Seal-less Instantaneous! The 0.2-Second Limit Substitution!

At that moment.

The attention of the other students nearby, as well as Teacher Oki and the others, was drawn over as well.

Nohara Rin hesitated, wanting to mediate, but she had no idea where to begin—everything had happened too quickly. Even she, who had been standing nearby the whole time, had not understood it. How had Yu and the Hyuga student suddenly ended up about to fight?

Nearby.

Obito, Genma Shiranui, and Asuma farther away all wore bewildered expressions. They could only grab the people beside them and whisper among themselves:

"Hey, hey, what happened?"

"Not sure. It looks like Mikami and Kaimon Hyuga were arguing about the Will of Fire..."

"I support Mikami. He's so handsome, so he must be innocent! The Hyuga Clan is throwing its weight around and bullying people. How awful!"

"Oh, are they fighting? Fight, fight! I want to see blood flowing like a river!"

"..."

As one of the people involved, Kaimon Hyuga was still somewhat stunned, but he had no mind left for thinking. Under so many watching eyes, he only felt that the dignity of his great clan upbringing had been challenged. His face flushed red on the spot. "Fine, then let's duel! Come on!"

Kaimon Hyuga leaped directly onto the arena.

Mikami Yu immediately followed him.

"Hey, don't fight here..."

Nohara Rin wanted to stop them, but in the blink of an eye, both had already mounted the arena. She could only go find Teacher Oki.

Oki was in a bit of a bind.

Normally, fighting and brawling between students definitely was not allowed.

But...

What did it mean to say that "denying the Three Techniques is denying the educational principles of the Konoha Ninja Academy and the Will of Fire"?

It sounded utterly ridiculous at first, but upon closer thought, the logic actually seemed rather sound?

In fact, Kimura and Himura were exactly the sort of people Kaimon Hyuga had described as "only able to practice low-level ninjutsu." Born civilians, they had risen to become Chunin, but they knew very few C-rank ninjutsu. What they used most often in everyday life really were basic techniques such as the Three Techniques and the Body Flicker Technique.

So, on a personal level, they were somewhat displeased by Kaimon Hyuga's words.

"Ahem, Rin, the practical sparring has not officially begun yet. Private sparring practice between students is reasonable behavior, so there's no need to be so nervous..."

Oki coughed and said, "Don't worry. If anything really goes wrong, Teacher Himura and I will step in and stop them."

In just a few moments.

Mikami Yu and Kaimon Hyuga had both taken their positions, glaring fiercely at one another.

Mikami Yu swiftly formed hand seals. "Clone Technique!"

Poof—!

At that moment, three clones appeared around Mikami Yu at once, then charged toward Kaimon Hyuga.

This tactic was the opening move for most ninja academy students. Against opponents of roughly equal skill, it could easily confuse them, but...

"Byakugan!"

Kaimon Hyuga formed hand seals as well and let out a low shout. The veins at his temples instantly bulged as he activated the Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai. The chakra pathways in his field of vision became clearly visible.

"Hmph, cheap tricks! Before these Byakugan of mine, such a low-level Clone Technique is meaningless!"

With the Byakugan's aid, Kaimon Hyuga needed only one glance to see through the clones' blurry outlines and somewhat illusory chakra. He accurately locked onto the figure amid the crowd of clones whose chakra flow was most real and whose presence was most solid—Mikami Yu's true body!

"Found you!"

A cold smile tugged at Kaimon Hyuga's lips. He pushed off the ground, shooting forward like an arrow loosed from its bow toward the exposed real body! At the same time, his palms shifted apart as he assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, the wind from his palms faintly tearing through the air.

"Gentle Fist!"

Faced with the palm strike whistling through the air, Mikami Yu's eyes narrowed. Rather than dodging sideways as Kaimon Hyuga expected, he sank into a low stance and threw a punch to meet it head-on!

Bang!

Fist and palm collided with a low, muffled impact!

"This guy..."

A trace of shock flashed through Kaimon Hyuga's eyes. This civilian brat's strength... something's wrong! He actually caught one of my Gentle Fist strikes?

During their ninja combat training more than a month ago, he had clearly not been this strong!

Opposite him.

Mikami Yu's heart tightened as well. As expected of the Hyuga Clan, specialists in taijutsu. Even with my improved physique, that exchange still made my blood churn. If I had taken that strike with the body I had half a month ago... half my arm would probably have been useless already.

The gap between children of ninja clans and civilian children truly could not be erased by a mere 3 points of physique.

Bang! Bang!

After several brief exchanges of fists and kicks, Mikami Yu immediately leaped back a short distance, temporarily breaking contact. He lowered his center of gravity slightly, placed one hand over his ninja tool pouch, and stared at his opponent.

Competing in taijutsu with a member of the Hyuga Family was clearly not a wise choice. If the Gentle Fist struck his chakra points, it would disrupt his chakra flow and leave him unable even to use Ninjutsu. Moreover, the mission Mikami Yu had triggered determined that he had to place the decisive move on the Three Techniques.

And he had to win beautifully!

"Hoo..."

With that exhale, Mikami Yu had already worked out his entire plan.

Opposite him.

Kaimon Hyuga was in relatively better condition. He deliberately puffed out his chest, trying to regain some ground with his words. "What happened to that momentum from before? You 'civilian genius' who only knows the Three Techniques—don't tell me you can't even stand up anymore?"

"...Stop barking."

Mikami Yu said.

"?!"

Kaimon Hyuga's face flushed red again.

He let out a low shout and pushed off the ground once more, moving even faster than before. His Gentle Fist stance also became more solemn. "A guy who only knows how to run his mouth... this ends here! I'll show you the true essence of the Gentle Fist, Eight Trigrams Palm..."

Watching the rapidly approaching figure,

Mikami Yu pulled several wooden training shuriken from the ninja tool pouch at his waist and flicked his wrist sharply!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several shuriken sliced through the air in a triangular formation, flying toward Kaimon Hyuga's face and both sides of his chest and abdomen!

"Too slow!"

Kaimon Hyuga had long seen the shuriken's trajectories clearly. With a shift of his feet, his body slipped sideways between two shuriken as effortlessly as a fish swimming through water, displaying the composure of the Hyuga Clan's taijutsu.

"Is that all your tricks amount to? How laughable!"

Before his words had even faded, Kaimon Hyuga had already closed to within two meters of Mikami Yu. His palms crossed and struck out like butterflies darting among flowers, chakra gathering at his fingertips. "It's over... Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"

"First Palm!"

The palm containing the power to seal chakra points slammed viciously toward Mikami Yu's chest.

Below the arena, Nohara Rin could not help crying out, "Yu, watch out!"

However, just as Kaimon Hyuga's first palm was about to touch Mikami Yu—

Poof!

A soft sound rang out, and smoke burst forth!

"Mikami Yu's" body instantly turned into a... wooden shuriken?!

"What?!"

Kaimon Hyuga's smug expression froze on his face. Then his pupils abruptly contracted, and alarm bells blared in his heart!

At the same time, behind him, one of the shuriken he had already dodged sideways and which had landed in the empty space nearby also burst into smoke with a poof, then "turned" into Mikami Yu's true body!

—Substitution Technique!

And it was a Seal-less Instantaneous activation, a limit substitution completed in 0.2 seconds!

"Hah!"

Appearing behind Kaimon Hyuga, Mikami Yu did not hesitate for even an instant. He immediately twisted his waist and hips, channeling all the strength in his body into his right leg. His heavy side kick lashed out like a whip, smashing viciously into Kaimon Hyuga's back before he could turn around!