Re-Battle White Fang of Konoha (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Genma grew excited.

Aside from the time he had just graduated, he had never had a proper duel with his teacher, Hatake Sakumo.

As for their usual training spars, those didn't count.

As for the true extent of Hatake Sakumo's strength, Genma had yet to reach the bottom of it.

He likely hadn't unleashed his full power during that Wood Release incident.

The most recent instance was the slaying of the Iwagakure jonin Mahiru, but it had looked effortless, and that was likely not Hatake Sakumo's full strength either.

Before mastering Lightning Flicker, Genma knew that even with his Substitution Technique that allowed for teleportation and position swapping, he would be no match for Hatake Sakumo.

After all, once the mechanism was understood, and considering his own reaction speed limitations, that move was not impossible to guard against or counter.

Especially against an all-rounder like Hatake Sakumo, whose attack speed was also incredibly fast.

But with Lightning Flicker, everything was different; Genma wanted to test the depths of Hatake Sakumo!

Yamashiro Aoba was also looking forward to it: "Genma's current strength should firmly exceed that of an average chunin. Although he certainly won't be a match for Sakumo-sensei, who is an elite even among jonin, I am very curious to see just how strong Genma has become."

Shizune didn't have so many thoughts; she simply clenched her fists to cheer Genma on.

"Aoba, you preside over the match!"

Hatake Sakumo instructed.

Yamashiro Aoba nodded, then raised his right hand and swung it down: "Begin!"

Zzzzt!

Streaks of electricity bloomed across Genma's body, coiling around him as he drew his chakra short blade, Ranga, and shot toward Hatake Sakumo like a bolt of lightning.

"Too fast!"

Yamashiro Aoba whispered; this was far faster than when he had sparred with him just moments ago.

Hatake Sakumo also drew his White Fang Chakra Blade, the blade glowing with a searing white light.

Compared to Genma's externalized lightning, his power was more concentrated within the blade itself.

But in terms of speed, Hatake Sakumo was not a whit inferior to Genma.

In the eyes of Yamashiro Aoba and Shizune, they could no longer see the people, only a blue bolt of lightning and a white flash of light colliding at high speed.

This was followed by continuous collisions in different locations, erupting in a series of sonic booms.

The ground was marked with charred streaks and smooth, clean cuts.

In the blink of an eye, Genma had already clashed with Hatake Sakumo over a dozen times.

In terms of speed, my Lightning Release is still inferior to Sensei's. He still looks at ease, and this is already my top speed under Lightning Flicker.

Genma felt the gap between himself and Hatake Sakumo.

Of course, this was not unexpected.

His Lightning Flicker had been modified using 3 points of Setting Value, so it certainly couldn't reach the top tier of the Ninja World.

As for speed, even if Hatake Sakumo couldn't compare to top-tier Lightning Release users like the Third Raikage or the Fourth Raikage, he wouldn't be far off.

Genma had previously spent 8 points of Setting Value to bring his chakra levels to the One-Tail level.

He estimated that to bring his Lightning Release to the level of the Fourth Raikage, he would likely need to spend another 8 points of Setting Value.

Hatake Sakumo was not quite at the level of the Fourth Raikage, so in terms of speed, he was likely still about 3 points of Setting Value away.

Of course, this was just a rough estimate.

Having determined the gap in their Lightning Release speeds, Genma immediately shifted his position.

"Minor Amenotejikara" activated!

Boom!

The ground exploded, smoke and dust billowed, and electric currents scattered everywhere.

This was the first time Hatake Sakumo had to dodge, and he split into two Shadow Clone, forming a three-man back-to-back defensive formation with his original body.

Genma continued to use the Substitution Technique, launching high-speed attacks from every direction and angle.

"Genma's speed has increased!"

Yamashiro Aoba exclaimed, his eyes widening along with Shizune's.

They could now make out Hatake Sakumo's figure, but they still couldn't track Genma; they could only see blue lightning flickering constantly around Hatake Sakumo's body, followed by the sound of explosions.

One against three!

Hatake Sakumo used his two Shadow Clone to block Genma's terrifying, high-frequency, all-encompassing assault.

"As expected of Sensei!"

Genma suddenly stopped his movement, and immediately after, smoke rose as a large number of Shadow Clone appeared, surrounding Hatake Sakumo.

Seeing his disciple manifest clones, Hatake Sakumo immediately sensed something amiss as the three figures lunged forward in unison.

But in the next instant, the three Hatake Sakumo were forcibly swapped with the positions of Genma's Shadow Clone.

Each Hatake Sakumo found himself besieged by several of Genma's Shadow Clone.

Yamashiro Aoba watched with his mouth agape, "This... this Substitution Technique is of the space-time variety, isn't it?"

Poof! Poof! Poof!

All three Hatake Sakumo burst into clouds of smoke.

Shizune exclaimed in shock, "They were all clones!"

Genma was not surprised; he had already sensed that something was wrong.

The ground trembled as walls rose up one after another, surrounding Genma and his Shadow Clone on three sides.

The side with the gap faced the three Hatake Sakumo directly.

One was half-crouched, performing Earth Release, while the other two were already prepared with ninjutsu.

After the stone walls rose, one unleashed Wind Release and the other Fire Release; the wind fueled the fire, creating a surging, roaring sea of flames that poured in through the gap.

The flames were overwhelming, not only sealing the gap but also obscuring the sky above the area enclosed by the stone walls.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

One after another, Genma's Shadow Clone dissipated.

The area within the walls was engulfed in flames, yet Genma's figure vaulted over the fire above and appeared in mid-air.

But Hatake Sakumo immediately appeared behind him at an angle.

Swish!

Genma swapped his position with Hatake Sakumo.

Bang!

Hatake Sakumo was kicked away by Genma, and upon landing, he immediately burst into a cloud of smoke with a poof.

It was a clone.

Genma saw that the other two teachers had already prepared their ninjutsu.

Clearly, they knew that the only way to deal with him was through this kind of large-scale area coverage.

Because his swapping distance was limited.

Initially, it was only 3 meters, and as his chakra output increased, the distance gradually grew.

But even now, the maximum range was only 15 meters.

Just moments ago, Hatake Sakumo had used three walls to block his line of sight and spatial awareness, then used a large-scale combination of Wind Release and Fire Release to cover the area with an attack.

Unfortunately, the layer of flames above was not thick enough, and while the fire obscured his vision, it could not completely isolate him like a wall, allowing Genma to use the Substitution Technique to escape into the air.

However, Hatake Sakumo had realized this as well, so he had prepared a clone to pin him down again, setting up for a second wave of large-scale, wide-coverage attacks.

Yet Genma was faster.

While in mid-air, he flickered and swapped his body position repeatedly, appearing behind the two Hatake Sakumo in the blink of an eye. Before they could release their ninjutsu, he pressed a hand-blade and a Kunai against the lower backs of both teachers.

"Teacher..."

Just as Genma was about to declare the battle over, the two Hatake Sakumo transformed into arcs of electricity that swept over his entire body.

The foreign, heterogenous electrical current surged through his body, and even though Genma himself was in a state of Lightning Release chakra activation, he couldn't help but go numb, unable to mobilize his chakra.

He had lost!

Genma realized this and smiled bitterly to himself; he had rejoiced too soon.

He hadn't expected that both of them were clones, and furthermore, they were decoys acting as traps.

At this moment, the gap in combat experience was laid bare.