Tatsuma didn't activate his entire head of hair; the chakra drain would have been far too immense. Instead, with a sharp snap of his neck, he sent hundreds of chakra-infused strands whipping forward. The hair stiffened mid-air, snapping off to shoot toward Kushina like a hail of black needles.
Faced with a literal cloud of hair-senbon, Kushina didn't dare attempt a parry. No matter how fast her hands were, she only had two of them—there was no way to intercept every single strand. She made the split-second decision to dive into a side-roll.
This was exactly the reaction Tatsuma had banked on.
As Kushina scrambled to regain her balance and looked back, she found Tatsuma already closing the distance. His fingers were blurring through a series of hand seals she didn't recognize. When his hands finally locked into the Tiger Seal and he drew a deep, sharp breath, a jolt of alarm shot through her.
This was the unmistakable tell of a Fire Style jutsu!
I can't let him finish that!
The thought flashed through her mind like lightning. Kushina lunged forward, staying low to avoid the initial blast of flames she expected to erupt. She cocked her right arm back, aiming a heavy punch straight at Tatsuma's midsection.
Thud!
The moment her fist connected with his stomach, a plume of white smoke erupted. Kushina's face paled. It was another Clone—the basic illusionary kind, not a solid Shadow Clone capable of casting jutsu.
Her momentum carried her straight through the dissipating smoke, but as she emerged on the other side, she came face-to-face with the real Tatsuma, his final seal already held steady.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
The instant the genjutsu took hold, the frustration and panic on Kushina's face froze. Her body went rigid, her momentum failed, and she went crashing face-first into the dirt.
Tatsuma didn't let his guard down. He immediately leaped back two steps, his hands weaving into a new set of seals.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
With the technique complete, the hair at the back of his head grew out instantly. Guided by chakra-based shape transformation, the strands fused into a sharp, rigid spear that thrust downward toward the fallen Kushina.
Zip—!
The hair pierced the earth, but Kushina was no longer there. Tatsuma remained calm as he retracted his hair. His brow furrowed as his senses tingled; he immediately pivoted, raising his arms in a braced guard.
Boom!
A heavy impact rattled his bones. Kushina, who should have been incapacitated by the illusion, had reappeared at his flank, delivering a powerful side-kick that slammed into his forearms.
"What terrifying strength," Tatsuma muttered, sliding back to put some distance between them. He had to shake his numbed hands to get the blood flowing again.
Although Kushina had broken the genjutsu, her chakra was clearly haywire—the inevitable price of forcibly shattering an illusion from the inside. Had her chakra been stable, that kick might have broken Tatsuma's guard entirely.
The two combatants paused for a brief moment to catch their breath. Not far away, Goppu Sarutobi's expression was one of pure astonishment. He found himself struggling to keep up with the tactical depth displayed by two mere students.
The exchange had lasted only seconds, but it was packed with layers of strategy. First, Tatsuma used the hair-senbon to force a movement, creating the opening to swap with a clone. Then, he used the clone to feint a Fire Style attack, forcing Kushina into his vision's blind spot where the real Tatsuma was waiting with a genjutsu.
As for when Kushina had used Genjutsu: Release, or how she had moved so quickly while falling—even Goppu, a seasoned Chunin, couldn't quite pin down the timing.
Beside him, Orochimaru maintained a thin, serpentine smile. He was immensely satisfied with the performance. Seeing Tatsuma's flexible use of Jiraiya's techniques felt like watching... a version of Jiraiya with an actual brain.
Of course, Orochimaru knew his teammate wasn't stupid; it was just that Jiraiya's personality usually dictated that he'd rather blast his way through a problem with high-level jutsu until his chakra ran dry. Tatsuma's meticulous, penny-pinching combat style was the polar opposite. Jiraiya might hate it, but Orochimaru loved it.
Orochimaru glanced at Minato, who stood nearby looking entirely unsurprised. He felt a surge of anticipation. He wondered if these two co-valedictorians were truly as Sakumo had described: a perfect fusion of his and Jiraiya's best traits.
After a brief respite, both Tatsuma and Kushina had stabilized their breathing. Their expressions were now dead-serious.
For Tatsuma, the danger was clear: Kushina's control over her strength was worlds apart from the girl who had first arrived in the village. Most worryingly, she hadn't used a single Uzumaki sealing art yet.
Kushina was equally frustrated. She had spent every waking hour of the last year and a half training, yet she still couldn't find a clean way to defeat Tatsuma.
"You're running low on chakra, aren't you?" Kushina said, her voice confident despite her irritation. "I won't fall for any more of your flashy tricks."
Tatsuma nodded, surprisingly honest. "Yeah. It's getting pretty hard to maintain clones at this point."
With that, both drew their kunai. If ninjutsu was off the table, the match would be decided by cold steel and taijutsu.
They lunged simultaneously. Kushina, adhering to her aggressive philosophy, aimed a straight thrust at Tatsuma's heart. Tatsuma didn't retreat; he pivoted his body, his hand snaking beneath Kushina's arm in a "Sleeve-Piercing" maneuver, his own kunai aiming for her throat.
"Hmph!"
Kushina pressed her lead arm down, knocking Tatsuma's strike off course, while her left hand curled into a fist, driving toward his exposed solar plexus. Tatsuma's right arm was already in position; he met the fist with his elbow.
The tip of his elbow collided with her knuckles. Despite Kushina's superior strength, the focused impact on her joints forced a cry of pain from her, and she instinctively pulled back.
Tatsuma didn't give her an inch. He swung his right hand down, seizing Kushina's left wrist, and delivered a sharp front-kick to her abdomen.
Kushina frantically tried to press down on his shin with her free hand, but she only managed to shift the point of impact from her ribs down to her lower stomach.
Oof!
The kick landed solidly. Kushina's face, already flushed from exertion, turned a dark, bruised shade of purple. With her wrist still trapped in Tatsuma's iron grip, she couldn't retreat.
Tatsuma moved with practiced grace. He stepped in, shifting his weight and planting his feet. Using a move from his past life—Wild Horse Parting Its Mane—he used his entire body's leverage to upend her.
Kushina hit the ground hard. Before she could roll, Tatsuma twisted her wrist, forcing her onto her stomach. He dropped a knee onto her back, pinning her left arm behind her, and pressed the cold edge of his kunai against the nape of her neck.
He reached out with his other hand, forming the Seal of Reconciliation over her trapped hand, and offered a small smile. "I win."
[Ding! Attributes Acquired: STR +3, PHY +3, ENG +3] [Special Talent Acquired: Sealing (Kushina Uzumaki Limited Edition) +10%]
"Excellent," Orochimaru's sibilant voice drifted over just as Tatsuma was basking in the system rewards. "Now, for the second round. Tatsuma, you're up against Minato."
Tatsuma's triumphant expression froze.
Wait, what? His chakra was almost gone. His stamina was flagging. His body was screaming in pain from the hits Kushina did land.
Wasn't the goal to stop Kushina from graduating? Shouldn't she be the one fighting back-to-back matches? Why was he the one being worked like a dog?
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