Kazuki said, "Good. Let us all do our best from now on."
Akari said, "Yuki told me that you were familiar, but I didn't know that you all were this close."
From that point on, the new Team Akari started their journey.
Akari said, "Alright, enough chitchat, it's time to test your skills, Kazuki. Yuki and Ryuma told me about your Kenjutsu skills and your talent for ninjutsu, but I have to test them for myself."
Both of them unsheathed their blades and took their respective Kenjutsu stances. While Kazuki's stance was the normal academy Kenjutsu stance, Akari's was the Sarutobi-style Kenjutsu stance.
Yuki announced, "Go," and both of them rushed at each other, blades in hand. Akari was defending every strike from Kazuki's blade while not attacking, which made it clear that she was only testing him.
A few minutes passed, and Kazuki wasn't able to land even a single hit on her.
Akari said, "You are pretty good, but I expected more from you after Ryuma praised you so much. Now, time to end this."
Akari finally got into attack mode. She overwhelmed him within a few seconds, and Kazuki's sword fell from his hands and hit the ground.
Akari said, "Your basics are excellent, but there is a limit to how far you can go with just the academy-style Kenjutsu, so from now on, I will be teaching you the Sarutobi-style Kenjutsu, so lighten up that adorable face of yours."
Kazuki was dumbfounded by the last sentence. He said, "I'm not a child, Akari-sensei."
When Kazuki looked at Yuki and Ryuma, he saw that both of them were chuckling and trying to hide their laughter.
Kazuki might act all cool and composed like an adult, but when you looked at his face, you would notice that he had the facial features of a cute and adorable child.
Akari said, "I've tested your skills in Kenjutsu, but now it's time for Ninjutsu. Take a fifteen-minute break, and we'll have another spar in which you have to use Taijutsu and Ninjutsu only."
Kazuki walked toward Yuki and Ryuma and sat beside a tree near them.
Ryuma approached him and said, "Kazuki, your match was great, but I noticed that your Kenjutsu skills are exactly the same as they were the last time we fought. Haven't you been practicing it?"
Kazuki said, "It's not like that. While it's true that for the past few months my main focus was ninjutsu, I was practicing Kenjutsu regularly, but I think I didn't improve much because I didn't have anyone to teach me and probably because of the limit on basic Kenjutsu that sensei mentioned."
Yuki joined in the conversation and said, "I think you did great, Kazuki. She's an elite Jonin; even the three of us combined wouldn't be able to beat her. And besides, your main specialty is Ninjutsu, so best of luck for your next spar."
Kazuki said, "Thanks a lot, Yuki."
Kazuki thought, 'At this point, I can do most of the jutsu with just one or two hand signs, but I think I should hide this and make three to four hand signs per jutsu. It's always good to have hidden cards.'
After a few minutes, they both started their spar.
As soon as the spar started, Kazuki jumped backward while making some hand signs.
'Wind Release: Breakthrough'
Akari just flickered sideways to dodge the attack.
Kazuki made some more hand signs.
'Fire Release: Smoke Veil Jutsu'
Smoke came out from Kazuki's mouth and enveloped Akari inside it.
Kazuki then made a shadow clone, and both of them started making hand signs.
'Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu'
'Wind Release: Breakthrough'
Akari used 'Wind Release: Breakthrough' to clear the smoke, but as soon as the smoke was cleared, she saw a huge fireball heading toward her, and two Kazukis were in the background.
She immediately weaved a hand sign.
'Earth Release: Mud Wall'
A large wall of stone appeared in front of her and blocked the attack.
A shuriken came from behind the wall and hit Kazuki's shadow clone, dispelling it.
Kazuki thought, 'She can even throw shuriken at her blind spot. She's as good as an Uchiha at this.'
She then flickered in front of Kazuki and attacked him with a kunai.
Kazuki used his kunai to block hers.
Akari said, "It's impressive that you know shadow clone jutsu, which is considered a Jonin-level ninjutsu, and you also used your nature affinities to your advantage, but this isn't something extraordinary like I was expecting."
Kazuki didn't reply to her and stayed silent.
They clashed kunai for a few seconds, then Kazuki suddenly jumped backward, and a shadow clone of Akari came out of the ground where Kazuki was standing just a few moments ago.
Kazuki threw a few shuriken at the clone before landing on the ground.
Akari thought, 'He's a good sensor. He already knew of my shadow clone. I guess he sensed it the moment I made it behind the wall.'
Akari's clone deliberately took the attack and was dispelled.
She said, "Your sensory skills are great, Kazuki, but I want you to show me the best you can do."
She continued, "Hmm, let me think. Yeah, let's do this: use the strongest jutsu you have, and I won't move from this spot, and if your jutsu manages to put even a scratch on me, then you win."
Kazuki thought, 'Damn it, I don't have any strong jutsu. All of them are only D-rank. The best I can do is—'
Kazuki made hand signs, and nine wind clones appeared around him. They all paired up and surrounded Akari.
All of them made some hand signs and used combination jutsu.
Stone Shuriken Jutsu + Breakthrough
Fireball Jutsu + Heat Wave Jutsu
Ember Shower + Breakthrough
Fireball Jutsu + Breakthrough
Ember Shower + Heat Wave Jutsu
Kazuki also threw a few explosive kunai at her.
Akari made some hand signs and slammed her hand on the ground.
'Earth Release: Supreme Earth Dome'
A dome of stone appeared around Akari and surrounded her.
All the jutsu collided with the earth dome, and smoke and dust covered the area.
Kazuki thought, 'Damn it, I am totally out of chakra. I hope this was enough to at least bruise her.'
Tension kept building as everyone was waiting for the smoke and dust to get cleared.
When the smoke cleared, the dome was perfectly intact without even a single scratch.
Everyone was shocked by this, even Yuki and Ryuma.
Suddenly, a portion of the dome opened, and Akari came out of it; a smirk was visible on her face.
She said, "Splendid performance, Kazuki. You have already learned three nature transformations, and even though you only know D-rank jutsu, you were able to perform an attack so powerful that I had to use a Sarutobi clan's secret jutsu, and to be able to perform a jutsu on such a large scale, you must have very high chakra reserves, thanks to your Uzumaki lineage."
Kazuki's face had an expression of total disbelief. He said, "But Sensei, what was that jutsu? Why were my attacks ineffective?"
She replied, "That was a jutsu that the Third Hokage himself created. It's like an ordinary earth dome jutsu; the only difference is that the user can constantly repair the dome from the inside by using chakra."
Kazuki replied, "That's amazing."
Akari said, "Putting that aside, let's come to the main topic. From the assessment just now, I figured out that you have a high affinity for Fire Release, and your talent for ninjutsu must be extraordinary for you to be able to master so many jutsu and even reduce their hand signs. I think you should stop learning ninjutsu for now and focus on your Kenjutsu."
Kazuki nodded.
She continued, "Alright, everyone, from now on, we will be training and taking missions on alternate days. Tomorrow, we will do the first mission of the new Team Akari, so be here at 8 AM sharp. I have some matters to attend to, so you are dismissed for today."
Akari flickered away without waiting for any reply.
[A/N- I am really sorry for just a long break. There were some minor health issues, but now I am okay and will be uploading regularly. Thank you for your support, it really gave me motivation to write.]