"So, Natsumi…let's spar!"
Seimei extended the invitation for a spar to Natsumi and stared at her with a curious gaze. He wasn't talking nonsense. Fighting was indeed the best way to gain a deep understanding of Hyuga Natsumi's capabilities.
Of course, he knew that a simple spar wouldn't be enough to make Natsumi reveal her trump cards.
No capable ninja would be foolish enough to reveal that voluntarily, even to their closest comrades. After all, at least in this day and age, ninja warfare was still information warfare.
The more detailed information you had about someone, the better traps you could set to deal with them.
Even a Kage-level opponent might succumb, though the chances were rather low, very low, in fact.
But that wasn't the point here.
Seimei and Reina just needed to have a clear picture of Natsumi's overall combat capabilities.
If Seimei had to explain it in RPG game terms, Seimei wanted to understand the combat power and the skill levels of the BOSS Monster (Here, Natsumi is the BOSS Monster) before it was forced to the limit and entered Berserk Mode.
Hyuga Natsumi understood Seimei's intention and immediately agreed without any hesitation.
Natsumi nodded and said, "Sure, no problem."
"I have also heard a great deal about you and Reina from my clansmen and classmates. I have occasionally watched your training, too. I wanted to exchange pointers with you, too. But I didn't get a chance before due to various reasons."
The Hyuga girl's expression didn't change at all, but there seemed to be a sudden spark of curiosity and anticipation in her eyes.
Oh no, this girl seemed more eager to fight than he was.
Seimei instinctively felt that this girl in front of him, who looked so poised, refined, and peaceful, was overflowing with an inexplicable 'Eru Chitanda' energy.
Oh well, never mind. It's actually better. Regardless of her current strength, if she can keep up her current mindset and curiosity for practical combat, she will definitely improve steadily.
Seimei thought inwardly as his mind searched for Hyuga Natsumi's information.
Just like that relatively overbearing Hyuga Itsuki, his teammate Hyuga Natsumi was also from the main family of the Hyuga clan, and she graduated from the Class 2-S.
It was just that she transferred to the special class later.
She was actually training in her clan. Initially, her clan had no intention to send her to the Ninja Academy. After all, clan training was much better and more rigorous.
Plus, the Hyuga clan was pretty wealthy.
With several thousand years of accumulation, they lacked neither special resources nor ninja techniques.
And since Seimei's generation was the very first batch of students enrolling in the S-class, many noble ninja clans were skeptical.
But things changed quickly after the inter-class tournament between the four second-year S-grade classes.
It showed the difference between a completely systematic academic training of the young ninjas and common ninja training that many parents could no longer ignore.
The students of the S-grade class faced constant rivalry, received targeted training, and rare resources that stimulated their potential, allowing them to grow faster than most children from prestigious ninja clans, who did nothing but train in clan techniques while staying cooped up in their comfort zones.
What's more, joining the S-class had many other benefits, such as carefully curated missions for the academy students starting from the third year, specialized ninja response divisions, access to unique jutsu that various clans contributed to Konoha, and the chance to become a Chunin right after graduation.
Who could resist that?
As a result, during the last semester of the second year of class 2-S, Hyuga Natsumi's parents directly enrolled her.
It was also the reason why Seimei and his group didn't face Hyuga Natsumi during the inter-class competition.
Because she wasn't enrolled in the academy yet.
Otherwise, with her consistent performance and rumored combat power, she would have definitely been a part of the second-year team 2-S.
After all, she could truly stand toe to toe with Hyuga Itsuki, the captain and the main fighting power of class 2-S during the competition.
At least, that was what her academic data and rumors said.
To fully gauge her combat prowess, a spar with her was inevitable.
Since Seimei had the chance now, he would make full use of it.
Thinking of that, Seimei smiled and said to Natsumi, "It's good that you think this way, Natsumi."
Seimei stood up from his seat, patted the back of his pants a couple of times to wipe away any lingering dust, and added, "Then, let's not waste any more time. I will be your partner for the spar this time."
Hearing this, Reina and Natsumi stood up as well.
Reina tilted her head ever so slightly and said, "In that case, I will be the referee today."
Natsumi replied, "Thank you, Seimei and Reina. I am ready anytime."
Once they finalized everything, Seimei, Natsumi, and Reina quickly took their positions.
In the middle of the empty training ground, Seimei and Natsumi stood twenty meters apart. Meanwhile, Reina stood a dozen meters away from both of their positions, acting as a referee overseeing the spar.
Reina looked at both Seimei and Natsumi curiously. She had already activated her Sharingan. Three pitch-black tomoe rotated slowly in her crimson pupils, capturing every minute detail with precision.
She opened her mouth and began explaining the rules of the spar.
"Seimei, Natsumi…since it's a simple spar to assess each other's general combat prowess, we will keep it short and controlled."
"The spar will last for five minutes."
"During that time, you can use any weapon you want except for the explosive tags."
"And although there is no restriction on the use of any taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu, to avoid excessive destruction, you will refrain from activating any wide-area annihilation-type ninjutsu that may potentially blow half of the training ground into smithereens."
"You know what I mean, right? So, no Majestic Destroyer Flame or Exploding Water Colliding Wave, you hear me?"
"After all, it's just a small private training ground. 120 meters in length and 90 meters in width, at most.
I feel inexplicably targeted. Seimei complained inwardly. Not that Reina would give a damn.
Hyuga Natsumi looked at Reina with a face full of confusion.
Her furrowed and confused eyes seemed to ask: What are you talking about? It's just a simple, friendly spar between two ninjas with Jonin-level combat prowess. Why would we blow the training ground? Why would anyone waste this much chakra just to cause destruction? Come on, chakra doesn't grow on trees, does it?
If Reina and Seimei could read minds, they would have answered without hesitation: No, you are right. You are absolutely correct. Chakra actually kinda grew on the trees.
Little did the innocent little Natsumi, who had slightly more chakra than an average adult Jonin-level ninja, know that her two teammates had so much chakra to squander that they were used to blowing half of the small training ground with casual supercharged B-rank ninjutsu.
They could blow several mountains off, and wouldn't even feel any strain in their chakra reserves.
Fortunately, Hyuga Natsumi was still a young girl, and she would soon enter the phase of rapid physical, spiritual, and chakra growth.
By the time she turned 20, she would have more than 10-15 times more chakra than an average Elite Jonin of Konoha. She had to be capable of growing to this extent at the very least.
Otherwise, she would find it difficult to keep up with monsters with massive chakra reserves like Seimei and Reina.
Anyway, although chakra wasn't everything, without an abundant amount of chakra, you wouldn't go far as a shinobi.
Ninjas in this world might have the skills of a Kage-level ninja with a low amount of chakra.
But without breaching the threshold of 100,000 points of chakra, a ninja's chakra would never undergo the qualitative change required to exert the power of a Kage-level ninja in the truest sense.
For example, achieving a true shift in Yin-Yang balance of chakra to perform true physical reinforcement, ninjutsu power amplification, or unleashing the true power of chakra nature transformation.
It had to be said that the Hokage Office surely knew its stuff. They found a perfectly suitable teammate for Seimei and Reina.
Meanwhile, Reina finished explaining the rules and added, "Alright, that's the gist of it."
Reina stretched her arms lazily and asked, "Everything's clear?"
Seimei and Natsumi both nodded in unison.
At the same time, Seimei and Natsumi grabbed their own ninja tools.
Seimei pulled his ninjato out from his storage seal bracelet.
Natsumi wore a pair of white gloves made of special materials, including chakra metal and bones of a high-ranked chakra beast. It looked like common silk gloves, but they could repel and deflect most sharp blades without taking any damage.
Plus, chakra flowed smoothly through the gloves, which was specifically beneficial to the Hyuga clan ninjas, who relied a lot on the Gentle Fist technique.
Both Seimei and Natsumi waited for Reina's signal, ready to burst into motion at a moment's notice.
Reina curled her lips and declared, "In that case…let the battle begin."
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A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and get access to the 14 Advanced chapters!
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