I walked forward without hesitation. My pulse thrummed with anticipation. The others stepped back to give us space.
Before we started, Ren-sensei raised a hand. "You can go all out," he said. "But do not use your crystal breath jutsu. That thing is too dangerous."
I could not help but smirk. "Are you saying that you are scared of me, sensei?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I am not scared of you. But yes, I am scared of that jutsu. Just a little touch from that jutsu and I would have my limb crystalized and useless. With a little tink, it would just be gone forever. And let's not even talk about what happens if I inhale the mist. My internal organs would be done for. I still have to marry, you know."
His words surprised me. I had not expected him to admit it so openly. But it made sense.
The crystal mist jutsu was one of the first two jutsus I had managed to create with crystal release.
Even now, with only basic control, it already carried the potential to reach S-rank with enough training. Right now, it sat comfortably at A-rank.
A single breath or graze could end a fight in seconds. Against someone like Ren-sensei, who relied on speed and close combat, it would be devastating.
I nodded seriously. "Understood"
"Good." He slipped into a loose stance, hands still in his pockets like always. "Then let's begin."
I took my own stance.
When the spar started, my shadows started moving immediately.
I immediately used my Ninja art: Shadow Spider limbs jutsu.
I formed limbs made of shadow that stretched out from my back and sides like extra arms ready for battle.
They were not the slow, clumsy tendrils I used back when I was still a fresh genin.
Over the past five months, I had trained hard to make them faster and stronger. With the increase in speed came better piercing power.
The tips of these shadow limbs sharpened into points that could stab through stone if I pushed enough chakra into them.
While Crystal Release was my trump card, something I saved for the most dangerous moments, my strong suit was still the Nara clan techniques.
Shadows were what I knew best. They were reliable, versatile, and most importantly, they did not take as much chakra as Crystal Release.
This time the shadow limbs shot forward with real speed. Ren-sensei had started to charge at me, planning to close the distance and end things quickly in close combat.
But he had to abandon that plan right away. He body-flickered backward to avoid the thrusting shadows.
During our genin test, he had dodged these same limbs easily because they were slower back then. Now he knew he could not treat them the same way. He had to take them seriously.
I was happy to see sensei fall back. I knew that it would not take me long to get defeated in a close-range bout.
I might have learned the Flowing Fist taijutsu that Misa taught me but I would be arrogant to think that I would be able to match a jonin in taijutsu.
Ren-sensei had years of experience, speed, reflexes and better physique I could not match yet. Getting pulled into hand-to-hand with him would be the fastest way to lose.
I was planning to win the spar even though I knew it was a long ask.
Sensei was a jonin, and considering Misa was a main branch Hyuga with her Byakugan and I had a Kekkei Tota like Crystal Release, no ordinary jonin would be given us to teach.
The Hokage had picked Ren-sensei carefully. He was strong enough to handle all three of us. Still, I wanted to push him. I wanted to show that five months of hard work had changed something to both him and myself.
Sensei weaved hand signs quickly. He even muttered the name of the jutsu out loud for my sake so I could learn from it. "Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm."
He slammed his palm down hard against the ground. The earth responded right away. The soil started spiraling inward like a whirlpool made of dirt and rock.
Trees nearby uprooted with loud cracks and fell into the growing pit. The ground twisted and tore itself apart in front of me.
The shadow that I was trying to sneak behind sensei to catch him in a Shadow Possession jutsu had its path cut off completely.
The spiraling earth ripped a deep trench between us. My shadow could not stretch across that kind of destruction without losing shape or wasting too much chakra.
Even I was going to fall into the pit if I stayed still. I acted fast. My shadow limbs stabbed downward into the solid ground around me and anchored my body in place.
The limbs held me steady while the earth kept churning and pulling everything toward the center.
With the destruction in the ground, my shadows would have to travel through craters or holes to reach sensei. That meant bigger distance for me to cover and also more chakra expenditure.
It was a smart counter to my Nara clan techno. He had limited my movement without even touching me.
I heard sensei say from across the torn field, "Iwa shinobi would use these techniques so be prepared for them."
I nodded to show I understood. Inside, I wanted to say that the genin of Iwa would not be strong enough to do what sensei just did with that scale and control.
But I thought better of it and kept quiet. Villages sometimes sneaked in stronger shinobi by not promoting them to chunin earlier.
They kept them at genin rank on purpose to enter the Chunin Exams and kill other villages' talented kids. Iwa would surely try the same thing. It was a dirty tactic, but effective. I filed the lesson away for later.
I decided to change the battlefield myself. I used the only water style jutsu that I had managed to learn so far. Water Clone Jutsu.
Three clones of water formed around me. It took a good amount of chakra since they were formed purely from my own reserves. There was no source of water available nearby to pull from.
The three clones rushed at sensei right away. They moved in a loose triangle formation to surround him and keep him busy.
Their task was simple: distract sensei and keep him contained in a certain area until my next jutsu was ready.
Since sensei did not want me to use Crystal Release: Crystal Mist jutsu, that did not mean I did not have any other Crystal Release jutsus to play with.
---------Author Notes--------
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