Finally…
at one moment, there came—
"CLANG!!!"
After Mikami Yuu's and Asuma's wooden kunai collided once more, both weapons flew out of their hands.
The instant Asuma swung a punch, Mikami Yuu activated Substitution. With a whoosh, he vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Asuma. He caught the kunai dropping from midair and, before Asuma could turn around, placed it precisely across the back of his neck.
"It's over."
"…"
Asuma instinctively tried to struggle, but quickly realized what that meant. He gave a bitter smile and raised both hands helplessly.
"Alright. You win."
Asuma still had some stamina left—he could've fought a bit longer—but there was no point.
Because if that kunai were real, he'd already be dead.
With Asuma conceding,
Mikami Yuu finally let out a breath, stepped back two paces, and lowered his center of gravity slightly, standing in place as a powerful wave of weakness rushed over him.
He really did it!
One-versus-three!
In this fight, he'd used almost everything he had. Aside from the special traits of Transformation and Substitution, and aside from not using the Eight Gates, he'd basically shown every method once.
—Of course, he hadn't planned to use the first two anyway. Those were meant to stay hidden as "first-time kill" trump cards.
After catching his breath a few times, Mikami Yuu looked around.
By now,
most students on the field had already finished fighting.
At this age, the vast majority of Academy students fought with taijutsu and the Three Basic Jutsu, maybe a little genjutsu. Once someone got knocked down, that was basically the end.
Only a scattered few were still fighting.
Like Obito and Might Guy—
Those two had been rivals forever. In the last few years' midterms and finals, Obito had lost to Guy at least four times, so now they were seeing red the moment they met. Even with a bruised and swollen face, Obito kept getting up again and again to continue fighting.
Finally, Obito found an opening, crossed his hands into seals, and spat a burst of fire at Guy:
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!!"
This Great Fireball looked a bit smaller than the one Mikami Yuu had released earlier—only about a meter across.
Well… Obito's Great Fireball was something he'd trained hard for day after day. Compared to Mikami Yuu's—copied through the system and therefore solid and forceful—Obito's looked a bit hollow and unstable.
Seeing the blazing flames rushing at him, Guy was completely fired up and actually crossed his arms over his face. Pale green chakra rose off his body, and he forced his way through the fireball. Then, with a punch carrying "flaming fist" momentum, he slammed it into Obito's face—Obito was already celebrating his "victory"!
At that moment, flames were even licking off Guy's hair.
"Guy…"
"Obito, what are you—"
Not far away, Rin and Kurenai were stunned.
It's just a graduation exam—why are you two risking your lives…?
Right at that critical moment—
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
A surge of water, even more forceful than the one Mikami Yuu had used earlier, poured down from above, extinguishing the flames. A white figure cut into the battlefield like lightning—
Hatake Kakashi.
He appeared between Obito and Guy and grabbed both of their wrists, one in each hand.
"You two—enough! Do you want to die?"
"Get down there and find medical-nin to treat you!"
As Kakashi spoke, Teachers Ooki and Himura also stepped in, announcing that the fifteen-minute timer had ended and the exam was over.
Medical-nin who had already been waiting nearby rushed in immediately, checking injured students and treating obvious wounds.
On the offense side, Nara Mayumi was woken up. He rubbed his sore neck in silence. Asuma retreated to the side, looking at Mikami Yuu with a complicated expression. Hyūga Kamon stood quietly as well, Byakugan already deactivated.
On the defense side, Obito—now with bandages wrapped around his face—was shouting beside Kakashi, asking which side won. Kakashi didn't answer, too lazy to deal with him.
"Obito, sit down and rest for a bit. The teachers will announce the results soon."
Rin patted the stone step beside her and urged him.
Then she looked at Mikami Yuu. "Yuu-kun, are you okay?"
"…I'm fine. Just tired."
Mikami Yuu smiled, leaning against the tree trunk behind him, not wanting to move at all.
Rin pressed her lips together, then said, "Your performance just now was incredible. Taking on three people by yourself—and Asuma was one of them… I really didn't expect you to be that strong."
"It was just luck."
Mikami Yuu had barely finished being modest when Obito squeezed in:
"I was amazing too! If I didn't hold off Might Guy, how could he have won so easily? And Guy lost to me at the end anyway! If Yuu gets first place, then I have to be second, right?"
"…I think you top out at twentieth."
This time it was Kurenai speaking—she'd just walked over.
She was clearly exhausted too, cheeks a bit flushed, still panting, but her eyes were sparkling. "I think Mikami-kun getting first place is basically certain. It's a shame Asuma and the others weren't on our team—otherwise they wouldn't have lost so badly."
The group chattered excitedly.
Mikami Yuu listened half-heartedly, but lines of system text were already flashing through his mind:
[Transformation Technique: Congrats, Mikami-chan—another win. And this time your opponents were much stronger than last time. Pulling it off is really impressive.]
[Clone Technique: Hmph. It was okay. Too bad you didn't use my beautiful new skin… but fine. I'll give you that, since you worked hard. I wonder which jutsu it is that Mikami has never used. Hard to guess!]
[Great Fireball Jutsu: …Even though you weren't talking about me, hearing you say it still annoys me. Also, I strongly advise you not to mention that jutsu—if she shows up, this Mikami guy is dead.]
[Eight Gates: ?]
"Holy—don't!"
The moment Mikami Yuu saw Eight Gates pop up, he jolted in fear.
He hadn't used Eight Gates in this exam—not only because only opening one gate wasn't that helpful, but also because he was honestly scared of it. Who knew if Eight Gates would suddenly get hyped and force him to run a hundred laps around Konoha's track—or make him do some other bizarre thing.
Thankfully—
[Eight Gates: Hmph. I'm a little annoyed you didn't bring me to the fight, but I actually like your tactical style. That's youth! Go wash your body clean when you get home—tomorrow I'm coming to train you! Don't you dare skip! ]
Mikami Yuu: "…"
~~~
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