Jonin! The Gap in Practical Experience

"A real combat session with Asuma-sensei?"

Shikamaru was the first to grasp the significance of the key term Neji had used: "real combat."

"But haven't you already trained with Asuma-sensei personally many times?" Choji asked while eating.

Tenten pondered for a moment before saying, "What Neji means is actual combat."

Ino was also taken aback, staring blankly at Neji.

She was struggling to keep up; her admiration for Neji had been overflowing these past few days, yet every time, the gap between them held her back.

He was such an outstanding youth that Ino felt a sense of inferiority in his presence.

Perhaps this was what it meant to be in love.

"A real combat session with me?"

Asuma lowered his head slightly, unable to help but sigh that the youth of today were truly getting ahead of themselves.

"Fine, I accept. Since you've passed the special training, you deserve a reward! Come to the training ground tomorrow, and we'll have a proper fight. No one else is allowed to come."

"Why?"

As soon as Asuma finished speaking, Tenten and Ino asked in unison.

Both girls were startled, glancing at each other.

Ino wanted to watch every step of Neji's progress and growth because of her affection for him.

Tenten, driven by her own desire to become stronger and her thirst for power, had become increasingly focused on every move Neji made.

But Asuma stated, "No, none of you are to come. This reward belongs to Neji alone."

"Right?"

Asuma stood up, gave Neji a look of affirmation, and then went to pay the bill.

Neji knew exactly what this meant: Asuma was provoking him, challenging him to use his real skills during the fight and stop holding back.

"Very well."

Neji exhaled; tomorrow, he would finally be able to stretch his limbs after such a long time!

The next day.

Training Ground 21, the designated combat training ground.

Every other area had been left in shambles by the group's special training sessions recently, leaving this combat ground as the only place still quiet enough to look abandoned.

Asuma had never truly unleashed his full strength.

Neji was well aware of this, but victory was not what he was seeking in this match.

The combat training ground was a square with sides of about twelve meters. The ground was covered in grass and soil, showing signs of being recently turned over, likely to prevent injuries during taijutsu exchanges.

On both sides of the arena, the two parties were ready.

Sarutobi Asuma, a Jonin of Konoha and son of the Third Hokage.

Hyuga Neji, a member of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family, once labeled a "failure" of a ninja.

"Heh, I never imagined the Hyuga Clan would produce a ninja with such extraordinary talent. I'm starting to get excited!"

Asuma steadied himself, having already drawn his Flying Swallow blades and equipped them to his hands.

"I'll be going all out, you know!"

Despite Asuma's words, Neji didn't believe he would actually use his full power.

He was likely using a provocation tactic to force Neji to reveal everything he was capable of.

"As one of the former Guardian Shinobi Twelve, your reputation is thunderous, Asuma-sensei. I know I cannot win against you, but..."

As Neji spoke, he activated his Byakugan.

Asuma was taken aback, marveling that Neji even knew about such things.

"I also want to test exactly how far I've come!"

Neji declared, then lunged forward with explosive speed.

Having run ten laps around Konoha every few days, Neji had pushed this short-distance sprint to its absolute limit.

And Asuma, having gone through several training sessions with Neji, could feel it even more acutely!

Fast!

Nothing else mattered!

His movements were clean and decisive.

Whoosh!

A palm strike whistled past, the sound of air being torn apart ringing in his ears.

The next move was a kick; Asuma had perfectly anticipated the rhythm.

He followed up with a punch.

Asuma caught it firmly.

By gripping the Flying Swallow, his hand was restricted to defensive palm strikes, a point Neji exploited perfectly.

"Very good, a flawless attack." Asuma chuckled, then exerted force, tightening his grip on Neji's fist.

The Flying Swallow worn on his hand let out a "clink," forming a flamboyant, blade-shaped chakra!

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

With a flick of his wrist, the blade swept toward Neji as if to slice through the air itself.

Neji had no choice but to retreat, but his fist was held fast by Asuma, and meanwhile, Asuma's other hand moved, swift as a gale!

"Lightning!"

In his urgency, Neji unleashed the technique of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, stimulating the Lightning Style chakra in his palms and triggering an instantaneous burst!

For a split second, Asuma felt his palm go numb as if struck by lightning, unable to move, but it lasted only a moment.

In that tiny gap, Neji seized the opportunity to pull his body away and dodge the strike.

As expected of a Konoha jonin, Neji thought to himself.

Every movement and gesture was packed with combat experience he could learn from. Just how many souls must have perished by his hands to forge such tactical intelligence? Neji began to find this interesting.

Asuma, meanwhile, was stunned for a moment, observing his own palm.

"What was that sensation just now?"

Asuma naturally did not know what Neji had been hiding all along: the Lightning Style chakra nature transformation within the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Inside Neji's body, his Lightning and Wind affinities were split fifty-fifty, but because Wind Style suppresses Lightning Style, Neji had only displayed Wind Style chakra when tested with chakra paper.

"Now it's my turn to attack!"

"Gale Blade!"

Asuma moved, and in a blur, the length of his blade extended even further, reaching a full fifty centimeters!

Neji retreated repeatedly; in his calculations, he had never accounted for such range.

With the blade reaching fifty centimeters, the attack range increased exponentially; attacks he could have dodged with simple movements were now impossible to avoid!

Neji gave no quarter, moving with extreme agility and retreating at high speed.

"You're reaching the end!"

Behind him were trees; the perimeter of the Combat Training Ground was lined with half-meter-high tree stumps.

Neji formed hand seals.

"Wind Style: Rotation!"

The immense impact force held Asuma firmly at bay, sending dust flying!

"Whoosh!"

A sound, a flash.

Neji had already appeared in front of Asuma.

The element of surprise, never failing to be effective!

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"

"Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms!"

"Thirty-two palms!"

After all the strikes landed on Asuma, Neji had no intention of holding back; in a duel against a master, victory or defeat is decided in a single thought!

"Sixty-four palms!"

"Thud!"

Asuma was sent flying, crashing to the ground, while smoke rose from Neji's fingertips, his gaze sharp.

"Oh? It seems you really have been hiding quite a bit of strength."

Neji froze; the voice came from behind him.

The one from before was a clone!

Neji slashed a palm backward but hit empty air; the opponent swung his blade down, and Neji quickly retreated several steps.

"Get serious!" Asuma walked forward, looking as if he hadn't broken a sweat.

The field was in shambles.

The soil and grass showed signs of being scorched by powerful forces, and the surrounding tree stumps had been completely obliterated—an intense live-combat drill!

Neji lay on the ground, exhausted, clutching the inside of his left arm tightly.

This was the feeling—the suppression caused by the shape transformation of Wind Release chakra. Asuma's strength was likely even greater than that of Baki.

Neji understood that the true gap lay in something even more critical: terrifying combat experience. He felt as though the opponent could predict his every next move before he even made it!

"Not bad, kid. To think you could push me this far." Asuma stepped forward, having already sheathed his Flying Swallow.

He suddenly froze, noticing Neji gripping his left arm, and exclaimed in astonishment, "You brat!..."

It was as if he had been dealt a heavy blow.

Neji, throughout their sparring and the training sessions over this period, had been fighting while injured the entire time!