Chapter 120

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Title: Spar

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Bang!

The sound of something hard hitting the ground reverberated across the forest where five kids could be seen, three boys and two girls with a boy and the two girls spectating the other two boys, Shun and Itachi have a spar.

As soon as the boy hit the ground, one of the girls ran up to him in worry and helped him support himself. "Itachi-kun, are you alright?"

Standing up while rubbing his chin, Itachi nodded and looked at Shun in annoyance. "This is a spar, a learning experience, you don't need to finish it as fast as possible. Also, what's with that speed!?" The Uchiha asked.

If anyone outside saw this version of the little Uchiha genius, they would surely be shocked.

"I've told you numerous times, I just don't like wasting time in a fight." Shun said with a sigh. "Instead of complaining, you should ask yourself, 'Why am I losing too fast?'. Maybe then, you'd make some progress."

"My turn! My turn!" The other girl among the group shouted as she came and stood in front of Shun. Shun shook his head and said. "Hana-chan, you can't hope to win against me if you keep charging in recklessly."

"No! I don't believe it!" She shouted stubbornly.

"Come now, Hana, we both know you don't really enjoy fighting all too much, right?" Shun asked. He knew from her personality that she was a genius in her own right, but only in the field of studies. Similar to Sakura in a way.

"You're from the Inuzuka clan, so you're pushed by your instincts to dominate the Strong... But you need to learn how to control that instinct of yours." Shun chastised her.

"What are you talking about?" Hana asked, getting annoyed. "I don't understand what you're saying. Fight me!" She said and ran towards him ready to engage.

Shun sighed. 'What did I expect? She's still a kid.' He thought as he flashed behind her and while leaving a clone for her to brawl with.

"Ne Itachi! When can we meet your little brother?" Shun asked as he appeared between the three Uchihas.

"Stop doing that Shun-san," the older Uchiha said. Waving his hand at him, Shun said. "Don't mind, Shusui-san. When you can also do this, you'll see why I enjoy it."

"So?" He asked, looking at Itachi.

"I don't know, mother hasn't fully recovered yet and father is..." Itachi said.

"Hmm, then I'll just have to visit then." Shun said and Itachi looked at him questioningly.

"Kushina-nee-sama and Minato-nii-sama are friends with your mother and the Hokage to boot. With the arrival of the second son of the Uchiha clan head, there's bound to be visitors right?" Shun reasoned.

"Ah! I see." Itachi nodded.

"That settles it then. Shusui and Izumi are already clan members so they don't have to come, right?" Shun asked and Itachi nodded. "Hana though..."

They all looked at the Inuzuka who was wasting her energy trying to beat up a clone of Shun and shook their head in pity.

This get together had been going on for weeks now. Itachi had made a new friend in the Uchiha clan and brought him along, Izumi was already a friend who was also a fangirl and stumbled upon us... As for the Inuzuka... She was just following her instinct to fight me and was stalking me like a prey.

As soon as she saw us sparring, she demanded that I fight her and for weeks now, she hasn't given up... I worry for her, honestly. She seems to have potential but alas...

"Anyways, why don't you four join hands and fight me? Maybe this time, you'll be able to force me to use a technique or even fight for an extended time." Shun offered and although any normal person would think they would bully Shun, they were in fact being given a handicap.

Looking at each other, they all nodded. Even the littlest Izumi who didn't look like she could throw a punch nodded. She needed to avenge her Itachi after all.

"Alright then." Shun said and swapped places with his clone and held his hand up to Hana. "Time up!"

"Huff. Huff. What!" She demanded amidst heavy breathing.

"We want to hold a team exercise." Shun said.

"Why?" She asked. "So you'll be able to force me to break a sweat." Shun said with a smug smile. No one could see his eyes due to the blindfold but the smile was enough to know he wasn't taking them seriously.

"Are you looking down on us?" She demanded to which Shun's expression turned into one of hurt. "Far from that my little Hana. I actually have high expectations of you all, that's why..." He paused and then "...I won't be using my hands!"

Shun could see all four of them fall down at his statement. He was openly looking down on them and even they knew it. Not using his hands meant he would even block with it, attack with it, or form any hand signs at all.

If that wasn't looking down on them, then what was?

"You!" Hana pointed at him in rage but Shun looked unbothered as he waved his hands. "Alright. Alright, playtime is over, get yourselves ready, I won't be holding back my punches."

...

"Are you really sure about this?" Shusui asked in worry but Shun waved his hand at him "No problem, come at me with all you've got."

" — okay then."

Shun put his hands into his pocket and looked at them.

"Are you sure you'll use that? I have a katana here." Shusui asked again.

"No worries…okay, let's start." replied Shun

Itachi, Shusui and the others reacted to my words by taking a battle formation which they had just discussed.

Shusui, Itachi, and Hana were in front, Izumi in the rear to probably throw projectiles at Shun

Shun observed their movements when Itachi called out to me.

"Hey Shun, you're not going to take a stance?"

"The fact that my hands are in my pocket should already tell you a lot right?" Shun asked but Shusui still answered Itachi.

"Itachi, it only looks like he didn't take a stance, but right now Shun has no openings. That's probably his stance."

''Oh, bingo. As expected of the Up and coming Uchiha Genius." Shun complimented.

"What are you doing? It's started already." Shun said as his eyes shot a light Intimidation the kids could handle. Itachi and the others stayed still for a second, then moved all at the same time.

The first one to approach me was Hana. She unleashed a full-powered blow with her fist which Shun dodged at the last second, on purpose, and waited to strike her opening.

Shusui had circled behind Shun, however, and swung his Katana in a horizontal sweep.

Shun crouched to avoid Shusui's slash and attempted a leg sweep.

Just then, however, Itachi appeared at his side — though he had not noticed his approach — and swung down his blade on him.

'Where did he get that from?' Shun thought

Shun made sure not to lose his cool, raised his leg, and parried Itachi's attack by hitting his wrist.

Shun expected Hana and Shusui to take advantage of the opening and attack, but they both stepped backward, away from him.

'They're not going to attack? Which means…'

Before he could reach my conclusion... Swish. Swish. Swish.

Sounds of projectiles splitting the air resounded as shurikens rained down on Shun

Itachi jumped away, and at the same time, two Kunais flew towards him.

Shun looked at the direction the Kunais came from and saw Shusui standing with his hands raised.

'I see… a pretty good combination, better than expected, honestly.'

'Their offensive power is still not enough to defeat really strong genins, though.'

Shun's POV.

As I considered such thoughts, I immediately used [Steel Release], the nerfed version of Armament Haki by condensing a layer of spiritual energy around my body.

The next instant, the two fireballs crashed against me, causing a booming noise and raising a cloud of dust.

"Did we win!?" Shusui asked

"Shusui, that's a flag!!"

Itachi shot down Shusui's "ominous" comment and he was perfectly right: after all, I was unscathed.

I emerged from the cloud of dust and smoke and Hana whispered to herself.

"Whoa, he took them head-on, without a scratch…?"

"Not enough firepower, definitely. Your combination was not bad, though. You're better than anyone I've seen until now."

Hana smiled broadly at my words. "Thank you, Shun!" Hmm? Was she taking this as an acknowledgement? Meh, whatever makes her happy.

"Hana, we're still fighting!" Izumi shouted from behind.

"Whoops, sorry, Izumi!"

Hana mellowed out completely, as Izumi scolded her, so she blushed and apologized.

"…okay, I more or less understood your attacks. It's my turn."

My first move was to take out their rear guard, Izumi.

Before I could reach her, however, Itachi and Shusui stood in my way.

"We can't let him through, Shusui!"

"My thoughts exactly! Earth Style: Rock Wall!!"

Shusui made some hand signs and slapped his hands on the ground and a wall rose up in response.

'He just became a Genin recently, but Earth style?' I thought to myself. The wall was tall for us as we were still children but...

Itachi and Hana were on the left and right sides of the wall, so if I jumped over it I'd be hit by the Izumi's attacks…was this their strategy?

In that case—

I charged straight towards the Rock Wall and raised my leg to smash it.

"Whoa, did you actually kick through it!? But I knew you were going to destroy the wall!!" Shusui asked but smirked as he finished talking.

Beyond the wall, another of Hana's fists targeted the gap I was going to pass through.

" — !! No, Hana!!"

Itachi shouted to his companion, but it was too late.

At that time, I was already behind Hana, with my leg raised to deliver a kick that was meant to knock out the little girl for a few minutes.

After tearing down the wall, I didn't keep charging forward, but activated the Flash Step to move up and then flashed to Hana's back.

An instant before my leg could collide with her, however, it was repelled by Shusui's guard as he blocked it with his two hands crossed.

'Whoa, he managed to keep up with my movements…'

I felt genuinely impressed, then shook my leg and allowed the sand on the soles of my sandals to fall on his face.

Shusui reflectively looked away to protect his eyes: taking advantage of that opening, I Flashed away again.

"Where did he go!?"

Shusui quickly opened his eyes again but reacted with shock when he realized I had disappeared.

I immediately appeared in his blindspot, grabbed his wrist and swept his feet, forcing him to tumble over.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent in a battle. It's a matter of life and death." I whispered

"Waah!"

Shusui rolled over, letting out a rather cute cry for a boy causing everyone to look at him. "Cough." Realizing his actions, he coughed to hide away the blush creeping up his face.

Moments later...

Hana's fists and Itachi's Katana came on the offensive again, but I easily dodged them and turned towards Shusui and Izumi.

They both noticed it, but I had already activated the high-speed skill Ground Shrink I had learned from Yuki in my time as Kuchiki.

This Jutsu made the distance between two places shrink to Zero in a split second. It was similar to Teleportation but only as long as your feet are on the ground, hence the disadvantage.

Shusui and Izumi were surprised by my sudden approach, but they stepped backward and tried making hand signs.

I didn't let that opening go, however, and circled behind Izumi first.

I would make her fall down like Shinonome, then—

Before I could act, however, my developing Observation Haki flared.

I immediately jumped backward, as a sword slash flew through the air in front of me.

"Pretty fast…"

Such a whisper escaped Shisui's lips.

"Whoa, I could have died from that!"

"There's no other way for us to hurt you, is there? Besides, you dodged it with ease…" he countered as he smiled wryly.

"Well, yeah. You're better than expected, though."

"I guess I can take that as praise?"

"Of course…okay then, let's start this again."

I then moved away from my opponents, returning to my initial position.

When They took their battle stances again, I spoke up. "I'm not going to alternate offense and defense anymore…come at me like you want to kill me."

My lips curved into a grin, and I could hear someone say "he totally talks like a villain…"

…who said that now!?

~

A few minutes later, I was pretty impressed by the group, as they were putting up more resistance than I expected.

Their teamwork is this good because they've been at this for some weeks now…

As I was idly considering such things, a sharp slash flashed in front of my eyes.

"Whoops, hey, that was close."

I nimbly dodged Itachi, Shusui, and Hana's attacks then went on the offensive.

"H-he disappeared again!?"

"No way!!"

Itachi and Hana completely lost track of my movements and expressed their frustration.

"!? He's behind us!"

Only Shusui managed to detect my presence: he turned around and performed a sweep with his Katana, but as I was moving at high speed, I activated [Steel Release] and stopped the blade with my hands.

"W-what!?"

I pulled in the sword to make Shusui lose his balance, then tossed it away. Normally speaking, I had already lost due to using one hand but since no one's talking, then I ain't talking.

At the same moment, a shadow appeared over me.

Itachi and Hana, alerted by Shusui, had jumped in the air and tried attacking me from above.

I easily dodged them but was targeted by Izumi shurikens as once again, Itachi used [Fire Release: Fireball].

With a swing of my hand, a gust of wind blew and, both the fire and Shruiken disappeared.

"W-what was that!?"

"Did he use Ninjutsu to cancel them out!?" Hana asked.

"No, I didn't feel like any chakra was activated…" Itachi Reasoned

"Then…"

"It's either a Futon Ninjutsu or he just went with brute force. But to be able to cancel it out like that…" Shusui said as he regrouped with them.

'For crying out loud, we're all little kids here... What's with being able to use two Fireballs at this age?' Was my honest thoughts concerning Itachi.

They all seemed confused as I had never used this against them before.

I then answered their doubts.

"Shusui is right. I just used Futon. I'm not yet strong enough to use brute force, however, I'm getting there.."

"Is something like that really possible? You didn't use any hand signs." Shusui asked.

I nodded to his question. "It is. It's very possible to use Ninjutsus without hand signs. Didn't you know that?"

The four became deadly quiet.

"….WHAAAAATTT!!?!?!"

Guys, guys, you'll rupture my eardrums!

"Y-you didn't use any hand signs…?"

"Y-you're lying, right? Please tell me you're lying… I thought you were just too fast that we didn't see it."

Hana and Izumi lamented and protested, but… "Unfortunately, it's the truth. I'm just too good at Ninjutsu that I don't need hand signs. But... There's a possibility you could make me use hand signs if I fall into a dire situation."

"Tch…!!!" Hana clicked her tongue loudly. "We're going to make you use hand signs then."

"See if you can."

I taunted the group, then looked towards the entrance of the training ground. I could feel both Yusano and Kakashi making their way over.

"Are you sure you can afford to look away from us, Shun!?"

Shusui tried provoking me, to no avail.

"Oh, it's just that I noticed my lovely Nee-sama was approaching. I suppose it's time to end this." I said nonchalantly

"What are you— "

I activated Flash Step in full force, to move behind the four in an instant, then struck the rear guard — Izumi — on her neck to knock her unconscious.

"Behind us!!"

Hana heard Izumi collapse, then turned around while shouting.

"You should have moved away first."

"Wha!?"

Hana was apparently shocked by hearing my voice right in front of her: I punched her in the stomach and put her out of commission too.

"Hana!! — but now you're finished!!"

Shusui probably thought he found an opening to strike: he unleashed a fierce slash, but—

"If you want to catch me by surprise, keep quiet."

I parried his sword away and put more distance between us.

Again, I disappeared from Itachi and Shusui's sights, erasing my presence.

They couldn't see me anywhere, so they leaned on each other's backs and carefully observed the surroundings.

"Be careful!"

"I know. You too!"

"Yes!"

Their backs were close, yes, but certainly not attached together.

I took advantage of that slight opening and struck Shusui's neck with a chop.

He fell down, unconscious, and Itachi finally understood what happened.

"W-what!? Shisui!!"

I was a few steps away from him when I decided to show myself.

"You guys were pretty tough, really." I praised honestly.

"In a situation like this, I don't know if I should believe that…" he refuted as he smiled bitterly, then I continued in a serious tone.

"Itachi, come at me with all you've got. I'll do the same too. Let's finish this."

Itachi's expression became tense.

I then condensed a good layer of energy around my body to increase its defensive might. It would serve me no good if I used my domain for defense all the time.

I then flared the energy, a skill I copied from Dragon ball — and noticed something.

The spiritual energy alone I had gathered with had turned a deep red color. Oh? Isn't this the Chakra Zone? So I could achieve this without Chakra?

Initially, Chakra Zone was a skill where the Chakra enveloping the user became visible. Ninjutsu resistance and physical abilities are greatly increased when you master this technique.

It is also available as long as the user possesses Chakra. The color of the magic power depends on the user.

As for why mine is red... I have no idea.

Pretty powerful skill…

Was this deep red my Chakra or only Spiritual Energy color? I did see a Lightning flash of the same color when I meditated… Would I perhaps have a dual Fire and Lightning Nature Attribute?

"Sh-Shun? What's that?"

Itachi was looking at me, wide-eyed.

"It's a…super physical boost, I guess?"

I increased the power density.

"Gh…"

Itachi probably felt pressured, as sweat lined his forehead.

"What's wrong? Aren't you coming?"

" — wooooohhhh!!!"

I boosted my Intimidation a bit more and Itachi shouted to rile himself up.

I could see a bright light shining in his eyes. Seeing the little Itachi have this much resolution was cute in a way... If he really does set his mind to something in the future, I doubt anyone would be able to change his mind.

Itachi changed the grip on his Katana. I could tell his concentration was peaking, so I readied myself in a Taijutsu stance.

After observing each other for a while, we moved at the same time — Itachi while shouting "Haaahh!!!".

" — Fireball!"

While running, Itachi formed some hand signs and shot a spell at my feet. The fireballs landed on the ground, raising a cloud of smoke and dust, as he apparently intended.

I easily swept it away with a motion of my hands, by generating wind pressure: Itachi was no more in front of me, but I did not lose my cool.

Activating the 360° ability of the Rikugan told me that Itachi had used something similar to Flash Step several times to circle behind me, after all.

He took advantage of the momentum created by Flicker and swung down his Katana.

He probably put his whole strength in it, it was a powerful, sharp slash.

I turned around, however, and blocked it with my fist once more.

"What!?"

Itachi was shocked to see his attack blocked like that, but the iron katana reached the limit of its endurance and shattered.

I tossed it away and used Itachi's strategy against him: I circled behind him with Ground Shrink.

"Your back is wide open, man."

"!?"

He tried to turn around and attack as quickly as possible, but I grabbed his arm with one hand and landed my other fist in his stomach.

He crumbled like that, signaling that the battle ended in my victory.

****

Sate. Sate. Sate. What do you make of this short fight? I'm grooming the little duo of Shisui and Itachi to be wiser than their canon counterparts. Both in common sense and battle sense.

Also, don't assume that kids can't fight this intensively. They can, especially the genius Itachi and Shisui, not to mention Shun