Asuna Enters My Embrace (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendations)

"Oh? So impatient, are we?"

Araki teased casually at Asuna's decision to strike without a word of warning.

He raised his arm, using a kunai to precisely block the high-speed thrust coming straight for him.

"That move doesn't work on me anymore!"

While blocking the rapier with one hand, Araki held another kunai in his free hand, carving an arc from bottom to top.

Clang!

Asuna twisted her wrist, leveling her longsword to parry both kunai simultaneously before using the momentum to retreat a step.

Whoosh!

Like a spring compressed to its limit suddenly snapping, Asuna erupted with speed even greater than before. Her slender blade shimmered with a cold, metallic luster, reaching before Araki's eyes in the blink of an eye.

"Flash Thrust, I expected as much!"

A smile tugged at the corners of Araki's mouth. He quietly released the kunai in both hands, standing perfectly still and allowing Asuna's blade to pierce through his body.

Poof!

A cloud of smoke exploded, enveloping Asuna just as she had "killed" Araki.

"Five-Star Rend!"

Facing danger, Asuna did not panic. She understood how perilous it was to lose sight of an enemy, so she didn't hesitate to unleash an area-of-effect attack.

As her arms swung rapidly, five sword shadows appeared simultaneously, slashing toward the front, back, left, right, and above.

Asuna was confident that no matter where the enemy appeared, they could not possibly ignore her attack.

Just as she vigilantly scanned her surroundings, a kunai Araki had dropped on the ground beneath her feet exploded, transforming into a familiar figure.

Asuna's positioning was actually quite poor; after piercing Araki's clone, she hadn't moved rashly, leaving her standing directly over the two kunai that had fallen to the ground.

As one of the kunai transformed into Araki, Asuna was immediately lifted upward. After all, even though Araki was only ten, he was still taller than her legs. As he rose, Asuna inevitably lost her balance for a moment.

"Ah!"

Seeing Asuna cry out as she lost her balance, Araki paused for a split second, but he didn't stop. He swung his kunai toward her heart.

He knew his strength was still far inferior to Asuna's; he had only found this opening through the surprise of the Transformation Technique. If he missed this chance, it would be difficult to succeed once Asuna was on guard.

However, time at the Ninja Academy was limited, and he had to increase his strength as quickly as possible. He could only offer a silent apology to Asuna.

As for standing up from beneath her legs, that was just an accident.

Even while off-balance, Asuna did not give up the fight. She even threw her rapier, attempting to strike Araki down with a "Hundred-Pace Flying Sword."

But Araki was one step faster. As the kunai in his hand swept across Asuna's chest, her body suddenly dissolved into golden light feathers, merging into his own.

"This is..."

Araki reached out, trying to catch a light feather, but it was useless; they all firmly integrated into his body.

As the feathers merged, Araki felt his body heating up slightly, his muscles and bones seemingly growing. More importantly, a clear phantom of Asuna appeared before his eyes, dancing through her sword techniques over and over again.

After a long while, the phantom faded and the heat dissipated.

Araki gripped his kunai, recalling those sword techniques. With a single thought, his body reacted naturally, executing a short, forward thrust with the most perfect application of force.

"Is this... Flash Thrust?"

Coming back to his senses, Araki looked back at the spot where the kunai was still embedded, estimating the distance he had just covered.

"Hmm, that's about twenty meters. I crossed it in an instant. This speed is comparable to a Body Flicker Technique, right?"

Araki was delighted, yet also somewhat troubled. "But I didn't feel anything during that thrust. Was it because the speed was too fast for my nerves to react? It seems I've learned it, but haven't fully mastered it yet!"

At this moment, he caught a glimpse of new text appearing on the front page of the Book of Sword Masters. He focused his eyes.

[Name]: Araki (Yachiru)
[Realm]: Swordplay Novice
[Sword Skills]: Combo (Max 8-hit: Stardust Splash), Dash (Flash Thrust)
[Others]: Chakra Refinement, Clone Technique, Substitution Technique, Transformation Technique

"I've learned all of Asuna's skills, and I'm still just a 'Swordplay Novice'? That can't be right!"

Araki was dissatisfied with the evaluation, but there was nothing he could do; it was just a picture book, after all, and couldn't communicate with him.

"Fine, fine. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm standing up for Asuna. I'll check again after I've mastered all her techniques. With her strength, it's impossible for her to be at a novice level!"

Araki grumbled as he left the mental space.

To practice sword techniques, one naturally needs a target.

After Araki had practiced against tree stumps for several months and felt he had more or less mastered Asuna's techniques, the stationary, lifeless objects could no longer satisfy his needs.

And so, his classmates suffered a terrible fate.

Don't let the brutal graduation exams of the Kirigakure Ninja Academy fool you; in daily life, students were not allowed to fight each other. If they wanted to spar, they could only do so during class, according to the groupings assigned by their Chunin instructors.

Thus, in order to seize the few remaining opportunities for practical combat, Araki cherished every classmate he sparred with.

Whenever they were knocked down, he would pull them back up again and repeat the fight they had just finished.

Round and round it went, recycling them over and over until their stamina was completely exhausted, only then would he let them go, still feeling unsatisfied.

Because of this behavior, everyone who had encountered him, watched him, or even just heard about him gave him a nickname: the "Smiling Devil."

This was because he never displayed any negative emotions during a fight; his face was always fixed in a handsome, sunny smile, even when he was forcibly dragging his opponent up from the ground.

For this reason, Araki, much like the terrifying-looking Zabuza, became the nightmare of every student in their class.

However, he did not care about such things; in fact, aside from Zabuza, Araki hadn't even bothered to remember the names of any other classmates.

After all, since they were in the same cohort as Zabuza, their fates had long been sealed.

Their blood and souls would become the nourishment for Zabuza's title of "Demon," and their wails would eventually compel the higher-ups of Kirigakure to put an end to the brutal graduation exam.

Araki had no intention of changing this; there was no reason why, as he was never a truly good person to begin with.

And after being killed countless times by Asuna within his sea of consciousness, his attitude toward life had gradually begun to grow indifferent.

Nowadays, aside from the improvement of his own strength, he did not care much about the affairs of others.

Whatever happens, happens, as long as it doesn't disturb him.

If Zabuza were to foolishly come after him, Araki wouldn't mind if Kirigakure ended up with one less "Demon" in its future.