The Traditional Bell-Grabbing Exercise (Part 2)

An hour later.

Dan Katō strolled leisurely into the training ground at the edge of the forest.

"So, can we begin?"

Dan Katō still had his eyes narrowed, a smile on his face.

"Teacher Kato, the battle began the moment you stepped into this training ground."

Uchiha Meikyō smiled as well. He casually drew a kunai and tossed it into the woods beside him.

The kunai whistled through the air. Its sharp edge sliced through a rope before burying itself in a tree trunk without losing momentum.

The next instant, countless sharpened bamboo stakes shot out from deep within the forest toward Dan Katō.

"Oh? Traps? Not a bad setup."

Dan Katō praised them aloud, but his body swiftly darted and twisted aside, evading the bamboo spikes.

Such traps were of little use against a Jonin, let alone Dan Katō. Even without using the Spirit Transformation Technique, his overall strength made him one of Konoha's elite Jonin.

"Ryo, Nami, let's go!"

Meikyō called out, then swiftly threw several shuriken, guiding them with steel wires as they flew toward Dan Katō.

Inuzuka Ryo let out a strange cry and charged forward with a kunai in hand.

As a member of the Inuzuka Clan, he was highly accomplished in taijutsu.

Behind him came a great cloud of insects released by Aburame Nami.

Traps, shuriken, taijutsu, insects.

In a short span of time, Meikyō and the others launched four waves of attacks.

From Dan Katō's perspective, the offensive power and coordination of these attacks were already quite good for Genin. Moreover, the three had only known each other for a single day. He thought to himself, But the village has high hopes for the future of young people like you. They believe you have the potential to become Jonin. If this is all you can do, it still won't be enough.

"That's it? Nothing else? Show me something more surprising."

Dan Katō teased them. He knocked aside the shuriken with his kunai, exchanged a few swift moves with Inuzuka Ryo, then knocked him down and flung him away, scattering the swarm of insects gathering in midair.

"This isn't over yet, Teacher Kato!"

The sent-flying Inuzuka Ya shouted. Then he crouched on the ground like a beast, faint blue Chakra radiating from his four limbs.

This was the Inuzuka Clan's basic ninjutsu, the Four Legs Technique. Since Tetsu Maru was still only a half-grown puppy and lacked combat ability, Ryo could only choose ninjutsu that he could use alone.

Fortunately, unlike the future Inuzuka Ya, who competed with Naruto for last place, he was quite talented. He had begun training in some of his clan's basic ninjutsu before graduating, and he could now put it to use.

Empowered by the Four Legs Technique, he was finally able to hold out for a few more moves against Dan Katō. At the same time, Meikyō activated his Sharingan. He pinched elastic cords between both hands and even held one in his mouth, manipulating the shuriken dancing through the air with even greater complexity.

With the Sharingan's precise control, he was confident that he could direct the shuriken against Dan Katō without injuring Inuzuka Ryo.

"Sharingan: Windmill Shuriken: Great Sword Technique!"

"Excellent shuriken technique. Should I say I expect nothing less from an Uchiha?"

Dan Katō could not help but praise him.

When it came to shuriken, the Uchiha truly were the strongest in the Ninja World.

"But that alone still isn't enough."

Dan Katō still felt that he had not seen the truly seamless teamwork he wanted. He decided to apply a little more pressure, increasing the speed of his hands by another level. After two moves, he kicked Inuzuka Ryo away. Worried that Meikyō might pull more shuriken tricks, he immediately surged forward.

The next moment, another swarm of insects blocked Dan Katō's path.

When Dan Katō evaded the insects, he saw clusters of fine, scattered flames, burning like impatiens flowers, flying toward him.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!"

"You were the first to use ninjutsu, Meikyō."

Dan Katō smiled and rapidly formed hand seals.

"Wind Style: Wind Slash Technique!"

Wind Style was restrained by Fire Style, but that depended on the gap in strength between the two sides.

Under Dan Katō's precise control, every flame was cut apart with astonishing precision by wind blades.

But in the next instant, more swarms of insects flew around Dan Katō in strange looping paths.

"This is... an attempt to obscure my vision before launching the next stage of the plan?"

Dan Katō was intrigued and nodded to himself.

Now this was beginning to look a little like teamwork.

"This isn't only to obscure your vision, Teacher Kato."

Through Meikyō's Sharingan, he could see that behind those swarms of insects were countless extremely fine threads. That was why the insects' flight paths were so bizarre.

And the purpose of those threads was...

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Style!"

Special fireproof steel wires, combined with fire oil, formed streaks of flame that swiftly swept toward Dan Katō. At the ends of the wires were specially treated fireproof coatings to prevent the insects from being harmed.

Of course, even so, those insects would not be able to endure the High Temperature for long. But if they could achieve even a little, such losses would be worth it.

"A genius-level tactical design."

Dan Katō looked at the blazing lines surrounding him with approval. He did not care in the slightest that the wide-ranging fire lines had left him with almost no room to dodge.

Of course, he had no need to dodge.

The instant the scorching fire lines touched Dan Katō, he vanished with a bang in a puff of white smoke.

Shadow Clone!

However, both Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami were ninjas with exceptional tracking abilities. The moment they realized what had happened, they discovered Dan Katō's hiding place.

When Tetsu Maru barked toward a nearby thicket, Meikyō turned smoothly and drew his blade, attempting to pincer Dan Katō together with Inuzuka Ryo.

Behind them, a large number of insects controlled by Aburame Nami provided cover and support.

Yet Dan Katō was one of Konoha's foremost Jonin. Even if taijutsu was not his greatest specialty, he was still far beyond several ten-year-old Genin. In just a few moves, he kicked Meikyō flying.

At that moment, Aburame Nami's value as support became apparent. A massive cluster of insects gathered into an insect shield, blocking Dan Katō in front of Meikyō.

Although the insect shield lasted only briefly before Dan Katō shattered it.

That brief time was enough for Meikyō to complete six hand seals.

"Ryo, get out of the way!"

Meikyō shouted a warning to his teammate before opening his mouth and breathing out a mass of flames.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Style!"

The scorching giant fireball shot rapidly toward Dan Katō.