10 The Spar! Part-3

{Training ground, Konoha Academy, Konohagakure}

{1st day of Class}

{3rd Person POV}

...

There was no warmup no warning, as soon as Iruka started the spar Sasuke dashed towards Ren. Ren instinctively dodged backward slightly, he was on his paws waiting for the strike to come, it was a simple jab but it came faster than he was expecting. The muscle memory from gaining the new skill was fresh in his mind, he let his body rely on the instincts honed through 4 years of sparring as he dashed backward to avoid the blow.

The surprise on Sasuke's face was visible for just a second before he closed the distance, his whole body flowed into another jab, this one faster than the last one. Knowing that the blow would still clip him if he tried dodging this from so close, Ren brought his guard up to deflect the jab while at the same time kicking at Sasuke's navel.

Sasuke abandoned his attack as he dodged sideways, Ren took the opening to close the distance as he threw a standard punch towards his left shoulder intending to combo it with an uppercut if Sasuke tried to block the attack. His trap though didn't work out as Sasuke dodged again and regained his balance, both of them stopped for a brief moment and sized each other up.

'He's still faster and he knows my next move because he probably had mastered the standard academy taijutsu too.'

Ren kept his calm as he looked for any openings, both of them were mirroring the same stance, with hands up and right elbow raised to block or dodge as needed. This time Ren dashed towards Sasuke, he was obviously marginally slower than the Uchiha, the two shared a couple of dozen exchanges each perfectly countering the other perfectly before dashing back again.

Ren looked at Sasuke's face, there was no hint of frustration on his face, realizing that he was still being tested by Sasuke, Ren focused on adding 10 points to his DEX. He closed the box as he waited for Sasuke to bite on the trap he had set, his muscles were tense as he jumped slightly.

Sasuke sprung forward, the moment Ren took off, it was a short jump and Ren used the moment of collision with the ground to stress his muscles and propel himself towards Sasuke at a speed that was far faster than before. Sasuke was clearly surprised by the difference in speed and Ren managed to break through his guard because of his faster speed, Ren's punch landed exactly at the center of his chest knocking the wind out of him. As Sasuke dodged backward out of instinct, Ren closed the distance and executed a high kick, once again aiming at his chest.

Sasuke brought his arms to guard against the kick, but instead of going for sudden impact, Ren slowed down his kick at the last instant and then using his hands as a base propelled Sasuke backward. Sasuke did a backflip regaining his balance, although his calm facade was broken. He once again stood up but this time his stance was different, he stood sideways, with his right arm extended outwards, he was leaning backward, his entire body weight on his left leg ready for any sudden bursts from Ren.

Ren and Sasuke stared at each other for a moment before Ren let go of his stance and he rubbed his arms to relieve himself of the stinging sensation. Sasuke looked surprised as he looked down, his left foot was outside of the sparring circle thus ending the match.

'What was that stance in the end, it was not part of the academy taijutsu, maybe an Uchiha taijutsu style?' Ren mused as a blue box once again appeared in front of him.

...

[UNIQUE STORY QUEST COMPLETED!]

[A battle of blows!]

[Taijutsu refers to the hand-to-hand combat style used by shinobi who rely on physical techniques rather than using elemental or chakra-based abilities. It is often used by shinobi who excel in close combat and possess impressive speed, agility, and strength. Taijutsu plays an important role in combat, offering a dynamic aspect to a shinobi's fighting style.]

[Main Quest: Survive 1 min against Uchiha Sasuke.]

[Side Quest I: Use only the Academy taijutsu style in the spar.]

[Side Quest II: Force Uchiha Sasuke to use the Inteceptor Fist.]

[Hidden Quest: Win against Uchiha Sasuke.]

[Rewards:]

[Main Quest Completion: 250 EXP, {Collect}]

[Side Quest Completion: 300 EXP, +100 Reputation [Iruka]. {Collect}]

[Second Side Quest Completion: 500 EXP, +200 Reputation [Iruka]. +100 Reputation [Sasuke] {Collect}]

[Hidden Quest Rewards: +1000 EXP, +300 Reputation {Iruka} -100 Reputaion {Saukra},+100 Reputation [Sasuke], +100 Reputation [Rest of the Rookie 9], + {Beginner Fuinjutsu Skill Book}. {Collect}]

...

'Fuinjutsu...' Ren stared at the special reward he got as he pondered, he wasn't good at creating seals, it was all theory and all the fundamentals just didn't seem right to him.

'Something is better than nothing I guess...' He ignored the block as Iruka started motioning at Ren and Sasuke to make the seal of recognition.

Ren and Sasuke stared at one another one last time before they both parted ways. He walked back to the back of the class, this time a lot of eyes followed him as he could hear whispers breaking out all around the class.

"What a drag..."

Ren could feel his eye twitch as Shikamaru's annoyed voice once again filtered through the harsh whispers. He suppressed the annoyance at the dark-haired Nara and leaned against the tree that Shikamaru had conveniently found to sleep.

"Hiroshi Nakamura vs Emiko Suzuki..." Iruka shouted once again gaining the attention of the class. The spars started once again and after a few moments the stares stopped and the attention dropped.

"How did you even fail the graduation exams?" Shikamaru asked, he had a puzzled look on his face.

"I passed the graduation exams," Ren replied, technically he wasn't lying he passed the graduation exams, he just failed the genin exams. He looked around the class once again, there was no one in this class repeating their final grade. It wasn't an easy choice to make so not many people have the ambition to go back for another year. Most of his classmates either went to the reserve force or quit the ninja academy and switched to the civilian one.

He looked back at the block and mentally started collecting the rewards for the final quest for the day.

...

[You Leveled Up. Chakra has been restored to 100%. All ailments and negative status effects have been cured.]

...

'Just 1 Level from all that...'