Injured

"Teacher, I agree." Nebula Kotetsu did not refuse.

The sparring session on the eve of graduation was the critical moment for students to graduate and for jonin instructors to select their team members. His father, a special jonin, had told him before he passed away that a student's performance would directly affect their graduation squad placement.

He could dodge Obito Uchiha's challenge for a moment, but if he showed cowardice, it would directly impact his placement. He had to graduate smoothly this time; if he ended up in a cannon-fodder squad, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Good." The male teacher took out his record book. "Obito Uchiha, spar against Nebula Kotetsu."

"Perform the Seal of Confrontation."

The onlookers immediately erupted in cheers.

"Go for it, Obito!"

"Swing your fists and feet hard!"

"Don't embarrass yourself in front of the dead-last this time!"

"Stake the honor of the Uchiha on this!" The clamor of the male students rose one after another, unstoppable even by the teacher's stern gaze.

Listening to the cheers around him, Obito Uchiha lifted his chin high. He reached out to perform the Seal of Confrontation.

"This time, I won't be as careless as I was last time!"

With that, mud splattered beneath his feet, and his entire figure moved in an instant, rushing forward like a gust of wind.

Nebula Kotetsu focused his attention, locking his eyes on Obito Uchiha's movements, his flexible hands ready for action. The moment the opponent's fist suddenly swung toward his face, he exerted force with his right hand, aiming a "slap" at the side of the other's face and striking out fiercely!

"Bang!" A dull thud echoed.

However, Obito Uchiha had been prepared, predicting Nebula Kotetsu's move in advance and blocking the slap with his other hand.

"Hahaha!" Feeling his arm go nearly numb, Obito Uchiha laughed, pretending not to care. "Turns out you're nothing special."

"Take this!"

"Bang, bang, bang!!!"

A dense flurry of punches and kicks, wrapped in anger, rained down like a storm.

Nebula Kotetsu's defense immediately became difficult.

Although Obito Uchiha also held the nickname of "dead-last," his close-quarters combat strength in the class was not weak. If Nebula Kotetsu's body hadn't already recovered to a "healthy" state, he likely wouldn't have been able to hold out for more than a few strikes.

Fortunately, the system was a massive boost.

His chakra volume of 0.31 cards had already raised his physical fitness to a level above that of a genin. Both his reaction speed and his ability to withstand strikes had seen a qualitative improvement. Nebula Kotetsu even deduced that if his body hadn't been so frail before, the system's 100x upgrade card for taijutsu techniques would have definitely resulted in more than just reaching Lv1.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

"Nebula Kotetsu, is this all you've got?"

"If that's the case, you won't be able to beat me." Obito was both surprised by Nebula Kotetsu's improved strength and busy shouting provocations.

Nebula Kotetsu remained silent, focusing solely on defense.

Now that Obito Uchiha was taking things seriously, it would be somewhat difficult for him to win, but not impossible.

However, rather than racking his brains to win, he hoped to achieve other goals while gaining the teacher's approval during the fight.

He did his best to defend against Obito Uchiha's strikes while observing the situation outside the ring, as well as the reaction of Rin Nohara.

"Attack! Nebula Kotetsu!"

"Are you just going to stand there and take a beating!?"

"Bang!" Nebula Kotetsu seized an opportunity and slapped Obito Uchiha in the chest. The latter felt his breath hitch, and he stumbled back several steps with a heavy thud.

Nebula Kotetsu took the chance to provoke him: "Is that it?"

"Obito, compared to your fists and feet, it seems your mouth is much more impressive."

"Do you have no other tricks?"

Obito Uchiha gritted his teeth.

"Damn it!"

Immediately after, he pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and, under the teacher's suddenly attentive gaze, flung it out!

"Swish, swish, swish!" The kunai used in sparring sessions were blunt, specialized training tools; as long as one hit a vital area, the teacher would declare a victory. Obito Uchiha even exercised some control, avoiding Nebula Kotetsu's head, with all the kunai aimed at the latter's lower body.

However, in his anger, he miscalculated his own throwing skill.

Nebula Kotetsu also drew a blunt kunai, parrying the one aimed at his chest, while the others didn't even come close.

Nebula Kotetsu: "Your throwing skill is about on par with your brain development."

Obito Uchiha let out a shout of "Ah!"

He gripped a kunai and charged in with his whole body! Nebula Kotetsu gathered his full focus and met him head-on.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang!!!!"

Sparks flew.

Amidst the intense clash of kunai, the watching teacher and students were all astonished.

Since when had Nebula Kotetsu's strength improved so drastically?

The male students looked on with indignant suspicion, while the female students clutched their chests, stars in their eyes.

"So handsome!"

"Nebula is so cool!"

"Right? The way he swings his kunai, it's like he's carving his name right onto my heart."

"That guy Obito, why is he acting like a madman?"

"Exactly, how crude~"

Amidst the clashing of kunai, Obito Uchiha could not hear the voices of the female students; otherwise, he would only have grown more enraged.

"Clang!" With a resonant ring, the two kunai locked together, and Nebula Kotetsu and Obito Uchiha stared at each other across the crossed blades.

Obito Uchiha: "Die! Nebula Kotetsu!"

Nebula Kotetsu: "That's right, I just happen to like Rin."

Obito Uchiha was pushed beyond the brink of fury.

Driven by an urgent desire to win, his offensive grew increasingly fierce, his movements so wide and reckless that he abandoned his own defense entirely.

But Nebula Kotetsu did not launch a sneak attack.

Instead, his movements became even more cautious. Finally, sensing Obito Uchiha's full-force swing of the kunai coupled with a direct front kick, Nebula Kotetsu narrowed his eyes.

"Now!"

He activated Big Slap, his right hand's speed surging significantly. He did not aim for Obito Uchiha's face, but rather at the opponent's kunai.

"Sshhh!" The unsharpened kunai sliced a wound into his arm under the immense force. Beads of blood sprayed into the air.

The next moment, Nebula Kotetsu crossed his arms to defend his chest, taking the kick head-on.

"Bang!"

Amidst the gasps of the female students, Nebula Kotetsu's figure was sent flying backward, and then... he fell toward the direction of Rin Nohara.

Rin Nohara, who had been watching the battle intently, cried out in alarm.

Without a second thought, she stepped forward and reached out to catch Nebula Kotetsu.

The weight of the boy made her stumble backward, but she paid it no mind, her gaze quickly darting to Nebula Kotetsu's right hand.

There, on his pale forearm, was an irregular wound, stained with fresh blood.

Nebula Kotetsu ignored the wound, instead looking up at Rin Nohara's anxious face. "Thank you."

Rin Nohara did not respond, quickly pulling gauze and medicine from her ninja pouch to skillfully disinfect and bandage the wound on his hand.

A thought surfaced involuntarily in her mind.

Such a beautiful hand, what a pity.

Following that, a trace of anger could not help but rise within her.

That guy Obito, how could he be so heavy-handed? It was just a sparring match between classmates; was there any need to treat it like fighting an enemy?