After Natsuhiko effortlessly—yet with extremely difficult technique—dodged Weasel's Earth Dragon Bullet, the rest of the battle could almost be considered without suspense.
Weasel himself understood this very clearly.
If he had been the one facing that attack earlier, there was no way he could have dodged it so easily.
What Natsuhiko had just demonstrated proved one thing very clearly:
His fundamentals were incredibly strong.
However, Weasel had no intention of giving up. As one of the ANBU squad captains, he had his own pride.
He understood Natsuhiko's strengths. Although they exceeded his expectations, Natsuhiko's weaknesses were equally obvious.
The first was his young age—his chakra reserves were clearly limited.
Secondly, while Natsuhiko's physical strength was good, compared to Weasel, who was already an adult, it still seemed slightly lacking.
And as a boy of only thirteen or fourteen, Weasel didn't believe Natsuhiko's stamina could be particularly impressive either.
Since that was the case, dragging the fight out was something Weasel was confident about.
At the very least, he wanted to force Natsuhiko to reveal some of his hidden trump cards.
With this mindset, Weasel began an aggressive assault.
His strength was certainly not weak.
Although in some areas—like Natsuhiko—he had not fully reached the level of a full Jonin, his overall combat ability could still be considered comparable to one.
There was a reason Konoha had the rank of Special Jonin.
Some shinobi possessed overall abilities close to a Jonin, yet had noticeable deficiencies in certain areas.
However, Natsuhiko had always felt that the title "Special Jonin" was somewhat meaningless.
If someone's overall combat ability reached the level of a Jonin, wasn't that already the standard of a Jonin?
In fact, many of those with such balanced abilities even surpassed regular Jonin in certain specialized fields.
Facing Weasel's fierce offensive, Natsuhiko remained calm and composed.
His advantage in speed was displayed perfectly at this moment.
As the two continuously attacked and evaded each other, sparks from metal collisions flashed repeatedly in the air.
Their figures had almost become afterimages, making them difficult to see clearly.
But everyone present was ANBU.
Even if they weren't particularly skilled in speed, they could still track the movements.
They quickly realized that Weasel was trying to stall for time, and even then he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
Natsuhiko's speed completely overwhelmed Weasel.
No matter how hard Weasel tried, he could barely touch Natsuhiko.
Meanwhile, every counterattack from Natsuhiko forced Weasel into a frantic defensive scramble.
The difference in their levels was becoming increasingly obvious to everyone watching.
Soon, Weasel seemed unable to endure any longer.
He quickly disengaged from the clash and rapidly formed hand seals again.
"Earth Release: Clay Rain!"
As he finished the seals, a strange barrier suddenly appeared above Natsuhiko.
From within it, large amounts of sticky clay began falling toward him.
Seeing this, Natsuhiko raised an eyebrow slightly.
He remembered seeing this technique before—probably in the manga or anime.
After all, this was one of those rare moments where ANBU techniques had their time to shine, and the jutsu itself was quite powerful.
Natsuhiko had seen it years ago in the ANBU ninjutsu archives, so he was very familiar with it.
His body paused briefly before he swiftly leaped backward.
He had no intention of being touched by that highly adhesive and extremely dangerous clay.
While retreating, Natsuhiko quietly placed his left hand behind his back.
A hand seal had already been completed silently.
Weasel noticed Natsuhiko retreating but wasn't surprised.
Natsuhiko's reaction speed had already proven that such a technique alone posed little threat to him.
But Clay Rain was never meant to be used alone.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Without any hesitation, Weasel quickly formed hand seals once again. This time, he used Fire Release.
The technique Clay Rain was originally meant to be used together with Fire Release. The chakra-infused clay served to bind the enemy.
Even if it failed to completely trap the opponent, it could still restrict their movement.
When combined with Fire Release at this moment, the enemy could be burned into mud within the clay itself.
Normally, a ninjutsu like this would not be allowed during a sparring match. But Weasel could no longer worry about that. Besides, he believed that Natsuhiko would be fine.
When the massive fireball collided with the falling clay, flames instantly engulfed the entire combat area of the plaza.
The huge blaze immediately made everyone present tense.
Clearly, everyone understood how dangerous this technique was—including Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze. Yet neither of them made a move.
After finishing the technique, Weasel carefully observed his surroundings.
The raging flames blocked his view, making it impossible for him to locate Natsuhiko.
He knew Natsuhiko must still be fine, so all he could do was wait cautiously and guard against a possible sneak attack.
Just then, a faint disturbance suddenly appeared behind him.
Weasel immediately turned around.
At that moment, Natsuhiko burst forward with unbelievable speed, charging straight toward Weasel. His movement was astonishingly fast—like a streak of light.
Holding his ninja sword with both hands, Natsuhiko suddenly accelerated again midway and thrust forward violently.
His speed rose to an entirely new level, nearly reaching the limit of what Weasel could visually track.
Facing such speed, Weasel clenched his teeth and raised his sword.
He truly hadn't expected Natsuhiko's speed could increase so much more.
During the earlier battle, he had thought he had already reached the limit of Natsuhiko's speed.
But now it seemed that he had never even pushed Natsuhiko into difficulty.
Clang!
The sound of metal colliding echoed across the plaza.
Weasel used nearly all his strength to block the strike.
But soon his expression changed slightly.
He sensed another movement appearing at his side.
Facing this situation, Weasel quickly pulled out a kunai. With no time left to evade, he could only raise his hand and prepare to block with it.
However, just as the ninja sword and kunai were about to collide, Natsuhiko's wrist flicked slightly.
The sword in his hand seemed almost alive—it curved around the kunai and slid toward Weasel's throat.
"It's over."
Natsuhiko's blade stopped at Weasel's throat.
Of course, he had no intention of actually killing him—but the battle had indeed come to an end.
"Looks like I lost completely," Weasel sighed deeply, without much surprise.
"Sure enough, that technique still wasn't enough to deal with you."
"You can't really say that," Natsuhiko replied with a small smile, offering some comfort to his defeated opponent.
"It's just that my speed is very fast."
Weasel's technique was indeed dangerous, but for Natsuhiko it wasn't particularly troublesome.
And even if there had been danger, Natsuhiko wasn't worried.
Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi were watching the entire time—there was no way they would allow an accident to happen during this match.
The reason they hadn't intervened earlier was simply because they knew Natsuhiko was never in real danger.
Putting away his sword, Natsuhiko extended his hand to Weasel.
Weasel grabbed it and stood back up.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment before announcing clearly:
"The winner of the first match… Nightingale!"