Sarutobi Asuma, completely consumed by anger, didn't bother to analyze why Chiba had subdued him so quickly at the Dumpling Shop last time.
In his eyes,
it had only happened because he'd let his guard down, because Chiba had caught him off guard, and because Kurenai Yuhi had been there, preventing him from fighting freely.
Wise people searched for their own mistakes, while fools blamed outside circumstances.
Sarutobi Asuma was a fool of the highest order.
"Uchiha Chiba, you don't have to hold back because of who I am!"
Asuma glared at Chiba in resentment.
The fury burning in his chest had nowhere to go, and he simply couldn't calm down.
It was a bad habit he'd picked up after years of being spoiled.
Because of Sarutobi Hiruzen, he always thought he was the center of the world.
He'd never learned what it meant to exercise restraint, or what it meant to be forgiving.
"I won't use the old man's status to pressure you, and no matter who wins this fight, he won't find out."
"Go ahead and attack. I'll show you that I've always been stronger than you!"
Chiba stood quietly, both hands resting on his cane.
He faced Sarutobi Asuma calmly.
"You're wrong, Sarutobi Asuma. No matter who wins, your old man is bound to find out!"
"Besides, your old man must have told you not to come looking for trouble with me, right?"
"But you still showed up. Why?"
"Is it because of your pride?"
"Or because of... a woman?"
In an instant, Chiba struck a nerve deep inside Sarutobi Asuma.
Once his fury had been kindled, it wasn't going to die down easily.
"It's because I'm stronger than you!"
Chapter 13
"It's because I'm stronger than you!"
The white snake watching from the side couldn't help laughing at those words.
Asuma wasn't weak, but he certainly wasn't one of the best in his year.
And even the most talented of his generation, Kakashi Hatake, probably wouldn't stand a chance against Chiba at the same age.
No—forget Chiba. Kakashi probably couldn't beat Itachi, either.
That was reality.
What a shame.
Sarutobi Asuma hadn't even learned the one thing his father, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was good at: exercising restraint.
He was pretty good at talking himself up, though. It seemed to fool him just fine.
"Another farce."
The white snake stuck out its tongue, unimpressed.
Asuma, meanwhile, looked more and more worked up.
He reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out a kunai, and took a fighting stance.
"Uchiha Chiba, draw your sword... This time, I'll show you my true strength."
But Chiba didn't move.
He didn't seem to have any intention of drawing his sword, either.
He simply stood there, both hands resting on his cane.
"Ah, you seem to have misunderstood."
Chiba spoke up.
"I drew my sword last time because your secondhand smoke smelled awful."
"But that doesn't mean you're worthy of making me draw my sword."
The words weren't all that damaging, but they were deeply insulting.
It seemed Chiba didn't take him seriously at all.
"You... What do you mean by that?"
"Do I really have to spell it out?"
"I mean you're too weak. I can beat you easily without drawing my sword, even though... I'm blind!"
"Is that so? Then don't blame me for picking on a blind man!"
The instant he finished speaking,
Asuma hurled the kunai in his hand.
It shot straight toward Chiba's forehead.
Asuma knew full well
that a mere kunai wouldn't do Chiba much harm.
Although Chiba was blind, the explosive speed he'd shown at the Dumpling Shop yesterday had made it clear he wasn't an ordinary blind man.
So almost as soon as he threw the kunai, he began forming Hand Seals.
He planned to end the fight as quickly as possible with ninjutsu and wipe away the humiliation he'd suffered yesterday.
Even Asuma thought it was going too far to use ninjutsu against a blind man like Chiba.
But as long as he won, that was all that mattered.
What did it matter if it was underhanded?
That was how he'd always done things.
But he'd badly misjudged Chiba's strength.
He'd barely finished forming the first seal, and the second hadn't even taken shape, when a cane struck him and interrupted him.
Smack!
The blow came from a direction Asuma couldn't comprehend.
A sharp pain in his right wrist jolted him out of his daydream.
By the time he came to his senses, Chiba had already appeared before him like a ghost.
"What?"
Chiba had closed the distance in the blink of an eye, all while leaning on his cane.
Asuma hadn't had a chance to react.
"Were you trying to form Hand Seals just now?"
"Your first seal looked like Fire Release... Was that the Great Flame Technique, the Sarutobi Clan's specialty?"
"Too bad you're too slow with your Hand Seals."
"You're not even one-fifth as fast as Itachi."
"And they call you a Chunin?"
Chiba mocked him without mercy, leaving Asuma no face to save.
Then he swung his cane up and struck Asuma in the face, sending him flying.
As he was knocked through the air, Asuma's mind went blank.
Had his Hand Seals really been interrupted just now?
How had Chiba reached him in the time it took to form a single seal?
Was this guy really blind?
In that instant, all sorts of shocked thoughts flooded Asuma's mind.
But when he hit the ground, the pain shattered those thoughts and swept them away.
He tried to get back to his feet as quickly as possible.
But Chiba's cane was already pressed against his throat.
The crushing sense of suffocation stopped him from rising. All he could do was lie there, staring blankly at Chiba as he stood over him.
At that moment, Chiba seemed like an impassable chasm before Asuma.
What had happened yesterday at the Dumpling Shop had happened all over again.
The difference was that yesterday, Chiba had pointed a sword at him.
Today, he'd simply used a cane instead.
This would become his terrible nightmare.
Chiba called it—
a psychological scar.
"Want to keep going?"
Chiba asked calmly.
"The woman you like isn't here today. It doesn't matter how badly you embarrass yourself!"
"Besides, I can't see anyway."
"You... You... What did you say?"
Asuma froze.
Those words struck straight at his soul, touching the last line of defense in his mind.
Put nicely, it was his self-respect. Put less nicely, it was his vanity.
"Forget it. Just forget I said anything."
A moment later,
Chiba's indifferent attitude shattered Asuma's last psychological defense.
Asuma silently got to his feet. Without even looking at Chiba, he fled as fast as he could.
Still holding his cane, Chiba sensed Asuma leaving and shook his head.
"Did he crack?"
"In the end, his mental fortitude is just too poor!"
"After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen has protected him too well for more than a decade!"
He'd grown accustomed to comfort and become arrogant and unruly.
That was what spoiling him had done.
Both were sons of Hokage.
Naruto and Asuma had been treated completely differently.
That was Sarutobi Hiruzen's way of doing things.
Asuma had indeed cracked.
For a moment, his mind had gone completely blank. By the time he came to his senses, he'd already fled the scene.