As soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice fell, Natsuhiko and Weasel moved almost at the same time.
In an instant, both of them turned into streaks of light that cut through the air. When sparks of metal collisions flashed in the air, the two were already locked together, each pressing a kunai against the other!
Fast—so fast that the eye could barely keep up.
Natsuhiko was extremely skilled in speed, and Weasel was also a ninja who specialized in speed. A clash like this was destined to be dazzling to watch.
"Hm?"
While their kunai were locked and they secretly competed in strength, a warning suddenly rose in Natsuhiko's mind.
He had already noticed that something about the Weasel in front of him was strange. Instantly reacting, Natsuhiko leapt sideways.
At the same time, a cold blade of light swept past the edge of his clothes.
Natsuhiko had long activated his perception ability, so he could detect such subtle changes. Weasel's swordsmanship was truly quite impressive!
"Dance of the Crescent Moon?"
Natsuhiko landed on the ground, and his gaze swept toward the figure that had attacked him. Clearly, it was a shadow clone.
The Dance of the Crescent Moon was said to have been created by Tobirama Senju. Whether that was true or not, Natsuhiko wasn't entirely sure, but he was familiar with the technique.
It typically involved summoning Shadow Clones during the strike, coordinating with the user to attack the enemy's vitals from the left, right, and above simultaneously.
However, Weasel seemed to have modified this technique into something more suitable for ANBU-style assassination.
Instead of appearing simultaneously during the attack, his shadow clone launched its strike after the original had already begun attacking.
But perhaps to conserve chakra—or maybe because this was only a test—he had only created a single shadow clone.
"Interesting…"
Natsuhiko thought to himself, but soon he moved again.
Weasel and his shadow clone were already attacking again, pursuing him like a shadow.
Seeing this, Natsuhiko tapped the ground with his toes and drifted backward. In a flash of light, his ninja sword instantly left its sheath.
The blade in his hand slashed fiercely toward Weasel.
Weasel stepped forward and blocked the strike.
But when Natsuhiko saw this, he couldn't help but smile slightly.
The moment the two swords clashed, a deep blue glow flashed across Natsuhiko's blade!
A water-style technique compressed to the extreme—razor sharp—burst forth from his sword. His blade sliced cleanly through Weasel's sword, cutting it off at the hilt without any resistance.
Immediately afterward, Natsuhiko's Body Flicker Technique exploded into action.
With the blue light blazing from his blade, he thrust the sword fiercely toward Weasel's chest!
"This kid… he's mastered the sensei's technique quite well."
Watching Natsuhiko's blade, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but smile slightly.
"To use Water Blade Slash to this level… it seems he's put in a lot of effort."
"Indeed, it's quite impressive," Koharu Utatane nodded, her expression serious.
"This level has probably already surpassed most people who know this technique."
"Hmph. As expected from that clan. At least he hasn't disgraced our sensei," Danzo Shimura said coldly, still clearly displeased.
Homura Mitokado said nothing.
Likewise, Minato Namikaze didn't participate in the discussion among the older generation. He simply listened quietly while watching the battle.
Natsuhiko's performance was very good.
But using one or two techniques alone couldn't prove much. He still had to defeat his opponent.
After being severely set up by the Third Hokage, Minato knew he had no retreat left.
All he could do now was hope that Natsuhiko would win.
Moreover, he also hoped that Natsuhiko would voluntarily request to take the theoretical examination. Only then could the current crisis be somewhat resolved.
Poof!
As Natsuhiko's ninja sword struck Weasel directly, a dull sound echoed, and a thick cloud of smoke appeared in front of him.
It was obvious that the strike had hit Weasel's shadow clone.
But that was only natural. Very few people would deliberately protect their shadow clones unless it was necessary for a tactic to lure the enemy.
After the shadow clone was destroyed, Weasel quickly followed up and slashed fiercely at Natsuhiko.
However, Natsuhiko had already locked onto him with his sensory ability. His reaction speed was astonishing—almost the moment Weasel swung his blade, Natsuhiko had already taken countermeasures.
The instant he landed steadily on the ground, Natsuhiko flipped the angle of the ninja sword in his hand and directly blocked Weasel's strike.
In the next moment, he twisted his body slightly and kicked toward Weasel.
Unfortunately for him, Weasel was no simple opponent either.
Although his reaction speed couldn't quite match Natsuhiko's, his experience was abundant. Raising his left arm, he blocked the kick and used the force to push himself away from the fight.
At the same time, while his body was flying backward, Weasel quickly formed hand seals.
He had no intention of giving Natsuhiko the chance to pursue him!
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
As chakra surged through him, a massive earth dragon suddenly rose from the ground and charged straight toward Natsuhiko.
Seeing this, Natsuhiko had no intention of using ninjutsu at all.
A technique like this simply wouldn't cause him any real trouble.
With a simple flip of his body, he easily avoided the attack.
The entire motion looked elegant and effortless, as if the enormous earth dragon had become nothing more than a flashy prop for his performance.
His action immediately caused the ANBU present to gasp in surprise.
Dodging a ninjutsu attack so easily had never been a simple matter.
Moreover, Weasel's Earth Dragon Bullet was extremely fast and had a wide attack range. To evade it as effortlessly as Natsuhiko did required extremely demanding reaction speed and body coordination.
Yet Natsuhiko had done it—without even using ninjutsu to counter it.
This alone was enough to show just how extraordinary his personal abilities were.
The ANBU members couldn't help whispering among themselves.
"Captain Nightingale may be young, but he's really surprising."
"That reaction speed and body coordination are unbelievable."
"I feel like anyone who faces Captain Nightingale later might be in serious trouble. He's clearly not easy to deal with."
"Alright, stop talking. Matters about the captains aren't something we should comment on."
The quiet murmurs spread among the ANBU.
But it wasn't just them—even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura glanced sideways with interest.
Danzo knew that performing such movements wouldn't have been a problem for him in his younger days.
But now, he would more likely choose to counter directly with ninjutsu.
This level of coordination and reaction speed couldn't simply be trained.
It was talent.
And such talent was something very few people possessed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, meanwhile, casually glanced at Minato Namikaze.
He seemed to finally understand why Minato had chosen this boy—and why he appeared to be personally teaching him.
With talent like this, the boy was perfectly suited for one particular technique that Minato had mastered.
If the boy could learn it…
then his value would become immeasurable.
...
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