章 567: Flying Heaven's Sword-Style

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

December 24, x787.

"Ugh… What happened?" Guy asked as he finally got himself back together.

"It looks like Alfonzo and Saeko are going to spar." Kakashi said, interrupting Laki's numerous attempts to get him to remove his mask.

"Oh!" Guy exclaimed loudly as his head snapped toward the center of the circle of onlookers. "Their youth will shine brightly in this moment."

"But why are they fighting now?" Neji asked in a curious tone.

"And why did Alfonzo say that this would be good for me." Tenten asked in confusion.

"I can answer those questions." Miyuki said calmly as she bowed her head politely.

Immediately, Guy, Kakashi, Neji, and Tenten turned their heads in the maid's direction. Meanwhile, Lee, the only other person who was not present when all this started, was too busy engaging Wendy, who was smiling happily and blushing lightly, in conversation to focus on the conversation everyone else was having.

"The reason for this sparring match is so that Miss Saeko can show Young Master Uchiha the value of swordsmanship." Miyuki continued. "As for why you were invited here, Miss Tenten, it was to give you a new perspective on weapon combat. At least, that is how Master Alfonzo put it before he left to get you."

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted at Miyuki's explanation.

"A new perspective?" Tenten muttered as her attention shifted back to the two fighters.

"Then, do you know why I was dragged here?" Kakashi asked while reading his little orange book with one of his hands in his pocket.

"To show me your face." Laki replied.

"I seriously doubt that." Kakashi said lackadaisically.

"I only grabbed you because you were there when I caught up to Guy, who had run off before I could tell him where to go." Alfonzo said, answering Kakashi's question.

In response, Kakashi looked up from his book and silently glanced at Alfonzo. Then, he glanced at Guy, who, at least, had the decency to wear a bashful expression after Alfonzo pointed out his blunder. After that, he shook his head and returned to reading his book.

"Anyway, now that everyone is watching, you wanna get started, Saeko?" Alfonzo asked, his expression turning solemn as he did so.

"Yes." Saeko replied concisely.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Saeko gripped the hilt of the katana hanging on her waist. Then, she dropped into an iaido stance, signaling she was ready to begin. At the same time, Alfonzo created a pair of double-edged, curved short swords in his hands. Then, he too lowered himself into a fighting stance.

At the same time Alfonzo took his stance, he tapped the heel of his left foot on the ground. An instant later, several small metal devices appeared from the ground in front of the spectators, creating a barrier that prevented stray attacks from injuring anyone. Also, the barrier would kept the magic power fluctuations contained, preventing them from affecting the rest of the village.

"Then, let's go." Alfonzo said.

In the next instant, without the use of his [Electromagnetism Magic] to augment his speed, Alfonzo vanished from where he stood in a burst of speed. An instant later, he reappeared in front of Saeko while slashing diagonally upwards with his right blade from Saeko's right hip to her left shoulder.

Seeing the speed at which Alfonzo was moving, Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingan, which had two tomoe spinning around his pupils. At the same time, Kakashi's book disappeared from his hand as he pulled his headband, which was covering his left eye, to reveal that he, too, had a Sharingan. With the two exposing their Sharingan, they would have a comparatively easier time keeping track of the spar than everyone present, other than Neji and Hinata, who both activated their Byakugan to follow the spar, as well.

*Shing!*

In response to Alfonzo's slash, Saeko quickly unsheathed her katana, using it to deflect Alfonzo's attack.

*Clang!*

The sound of the colliding blades echoed around the area. However, Saeko followed up her defense well before the echoes faded.

"[Flying Heaven's Sword-Style: Sōryūsen]." Saeko said, naming her technique as she, with the sheath held in her left hand, swung it at Alfonzo's torso.

In response, Alfonzo quickly stepped back while lowering the blade in his right hand to meet the incoming sheath. Then, he swung the blade in his left hand upwards to meet the return slash from Saeko's sword.

*Ting!*

Using the blade in his right hand, Alfonzo pushed Saeko's sheath away from his body. Then, he thrust the same blade forward, aiming for the left side of Saeko's chest. In response, Saeko took half a step back before parrying the thrust to her left while simultaneously replacing the sheath on her hip.

In the next instant, Saeko held her katana's hilt with both hands. Then, she once again stepped forward, slashing at Alfonzo from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Reacting quickly, Alfonzo turned his body to avoid the slash. However, as he was about to return a slash of his own, Saeko shifted the grip on her katana's hilt before raising in a slash, that if Alfonzo did not defend, would remove his right arm.

In response, Alfonzo shifted the blade in his right hand into a reverse grip while simultaneously thrusting the blade in his left hand across his body, creating a cross between his blades, which he used to catch Saeko's upward slash.

*Clang!*

"Seriously, Saeko." Alfonzo said with a grin while the two stared each other in the eyes. "I'm really not trying to lose an arm for a second time."

"I had faith you would be able to defend." Saeko, with a sadistic grin on her face, replied. "Besides, seeing that instant of panic in your eyes was rather cute."

As Saeko said, Alfonzo actually panicked for an instant. Despite the fact that it happened almost seven years ago, losing an arm was a traumatic experience for Alfonzo. So, even though it no longer affected his fighting prowess, he still finds himself uneasy at the thought of losing an arm again.

Though, the painful experience of reattaching it with the Techno Organic Metal may have something to do with it, as well.

With that short conversation ending, Alfonzo and Saeko pushed away from each other. Then, Saeko sheathed her sword with such speed that a sonic boom was produced, making the less experienced among the onlookers cover their ears.

"[Flying Heaven's Sword-Style: Ryūmeisen]." Saeko said, naming her technique as the handguard met the mouth of the sheath.

While most of the younger onlookers could not help but cover their ears, Alfonzo, Guy, and Kakashi only frowned in slight discomfort. Wendy, on the other hand, felt as if she would vomit from the sensory overload. Naturally, this caused Lee, who was halfway paying attention to Wendy, despite the fact that he was excited about the spar, to hold her and pat her back soothingly.

Knowing that her last technique would bother Wendy the most, Saeko apologized in her heart. However, she perfected this technique because of people like the Dragon Slayers, whose senses were far above a normal wizard's. So, seeing Wendy's reaction, her goal had been achieved.

At the same time, with her sword sheathed, Saeko took a step forward, flickering in front of Alfonzo before drawing her sword once again, slashing across Alfonzo's torso.

*Clang!*

Raising the short swords in his hands, Alfonzo managed to catch Saeko's slash. Then, he quickly forced Saeko's blade up over her head before bringing both blades down in an X-shape at Saeko's chest.

However, before Alfonzo could connect his attack, Saeko flooded her legs with magic power. Then, using the momentum of Alfonzo's redirection of her attack, she leapt into the air, avoiding his counterattack. Finally, with her hilt held firmly in both hands, she brought down an overhead slash.

"[Flying Heaven's Sword-Style: Ryūtsuisen]." Saeko cried as gravity added to the power of her slash.

This forced Alfonzo to take a step backwards. Even though he was capable of blocking the attack with his swords, the additional force behind Saeko's attack would more than likely cause him to stiffen momentarily. So, in this case, avoiding was better than blocking.

Unfortunately, before Alfonzo could counter attack, Saeko stepped in to deliver a rising slash aimed at Alfonzo's chin while pressing the back of the blade up with her left hand to add additional force to the slash.

"[Flying Heaven's Sword-Style: Ryūshosen]." Saeko named her technique just as Alfonzo tilted his head back to avoid having his jaw penetrated.

Usually Saeko's technique, [Ryūshosen] would involve her jumping into the attack, to add even more force. However, to take advantage of Alfonzo's instability after he quickly tilted his head back, she forwent the leap. Instead, she began repeatedly slashing her sword at high speed.

"[Flying Heaven's Sword-style: Ryūsōsen]." Saeko said while her flurry of sword strikes continued.

*Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!*

With the sheer speed of Saeko's attacks, Alfonzo could not find the opportunity to counter. Instead, he could only defend with the swords in his hands while slowly being pushed back.

Meanwhile, the onlookers, mostly the academy kids, were amazed by the show of skill. And Sasuke, who could follow most of the fight with his Sharingan active, found himself frustrated when Saeko's more advanced techniques were too fast for his Sharingan to copy. In fact, the whole reason he wanted to see Saeko fight Alfonzo was in the hopes of learning the techniques she refused to teach him until he got the basics of swordsmanship down to the point they became second nature.

Tenten, on the other hand, was amazed even more than the others. She had basic proficiency in most weapons. However, she was nowhere near the heights either Alfonzo or Saeko had reached with any of them. And that was why she settled on using all of them as projectile weapons. However, after seeing the display Alfonzo and Saeko put on, she was beginning to reconsider that strategy.

"This is what he wanted you to see, Tenten." Guy said, breaking Tenten out of her thoughts. "AS they say, it is better to be a master of one thing rather than a jack of all trades."

Even though Guy had told her this before, she never took him seriously. Besides the obvious reason of Guy being hard to take seriously on a regular basis, Tenten had never seen a high-level example of those words before.

Meanwhile, the spar continued with the two exchanging blows and techniques, with Alfonzo even using some of Aoshi Shinomori's double kodachi techniques for added flare. However, some of the more… emotionally sensitive people among the onlookers saw more than just a spar between swordsmen.

"Is it just me? Or does it look like their… flirting rather than just fighting?" Ino asked in a somewhat unsure tone.

"Yeah, it's not just you." Sakura replied with a nod.

"And it looks like Saeko is the aggressor." Carla added.

In fact, the three girls were right. Saeko, who was not very good at expressing her feelings in words, was using this opportunity to convey her feelings through her sword. And considering the fact that Alfonzo had been practicing Eskrima for almost twenty-five years, if you combine his two lives, he was skilled enough to feel his opponents emotions through their weapons.

Still, the spar could not go on forever. So, without deciding a victor, Alfonzo and Saeko ended their spar while smiling at each other. Meanwhile, the onlookers were just as amazed as they had been for the duration of the spar without a clear victor.

"So, Sasuke, do you still think learning the sword is useless when compared to [Ninjutsu]?" Alfonzo asked with a grin.

Sasuke, being called out in front of everyone, could only look away in response. However, he did not continue with his previous line of thinking.

"And if you think that was impressive, just imagine combining [Ninjutsu] with what you'll learned from her." Alfonzo continued. "The point I'm making is, if you have the capacity to learn more than one thing to a high-level, then why should you limit yourself to only one?"

Seeing Sasuke's eyes light up, Alfonzo smiled. Then, he turned his attention to Tenten.

"I get it." Tenten said with her hands raised in defeat before Alfonzo could say anything. "I know I've bitten off more than I can chew. I really should take the time to figure out which weapon I have the best affinity with. Then, I should stick to it."

"Well, I'm glad you catch on fast." Alfonzo said with a smile. "And depending on which weapon you want to learn, I should be able to get you started on most of them. But I'm best at using two short swords."

"thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Tenten replied in a grateful tone.

"Well then, the shows over." Alfonzo said as he dispelled the temporary magic items sustaining the barrier. "Those who are supposed to be training, get back to it. And those who weren't here before this all started, you can leave or stay, I really don't care. Just don't get in the way of everyone's training."

"What a drag..." Shikamaru said in a lethargic tone as he, Choji, Kiba, Ino, Hinata, and Shino approached Laki to continue their training.

With that, Alfonzo took Naruto, who was asking him to teach him how to use twin swords, back inside to continue the lesson about [Seals]. Wendy took Carla and Sakura back inside to continue her [Medical Ninjutsu] lesson. Saeko took Sasuke away to continue his swordsmanship training. And Laki went back to training the other academy kids while dragging Kakashi along to help her, despite his protests.

Meanwhile, Guy dragged the rest of his team to start training, as well, as he was pumped up from seeing such a "youthful" battle. Naturally, the only one who was as enthusiastic as Guy was Lee. However, Neji and Tenten followed their teacher without complaints.