Kimimaro's expression turned grave as he faced Uchiha Sasuke.
That earlier "Genjutsu: Unknown Fire" had served as a rude wake-up call, warning him this spar would be tougher than he'd imagined.
But no matter what, he wouldn't concede.
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Kimimaro raised both hands and made the first move.
His ten fingers splayed and white finger bones shot through the air like bullets—so fast the naked eye could barely track them.
Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan, however, saw them clearly.
Unhurried, he drew the Sword of the Thunder God.
A low hum rang out.
With a twist of his wrist, Sasuke swept the Sword of the Thunder God and batted every bone aside.
The bones hit the ground with a crisp clatter.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!"
Kimimaro's body blurred—he was suddenly in front of Sasuke.
Short white bones jutted from each palm, stabbing forward.
At the same time he drove a knee up—another bone spike thrusting from the kneecap.
Sasuke didn't retreat.
In a single instant he cut three times, precisely parrying and knocking Kimimaro away.
"Before these eyes, none of your movements can hide."
Sasuke stood his ground and flicked a graceful flourish with the blade, completely at ease.
In "Dance of the Willow," white bone sprouted over Kimimaro's body, making him vaguely resemble Killer B from the Cloud.
Killer B's famed Eight-Sword Style once pummeled Sasuke in the original story.
But Kimimaro wasn't at that level.
"Cursed Seal of Earth: Stage One!"
Veiny curse markings spread over Kimimaro's skin at once.
As Sasuke had said: if every move fell under the gaze of a two-tomoe Sharingan, landing a hit would be hard.
"Is the Sharingan really this scary?"
Tayuya was shocked that Kimimaro had opened his Cursed Seal right away.
"The Sharingan's perception is terrifying. In his eyes, your attacks are basically slowed down," Ino said with a sigh. "It means you'll be suppressed at every turn."
Tayuya replayed the exchange and found it true.
A normal ninja facing three simultaneous bone strikes would either fail to block them all or be forced to dodge.
Sasuke was different; he could anticipate and still have time to defend and counter.
"Not only that—the Sharingan can copy your movements and even your ninjutsu," Sakura added.
"I, for one, don't ever want to be Sasuke's opponent. It's torture," Kiba blurted.
"For real," Tenten agreed.
She excelled at throwing tools, but against Sasuke she couldn't hit a thing.
"No wonder the Uchiha are so famous," Tayuya murmured, enlightened.
The fight resumed.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!"
Kimimaro's speed spiked.
He flashed in again, three bone thrusts stabbing out.
Sasuke's heart gave a jolt.
With Stage One active, his two-tomoe Sharingan no longer saw as clearly—though he could still catch most of it.
He set the Sword of the Thunder God across his body.
Two bone spikes were deflected, but the knee spike was about to stab him—
Body Flicker!
Chakra exploded from Sasuke's legs as he opened the distance in a blink.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
He steadied, formed seals, and spat a massive fireball.
Kimimaro dared not take it head-on and dodged.
"Lightning Style: Chidori Senbon!"
Shrill birdsong filled the air.
Sasuke still didn't move from his spot.
Brilliant lightning gathered in his hand; he snapped his arm and it scattered into a cloud of needles.
Formed of lightning, these senbon were faster and more penetrating than steel.
Having just slipped past the fireball, Kimimaro looked up to see a rain of needles.
His pupils tightened—there was no way to dodge them all.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia!"
At the last instant he drew a bone blade from his left arm.
One sweeping slash—white arcs flared—and every needle before him was cut down.
"That's Chidori?" Kiba gaped. "It can turn into senbon?"
Neji frowned, heavy-eyed.
As a taijutsu specialist, nothing was worse than fast long-range attacks like this.
He sighed inwardly.
Sasuke now had lethal options both up close and at range. Beating him like before wasn't happening.
Kurama Yakumo felt the pressure too.
Lightning is speed. Against Sasuke, she'd have to open with genjutsu—hesitate for a split second and Chidori Senbon would end it.
She could already see it—if Sasuke's Lightning Style kept advancing, her genjutsu advantage would shrink. And his Sharingan was only two tomoe—nowhere near its limit.
"That's Lightning Style: Chidori Senbon," Sakura explained. "Kitazawa-sensei taught him."
She'd happened to see Sasuke practicing it during a break.
"Kitazawa… sensei again?" Tayuya asked, baffled. "Is there anything he can't do?"
"Kitazawa-sensei's an all-rounder!" Ino said proudly, hands on hips. "He can do everything!"
"And he invents jutsu," Kiba chimed in. "My Three-Headed Hellhound? His creation."
"Kitazawa-sensei even knows Gentle Fist," Hinata nodded.
"…" Neji bit back his words.
He wanted to say they shouldn't go around saying that—but with Kitazawa's status, the Hyūga couldn't afford to cross him.
Truthfully, Neji also believed it. When Kitazawa taught Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, it felt like he was even more versed than Hiashi—which should be impossible without the Byakugan. Neji couldn't figure it out.
They fell silent as the battle shifted.
After fending off the Chidori Senbon, Kimimaro surged toward Sasuke again.
He'd realized closing the distance was the only way to win.
"Leaf-Style: Willow!"
Sasuke drew the Sword of the Thunder God.
In a heartbeat his arm danced, and sword afterimages bloomed all around him.
Kimimaro's sprinting form froze in place—he couldn't move.
He immediately realized he'd been caught in genjutsu.
A composite technique—genjutsu woven into swordplay?
Kimimaro also realized Sasuke had revealed far too little in the first two exchanges; he'd been on the back foot from the start.
"Cursed Seal of Earth: Stage Two!"
At the breaking point, a flood of chakra erupted from within him.
The surging power blew the illusion apart.
Just then, Sasuke's motion paused—and amid the countless afterimages, true killing intent surfaced.
He lunged, thrusting at the fully transformed Kimimaro.
Clang!
A massive bone tail swung in front of him.
It was big enough to block the Sword of the Thunder God outright.
At Kimimaro's will, the tail pressed forward.
The sheer force numbed Sasuke's sword arm.
He instantly understood—his raw strength couldn't match Kimimaro in Stage Two.
Body Flicker!
He sprang back to range.
Long-range was now his best path to victory.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Sasuke sheathed the sword and formed seals.
Heat rolled out; the temperature spiked.
A dragon of roaring flame crashed toward Kimimaro.
He didn't dodge—he charged.
Crossing his forearms, he sprouted dense rows of bone spikes.
His bone tail lashed out.
The fire dragon's head crumpled inward on impact.
He burst forward and flung his arms wide.
A storm of bone shredded the dragon to pieces.
Birdsong—thousands of shrieks—rang out again.
That Lightning Style?
Kimimaro looked to Sasuke.
Blazing lightning had already gathered in Sasuke's right hand.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia!"
Kimimaro committed, rushing in.
He tightened his grip on the bone blade and unleashed a chain of strikes.
Hit him before he could throw Chidori Senbon—that was the plan.
But it wasn't Senbon—it was Chidori Current.
Dazzling lightning flooded out, cloaking Sasuke's whole body.
Sasuke met him, Sword of the Thunder God forward.
The sword caught the deadliest cut; the rest of the bone slashes struck the sheath of lightning.
Kimimaro's face changed. As he bore down for more, the lightning arced along his bone blade—and detonated all at once.
He hadn't seen that coming.
Lightning engulfed him; paralysis and pain blasted through his body.
He locked up on the spot.
Sasuke calmly leveled the Sword of the Thunder God's tip at him—but didn't strike.
This was a spar, not a duel to the death.
"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke."
Kitazawa announced the result.
After taking that much lightning, Kimimaro couldn't move. One more thrust and Sasuke could have killed him.
Kitazawa walked over and laid hands on him to heal—getting zapped wasn't pleasant.
Luckily, with Stage Two's abundant chakra, the damage wasn't too serious.
Hearing this, Sasuke slid the Sword of the Thunder God away, the corners of his mouth curling up.
He had to admit: earlier, Kimimaro had put real pressure on him.
But once he'd grasped all the intel, the fight became easy.
As expected, the Uchiha are the strongest.
Sasuke forced down the urge to laugh out loud.
His true target wasn't Kimimaro—it was Uzumaki Naruto.
Under warm sunlight he glanced toward the Advanced Class not far away.
There were only three rounds in the practical exam, but if he challenged Naruto, Naruto wouldn't refuse.
Only by defeating Naruto could he prove his strength.
"We won!" Sakura cheered, thrilled.
"Still lost, huh…" Tayuya muttered.
From the moment Kimimaro got caught in genjutsu at the start, she'd had a bad feeling—and the rest of the battle proved it. Ugly, start to finish.
Not that it was bad luck.
Even after opening the Cursed Seal—which was basically a cheat and not even his own power—he still lost to Sasuke.
Lack of intel played a role, but the core problem was strength.
"How did Sasuke level up this much too?" Ino blurted. "Give people a break."
"Every time I think I've made huge progress, Sasuke and Naruto smack me back to reality," Kiba groaned. "Isn't progress supposed to slow the stronger you get?"
"You're not used to it yet?" Shikamaru yawned, hands behind his head. "I clocked a long time ago those two aren't normal."
"That's genius for you," Tenten said. "You can't judge them by common sense."
Neji's mouth twitched.
Before Naruto and Sasuke, he'd considered himself a prodigy—a super prodigy, even.
He still was.
But above super prodigy, there was a monstrous tier—and Naruto especially defied logic.
Sasuke being strong made sense: Uchiha blood, Sharingan. But Naruto—why?
Kitazawa would probably say that his colossal chakra is practically a kekkei genkai on par with the Sharingan.
"As expected of my lifelong rival!" Naruto grinned, fired up.
Sasuke's performance had his blood boiling. Compared to before, Sasuke was way stronger—Chidori Current and Chidori Senbon in particular looked troublesome.
"If he weren't so young, I'd say Sasuke could probably sit the jōnin exam," Maruboshi Kosuke marveled. "Kids today—each more gifted than the last."
"Naruto and Sasuke are exceptions," Hiruzen said with a chuckle. "Everyone else is normal."
Kakashi nodded.
He'd seen many geniuses—he was one—but Sasuke and Naruto were a first.
"Good thing they're Konoha's," Kosuke laughed. "Give it ten years and the other villages will have headaches."
"Maybe not even ten," Kakashi said.
"True," Kosuke nodded. "You made jōnin at twelve and shook the ninja world. They'll probably do it faster."
The pale green glow of chakra faded.
Kitazawa lowered his hands.
He looked at the crestfallen Kimimaro, unsure how to comfort him for a moment.
"You've only just begun to develop Shikotsumyaku," he said at last. "You won't be far behind them in the future."
It was a lie.
Normally, Shikotsumyaku is no worse than the Sharingan.
But Sasuke was clearly the exception—he had protagonist's plot armor.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Kimimaro said, coming back to himself.
"And they've been in special training for ages. You've only had a month. It's normal to come up short," Kitazawa smiled, patting his shoulder. "My training works."
Kimimaro didn't argue.
If one person is strong, maybe it's talent.
But when a whole class is strong, it proves Kitazawa's caliber.
By comparison, Sound's training was basically free-range.
Orochimaru barely managed them.
Thinking that, Kimimaro felt hopeful.
Getting stronger is always good; the stronger he is, the more qualified he'll be as Orochimaru's perfect vessel.
[Current Mission: Help Kaguya Kimimaro take first place in one practical exam.]
[Mission Reward: 20% Shikotsumyaku.]
[Accept?]
Staring at the three lines before his eyes, Kitazawa's first thought was: you're really putting me in a bind here.
Kimimaro was strong, sure—but how was he supposed to get past Naruto, Sasuke, and Kurama Yakumo?
Then he spotted a loophole.
The mission only said "first place in one practical exam." It didn't specify the format.
In other words, they could choose the new, mission-type practical.
Kitazawa had already planned to use the all-student traditional practical just this once anyway, since the Advanced Class had just added Kimimaro, Tayuya, Jūgo, and Haku.
With that in mind, he accepted the mission.
Kimimaro and Sasuke left the field.
Kitazawa walked to the lottery box.
With Kimimaro losing all three rounds, he was out of the top three—mission quietly accomplished, even if the system hadn't popped the notice yet.
Tayuya had also fought twice and lost twice—top five was basically out of reach.
Just to be safe, Kitazawa decided on one last bit of behind-the-scenes rigging.
"Round three, match two—Tayuya vs. Uzumaki Naruto."
He reached in, pulled two slips at random, and called it out.
"…?"
Tayuya was stunned.
Me, against that monster Naruto? For real?
"Looks like your luck's on par with Kimimaro's," Kiba laughed.
Shikamaru shook his head.
Kid, do you really think this is about luck?
Pairing Kimimaro could be an accident. Adding Tayuya too—still an accident?
He suspected Kitazawa had set it up to teach the two new prodigies a lesson in humility.
Judging from the results, it was working like a charm—the pair had basically been beaten into silence.
~~~
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