Jonin! The Gap in Combat Experience

"Real combat with Teacher Asuma?"

Shikamaru was the first to grasp the most important word Neji had used: "real combat."

"But haven't you already trained with Teacher Asuma in person many times?" Choji asked as he ate.

After thinking for a moment, Tenten said, "Neji means real combat."

Ino was stunned, staring blankly at Neji.

She could barely keep up. Her admiration for Neji had nearly become impossible to hide these past few days, but every time, the gap between them stopped her.

What an outstanding young man. In front of him, Ino felt inferior.

Perhaps that was what liking someone meant.

"Real combat with me?"

Asuma lowered his head slightly and couldn't help sighing. Young people these days really were getting carried away.

"Sure, I accept. Since you passed the special training, you deserve a reward! Come to the training ground tomorrow, and we'll have a proper match. Nobody else is allowed to come."

"Why?"

As soon as Asuma finished speaking, Tenten and Ino asked at the same time.

They both froze and exchanged glances.

Ino admired Neji and wanted to witness every step of his progress and growth.

Tenten, too, wanted to become stronger. Her desire to improve had made her pay more and more attention to Neji's every move.

But Asuma said, "No. Neither of you is coming. This reward belongs to Neji alone."

"Right?"

Asuma stood up and gave Neji an approving look before going to pay the bill.

Neji understood perfectly well. Asuma was challenging him, urging him to show his true ability in their match and stop holding back.

"Good."

Neji let out a breath. Tomorrow, he would finally get to stretch his limbs after so long!

The next day.

Training Ground Twenty-One was a sparring ground.

The other places had been left in shambles by everyone's special training the other day. The only place still quiet and looking like an abandoned lot was this sparring ground.

Asuma had never really gone all out.

Neji knew that, but winning wasn't what he wanted from this match.

The Combat Training Ground was a square, roughly twelve meters on each side. The ground was grassy earth, with signs of recent repairs. It had probably been redone to prevent injuries during taijutsu matches.

Both sides of the field were ready.

Sarutobi Asuma, a Konoha jonin and the Third Hokage's son.

Hyuga Neji, a member of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family, a shinobi branded a "failure."

"Heh, I never expected the Hyuga Clan to have a shinobi as talented as you. I'm starting to look forward to this!"

Asuma steadied himself, already wearing the Flying Swallow blades on both hands.

"I'll give it everything I've got!"

Asuma said it, but Neji didn't believe he'd truly go all out.

He was using reverse psychology to make Neji show his full strength, wasn't he?

"Teacher, you were once one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve. Your name, Sarutobi Asuma, is famous throughout the land. I know I can't beat you, but..."

As Neji spoke, he activated his Byakugan.

Asuma froze, surprised that Neji knew about his past.

"I still want to find out just how far I've come!"

Neji charged forward with explosive speed.

He'd been running ten laps around Konoha every few days. For this short burst, Neji pushed himself almost to the limit.

Asuma, who had been through several training sessions with Neji, was all the more impressed.

Fast!

That was all there was to it!

His strikes were clean and precise.

Whoosh!

A palm swept past, its rush of air whistling by Asuma's ear.

The next strike was a kick. Asuma had completely read the rhythm.

Then came a punch.

Asuma caught it firmly.

The Flying Swallow gripped in his hand limited his movement. With his hand shaped like a palm, he could only defend, and Neji had deliberately taken advantage of that.

"Very good. A flawless attack." Asuma chuckled, then tightened his grip on Neji's fist.

With a sharp hiss, the Flying Swallow on his hand formed a striking blade of chakra!

The blade, originally only three centimeters long, instantly extended into a thirty-centimeter chakra edge.

He swung his wrist, and the blade seemed to slice through the air as it swept toward Neji.

Neji had no choice but to retreat, but Asuma still held his fist in a vice grip. At the same time, Asuma's other hand moved, fast as the wind!

"Lightning!"

In his desperation, Neji used the technique of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, channeling Lightning Release Chakra into his palm and unleashing it in an instant!

For just a moment, Asuma felt his hand go numb, as if paralyzed by lightning. But the effect lasted only an instant.

Seizing that brief opening, Neji pulled himself free and dodged the attack.

"As expected of a Konoha jonin," Neji thought.

Every movement was a lesson in combat experience. How many lives had he taken to develop such incredible battle instincts? Neji was starting to find this interesting.

Asuma, meanwhile, paused and studied his own hand.

"What was that feeling just now?"

Asuma had no idea that Neji had been hiding another ability all along: the Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation in the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Lightning and wind were equally balanced within Neji. But since wind countered lightning, when he'd tested his chakra with Chakra Paper, it had shown that his chakra nature was Wind Style.

"Now it's my turn to attack!"

"Gale Blade!"

Asuma moved, and in the blink of an eye, his blade grew even longer—reaching fifty centimeters!

Neji retreated again and again. He hadn't accounted for this distance.

With the blade extended to fifty centimeters, the attack's range had multiplied. An attack he could once evade with a simple movement was now impossible to dodge that way!

Neji gave Asuma no opening, retreating at great speed.

"You're almost at the edge!"

There was a tree behind him. Half-meter-tall stumps surrounded the Combat Training Ground.

Neji formed Hand Seals.

"Wind Style: Rotation!"

The tremendous force kept Asuma firmly at bay, sending dust billowing through the air!

Whoosh!

A figure flashed.

Neji had appeared right in front of Asuma.

A surprise attack that never got old!

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"

"Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms!"

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

After all his strikes landed on Asuma, Neji had no intention of holding back. In a fight against a master, victory could turn on a single moment!

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

Thud!

Asuma was knocked off his feet and sent crashing to the ground. Smoke curled from Neji's fingertips, and his gaze was sharp.

"Oh? Looks like you really have been hiding quite a bit of strength."

Neji froze. The voice was right behind him.

The one he'd hit just now had been a clone!

Neji swept a palm behind him, but it struck nothing. His opponent brought a blade down, and Neji quickly leaped back several steps.

"Take this seriously!" Asuma strode forward, looking as though he hadn't even broken a sweat.

The field was a mess.

Soil and grass had been torn up by the tremendous force, leaving scorched patches behind. The surrounding stumps had been utterly destroyed. It had been a fierce real battle!

Neji lay on the ground, completely exhausted, gripping the inside of his left arm.

That was the feeling. Asuma's Wind Release Chakra shape transformation suppressed him. Asuma's strength was probably even greater than Baki's.

And Neji understood that the real gap between them lay in Asuma's terrifying combat experience. It felt as if Asuma could even predict his next move!

"Not bad, kid. You managed to push me this far." Asuma walked over, having already put away the Flying Swallow.

Then he suddenly paused, noticing Neji clutching his left arm. "You...!"

He looked as if he'd been dealt a tremendous blow.

Neji had been injured every time he'd fought Asuma—and throughout all their training sessions, too!