Sparring

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Naoki turned and saw that the green figure holding a large calico cat was not a stranger. It was Might Guy, one of his classmates from the year he graduated.

At the moment, Guy was clumsily handing the calico cat in his arms to the Mission Center staff member, apparently completing a mission handoff.

Watching the scene, Naoki smiled.

In the memories from Naoki's previous life, Guy was a powerful elite jonin, the representative of Konoha's Strong Fist style, and later one of the pillars among Konoha's jonin.

In this life, however, Guy's impression on him had been that of a complete dead-last, one of the strongest contenders against Obito for the bottom rank in school.

At first, Naoki had thought his own transmigration might have caused some deviation.

But as his strength and experience grew, he now understood that this was not some deviation caused by his transmigration. The ridiculous-looking boy in green before him would inevitably become the Guy he remembered.

The reason was simple. Strong Fist was deeply tied to physical ability. Without speed and strength, Strong Fist was rootless. So during childhood, before the body fully developed, shinobi who trained in Strong Fist would lag far behind shinobi who trained in ninjutsu. That was a natural law and had nothing to do with personal talent.

Once they reached adulthood and their bodies fully developed, Strong Fist users would rapidly enter their peak and catch up to orthodox ninjutsu-focused shinobi.

On top of that, Guy possessed the secret technique passed down in his family: the Eight Gates. As he grew older, this former dead-last from the Academy would inevitably bloom with a different kind of brilliance.

The thought of the Eight Gates secret technique that Guy possessed made Naoki's heart warm with interest.

A technique like the Eight Gates was generally passed from father to son, from master to disciple, or between the closest of friends. Perhaps the village also had a copy stored somewhere, but with Naoki's current status, obtaining the Eight Gates through official village channels was clearly unrealistic. That made Guy the best path for Naoki to obtain it.

As for how to befriend Guy, that was not difficult. There was a ready-made example: Kakashi.

As long as Naoki, like Kakashi, turned himself into Guy's eternal rival, then he would hardly need to do anything on his own. Guy would come looking for him.

With his mind made up, Naoki walked over to Guy and said with a faintly contemptuous expression, "I remember you're already a chunin. Why are you still doing genin missions like finding lost cats and dogs?"

Guy recognized Naoki as well. He immediately scratched his head awkwardly. "Ahaha, I only found it while training, so I brought it in on the way."

Naoki stared at the scratches the calico cat had left on Guy's face and chuckled. "Or is it that no one wants to team up with you, so you can't accept higher-level missions?"

After Naoki exposed him without mercy, Guy drooped his head and said dejectedly, "Everyone thinks I can't use ninjutsu, so they don't want to take me on missions."

"So it really is like that." Naoki chuckled softly, then said lightly, "That is why Strong Fist has no future."

Guy jerked his head up and shouted, "I will prove to everyone that even without ninjutsu or genjutsu, a Strong Fist shinobi can become a true shinobi!"

"Naive." Naoki snorted coldly and said slowly, "It seems I need to make you understand reality. Follow me. I'll show you that the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist is the true essence of taijutsu."

Guy froze. He had not expected Naoki to be willing to spar with him.

After graduating from the Academy, shinobi rarely sparred with one another unless they were very close friends or members of the same clan.

After all, sparring inevitably exposed information about one's ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and other abilities. Once enemies obtained information related to one's strength, they could target those weaknesses, and the consequences could be disastrous.

After bringing Guy to the remote forest where he had practiced Rotation that morning, Naoki stopped. "Here."

The thought of sparring with Naoki, who came from a prestigious clan, filled Guy with energy. He gave Naoki a thumbs-up, flashed a mouthful of shining white teeth, and said cheerfully, "Naoki, this is the springtime of youth I've been chasing!"

Naoki remained cold and merely beckoned impatiently, signaling that they could begin.

Guy wasted no more words. His body became an afterimage as he rushed at Naoki.

Thud.

Fist and palm collided, producing a low, heavy impact.

'So fast.'

Naoki's heart tightened inwardly.

Guy's straight punch was both fast and heavy. If Naoki had taken that blow before obtaining the Tenseigan, that one move alone might have forced him onto the defensive.

He no longer dared underestimate Guy in the slightest and immediately sharpened his focus.

Thud, thud, thud.

In an instant, two figures exchanged blows fiercely in the forest.

The essentials of Strong Fist were speed, accuracy, and ferocity. Without enough insight, ordinary shinobi simply could not keep up with the rhythm of a shinobi who had trained deeply in Strong Fist.

Sasuke's brief clash with Lee before the Chunin Exams was the most typical example.

But the current Naoki was not Sasuke, and the Tenseigan was not something a two-tomoe Sharingan could compare with. Although Guy's speed was extremely swift, Naoki soon adapted.

At that moment, beneath his dark goggles, Naoki's sapphire-blue Tenseigan shone with dazzling light.

The flow of chakra inside Guy's body, the contraction and relaxation of the muscles in every part of him, and even the trajectories of the pebbles kicked up by his steps all failed to escape the Tenseigan's insight.

Under those eyes, Guy's fierce speed gradually slowed, as if the two of them were moving through different flows of time.

The battle continued.

On the surface, Naoki looked more and more relaxed.

In reality, every parry and every block left him suffering in silence.

He truly had not expected Guy's strength to have grown so much in just a few years. Even parrying and blocking made him feel faintly strained.

And once Guy entered a combat state, his earlier ridiculous air vanished. His whole presence became sharp, and his every movement carried a natural force.

After a continuous offensive reduced Naoki's room to dodge, Guy immediately shouted, "Leaf Whirlwind!"

Whoosh.

Guy truly became a green whirlwind, sweeping toward Naoki with ferocious force.

Unable to evade, Naoki chose not to retreat. He surged chakra through his body and met the attack directly with the Gentle Fist.

Another series of low impacts followed. Guy was sent flying backward and slammed hard into the ground.

The clashes of taijutsu-type shinobi lacked the large-scale spectacle of ninjutsu battles, but the struggle within that narrow space was even more intense.

In that last exchange, if Naoki had not used Gentle Fist in a split second to seal several tenketsu in Guy's leg and block the meridians carrying chakra there, he would have been the one blown away.

Although his heart was pounding and both his arms ached fiercely, Naoki kept the same cold expression on his face and forced out a mocking line he did not truly believe. "Looks like you haven't improved much over the past two years."

Guy seemed long used to the village shinobi's mockery. He did not take Naoki's sarcasm to heart. Instead, he said with complete sincerity, "Naoki, you're amazing!"

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