Chapitre 126: CH_4.26 (126)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
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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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———
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Chapitre 127: CH_4.27 (127)
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———
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Takuma stared at his fist. The dull ache in his knuckles and wrist was surprising. He had long passed the stage where his hands would start hurting after a fight or training unless he wanted them to hurt by pushing himself. But here he was, three minutes against Hideaki had caused him to feel the sting.
He looked at the Akimichi, who was massaging his knee and had his other hand pressed against his aching abdomen. Takuma acknowledged that Hideaki was a monster in his own right. Not once had he faced an opponent in the Ring who could take beyond a few well-placed chakra-augmented strikes— they always either quit or slowed down enough for him to finish the fight. But not Hideaki. Until the very end, Hideaki was in fighting condition. If the fight continued, Takuma was confident he would've emerged triumphant against Hideaki, but long fights were undesirable.
He knew why Hideaki was able to sustain and endure his assault. He fought fire with fire— chakra augmentation with chakra augmentation. But unlike Takuma, Hideaki's chakra augmentation was superior. Takuma's self-created augmentations served a singular purpose, to increase the destructive power of strikes by discharging chakra at the time of impact. Hideaki's augmentation, on the other hand, was multi-purpose and much more versatile— it not only made him stronger; it increased his speed and improved durability— Hideaki was already all of those things, and furthering those attributes made him scarier.
Takuma had won because he was more skilled in combat and used the experience forged in the Ring to overcome superior stats.
'I can beat him even if he went all out,' he felt that from the bottom of his heart. Takuma had extensive experience with close-range combat— clearly Hideaki's strong suit, but Takuma's comfort was a mix of close-range and medium-range due to his ninjutsu collection. He didn't know Hideaki's upper limit, but he felt confident that his own upper limit was higher than his.
"I would like to apologize, Takuma," Kazuo walked to him after speaking some words to Hideaki.
"Chakra augmentation shouldn't have been allowed in this round. Hideaki broke the rules by using them first."
"I would've used it first if he hadn't," said Takuma, confused. But he immediately realized where Kazuo was coming from. There had been many complaints against Takuma (Scars) in Ring for using chakra augmentation in the weapons category; many of his opponents thought that chakra augmentation belonged in the ninjutsu category and nowhere else— but Tsubura had ignored them all, allowing Takuma to use his best weapon.
Kazuo had a satisfied expression as he nodded. Takuma was sure that the jonin was misunderstanding something, and he wasn't going to correct that misunderstanding.
"I'm glad Hideaki forgot to book the training field today," said Kazuo. "Today will give them a lot to think about." He glanced at his students with a look that showed he cared about them, or at least that he cared about how they turned out as shinobi. Which was all one could ask from a jonin teacher.
"I'm glad for it as well," Takuma replied.
Very glad, indeed.
———
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"Remember, you have five minutes," said Kazuo, "and while you're allowed to use everything, let's not damage things that can't be fixed."
Momoe gazed at Takuma in front of her. He was staring at his feet with hands in his weapons pouches, fiddling. His body language was calm, but she couldn't tell anything beyond that. He hid it well. But she had seen his fights against Aimi and Hideaki, and they had already fought twice. The first fight had barely been one with them probing each other; the second fight they had fought, but unlike against Hideaki, he had been cautious against her.
As Kazuo stepped back, Momoe drew her sword out of the scabbard on her back. She had a sample of what he could do from his fight against Hideaki— if he could push Hideaki, of all people, back with his bare-handed fists, then she wasn't going to let him hit her. Her sword would keep him away from her while she cut him to shreds.
"Go!"
Momoe bent her knees, building stress in her legs as she raised her sword before shooting forward like a lightning bolt. Her sword was already slicing down at him before he could even catch the blade with his eyes.
*Clang!*
Her eyes widened a fraction as her sword clashed against the twin kunai. Her eyes caught Takuma's look at her, still calm, but now there was a calculating glint behind them. The kunai forced her sword to the side as Takuma tried to kick her ankle from under her. Momoe jumped up, tucking her knees up while pushing her sword forward. Takuma tilted his head to the side to dodge the blade.
Both immediately jumped away. But only for a moment. The moment their feet set down on the ground, they snapped towards each other. Momoe deflected a kunai coming for her face, only to see a second emerge from the former's shadow. She had to contort her body out of its way, and in doing so, she gave Takuma a chance to take her feet out with a sliding tackle.
But it took more than that to hobble a competent shinobi. Momoe took control of her body by turning mid-air. Momoe flew parallel to the ground as Takuma passed under her. She knew that she had to reach the ground quickly as Takuma would be coming for her.
And that he did; Takuma dug his heel into the dirt to slow himself down before shooting in the opposite direction toward Momoe. He didn't bother to straighten himself and simply jumped head-first into her body before she could stabilize herself.
Takuma immediately positioned himself over her and started with a knee strike into Momoe's abdomen. Momoe coughed but retaliated with a head smash in his face. Takuma floundered for a moment, which was all Momoe needed. She kicked him back and used her sword for all its advantage, leaving a gash in his side. She clicked her tongue when the chainmail under his clothes presented resistance which left the wound less grave than she wanted.
To her surprise, Takuma didn't even react to the injury and smashed his fist into her face. Thankfully, it wasn't a chakra-augmented, or her face would've caved in. They further wrestled on the ground before Momoe threw him away.
For the next few seconds, neither made a move. They didn't take small steps to probe each other or try to trick each other with feints. No, they simply stayed still with their eyes fixed on each other.
Takuma broke the stillness when he began to weave hand seals.
Momoe gritted her teeth, and her grip around her sword tightened. She took in a sharp breath as chakra began to seep into her sword. A smirk crossed her lips as she heard the familiar hum in the soft shrill she had come to love hearing.
She positioned it overhead and charged forward.
Whatever Takuma was going to throw, she was going to cut through it and slice him down at the same time.
———
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Kazuo smiled when he saw Momoe assume her favorite sword stance. When he had first met her and seen a sword on her back, he had a mind to scoff, more when he heard her say that kenjutsu was her specialty. Wet-behind-their-ear genin didn't know enough to have specialties.
And he was right. Momoe wasn't skilled enough to call kenjutsu her specialty. But Kazuo could no longer scoff because he saw what she knew and realized the potential in his new student.
The sword was to Momoe, what the Gunbai was to Uchiha Madara. They were made for each other.
So, Kazuo did what any sane teacher would do. He gave her the resources needed, called in friends and colleagues well-versed in the art of kenjutsu, and had her train under them. As he had expected, Momoe bloomed. She picked up an advanced kenjutsu style and paired it with bukijutsu-class ninjutsu that suited her perfectly.
He glanced at Takuma weaving hand seals. He liked the kid, but he didn't have a chance against Momoe. The record between Momoe and Hideaki was skewed steeply in the former's favor.
Takuma's chest puffed and widened before he released a mass of high-speed water towards Momoe.
'Magnificently executed,' Kazuo thought.
But—
Momoe swung her sword down in a swift strike which split the entire water wave in two. It was as though Momoe was water repellent as not a single drop hit her— all the water mass was pushed to the side. The force behind her strike was such that an arcing wave traveled out of the swing, cutting through the continuous jet of water until it reached Takuma and ripped through his clothes and chainmail, leaving a very long cut that went from shoulder down to his mid-thigh.
"Perfection," Kazuo muttered.
Momoe rode the momentum, and straightaway launched an offense.
In response, Takuma… ran away.
Kazuo watched in surprise as Takuma ran away from Momoe. There were no other words for it. Takuma ran while Momoe gave chase after him. When she released wind cutters from her sword, he would desperately dodge— he was nicked here and there— but was never hit completely, even once. Even when Momoe managed to close the distance, he would somehow evade all her strikes.
They ran around in circles.
"What is he doing?" Aimi said, bewildered. "Is he trying to run the time out?"
Kazuo couldn't think of another reason. If Takuma ran out the clock, the result would be a draw. But this was a spar; they were trying to practice combat. Running so he could force a draw wasn't what he should be doing— if he were on a defensive strategy, Kazuo would understand, but this was not it.
Suddenly, an explosion blew up the ground after Takuma chucked an explosive tag at Momoe, who cleanly dodged it.
Takuma knelt on the ground and began weaving hand seals.
The moment the dust cleared, Momoe darted toward Takuma. Kazuo could see she was frustrated. Not a clean hit, not even a blocked one, after so many swings was a frustrating feeling.
Takuma ran once again, but this time, he ran towards Momoe. For a moment, Kazuo was confused as nothing happened after Takuma weaved his hand seals. But then Takuma threw up two kunai into the air in front of him.
It was at that time the situation changed as the water Takuma had sprayed from his previous justu came to life and rose into the air like magic and shot toward Takuma's back into a large blob. The water blob wiggled before dividing itself into two parts. A second later, the tentacles snatched the kunai out of the air.
Kazuo recognized the jutsu.
Water Release: Eight Tentacles. A D-rank jutsu that did as it was named— create tentacle-like appendages which could carry a reasonable weight. A versatile jutsu that he didn't usually see use by those proficient in water nature. Kazuo realized what Takuma was planning. Momoe was fast with her sword, but if she had two more kunai to deal with at the same time, her speed would barely be enough to keep up to speed.
And that's what happened.
In an instant, the dynamic changed as Momoe fell on defense while Takuma pushed her on offense. The water appendages were strong, and the lack of any human anatomical limitation made defense levels difficult.
'But, two is his limit,' Kazuo scratched his chin. The jutsu allowed for a maximum of eight tentacles, but the usage wasn't that simple. Every tentacle needed to be consciously controlled; as such, the difficulty increased with each additional one. A person could control their two arms naturally without thinking because they were part of their natural physique and they had practiced doing so since birth— however, a third or fourth or fifth arm was neither of those things. Extensive practice went behind moving new 'limbs' smoothly in conjunction with their natural ones. Every additional arm raised the difficulty and stretched concentration.
He turned to Aimi. "I don't remember seeing Takuma's file when I was choosing from your batch. Why is that?" He was the first one to choose, which was how he got Momoe.
"He got directly sent to the Genin Corp," Aimi answered.
"Why would they do that?" Kazuo looked at Aimi in confusion.
Aimi shrugged. "I don't know, maybe because he sucked back then."
Kazuo frowned and returned his eye to spar.
———
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Momoe grunted and huffed as she moved her sword faster than she had done in a while. The last time she had moved so fast was against a senior chunin while in training. Takuma was attacking her with three kunai at the same time. Two held by the water tentacles and one in his right hand. She glanced at his empty arm. That was an entirely different problem. She knew he was keeping it open to use augmented strikes if she gave him a chance.
Takuma's style hadn't changed much from before. He targeted her legs more than anyone she had fought, which was more annoying than anything. But now she had to deal with the two other arms that unfailingly attacked when Takuma created an opening to strike.
"Ugh!"
She yelped in pain as Takuma dug a kunai into her upper thigh. Momoe tried to load her sword with chakra but was immediately made to cut the connection by a chakra-augmented kick smashing into her upper arm. A sharp pain spiked through her arm, making her almost drop her sword.
Her mind raced, trying to figure out the next course of action. Her eyes darted at the water appendages holding the kunai. As though timing it, the tentacles chucked their kunai at her the moment she blinked. Her sword moved on instinct to deflect them before she had to reel her instincts in when Takuma jabbed the kunai in his left for her abdomen. The blades screeched noisily as Momoe successfully managed to dodge. Her relief was momentary as she was hit by an augmented kick straight on the cut in her thigh.
For the first time in the fight, Momoe backed off. She hastily swung her sword that cut off half a tentacle, before jumping back and creating distance to get a breath of time to compose herself.
Takuma didn't follow her. There was a pause in which he stood still for a moment. The water blob on his back twitched before the water moved to the tentacle Momoe had cut off, replenishing it back to its original length. It was after that Takuma pursued her.
Momoe noticed all of that. Not only did the water mass she had cut not rejoin the water under Takuma's control, he also had to pause for a moment to reallocate the water. Was it because Takuma wasn't proficient at the jutsu, or was it an inherent limitation of the jutsu? Momoe didn't know the reason— only that if it happened once, the chances of it happening again were high.
'I just have to keep cutting,' she thought.
Momoe took a deep breath and delved deep into her focus. She blocked out her surroundings, an unwise move, but they were alone with zero outside factors. She could afford to tunnel her concentration. The effect was instantly felt— Takuma's movements didn't get any slower, but she could react better to them.
Slice! One of the tentacles was shortened by half. In return, she got stabbed once in her shoulder. She gritted her teeth from the pain as she lifted her sword and struck again. Slice! Slice! Slice! She cut both enough that they no longer had the range to reach her.
"Gah!" Takuma shouted hoarsely. She managed to leave a gash across his arm and chest.
The momentum changed yet again, and Momoe was at the offense, but she realized that with her leg and shoulder injured, it wouldn't be long enough before he would regain the advantage. She could see it in his eyes. He was still calculating, trying to figure out her next move— but as Momoe anticipated, Takuma paused to reallocate the water to regrow the tentacles.
'Chance!,' she yelled internally.
Momoe raised her sword high above her head. It was a time-consuming move (every milli-second was important), but here she could afford it. Chakra gathered on the edge of her blade as she swung down.
However, the unexpected was a mainstay of the battlefield. Takuma's two tentacles regrew, and two additional ones burst alongside the old ones. The four water appendages layered themselves atop one another in front of her sword. As her sword metal sliced through, she could feel how the water was much denser than its usual property— most definitely a function of the jutsu.
It wasn't enough. The chakra on the edge cut through the resistance and slipped past the water mast. But the fight had shown that the Takuma of today wasn't the same as the Takuma of old. He crossed his arms in front and blocked the sword with his arm guards. Clang! The sword hit the metal plating, stopping the sword from reaching the skin.
Momoe clicked her tongue. But, she managed to cut a majority of the water mass, which was a positive. She immediately jumped back, and Takuma did the same. Her condition was a level worse than Takuma's.
A direct confrontation was unadvised, she thought.
She gazed at him as the water tentacles returned from four to two. She briefly glanced at Kazuo before coming to a decision.
It was time to end the spar.
She dropped her sword, and her hands blurred as she formed hand seals.
'Fire Release: Incinerating Wildfire!'
The chakra bubbled in her lungs as she felt her body warm up from the inside. She loved how it felt when she used the jutsu. It was pure power. Power that she had control over. She breathed out, and pure chakra transformed as fuel burst out of her mouth, igniting into a wide spray of deadly fire.
The fire burned the grass and scorched the earth as it blew toward Takuma.
Momoe picked up her sword and stood up.
When the fire blew over, there remained but scorched ground. Momoe frowned. Her first thought was that she had erased Takuma into ash, but when she looked at Kazuo, he hadn't made a move. Then it struck her, Takuma was fine. If he hadn't been, Kazuo would've interrupted the fight.
She looked to her right. He wasn't there. Then to her left. No sign. She raised her eyes to the sky. But he wasn't there as well.
Crack.
A shiver went down Momoe's spine when he heard the sound. She turned toward her back as the ground split open, and Takuma, his clothes burnt and his skin singed, leaped out of the earth. She barely had time to draw her sword and push chakra into it as Takuma emerged.
"I give up," Takuma raised a bloodied and burnt hand.
Momoe wasn't surprised. She released the tension in her body and let her sword tip touch the ground as she lowered her arm, easing the burden on the injured shoulder. She didn't realize how labored her breathing was; she could hear it over her thumping heat.
The fight was over.
Before either could as much as blink, Kazuo appeared between them.
"Both of you fought good," he said with a smile. He placed himself between them as though anticipating one of them to attack the other.
Momoe and Takuma looked at each other.
Neither of them wanted to continue.
———
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"You cheating bastard! Who is the wench that seduced you?" said Sango as she treated Takuma's wound from the spar. "You didn't fight today. How did you get these?"
Takuma looked at her. He was too exhausted to engage in jokes with her. The fight was exhausting; Momoe was probably the most formidable opponent he had faced.
"I had a spar today. The people I sparred with took me to the hospital afterward," said Takuma. But after so much time getting treated by Sango, Takuma had to book a check-up with his trusted iryo-nin to ensure the hospital had done everything properly so he could have peace of mind.
"Must've gotten your ass kicked in light sparring. Look at all of these burns, these will be a pain to heal," Sango said, lifting the bandage over the part of the burnt skin. "How did these happen again?"
"B-rank Fire Release jutsu," Takuma answered shortly. He didn't know the jutsu's name, just that it was a B-rank jutsu.
"Oh, no wonder they're so bad," she said. "Dodge next time."
He scoffed. He had dodged, only he had done it a moment late. The jutsu had once again dug out some bad memories. The moment the heat from the jutsu reached him, he remembered the Land of Frost. He had been licked by the wisps on the fringe of the same B-rank jutsu (it was stronger than what Momoe had cast)— and had to roll on the ground to extinguish them.
Takuma closed his eyes as the image of Dai's crushed head flashed through his mind.
He grunted again as Sango touched his side.
Unlike the Ring fight, he hadn't stopped cold against Momoe. But that slight delay had cost him. By the time he decided to use the Earth Release: Hiding In The Rock Jutsu, she was already three-quarters way through her hand seals. It was fortunate that his hasty hand seals were enough to activate the jutsu, or he would've been an overcooked person.
The B-rank jutsu was unexpected. He didn't think Momoe would whip out the big guns. They were both genin, but Momoe had access to a B-rank jutsu. And he was sure that she had access to more. If he had given her a chance, she would've shown him what she could truly do with her sword— something he wasn't keen on facing.
He had grown stronger since the Land of Frost, but he still had nothing to counter a B-rank jutsu like Momoe's. His C-rank defensive jutsu, Earth Release: Earthen Dome, was ripped apart by a B-rank Lightning Jutsu, which wasn't even aimed at him.
The divide between C-rank and B-rank jutsu was a canyon.
"Did you win?" asked Sango.
"No," said Takuma. He had decided to call it quits the moment Momoe had spit the first licks of fire out of her mouth.
"Do you think you'll win your first match?" Sango asked after she was done patching him up.
Takuma stood up, stretching his body, pulling on the newly treated, still healing wounds, and getting slapped on his back for it.
"I will try," he said.
If all genin in Ring's ninjutsu category were like Momoe, then the Hidden Leaf would've already conquered the world.
———
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AN: Takuma's new jutsu in order.
Water Release: Wild Water Wave [C-rank]
Water Release: Eight Tentacles [D-rank]
Earth Release: Hiding In The Rock Jutsu [D-rank]
The reason he didn't use the rest of his jutsu is because he was trying to simulate what it would be like to fight in the Ring where some of his jutsu aren't allowed. Following are the additional jutsu he CAN use:
Lightning Release: Shock [D-rank]
Earth Release: Earthen Dome [C-rank]
Earth Release: Earth Tremor Sense Jutsu [C-rank]
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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