Sasuke's challenge

Kiyoshi was packing his schoolbag when the dismissal bell rang.

He had just stuffed his textbooks into his bag when a voice came from the doorway.

"Kiyoshi."

The tone was flat, but it carried the pressure of someone saying, "Don't pretend you don't know I'm looking for you."

Kiyoshi looked up.

Sasuke stood in the classroom doorway with his arms crossed, his expression as serious as if he were delivering an important announcement.

"What we talked about yesterday. The training ground."

With that, he turned and left, giving Kiyoshi no chance to refuse.

Kiyoshi watched him disappear at the end of the hallway and sighed.

He had actually wondered whether Sasuke might forget. After yesterday's Taijutsu class, Sasuke had caught up with him and challenged him to a fight, and Kiyoshi had thought he was just saying it on a whim.

But judging by this, Sasuke was serious-the kind of serious that started counting down the moment the dismissal bell rang.

Kiyoshi slung his schoolbag over his shoulders and left the classroom.

In the hallway, Nakajima was leaning against the wall. When he saw Kiyoshi come out, he whistled. "Go get him, Bro Hao."

Kiyoshi glanced at him and said with a deadpan expression, "You're pretty talkative when you're not in class."

Nakajima froze for a moment. By the time he caught on, Kiyoshi was already far away.

He muttered, "...Does this guy really have no facial expressions?"

Then he thought about it and followed. He had nothing to do after school anyway, so he might as well watch the show.

There was hardly anyone left on the training ground.

Sasuke stood in the middle of the open space with his arms crossed, in exactly the same pose he had struck at the classroom door.

Sunlight fell on him from the side, casting half his face in shadow. Combined with his serious expression, it really did give him something of an "Uchiha prodigy" air.

Kiyoshi walked over and stopped opposite him.

"You really want to fight?"

"Cut the chatter."

As he spoke, Sasuke dropped straight into a fighting stance, lowering his center of gravity and raising both fists in front of him. His form was textbook-perfect.

Kiyoshi looked at him. This kid really was serious.

After a moment's thought, he took a stance too. But he didn't crouch as low or tense up as much. He looked as though he were saying, "Fine, I'll play along."

Sasuke frowned, apparently unhappy with his attitude, but said nothing.

"Begin."

The instant the word left his mouth, Sasuke charged.

Behind a tree at the edge of the training ground, Nakajima poked half his head out and muttered, "They're really fighting..."

He was fast.

Kiyoshi's pupils contracted slightly.

Sasuke opened with a straight punch, fast and accurate, aimed directly at his chest.

Kiyoshi twisted aside. The punch skimmed past his clothes with a rush of air.

Then came a second punch, and a third.

Sasuke threw punches in rapid succession, each one carrying a clear intent to attack. This wasn't a six-year-old flailing wildly. There was a method to it.

Kiyoshi dodged and blocked, silently assessing him. The Uchiha prodigy really does live up to the hype.

But he wasn't unbeatable, either.

Sasuke's offense was fierce, but there was a problem with his fighting style: it was too straightforward. He committed fully to every move and tried to land every punch, without enough feints or changes of attack. All those fighting videos Kiyoshi had watched online in his previous life hadn't been for nothing.

He dodged a side kick from Sasuke and took two steps back to create some distance.

"Is dodging all you can do?"

Sasuke stood where he was and watched him, breathing a little hard, but still wearing that same "I'm serious" expression.

Kiyoshi remained deadpan. "You're getting worked up."

Sasuke's movements paused for a beat.

That was all it took.

His expression changed, his brows drawing together and the corners of his mouth turning down.

He gritted his teeth, said nothing, and charged again.

Behind the tree, Nakajima nearly laughed out loud and hurriedly covered his mouth.

This time, Sasuke's assault was even fiercer.

His punches came faster, his kicks hit harder, and every step landed heavily, as though he meant to stomp holes in the ground. The problem was that his openings grew wider too.

The more worked up he got, the straighter his punches became. And the straighter they were, the easier they were to predict.

As Kiyoshi dodged, he thought that this kid had an even shorter fuse than he'd expected.

He slipped past a hook from Sasuke, leaning to one side, then followed through with a turn and reached out to shove Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke was charging forward when the sudden shove knocked him off balance. He staggered a few steps and nearly fell.

He steadied himself, turned around, and glared at Kiyoshi, defiance in his eyes.

Kiyoshi dusted imaginary dirt off his hands and offered a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Not bad."

Sasuke's expression softened a little,

"But you're too impatient."

Only to sour again, leaving him scowling.

"The more impatient you get, the more openings you leave," Kiyoshi continued, his tone as flat as if he were reading from a textbook,

"With that last punch, if you'd feinted first, I wouldn't have been able to dodge it."

Sasuke fell silent for a few seconds, then snorted. "I don't need you teaching me."

But he didn't immediately charge again.

He stood where he was, regulated his breathing, and reset his stance. This time, his posture was a little steadier, and his breathing had evened out.

Kiyoshi watched him. This kid really was talented; he just hated losing too much.

[System notification: Host detected using the "deadpan provocation technique." Current awkwardness value +15 (secondhand embarrassment for Sasuke). Face value +20 (spectator Nakajima is in position). Host is advised to continue provoking Sasuke. Results are favorable.]

Then Sasuke moved.

Instead of charging straight in as before, he stepped forward and feinted. Kiyoshi shifted to the right, and Sasuke immediately changed his attack, throwing a punch at his left shoulder.

Kiyoshi didn't quite dodge it. The punch caught his shoulder.

It didn't hurt much, but it had definitely connected.

Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"So you can't dodge everything after all."

Kiyoshi stayed deadpan. "Yeah, you've improved."

Sasuke's expression stiffened again. All the taunts he had prepared stuck in his throat. He gritted his teeth and charged once more.

But this time, he wasn't as impatient as before.

His punches were still fast, but now there was more variety. He mixed in feints and occasionally combined kicks with his punches, clearly covering more ground with his attacks than before.

Kiyoshi began struggling to defend himself.

After all, he had never properly learned Taijutsu. He was holding on through muscle memory from his previous life and the physical conditioning he had built up through his recent training. Lasting this long against a genuine Uchiha prodigy was already pretty good.

He dodged a sweeping kick from Sasuke, backed up two steps, and took a breath.

"Let's take a break."

"No."

"You're tired."

"I'm not."

With that, Sasuke charged again.

Kiyoshi sighed and had no choice but to keep dodging.

The sparring session lasted about twenty minutes.

In the end, both of them were so tired that they sat on the training ground, panting, neither saying a word.

Kiyoshi tilted his head back to look at the sky. The clouds on the horizon had been dyed orange by the setting sun. He rolled his shoulder. The spot Sasuke had hit ached a little, but it wasn't a big deal.

Sasuke sat beside him with his head lowered, his thoughts unreadable.

After a while, Sasuke stood up, brushed the dirt off his pants, and turned to leave.

A few steps later, he stopped again.

"We'll continue tomorrow."

With that, he walked away without looking back.

Kiyoshi stayed seated, watching Sasuke's retreating figure disappear at the far end of the training ground, then rolled his neck.

This kid really doesn't pull his punches.

But he was pretty pleased too.

At least he hadn't revealed too much of what he could do today.

On the way home, Kiyoshi rubbed his shoulder. It hurt a little, but he could manage.

He thought back over their sparring session. Sasuke had improved faster than he'd expected. During their first exchange, Sasuke had left plenty of openings, but after his second adjustment, he had become noticeably harder to deal with.

If he comes back tomorrow... I'll deal with tomorrow when it comes.

When Kiyoshi got home, Misa was busy in the kitchen.

He washed his hands and sat down at the table, his mind still on the sparring session.

Sasuke will be back tomorrow, but how long can I hold out?