome thing right now is that guy guarding the border, that 'Konoha's White Fang'."
Even the aloof Third Kazekage had to take this name seriously.
Sakumo single-handedly killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, and led a small force far smaller than the elite Sand Ninja army to a great victory. Sakumo achievements have not been forgotten by the Shinobi World to this day.
"The younger generation in the village hasn't grown up enough to deal with that kind of enemy." The Third Kazekage thought of the younger generation in his village, especially the young man with dark red hair.
"Fortunately, Magnet Release has been passed down."
Ebizo also thought of Rasa, who was working tirelessly as a miner for the village's development.
"The Second Shinobi World War cost us too much strength. Even today, Sunagakure has not been able to escape the shadow of Konoha. The current Konoha, relying on the residual power of the last war and with a far greater number of Jonin than us, has suffered a significant loss of missions and its economy has been unable to develop."
"War allows the younger generation to grow rapidly and filters out the truly valuable talents." The Third Kazekage was grim, and his heart was filled with indignation whenever Konoha was mentioned.
"Do we really have to fight? With our own strength, we probably wouldn't be enough to shake Konoha." As an old man who had followed the Kazekage since the time of the Second Hokage, Ebizo had personally experienced the First and Second Shinobi World War and witnessed Konoha's fighting power. He had also fought against Konoha Ninja of Hiruzen Sarutobi's generation.
In his view, Sunagakure alone had no chance of competing with Konoha on the main battlefield.