Chapitre 125: CH_4.25 (125)

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———

Sarutobi Kazuo stood with his arms crossed as he watched one of his students thrash around as she was pinned to the ground, desperately trying to get out of the body hold the Police Force boy had her in. Aimi was taken down before the timer hit half a minute— an embarrassing performance against a peer of the same class.

He was well aware Aimi wasn't the strongest combatant, and neither did her talents lay in the craft of violence. His bubbly student's aptitude was towards scouting and tracking. She could pick clues on a trail as though placed in plain sight and had the ability to join those signs into logical conclusions— even Momoe, the smartest of his trio, couldn't hold a candle against Aimi's natural intuition and environmental awareness.

She might not reach the level of a Hyuga with their miraculous eyes or Aburame with their bugs; Kazuo firmly believed she could do a job better than most of the Inuzuka with their ninken.

'I wished she would take combat training more seriously,' Kazuo found himself repeating the same thought once more.

If not anyone else, Aimi required adequate combat ability. Her talent ensured someday she would be alone in scouting situations deep inside enemy territory. Scouts usually operated in solitary due to the secretive nature of the task. Aimi was progressing well in the stealth department, but no one could be invisible a hundred percent of the time— one day on a mission, Aimi was bound to be found while she was scouting. That day, her combat ability would keep her alive until she could secure backup.

"Hideaki, go up," Kazuo said after Aimi tapped out of the fight.

The Akimichi stood up and confidently walked toward Takuma while smashing his big hands together.

As Aimi walked back to them, Kazuo addressed the girl. "You took it too lightly," he said, knowing that if Aimi had been serious, the result would've been different. He ignored Aimi's grumble and continued, "Always remember, any sharp blade is your friend when you find yourself in a hold like that. Don't try to claw if you can stab your way out of it."

"Yes, sir…"

"Now reflect on how you performed."

Aimi sat down beside Momoe for some post-fight retrospection, a routine he had worked hard to instill in his students. He wanted them to actively think about their performance instead of solely relying on his feedback.

Kazuo didn't forget to give feedback to their guest. "Takuma, great job with the grappling." Full-on grappling had a scarce presence on battlefields due to the presence of weapons and jutsu, which made presence on the feet so much more important, but clinching and limb trapping added to taijutsu could elevate fighting style if appropriately utilized. It was refreshing to see someone as young as his students include such practices into their combat.

Now, he wanted to see if Takuma could perform as fluidly with Hideaki as he did against Aimi. His two students had wildly different fighting styles after all.

Right from the get-go, Takuma assumed a different stance than before. The wider stance provided a firmer base with his guard raised up front and high as opposed to the more agile position he had against Aimi.

"He was your classmate?" Kazuo asked Momoe. She nodded. 'Figures,' he thought.

The change in stance made it clear that Takuma was expecting more force from Hideaki and that nimbleness would be an appropriate match for Aimi, who liked to move a lot while she fought.

"Your friend is adapting his strategy depending upon his knowledge of his opponents," he nodded in appreciation.

"Is that… special?" Momoe asked, skeptical.

Kazuo chuckled. He should've expected that sort of response from her, given that he had seen her do the same from the very beginning without realizing that not many followed the same. "It might seem common sense to you, but people are creatures of habit. We find comfort in what we are familiar with and often find change uncomfortable. Every shinobi follows a combat style that suits— which in itself is recommended— but they do themselves a disservice by getting too rigid through habits and disregarding dynamic adjustments during a battle against a foe. Every opponent is unique, and by studying them while fighting, you can gain the upper hand. A capable fighter understands not only his own strengths and weaknesses but also his opponent's— and has the ability to find ways to somehow pit your strength against their weakness.

It's inevitable that someday you'll find a foe equal to you. The one to win the fight will be the one who makes the proper adjustments and enact them. Your mind is just as important a weapon as any other— learn to use it well."

Momoe and Aimi turned to watch the fight, Kazuo's words in their mind.

———

Hideaki predicted the fight would end well before the one-minute limit. He stretched his arms back to crack his chest as he watched Takuma assume a stance. Hideaki had forgotten about Takuma until today, but that was to be expected; Takuma didn't leave much of an impression during their academy days. All he could remember was how easy Takuma was to beat during their spars. He didn't think today would be any different. The opening spar between Takuma and Aimi came as a mild surprise, but she had bought it on herself by being stupid.

"Start!"

Hideaki didn't take charge; he wanted Takuma to come to him. Takuma, too, didn't move at the first second, but when he saw Hideaki wasn't moving, he closed the distance, taking the first charge. Hideaki took the first tentative jab from Takuma, but instead of engaging in a probing stage through exploratory strikes, he went for a big money swing for Takuma's chest.

Takuma looked surprised at the sudden 0-to-100 aggression switch but crossed his arms in time to block the rear uppercut. The punch made a heavy grunt escape Takuma as his feet lifted a centimeter from the force.

Hideaki was of the mind to pause to see Takuma come to terms with his power, but decided to follow up with a hook to put Takuma to the ground. The fight with Aimi had ended too quickly; he couldn't allow his team to be looked down at. He was going to take Takuma down faster than he had done Aimi.

Unexpectedly, Takuma managed to raise his arm to absorb the power hook. Hideaki frowned, displeased his one-two combo had failed, and went to grab Takuma's head so he could headbutt the lights out of him.

Moving quicker than Hideaki, Takuma lashed out for Hideaki's knee. It hit just right, and Hideaki's chunky leg buckled, sending a jolt up Hideaki's body. The sudden disruption proved successful as two swift palm strikes from Takuma thwarted Hideaki's attempt to grab his head before sending a lead uppercut into his jaw.

"Raawh!"

The usually taciturn Hideaki roared, sending a devastating kick into Takuma's side, which threw him to the ground, knocking the air out of him. He had a heavy frown between his brows as he pursued Takuma, seemingly wanting to beat him to the ground.

Takuma recovered as quickly as he went to the ground and jumped back to his feet, and kept his feet moving while he evaded and blocked Hideaki's onslaught of heavy strikes that undoubtedly looked like they would hurt. Hideaki pushed and pushed, his speed and power increasing every passing second. Takuma, who was once easily keeping a constant, comfortable distance was now struggling to keep Hideaki away, evidenced by the slow increase in the redirecting palm strikes and blocks replacing clean dodges.

While Hideaki was in control of the momentum, Takuma was the one with more clean hits scored on Hideaki, but every single blow of Hideaki did more damage.

"Caught you!"

Hideaki grabbed one of Takuma's arms. Takuma tried to pull it away, but the larger teen's grip and strength outpowered him. Hideaki raised his other fist with a smirk to sock Takuma in the head and ended the fight with a satisfying blow to relieve the rising frustration about not getting many clean hits on his unexpectedly nimble opponent.

However, before he could do that, the unexpected struck again. Takuma used his grabbed arm as leverage and jumped; he tucked his knees into his chest and slammed both his feet into Hideaki's chest, sending the giant tumbling away and freeing Takuma from Hideaki's grasp.

Hideaki groaned as he felt the dull pain in his chest, but it wasn't enough to keep him down. He got up and faced Takuma, who was already charging at him. Taking the challenge, Hideaki, too, took off, determined to win the exchange.

"Time's up! Stop!"

Kazuo's voice startled Hideaki. He looked at his teacher, unwilling to stop. He had no idea that the allotted minute had passed away so quickly. He looked at Takuma, who was dusting himself off.

"Takuma," he called.

When his ex-classmate looked up, Hideaki gave him a nod of respect.

There was no denying that Takuma had massively improved since they had last fought, and he had to commend him for that effort.

While he thought that, he also believed: 'I'll win the next time.'

———

Akimichi Hideaki was better at taijutsu than him.

Takuma thought that as he walked to the side. He looked at his hands; it had been only a minute, but he could feel Hideaki's power in his bones. If the fight lasted a few minutes longer, Takuma knew he would've been taken down.

However, the fight surprised him. He had expected power from Hideaki (it wasn't the strongest he had faced, but it was up there)— but he had not anticipated the skill which backed up the power. From his experience, people with extraordinary power relied on it, partly disregarding the skill— it was human nature to lean on your strengths. Hideaki's movements were wild, but Takuma could sense the control behind everything move.

'I guess I should have accepted that from an Akimichi,' thought Takuma. The Akimichi clan were the premier users of taijutsu in the village.

However,

'I'll win next time,' thought Takuma.

Combat was never just pure hand-to-hand combat. Takuma was much better when he had access to his weapons pouch, and he was destructive when he could use his chakra augmentations, and he had proof that he could be lethal if he could use jutsu.

Takuma opened and closed his fist to quicken his recovery from the light numbness in his bones. He gave Hideaki a sideways look, promising to himself that he would show 'power' to Hideaki.

He gave Aimi and Momoe a nod as they passed him. It was their time to fight. He turned and followed Momoe with his eyes. The girl was by far the best in their class, he wanted to see how much she had improved in a year and a half and where he stood against that best.

His first Ring ninjutsu fight was nearby— and the test run he wanted to do?

He was going to use his dear classmates as that test run.

As Takuma turned away, he didn't notice Momoe turn and looked at him with an inquisitive look.

———

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Chapitre 126: CH_4.26 (126)

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———

So much had happened in her life that one-and-a-half years seemed like they had passed in the blink of an eye, yet the time before seemed ages ago. She held her time in the academy in fond regard— it was a carefree, peaceful time, before she knew what it truly meant to be a shinobi. If she was being honest, she still didn't know what it meant to be a shinobi. At least, that's what her teacher kept saying to her. It was quite irritating, to be honest.

Anyway, look at her, being swept away by the memories.

Speaking of memories. She remembered Takuma. He was a quiet boy in her class, didn't speak to anyone, always minding his own business, or was it that he had no one to talk to. What was the term for it? Socially awkward, that's it. Takuma had no friends. What he had was bullies— Hiji and his cohort had taken him as his target. To this date, she couldn't figure out how that was a fun thing to do. She read it was something about the feeling of power over someone else.

She pitied him. She even tried to help him, but when he didn't seem enthusiastic about helping himself, she gave up. By their final year, she had stopped her efforts almost completely.

In hindsight, perhaps making friends with Takuma could've helped him, but she didn't go that far. Why would she?

Momoe hated him after all.

Civilian. That's what her parents were, and before she received her forehead protector, that was her identity as well.

Shinobi. That's what she was now.

Even though they occupied the same village, the two groups lived separate worlds.

Civilians lived their lives in safety, away from the violent turmoil of the world they lived in, but that safety came at the price of liberty. That didn't mean they weren't happy, but they had to sacrifice one thing to gain another— though there were those like her dad who could live without sacrificing freedom (abundant money tends to have that effect). The civilians bankrolled shinobi, and yet the latter was conceived superior.

Then there were shinobi, who treaded danger and partook in the violence they themselves created. The life of a shinobi was hazardous, death could send an invitation every day, and one could only refuse the invitation so many times. Only the truly strong had the right to continue living— but if history taught anything, even the strong succumbed before their natural end. However, that risk granted them power and authority. Evident by the fact that the village was created by a shinobi, and the head had always been a shinobi. Perhaps the people who had it best were the shinobi who didn't go to the frontlines and instead used their skills in different areas. They had a lower ceiling than the traditional shinobi, but they were safe behind the village walls— and yet they still belonged among shinobi. Of course, there were exceptions— healers, engineers, seal masters— who were looked up to by their peers due to their importance. And yet, the Hokage had always been those who displayed their strength on the battlefield.

Momoe had yet to figure out why, but she had noticed those from a long line of shinobi history didn't appreciate when an outsider entered their world. Civilian-born shinobi were the outsiders. Perhaps they didn't think that someone without the lineage and background could do the job they did as well as they did and didn't appreciate the attempt.

And in a way, Momoe could see where they came from. Since entering the academy to this day, she had noticed how civilian students always lagged behind their shinobi counterparts. It was a generalization, but there was real-life proof for it. Most of the high-ranking positions in the shinobi administration were occupied by those from shinobi clans or families, and the percentage of clan jonin dwarfed civilian-born jonin— those like the Fourth Hokage were considered anomalies. Even that was short-lived, and now, the Third Hokage was back in power.

She remembered the early years of her academy. Momoe wasn't always at the top of her class. In the early days, when she couldn't do the things she could do now, she struggled just like others. She would look at her classmates, who were better than her, and wondered how they got so much better (she didn't know the answer then.)

But if they could do it, she could do it too, Momoe thought and began practicing what was being taught in the class. Slowly but surely, she began improving— and before she knew it, Momoe was the top student of her batch. Highest theory and practical scores. If it was being taught in the academy, she could do it better than anyone else.

Along with that improvement in skill came popularity. The classmates who didn't talk to her much before became her friends. She got several of her best friends for life from her days in the academy, so she wasn't complaining. Who didn't like making friends?

But, one day, as she was visiting the faculty room to give her class instructor a letter from her parents about leaving, she heard the instructors talking about her.

"Okubo Momoe, top of the class. Impressive skill for her age," her class instructor said.

"They sure are," replied another instructor, "but we both know it's only time before she gets left behind by the clan kids."

Momoe didn't remember much from the rest of the conversation, but what she remembered stuck with her. Why would they think that she would be left behind? She didn't know why both those words bothered her. So, Momoe did the one thing that came to her mind. She continued to train to keep her position at the top. When the academy curriculum wasn't enough, she began searching for skills that weren't taught in the academy. Her parents helped her, for which she was grateful.

And yet, she could see it in the eyes of the instructors. They never considered her an equal to the clan kids. They would praise her, but they would carelessly give away clues through their actions. Her sparring schedule, as she noticed, would follow a wave patent with high-ability clan kids and low-ability students. Only when she effortlessly defeated the lesser skilled ones would she be pitted against the clan kids— who would finally give her fair competition. But after one or two of those spars, she had to spend four to five spars with classmates who clearly weren't her match. Only when she began to sweep the floor with clan kids did the instructors begin scheduling all her spars with those at the top of the class.

Eventually, she figured out why they treated her like that.

Because she was a civilian-born student. And civilian-born students weren't skilled. They put her in the same category despite having her results in front of their eyes.

A prime example of her findings: Takuma

The worst student in the academy, someone who would be beaten in every aspect by students several years below them. He couldn't do anything; it was so bad everyone wondered why he was even in the academy.

It was people like Takuma who ruined the reputation of civilian-born shinobi. The rest of the civilian-born might not have been as worse as Takuma, but none except her could match them.

In her eyes, Takuma became the symbol of why she had to work so hard to get the respect she deserved. Even when he improved, Takuma was still stuck at the bottom of the class; someone who needed three chances to pass the graduation test— further decreasing the image of civilian-borns in her peers' eyes.

Perhaps hate was a stronger word than she intended, but she definitely disliked him.

Only the manners instilled in her by her parents kept her civil with him.

She was happy when they graduated as she was put in a jonin team where she flourished. Kazuo wasn't like her academy instructors; he pushed her harder than ever, but only because he saw the potential in her. Taught her skills and showed her aspects of being a shinobi she hadn't even thought about before.

As for Takuma, last she heard, he was in the Genin Corp with no further news coming to her through her academy classmates. It wasn't a surprise. She understood the dynamics of the Genin Corp— even if someone in his position rose through the proverbial ranks, it would be several years before it would be noteworthy enough to make gossip about.

'But…'

If Momoe weren't seeing her through her own eyes, she would've thought it impossible. For a moment, she even checked if she was under a genjutsu.

Takuma was fighting on part with Hideaki. The same Takuma who couldn't touch Hideaki if the latter didn't want it during the academy.

"I can see why he got selected into the Police Force," Kazuo commented.

"He has gotten better," said Aimi.

'That's an understatement,' thought Momoe.

Everything from the skill behind his combat arts to speed, strength, and dexterity had improved drastically, more so when you consider that it only had been one and half years since they had last seen him.

'He has improved more than Hideaki?' she thought.

If before Takuma couldn't stand in a fight against Hideaki, he was now fighting him on the same level; it was either that Hideaki hadn't improved one bit, or Takuma had improved much faster than Hideaki. She knew the former wasn't true, so the latter could only be the truth.

'But how?'

Takuma dodged Hideaki's bo-staff attack by backflipping and launched a volley of shuriken simultaneously. Hideaki tried to block them with bo-staff, but some of them hit him in the shoulder and upper chest.

Hideaki grunted in anger.

Seeing the opportunity in front of him, Takuma moved in immediately and began laying down a combo barrage of perfectly placed blows onto Hideaki, who, surprisingly enough, couldn't seem to pick a chance to disengage or retaliate. There was an aggression behind his movements which Momoe couldn't put the finger on— one would expect the aggression to turn his movements crude, but Takuma showed focus through his choices. Each blow timed and placed in weak spots which hurt and hobbled. If Hideaki covered one spot, Takuma would hit another uncovered.

But then Momoe and her team saw something familiar happen. Hideaki, who was being pushed back, smashed his foot into the ground and came to a stop as though a heavy boulder. Within the next few seconds, he began matching blows with Takuma, and in the moments after, he was overpowering Takuma.

"Sensei," Aimi turned to Kazuo.

Kazuo nodded. "Hideaki, chakra augmentations aren't allowed in this—"

Before Kazuo could complete his sentence, Takuma landed a punch in Hideaki's gut which sent him flying several feet.

"— fight…"

Momoe looked at Takuma. The look on his face had changed. Before, he looked calm and collected, but now there was a fire in his eyes and a grin on his face. He looked excited, eager, enthusiastic even.

They heard him mutter, "I didn't think today would be the day I would face it for the first time. I'm glad. I am truly glad."

"… That was chakra augmentation?" muttered Momoe.

Kazuo nodded.

Momoe took a deep breath. The guy who could barely make a clone in the academy was practicing chakra augmentations now, a class of jutsu, challenging to learn and harder to master.

The punch, as strong as it was, wasn't enough to keep Hideaki down; even if he was bleeding from the cuts, Takuma had been able to get in through the gaps in the chunky armor he wore. One of the hardest things to do in the world was to put an Akimichi down. He got up, gripped his bo-staff, and charged for Takuma, who, in turn, dropped his kunai and shot forward with bare hands.

———

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