The Match

Although she didn't know what her master had in mind, since she'd asked, Qiancao naturally wouldn't hold back.

Senju Arashi gave Ayako a wry smile. "Hey, hey, hey! If I don't hold back and damage the dojo floor, I'm not responsible!"

"Don't worry. This floor is specially made," Ayako said. "As long as you don't use Earth Release, you won't damage it."

Then she turned to Qiancao and added, "Remember to make good use of your Sharingan. That's the only way this spar will be worthwhile."

Qiancao agreed and turned to face Senju Arashi. Across from him, Senju Arashi smiled, bent at the waist, and assumed a guarded stance.

But unlike the Senju Clan ninja uniform she usually wore, today Senju Arashi had on a loose martial arts uniform. As she bent over, it exposed a generous glimpse of her chest.

Qiancao, who had slept cuddled up with Wuming last night, didn't dare look for long and turned his gaze slightly aside.

But that was exactly what Senju Arashi wanted. She'd deliberately exposed a little of her chest to distract Qiancao.

The instant she saw him look away, Senju Arashi charged forward and focused chakra in her palm, striking at Qiancao.

Who would have thought that Qiancao seemed to have anticipated her move? Taking advantage of the moment when she was halfway through her attack, he raised his left hand from below and struck at her arm, redirecting her blow.

Her palm, which had been aimed at Qiancao, was knocked upward. Her balance wavered slightly, and Qiancao seized the opportunity to punch her in the chest with his right hand.

Looking into Qiancao's blood-red eyes, Senju Arashi put aside her contempt. She pushed off with her left leg and hopped backward, dodging his punch, then used her momentum to kick at him with her right leg.

The Sharingan precisely predicted Senju Arashi's move. Qiancao also pushed off with both legs and leaped backward to dodge her kick. In midair, he formed hand seals. [Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!]

A stream of flame shot from Qiancao's mouth. After being subtly transformed by the Seven Generation God over time, his ninjutsu had finally become fairly impressive.

"Oh my! Are we getting serious?" Senju Arashi complained as she formed hand seals without pausing. [Water Style: Water Formation Wall!]

A wall of water burst from Senju Arashi's mouth and enveloped her whole body. The Great Fireball's flames met the water, instantly producing a massive cloud of steam.

Using the steam for cover, Qiancao completed a second set of hand seals. [Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!]

He opened his mouth and spat out seven small fireballs, which shot toward Senju Arashi all at once.

[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!] Senju Arashi hadn't been idle in the smoke. After forming hand seals, she blew a fierce gust from her mouth, like a hurricane, scattering every one of the Phoenix Flower Fire fireballs.

Ayako, watching from the side, couldn't help complaining, "Why didn't you use Wind Release from the start? Now I have to clean the dojo because you used Water Release."

Qiancao hadn't expected the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique—which had never once worked in Naruto—to defeat his opponent.

He knew perfectly well that with the ninjutsu he could use at present, beating Senju Arashi was little more than a pipe dream.

His only chance was to make her use more techniques, then copy them with his Sharingan.

So he kept forming hand seals from a distance. [Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!]

An even more ferocious blaze burst from Qiancao's mouth. Senju Arashi swiftly formed hand seals, then clapped her hands together. [Wind Release: Gale Palm!]

With the clap as her cue, Senju Arashi compressed the wind in front of her hands, turning it into a violent gale that swept toward Qiancao's flames.

The Senju Clan's powerful chakra made the gale unstoppable. Like a massive broadsword, it cleaved through the flames before it.

The gust didn't let up. It blew Qiancao clean off his feet.

Senju Arashi didn't miss the chance to follow up. She lunged after him, moving even faster than the gale.

Before Qiancao could hit the ground, Senju Arashi leaped above him and drove her elbow hard into his stomach.

Qiancao struggled to lift his head in midair and stared straight at Senju Arashi. But his eyes were no longer the Three Tomoe from before; they had transformed into a Mangekyo Sharingan, sharp as blades.

The moment Senju Arashi met his gaze, a thought suddenly surfaced in her mind: What if I hurt him with this blow and Qiancao never wants to see me again?

I finally found a male ninja I can stand. I should treat him a little better.

Influenced by the Seven Generation God's Mangekyo Sharingan, Senju Arashi instinctively eased the force of her elbow.

Qiancao's stomach still took the heavy blow, but his vision only went black for a moment, and he managed to withstand Senju Arashi's slightly weakened strike.

Before he hit the ground, Qiancao copied the hand seals Senju Arashi had just used. He clapped his hands together and unleashed the same technique. [Wind Release: Gale Palm!] A howling gale burst forth.

Struck at close range, Senju Arashi was blown away too, while the recoil slammed Qiancao hard into the floor.

Fortunately, the floor seemed to be made of some unknown material. Qiancao landed as though he'd hit a mattress and wasn't injured.

Senju Arashi, blown away by the gust, planted one hand on the ground, flipped over, and landed steadily. Her long hair, which had been tied into a ponytail, came loose. Paired with her slightly disheveled martial arts uniform, it gave her a subtle allure.

Qiancao cast aside every distracting thought and held on to just one: I'm going to become a master ninja!

An endless stream of power surged from his eyes, silently strengthening his entire body. Qiancao charged at Senju Arashi.

He used the same move she had used earlier, focusing chakra in his hand and striking at her.

Finding it amusing, Senju Arashi countered with the same move. To Wuming and Ayako, watching from the sidelines, it looked like two Senju Arashis were fighting each other in a flurry of blows.

Qiancao didn't think about how to attack or counter. He simply kept repeating his wish to become a master ninja like Senju Arashi, while his hands and feet moved automatically, as if controlled by his Sharingan.

The longer they fought, the more startled Senju Arashi became. At first, Qiancao had merely repeated the taijutsu moves she'd used. But as the fight went on, he began using other techniques she'd previously shown to exploit the openings in her moves.

It was no longer like fighting his reflection in a mirror. It was like fighting a copy of himself.

They went back and forth for fifty exchanges before Ayako, watching from the side, finally spoke up. "All right, all right. That's enough."

When Qiancao heard his master's order, his thoughts wandered, and his movements immediately slowed.

Senju Arashi had no desire to keep fighting either. She slipped aside like a loach.

The Mangekyo Sharingan, with no target left, slowly closed. Having exhausted much of his ocular power, Qiancao's vision went black, and he toppled backward.

But he never had the close encounter with the floor he'd expected. He fell into a warm, soft embrace, and the back of his head rested against two soft mounds.

It was Ayako. She'd caught Qiancao as he fell backward and pulled out the eye drops she'd prepared, putting them into his eyes.

The slight ache and swelling in his eyes eased considerably.