Chapter 20: I'm Just Naturally Strong!
On the training field, Rasa, Pakura, and Hiiro Rinko each stood at one corner of a triangle, facing the other two and forming the Seal of Confrontation.
This was a traditional shinobi sparring gesture. Before a training match or test, one forms the seal with their right hand. After the battle, both parties extend their Seal of Confrontation to join them into the Seal of Reconciliation, symbolizing that they are still comrades.
No matter how much you hate your opponent, you must never skip the greeting. It is so recorded in the Kojiki. (No, it isn't.)
Even among the legendary Kunoichi, there exists the etiquette of 'shaking hands, shaking both hands,' it's definitely a real thing! (Don't just make stuff up, okay!)
Although, with three people, you can't really form the Seal of Reconciliation, can you?
Thinking this, Rinko inexplicably felt the urge to laugh.
"Ready… Begin!"
Seeing that the other students had retreated to a safe distance, Misawa-sensei returned to the field and shouted.
"Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu! (Wind Release: Turbulent Airflow!)"
Before his voice had even faded, Rasa had already formed several hand seals, unleashing a Wind Release jutsu with practiced ease.
This was a simple ninjutsu with no killing power, designed purely to move the air. While normally useless, in an environment like Sunagakure that was covered in dust and sand, it could demonstrate value far exceeding its cost.
The sand and dust on the field were swept up by several currents, rapidly spreading into a sandstorm that obscured everyone's vision.
Adapting to the terrain. In this era, this kind of tactical thinking was far more valuable than a high-powered ninjutsu.
It wasn't hard to kill someone; even a child with a kunai could do it easily. But how to use the fewest cards to achieve the best effect, how to win against a stronger foe, or at least how to retreat safely—that was what the vast majority of shinobi needed to consider.
After all, if a random AOE attack hits, the first one to die is always the guy who charges in head-first.
Well, then again, if those Genin, who are nothing but cannon fodder on the battlefield, had such clear tactical minds, they'd at least be assigned to a logistics unit. Why would they need to throw their lives away on the front lines?
Pakura had clearly been caught by this opening move from Rasa many times before. She spat lightly, tapped her toes, and quickly retreated, two kunai flipping from her waist pouch into her hands.
Hiiro Rinko, however, stood rooted in place as if he hadn't reacted. Seeing this, Pakura felt a little disappointed.
But Karura, watching from the sidelines, was quite calm. Already knowing about Rinko's sensory abilities, she didn't think for a second that her new deskmate would be unable to handle this jutsu.
After all, even she could deal with it.
'Sand Manipulation Jutsu?'
Seeing Rasa actually manage to disappear within such a dense sandstorm, Rinko was first surprised, then immediately thought of Sunagakure's rather famous jutsu system.
Although the techniques developed under the Second Kazekage's leadership were known for their attack range, the application of Sand Jutsu was not nearly so narrow.
"For example, by covering your body in a layer of sand, you can conceal your tracks within the dust, right?"
Rinko turned his body slightly, as if explaining this to someone. The next moment, as he brought his knee up in a high block, his elbow, with a ferocity completely at odds with his calm tone, smashed down toward his knee.
"Tch!"
A short, annoyed click of the tongue came from 'empty air.' A clear gust of wind swept past, and Rinko's knee and elbow strike met nothing but air.
Having seen him literally send his peers flying, Rasa didn't dare to take a direct hit like that.
If it were Pakura, Rasa might have dared to trade blows, but if he got hit squarely by Rinko, he would be out of the match for good.
Just as Rinko had said, Rasa had indeed used that method to hide his form. He had intended to use the 'first-move advantage' to test Rinko's mettle, but he didn't expect to be seen through so quickly.
In fact, tactically, Rasa's choice was flawless. The only thing he'd missed was that Hiiro Rinko possessed the innate talent of a Sensor-type—and an exceptionally outstanding one at that.
At the same time, another kunai stabbed in from behind Rinko.
The two, who had been rivals for the past two months, were surprisingly in sync in this battle.
Seeing the kunai fly to a near-unavoidable distance, Pakura, who had silently stalked to Rinko's side, suddenly burst forward in a lunge.
Rinko's arm and leg had just completed their motions; their old force was spent, and the new force had not yet been generated. He couldn't change his trajectory. Seeing this opening, and with her attack coming from a blind spot, Pakura was almost certain—
"Got you."
"Not quite."
However, Hiiro Rinko loved nothing more than to shatter such unrealistic fantasies.
His arm and knee, which should have been locked in their trajectories, suddenly snapped back into place as if yanked by an unseen force. Using that inexplicable momentum, Rinko twisted his body, grabbing the kunai flying at his back while simultaneously lashing out with a kick at the lunging Pakura.
The red-haired boy's spin kicked up a fierce vortex in the sandstorm, his voice slightly distorted by the sheer speed of the movement.
Pakura, who had intended to exploit Rinko's opening, was now the one in an unwinnable position. Already lunging, she had no foothold in mid-air. All she could do was hastily retract her arm to block in front of her, and then—
She was sent flying backward out of the dust cloud, crashing hard against the chain-link fence at the edge of the training ground.
"Hsss—"
The exposed skin on her back was instantly marked with red welts from the fence. Pakura hissed in pain.
Her back was fine, but if she hadn't reinforced her arms with Chakra, that one kick might have broken both of them.
The clash of kunai, the thud of flesh on flesh, and a muffled grunt—she shook her arms to ease the stinging pain while analyzing the sounds from the battlefield. She judged that Rasa was also getting beaten badly, which made her feel slightly better.
'Damn it, is this guy's strength for real?'
But that said, Pakura had no intention of quitting the fight just like that. Grumbling internally, the cheetah-like girl lowered her stance once more and silently vanished back into the sand.
If Rinko knew what she was complaining about, he probably would have laughed out loud.
Why do you think the Senju Clan was able to stand toe-to-toe with the Uchiha Clan—who awaken their Sharingan as children—during the Warring States Era? Of course it was because of their superhuman, muscle-bound physiques!
As a documented, and even close, relative of the Senju Clan, the Uzumaki Clan's constitution was naturally just as good.
Even though Rinko hadn't even begun to train his Yang Release, his pure-blood Uzumaki physique was more than enough to be a completely overwhelming advantage against his peers.
It's true! I was born with this strength!