Practical Combat Practice, Lion Combo!

The next day's practical combat class arrived quickly, but what Duanmu hadn't expected was that the opponent he drew would actually be Sasuke, while Naruto had drawn Shino Aburame.

Still, fighting the current Sasuke wasn't too much pressure. After all, he was still the good little boy protected by the great Itachi.

As for Naruto, he was doomed to suffer a crushing defeat. Shino was the undefeated god of war in the series; that body full of bugs alone was enough to give him a headache.

"Duanmu, you're up." Iruka's voice pulled his attention back to his own battlefield.

Duanmu took a deep breath and walked onto the training ground. Opposite him, Sasuke was already standing in place.

He still wore that cold expression, his black eyes utterly undisturbed, as if the opponent before him was nothing but air.

"Both sides, ready. Begin!"

At Iruka's command, the atmosphere on the training ground instantly froze.

Almost the very instant the word "begin" fell, Duanmu abruptly took a large step back, opening up the distance between himself and Sasuke.

"Hmph." Sasuke let out a disdainful snort, seemingly quite contemptuous of Duanmu's act of retreating before the fight had even begun. But his movements showed not the slightest delay. With a push off the ground, his figure shot toward Duanmu like an arrow, his right hand swiftly forming seals—"Clone Technique!"

Bang!

With a soft sound, Sasuke's figure vanished from where he stood, replaced by two identical Sasukes that came pincer-attacking from the left and right.

Here it comes! Duanmu's heart tightened, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

Don't panic! Duanmu forced himself to calm down, his eyes fixed tightly on the two rapidly approaching figures. He gathered chakra into his feet, then suddenly jumped, actually dodging Sasuke's first round of attacks with ease.

Iruka's eyes lit up at the sight. He hadn't expected that Duanmu, despite having enrolled not long ago, had already reached this level of chakra control. It seemed his talent wasn't any worse than Sasuke's.

Off the field, Naruto grew excited when he saw this and shouted, "Nice one, Duanmu! Dodge just like that!"

Sasuke's clones missed, and almost the instant they landed, they turned into two clouds of white smoke and scattered.

His real body frowned slightly, clearly not expecting Duanmu's reaction speed to be this fast.

"Is dodging all you can do?" Sasuke's voice was still cold. Chakra surged beneath his feet again, but this time he didn't form seals. Instead, he directly gathered chakra into his right fist. His figure flickered—he was actually preparing for close combat!

Duanmu's gaze sharpened. Sasuke really was worthy of being called a genius; he had an almost instinctive intuition for battle.

He didn't dare slack off. He quickly recalled the basic taijutsu movements from the anime in his previous life while evenly covering his limbs with chakra, raising his body's reaction speed and strength.

Bang! Their fists collided in midair, producing a dull sound.

Duanmu only felt a tremendous force travel from his fist, his arm going numb. His whole body was shaken back two steps before he managed to steady himself.

Sasuke, on the other hand, merely swayed slightly before immediately pressing in, his left leg sweeping across like a whip, bringing with it the sound of tearing air.

So fast! Duanmu was secretly startled. Sasuke's taijutsu foundation was clearly much sturdier than his. He had no time to think. His body suddenly twisted to the left, narrowly avoiding the kick by a hair, but his trouser leg was still caught by the force of the wind, sending a scorching sting through him.

"Body Replacement Technique!" Just as Sasuke's fist was about to hit his chest, Duanmu finally completed the hand seals.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, Duanmu's figure turned into a wooden stump that had been kicked in half, while he himself appeared three meters away, his chest heaving violently as fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

"It's not over yet!" Sasuke gave a cold snort, not giving Duanmu any chance to catch his breath. His left hand swiftly formed seals. "Clone Technique!"

"Isn't it my turn now?!" Duanmu shouted. Chakra gathered in both his hands at once, and he actually unleashed a simplified version of the Rasengan.

"Take this kidney slam!" Duanmu smashed the two simplified Rasengans toward the two clones on the left and right! Though the hastily condensed chakra spheres were nowhere near as powerful as Naruto's orb, and their surfaces were even trembling faintly as if they might collapse at any moment, the high-speed spinning chakra still stirred up a howling wind.

"Hm?" A hint of surprise flashed through Sasuke's eyes. Clearly, he hadn't expected Duanmu to suddenly use a ninjutsu he had never seen before. But his reaction was extremely fast. The two clones rushed forward without hesitation, trying to block with their bodies.

Bang! Bang! Two muffled sounds rang out in succession. Duanmu's simplified Rasengans crashed into the clones and instantly erupted. Though they failed to cause any real damage, they still blasted the two clones into smoke and scattered them completely.

And taking advantage of that opening, Duanmu had already pulled back again, both hands braced on his knees as he panted heavily.

"It's over." Sasuke's icy voice came from behind him. At some point, his real body had already circled around to Duanmu's rear flank. His right index and middle fingers were pressed together, carrying a sharp gust of force as they stabbed straight toward Duanmu's back.

Duanmu grinned, instantly using the Body Flicker Technique and unleashing the Lion Combo that Sasuke would only learn later. His body spun rapidly through the air like a top, leaving afterimages in its wake.

Sasuke's pupils abruptly constricted. He had never seen Duanmu use this move before, and he had never expected that this seemingly ordinary person could actually execute such an exquisite taijutsu technique!

Duanmu's rotation speed grew faster and faster. Chakra formed a faint current beneath his feet, and every rotation gave his body even stronger centrifugal force.

He seized the instant of Sasuke's shock. His right foot stomped hard against the ground, using the momentum to change the direction of his spin, and he slammed toward Sasuke like a cannonball fired from its barrel!

Bang! Another violent collision rang out. Sasuke was directly knocked flying out of bounds. Iruka also rushed up in time, standing between the two of them as he loudly announced, "Practical combat training is over! Duanmu wins!"

Sasuke climbed up from the ground in a sorry state and patted the dust off his body. When he looked at Duanmu, his gaze carried true scrutiny for the first time, along with a trace of unwillingness.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand how he had lost to this nobody.

Duanmu was also shaken with lingering fear. Just now, he had only been taking a gamble. He hadn't expected that he would actually manage to execute the Lion Combo. He also hadn't expected the owner of this body to have such astonishing talent—not only could he quickly grasp the flow of chakra, but he could even imitate a high-level taijutsu technique like the Lion Combo on the spot in battle.

He shook out his arm, which was still a little numb. But why had someone like him remained unknown in this ninja world?

Duanmu shook his head and temporarily pushed the question to the back of his mind. He looked at Sasuke. Although the other boy's expression was still ugly, the contempt in his eyes had vanished, replaced by the sharpness of someone who had found a rival.

Duanmu grinned at Sasuke, showing a mouthful of white teeth, with a bit of provocation and also a bit of acknowledgment. After all, being able to exchange blows with a genius and win felt pretty good.

"Hey! Duanmu, you're amazing! You actually beat Sasuke!" Naruto was the first to charge over, excitedly patting Duanmu on the shoulder, his eyes sparkling with worship. "I knew you weren't a dead-last!"

Duanmu's shoulder ached from his slapping. This guy was actually pretty strong.

He rubbed the spot where he'd been hit and said with a smile, "I wouldn't dare steal your title."

Iruka came over to Duanmu. He could tell exactly what kind of ninjutsu that simplified Rasengan of Duanmu's was. That was an expression of chakra shape transformation taken to the extreme! Although its power was still immature, the potential contained within it was simply immeasurable.

"Duanmu," Iruka said, his voice carrying undisguised excitement and a trace of seriousness. "That ninjutsu just now... did you develop it yourself?"

Duanmu's heart lurched. Not good. He had gotten so caught up in the moment that he had almost forgotten about this.

It wasn't as if he could say this was the signature technique of some golden flash's son in the future, right? He scratched his head and put on an honest, clueless expression that said, "I don't really understand what you're talking about." "Huh? Teacher Iruka, which one do you mean? That... uh... chakra ball I just casually kneaded together?"

"Casually kneaded together?" Iruka's eyes went wide, his tone filled with disbelief. "Do you know what that means? That is an advanced level of control over chakra shape transformation! In all of Konoha, only the Fourth Hokage and Lord Jiraiya have truly mastered the technique of condensing chakra to such a high degree and giving it a rotational property! And you're saying you just casually kneaded it together?"

Iruka's voice was even trembling a little. This was simply a genius among geniuses! He looked at Duanmu, his eyes filled with excitement and expectation, as if he had seen Konoha's future hope.

Inside the Hokage Office, the image in the crystal ball gradually blurred.

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a ring of smoke and slowly said to the shadow behind him, "Go look into this child named Duanmu, especially... his family background. I'm very curious where the inspiration for this 'self-created' ninjutsu of his truly came from."

In the shadows, a figure nodded silently, then disappeared.

Meanwhile, just as Duanmu was preparing to go home, a figure wearing an animal mask suddenly appeared in front of him and blocked his path.

"Duanmu, Lord Hokage wants to see you."