In the second round, Seimei and Reina went all out with their Kenjutsu, Taijutsu, and movement-type Ninjutsu.
There was even occasional use of low-ranked Genjutsu, C-rank offensive Ninjutsu, and C and D-rank evasion and defense-type Ninjutsu.
They had tried every trick to make each other falter and take advantage of openings, no matter how small or insignificant they were.
Unfortunately, none of them could get the upper hand.
Blades clashed. Fists and kicks were thrown. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning—C and D-rank Ninjutsu of every fundamental element flashed.
Kunai, shuriken, senbon, and even fuma shuriken collided.
The only thing that wasn't thrown was explosive tags. If they really dared to use it, their Kirito-sensei would have also dared to grab them by their collars and throw them out of the academy.
Of course, whether Kamishiro Kirito could truly do that was a different matter. But Seimei and Reina were "good" and "obedient" students. Therefore, they held back.
Their fight was getting more and more intense with every passing minute.
However, just as they were getting more excited and were about to unleash more powerful techniques, the scheduled ten minutes were finally up.
As a result, under Kamishiro Kirito's increasingly stern gaze, Seimei and Reina halted their battle reluctantly and left the academy together.
Watching the distant backs of Seimei and Reina, Kirito couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.
His lips curved upward in a faint smile. "Time is a wonderful thing. It flows slowly, yet it slips away without our awareness."
"They were seven when these two enrolled in the academy. And in the blink of an eye, more than four years have passed. The small buds bloomed into beautiful flowers, surpassing even me, their teacher, in strength."
"Keep growing like that. Never stop."
"For you will need to grow stronger, far stronger than you are right now."
"To protect the peace. To protect Konoha. And to protect…yourselves!"
"My strength has already plateaued. I will probably never reach the realm of a clan leader (Kage-level), not in this life."
"So, I will play the role of the gardener. I will help you kids bloom into your most beautiful selves."
"Year after year, until the end of my life."
Kirito, feeling a little emotional, went back inside the school building and checked all the training grounds.
And when he came to check the training ground Seimei and Reina used, all his nostalgic emotions immediately turned into irritation.
Looking at the multiple not-too-deep craters, cracked ground, smashed rocks, and burning trees, Kirito felt his blood pressure rising at an alarming rate.
His eyebrows twitched in irritation as he rubbed his forehead.
"Even limiting their firepower couldn't prevent them from wreaking havoc, huh?"
Then, he sighed.
"At least, the damage is not extensive. Using Earth Release specialists and grabbing a couple of Plant Release and Wood Release Kekkei Genkai users from the Senju clan will do the trick."
"Hmm…I will go contact them right now."
"I must get this place fixed by tonight."
With this thought, Kirito quickly went out to contact the right personnel to fix the semi-ruined training ground, all while quietly reminding himself to supervise the battle whenever Seimei and Reina planned to spar against each other again.
Those two kids were a bit too wild. If he left them unchecked, they would probably bring the entire school down while battling each other.
Then, Kirito shook his head slightly.
Fortunately, those two kids, Seimei and Reina, were quite mature for their ages. Although they often went overboard, they still knew how to hold back.
Otherwise, if those two fully unleashed their most powerful Ninjutsu, forget about the school; they could destroy an entire mountain.
After all, apart from the anti-personnel combat division, they had also joined the anti-monster combat division, which required the ninjas to have extraordinary firepower, far beyond what an ordinary ninja was capable of.
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While Kamishiro Kirito was busy dealing with the aftermath of the short ten-minute duel between Seimei and Reina, they were strolling outside after leaving the academy.
They finished their training early and got kicked out for the day, leaving both of them with at least two hours of free time.
They couldn't just stroll the streets for two hours, could they?
At this moment, Reina decided to break the silence. "You have improved a lot, haven't you, Seimei?"
"Your Kenjutsu skills are more polished. Your faints are becoming less and less discernible. The timing of your Ninjutsu release and your control over them have also improved exponentially."
"I don't know what kind of training you're going through in your clan, but they are clearly working."
Honestly, I am shocked.
He is improving at an alarming rate, as if he has 240 hours in a day.
But that's impossible.
What kind of monstrous talent is this? How the heck did I miss such a prodigy in my previous life before the regression?
I am not sure. Can't help it. It had been over six hundred years. The memories from the early part of my life are somewhat hazy.
Fortunately, my six hundred years of combat skills came in handy. I can still deal with his monstrous strength, reflexes, and agility with pure skill.
Additionally, although my Sharingan is currently a three-tomoe one, the computational power of its insight ability is vastly superior to that of the other members of my clan. I clearly didn't have something like that. Perhaps it's a perk of my past experiences.
Thanks to that, my combat skills are also improving. I just need to grow up to unleash my full potential.
Reina thought inwardly while glancing at Seimei from the corner of her eyes.
Hearing Reina speak, Seimei replied, "Your skills are no joke either. If I slipped even a little, the edge of your blade would definitely rest on my neck."
"Your defenses are tightly sealed. No gaps at all. I had to rack my brain to create gaps in your defense myself, but you cover those gaps in the blink of an eye, too."
"Honestly, fighting you is quite frustrating. Even if I bombard you with large-scale, wide area annihilation Ninjutsu, you will perhaps counter it with a Ninjutsu of similar scale."
"Even in close combat, you parry and deflect my heavy blows. At that time, it felt like I was hitting a mound of cotton."
"Fortunately, my reflexes are sharp enough to deal with your counterattacks…"
Otherwise, my situation would still be the same as it was four years ago, beaten black and blue, played like a fiddle. Seimei thought inwardly before he continued pondering.
A system that increases my combat proficiency by leaps and bounds, the Otsutsuki bloodline, the Senju clan secret chakra infusion technique, and my relentless grinding—if any of these four factors were absent, my combat prowess wouldn't be able to match hers, just like it was four years ago.
For now, only my physical stats and chakra capacity surpass hers.
Sometimes, I can't help but doubt whether she is also a transmigrator, with a cheat far more powerful than mine.
If that's not the case, I could only say that her talent is abnormally strong.
When she matures, perhaps when she reaches mid-twenties, she can probably pummel non-Rinnegan-wielding Uchiha Madara to the ground.
Then again, this entire alternate Shinobi world is abnormal.
Kids who could possess combat power similar to a full-fledged Jonin at twelve were supposed to be once-in-a-generation prodigies in the original Naruto series.
But in this world, while rare, we still have a handful of kids in the S-class every year who have reached the combat power of a full-fledged Jonin by twelve or thirteen.
I don't know just how many surprises this world still has.
Seimei was immersed in his own inner world of thoughts when Reina grabbed his shoulder and snapped him out of his reverie.
Seimei turned his head and looked at Reina with a questioning gaze.
Reina didn't beat around the bush and asked, "You're free, right?"
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