Fighting Natsume!

Three days later.

Konoha Military Police Force.

"Roy, I've heard about what you've been doing lately."

"You've done very well. The chief is quite pleased."

"So, from now on, you'll be in charge of the deputy captain position in the Konoha Patrol Squad."

"You should also work hard to improve your strength."

"Today, I'll personally train you."

On the training field, Roy looked at Uchiha Natsume before him, his face showing helplessness.

Having an elite jonin as a sparring partner was certainly great, but...

"Ding! A random mission has been issued."

"Earn Uchiha Natsume's recognition. The higher your completion rate, the better the reward..."

Just as Roy wore a helpless expression, the familiar prompt rang out in his mind.

Hearing this, Roy looked utterly stunned.

So the grinning Uchiha Natsume in front of him had never actually acknowledged him.

At first, Natsume had thought highly of Roy.

But when he heard what Roy had done while on patrol, he was immediately displeased.

Uchiha shinobi weren't meant to go around doing things like that.

However, there was only one way to earn an Uchiha's recognition... and that was to defeat him.

Looking at the chakra spilling from Uchiha Natsume, Roy's mouth twitched.

"Roy, let's begin."

"Use everything you've got and try to hold out against me for as long as you can."

After speaking, Uchiha Natsume immediately activated his Sharingan.

He hadn't activated his Sharingan right away to use genjutsu on Roy.

He wanted a clearer view of Roy's fighting style,

so he could analyze it and judge Roy's true strength.

"Got it."

"Captain Natsume, I'm starting."

Roy activated his Sharingan as well.

Two tomoe appeared, and his dynamic vision instantly kicked in.

"Lightning Style: Mad Snake!"

Roy quickly formed Hand Seals and released the Lightning Style technique.

Lightning Style's speed and paralysis could both effectively buy him time.

"A C-rank Lightning Style technique?"

"Lightning Style: Thousand Nets!"

Natsume raised his hand, formed Hand Seals, and released the technique.

He moved so quickly that it was almost instantaneous.

After all, Thousand Nets was a B-rank technique!

The scattered lightning was absorbed by the nets, which then rapidly spread toward Roy.

Bang!

As a cloud of white smoke billowed up, a piece of wood appeared on the ground.

Substitution Technique.

"Not bad, but if that's all you've got, you still won't escape my pursuit."

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Kunai shot out one after another.

Clang, clang...

Some distance away, Roy held his Kunai and blocked Natsume's attack.

So heavy!

The terrifying impact left Roy's wrists aching.

The anime really was full of lies.

These Kunai were dangerous.

"Don't get distracted in the middle of a fight!"

"It's over."

Natsume appeared behind Roy and swung down with his Kunai.

"Fire Gun!"

Roy raised his hand and unleashed a powerful blaze.

Natsume had kept moving when he first heard the name Fire Gun.

But the terrifying flames and chakra surge made him feel a faint threat.

He instinctively retreated.

The terrible blaze instantly swallowed the surrounding area.

"An enhanced Fire Gun?"

Looking at Roy, who was breathing slightly hard, Natsume showed his admiration.

Roy's personality wasn't exactly to his liking, but in battle, he had the bearing of a fine Uchiha.

"Still not enough."

"Keep going. Surely that isn't all you've got?"

After Uchiha Natsume spoke, the displeasure he'd shown earlier had vanished.

He began to take the fight seriously.

He saw something special in Roy.

"Watch out, Captain Natsume."

After speaking, Roy charged straight at Natsume.

"Taijutsu?"

"I'm a squad captain in the Military Police Force. You think you can beat me in Taijutsu?"

"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

"Fire Style: Flame Fall!"

Natsume didn't give Roy a chance to engage him in close combat.

He was confident he could defeat Roy quickly at close range.

But that wasn't what he wanted.

"Hm?"

As the two Fire Style techniques came down, Natsume suddenly realized Roy had disappeared.

"Captain Natsume, I told you to watch out."

As Natsume searched for Roy, a sudden voice reached his ears.

"Where?"

Natsume instinctively looked behind him, raising his Kunai to defend himself.

Bang!

The next moment, Roy burst up from underground and punched Natsume in the chin.

"Fire Style: Fire Fist!"

In the next instant, terrifying flames swallowed Natsume.

"Lightning Style: Little White Worm!"

Bolts of white lightning followed close behind, disappearing into the flames.

Roy used the opening to quickly put some distance between himself and Uchiha Natsume.

As the dust settled, Uchiha Natsume looked somewhat battered.

Even after that attack, he hadn't been badly hurt.

Only his clothes were slightly singed.

"Hahaha..."

"Not bad. Very good!"

"You've run out of chakra, haven't you?"

"Getting out of the fight so quickly at a time like that was an excellent decision."

"Roy, you..."

"Crackle..."

Before Uchiha Natsume could finish, lightning began to crackle.

It was coming from Uchiha Natsume's own body.

"This is..."

"Lightning Style: Little White Worm!"

Roy raised a finger, and a bolt of white lightning appeared in his hand, crackling softly.

Then Uchiha Natsume, who had just been engulfed by Fire Fist, was once again enveloped in a raging Lightning Style technique.

"Hahaha... You got me good, kid!"

"Hahaha..."

Uchiha Natsume burst into loud laughter.

He looked a little dim-witted.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. You've completed the random mission and exceeded the requirements."

"Reward: 2,000 units of chakra and one bonus reward pack."

The next moment, the system's prompt sounded in Roy's mind.

Sure enough, the Uchiha tendency to provoke a beating had been around since Madara Uchiha.

"Roy, you're very good."

"But I still have to remind you: don't waste too much time on pointless things."

"Go on."

Uchiha Natsume said earnestly.

"Thank you for going easy on me, Captain."

Roy said nothing more and turned to leave.

"That kid."

Watching Roy's back, Natsume smiled with satisfaction.

He had indeed gone easy on Roy, but Roy had still managed to bring his full strength to bear in their brief fight.

That alone showed Roy's combat instincts.

"Natsume, you actually got beaten up by your own subordinate."

Uchiha Nagasawa walked out, grinning without a trace of restraint.

"The clan head was right. This kid has talent."

Uchiha Ryuxi walked out after him.