Thoughts flashed through his mind over those few seconds.
Kei had figured out why Mei Terumi had caught him, but he still had absolutely no idea why she had truly set her sights on him. He simply thought, Pretty girls are such a handful.
He wanted to send Mei Terumi on her way as best he could, while also using this opportunity to hone himself further against her.
Right then.
Without any hesitation, Kei looked up at the lovely figure above him and said calmly, "Since you've invited me so graciously so many times, Terumi, refusing again would make me rather tactless. I accept your challenge, Terumi. Today, right here, let this be our final battle before graduation. However, I hope you'll let Ranne, here beside me, leave the examination grounds first. Her injuries need treatment as soon as possible!"
It was another answer beyond her expectations.
After receiving the information and successfully completing her own examination task, Mei Terumi had already decided on her way to intercept Kei that, if he still refused or kept avoiding battle, she would force him into a head-on fight, even if she had to use brute force!
But this development clearly exceeded Mei Terumi's expectations.
Although Kei's ready acceptance met one of her demands, it still left her feeling thoroughly dissatisfied!
Again, there was no reason at all. An inexplicable anger simply welled up in her heart.
Especially when she saw how calm and confident Kei looked.
The girl, only nine years old, nearly slipped into a full-blown frenzy of unreasonable behavior!
Only the last of her girlish restraint allowed Mei Terumi to forcibly control her emotions. She herself had not figured out why seeing Kei act like this made her so angry!
At this point, the only thing Mei Terumi could be certain of was that she wanted to give Kei a vicious beating!
"Hmph, of course. Ranne, please go on ahead!"
A smile touched the corners of Mei Terumi's eyes. Her tone seemed very gentle, but anyone with a functioning brain could hear the icy chill in her words.
Although Ranne could understand Mei Terumi's feelings.
At that moment, she still instinctively looked toward Kei. She was genuinely worried that Terumi might lose her head and engage her younger clansman in a fight to the death, even if the likelihood was infinitely close to zero and there was no reasonable basis for it.
But some things really did defy reason.
"Don't worry, Ranne. Nothing will happen. Go on ahead. Your injuries still need to be treated as soon as possible!"
Meeting Minazuki Ranne's gaze, Kei smiled faintly and spoke gently.
Naturally, Ranne understood the deeper meaning behind Kei's words. Unlike Heiji Kaguya and Kisame Hoshigaki earlier, Mei Terumi did not look like a brutal, battle-hungry person, no matter how she looked at her. However intense their fight became, they should keep it within certain limits. Nothing truly irreversible could possibly happen.
Another reason was that she was still severely injured and weak. Even if she stayed, she could not help.
She might as well leave without any fuss.
Who knew? Perhaps this was some "secret" between the two of them in another respect, something outsiders were not supposed to know!
Ranne was a girl, after all, and tended to think a little further along those lines. So she did not hesitate for very long.
Just as Kei finished speaking.
Ranne nodded lightly and said, "Yes, I understand!"
After that.
Ranne leaped away, flashing toward the examination grounds' exit a short distance away at top speed.
Her figure slipped past.
Mei Terumi did not spare her so much as another glance. This feeling of "indignation," several times stronger than it had been a month ago, left the girl with eyes only for the boy named Minazuki Kei!
Her slender hands at either side of her clothing unconsciously clenched a little tighter. Her delicate body tensed, already poised to spring into action. Only her lovely face retained that last trace of "calm."
Yet the "anger" in her heart had long since reached the brink of eruption.
Kei, farther away, still looked utterly oblivious. Only Minazuki Ranne, who darted past Mei Terumi's side, sensed something slightly unusual, and on that basis.
Ranne became even more certain of a particular thought she had entertained earlier.
After giving Mei Terumi's exceptionally beautiful profile one last, lingering look with a peculiar expression, she passed the bushes ahead, left the area, and stepped through the exit.
Neither Mei Terumi nor Kei had any idea that Ranne had completely misunderstood their relationship. The instant Ranne's figure disappeared entirely, both of them switched straight into battle mode!
Mei Terumi was unwilling to waste even a single second.
"Hah!"
After a sharp cry.
"Water Release: Water Fang Wave Jutsu!"
Hand seals formed swiftly, chakra was kneaded, and surging waves of water appeared in midair at her call.
They rolled furiously toward Kei's position.
The waves rushed in at full speed.
The speed of her hand seals, along with the jutsu's range and power, clearly far exceeded genin level as well. As the towering waves bore down over his head.
Kei's expression turned cold. With a light push of his feet, he leaped up into the air.
Smack!
He clapped his hands together and formed hand seals just as swiftly.
Chakra burst forth.
The next second.
"Hah!"
As Kei swung his hands, faint, cold mist gathered high in the air. The very next second, it froze and condensed into enormous cones of ice, one after another!
"Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm Jutsu!"
The moment his words fell.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The cones of ice shot forward fiercely, meeting the surging wall of water head-on.
Humm!
Every one of them punched through with savage, unyielding force, seemingly slicing the waves apart.
Almost simultaneously, the cones of ice seemed to assimilate the water. An icy aura spread rapidly, freezing the entire terrifying wave in midair in less than ten seconds.
Crack!
Rumble!
Then it shattered, breaking into sections that crashed onto the ground below with a series of heavy thuds.
Yet those beautiful, exceedingly sharp cones of ice showed no loss of power at all as they continued hurtling toward Mei Terumi.