Yuhi Kurenai had received guidance from Mikami Yu and her father, Yuhi Shinku. She could not exactly be said to have undergone a complete transformation, but her taijutsu had indeed improved considerably. Beating Guy was unrealistic, but holding him off for a while should not have been much of a problem.
Besides, Guy probably would not go too hard on a girl.
Seeing that Might Guy was temporarily being held up,
Mikami Yu stood atop the raised platform and swept his gaze around. After confirming the positions of several key opponents, he flicked his hand and threw out several wooden kunai!
The Substitution Technique activated!
Whoosh—!
The next second, Mikami Yu swapped places with one of the kunai and appeared in midair before Kaimon Hyuga. His Right Leg whipped out like a lash. "Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
The air exploded!!
Mikami Yu had used this trick of treating the Substitution Technique like the Flying Thunder God when sparring with Hizashi Hyuga before. Kaimon Hyuga had probably learned of it from the latter, so he was not surprised at all. He immediately lowered his center of gravity, planted his feet, and raised a bent elbow to block!
Bang!
"Oh? What was that?!"
On the rooftop of the teaching building.
Namikaze Minato, wearing a Konoha flak jacket, stood beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was dressed in Hokage robes. They watched the battle on the field from afar. When Minato saw Mikami Yu use a kunai to flash in front of Kaimon Hyuga, his eyelid twitched and surprise appeared on his face.
Hiruzen Sarutobi remained calm. He had already watched Mikami Yu's battle with Hizashi Hyuga through the Telescope Technique.
"What do you think?"
"...It did look somewhat like the Flying Thunder God, but it should be different. I did not sense any spatial fluctuations just now."
After recovering from his initial surprise, Namikaze Minato pondered briefly. "We may need to observe a little longer before we can be certain."
"All right, then let's keep watching."
Hiruzen Sarutobi placed his pipe in his mouth and said with a smile.
Bang!
Leg and elbow collided!
Mikami Yu performed a backflip and landed lightly.
Kaimon Hyuga, meanwhile, staggered back two steps before dissipating the impact. He abruptly raised his head, secretly shocked. This guy's strength... how had it increased so much since last time?
Had he secretly grown again?
Though surprised, Kaimon Hyuga had no time to think further in a situation like this. He gave a low shout and lunged forward again, his palms rapidly leaving a blur of afterimages.
"Take a look at the results of my training this past month... Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms! Ora ora ora!"
The assault was like a raging storm.
Mikami Yu nimbly shifted aside to evade while keeping a close eye on Kaimon Hyuga's footwork. As he retreated, his body subtly grew a little taller. The muscle lines beneath his white coat tightened and became more defined—
"Transformation Technique: Partial Transformation: Might Guy's Body!"
As mentioned before, Mikami Yu intended to use the Transformation Technique's Vivid as Reality trait to design several frequently used transformation templates for himself. One was the Might Guy template, geared toward taijutsu and direct frontal combat.
To conserve chakra, he had not chosen a full-body transformation. Instead, he had only partially transformed his torso—this did save some chakra, but it placed high demands on chakra control, so it could not be maintained for long.
He had to end this quickly!
"An opening!"
At the instant Kaimon Hyuga slightly relaxed after his continuous barrage and the momentum of his Gentle Fist began to ease,
Mikami Yu suddenly threw a punch and counterattacked!
"!"
Kaimon Hyuga hurriedly crossed his arms before him, blocking the heavy blow. Then, just as he tried to strike the acupoints in Mikami Yu's arm with Gentle Fist, Mikami Yu lowered his body, twisted at the waist, and drove an elbow into his ribs at close range!
Same trick twice.
During last semester's final exam, Kaimon Hyuga had also been hit by this move. Though he had promptly lowered an arm to block it, he was still knocked backward. The offensive momentum he had just gathered immediately loosened, leaving him at a disadvantage.
Mikami Yu pressed his advantage without mercy. He erupted with full strength, fighting at close range as his fists rained down on Kaimon Hyuga. "Muda muda muda!"
Facing Mikami Yu's relentless assault, Kaimon Hyuga could initially keep up and block a few blows. But he soon discovered that these punches and kicks were even heavier than before. One careless moment dislocated his wrist, and after a few more exchanges, a fist slammed into his chest.
"Ah—"
Kaimon Hyuga flew backward and crashed heavily into the dirt several meters away, unable to get up for the moment.
Mikami Yu was about to pursue when his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He saw a black shadow twitch on the ground. Without hesitation, he pretended to form hand seals for the Substitution Technique, instantly swapping places with the kunai from earlier and retreating more than ten meters away.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
It was Nara Zhenyuan. Standing over ten meters away, he formed a seal with both hands, and a pitch-black shadow extended from beneath his feet, trying to wrap around Mikami Yu's feet.
Sarutobi Asuma also charged out from the flank, flinging a large handful of shuriken and kunai!
"Seriously, guys..."
Mikami Yu's mouth twitched. He was having a hard time keeping it together.
He had noticed earlier that Asuma and Nara Zhenyuan's positions were deliberate, as though they formed a pincer with Kaimon Hyuga. But he had never expected these guys to actually play this way...
Three against one? Was that even reasonable?
Where were his teammates? Why had they not come over yet?
Oh, his teammate was currently getting beaten senseless by Might Guy. Never mind, then...
Despite his surprise, Mikami Yu remained composed. As he pushed off the ground and rapidly retreated, his hands had already begun forming seals once more.
"Trying to use the Substitution Technique again? We won't give you another chance!"
Nara Zhenyuan and Asuma accelerated from opposite sides to encircle him. The former continued using the Shadow Imitation Technique, while the latter formed a string of hand seals and drew in a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks and chest. "Wind Style..."
"Great Breakthrough!!"
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!!"
Almost simultaneously.
Asuma opened his mouth and expelled a violent blast of air toward Mikami Yu, while Mikami Yu spat out a huge orange-red fireball that surged forward!
Fire overcame wind.
At that moment, the Fire Ball Jutsu ignited a second time amid the howling gale, becoming a blazing mass of flame that swept toward Asuma. As the searing light and heat erupted, the shadows in the nearby area were driven away, and Nara Zhenyuan's Shadow Imitation Technique instantly failed and vanished.
"What?!"
Who had cast the Fire Ball Jutsu?
Asuma retreated somewhat awkwardly with the Body Flicker Technique, dodging the oncoming flames. Then, illuminated by the firelight, he exchanged a glance with Nara Zhenyuan nearby. The contempt on their faces disappeared, replaced by grave expressions.
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