Noah's hands hung loosely at his sides. He adopted no combat stance. He made no hand seals. He just waited.
—You first —he said, looking at the swordsman—. I want to see what you can do.
The swordsman clenched his jaw, offended.
He vanished in a flicker of speed and reappeared to Noah's left, his sword already mid-swing.
Noah didn't move.
His right eye caught the attack with ridiculous anticipation. He saw the tension in the swordsman's muscles before he jumped. He saw the chakra flowing toward his right arm. He saw the exact trajectory of the blade.
He turned his head three degrees to the left.
The sword passed grazing his cheek, cutting only a few strands of hair.
—What...? —the swordsman landed off-balance, unable to understand how he had missed such a certain strike.
—Your sword is fast —Noah said—. But I already knew where it was going to land before you raised your arm.
Juro frowned, observing carefully. Something had changed in the boy. His eyes.
Noah's right eye was different. The pupil seemed to have blurred, and the iris had taken on a pearly white tone, with faint veins branching from the center like tree roots.
—Byakugan! —the swordsman spat, jumping back to gain distance—. He has the Hyuga Byakugan!
—Byakugan... —Juro murmured, also stepping back—. What kind of monster are you?
—Damn —the swordsman clenched his jaw—. With that 360-degree vision, I won't be able to get close with my sword so easily.
—Then use jutsus —Juro said—. I'll keep him busy at range.
Juro made a quick sequence of hand seals, and the ground beneath his feet began to smoke.
—Lava Style: Lava Demon Technique.
He spat out a mass of liquid lava that shot toward Noah like a cannonball.
Noah didn't move aside.
He brought his hands together.
—Wood Style: Earth Barrier.
From the ground in front of him, a wall of living wood burst forth, thick and twisted. The lava ball struck it with a sharp hiss, but the wall held. The surface charred, but the inner wood remained intact, and new branches sprouted to replace the burned ones.
Juro cursed under his breath.
—His Wood Style... is tougher than last time.
—I've improved —Noah replied simply.
Meanwhile, the swordsman had taken advantage of the distraction. He had circled the wooden wall on the right flank and now charged at Noah with his sword raised, chakra concentrating on the blade to enhance the cut.
Noah's Byakugan saw him coming.
He ducked. The sword passed over his head. Noah spun around and kicked the swordsman in the knee, not hard enough to break the bone, but enough to destabilize him.
The swordsman fell to his knees.
—Grrr...!
—Your taijutsu is good —Noah said, stepping back a couple of paces—. But the Byakugan sees each of your movements before you make them. You can't hit me if I already know where you're going to attack.
—Then I won't hit you —the swordsman growled, and this time he made a series of hand seals—. Water Style: Water Dragon Projectile Technique!
Water burst from his mouth, forming a liquid dragon that launched itself at Noah.
Noah watched the technique approach and formed a second wooden wall that blocked the attack.
When the water fell to the ground, Noah was still there—dry in the sense that he wasn't injured, but dripping due to the splashes.
—It didn't do anything to you? —the swordsman blinked, bewildered.
—Pure Water Style isn't effective against my Wood Style —Noah explained, shaking the water off his clothes with an annoyed gesture—. The wood I create is made of water and earth chakra. Water alone doesn't rot it. You'd need something more acidic, or hotter. Like his Lava Release.
He nodded toward Juro.
—That's a real counter to my wood. Water, not so much.
The swordsman gritted his teeth, frustrated. Juro, who had been observing and analyzing the enemy, stepped forward.
—Leave him to me. You just support me with water attacks to limit his movements.
—Understood.
Juro made hand seals again. This time the sequence was longer and more complex.
—Lava Style: Scorching World!
He spat not a ball, but a torrent. A river of liquid lava that advanced across the ground like a serpent, melting earth, trees, rocks. Everything in its path was swallowed.
Noah didn't stay still this time.
He jumped back, landing on a tree branch, and his hands were already forming seals.
—Wood Style: Advent of a World of Trees.
Trees sprouted from the ground, but not to block the lava directly. They grew at an angle, diverting the torrent to the sides, creating wooden channels that guided the lava away from Noah.
The swordsman, meanwhile, had taken advantage of Noah's jump to position himself behind him. He launched a volley of kunai, aiming at the boy's back.
Noah's Byakugan saw them. His Sharingan —which he had just activated in his left eye, bright red with a single spinning tomoe— calculated the trajectories.
Noah twisted his torso slightly and raised an arm. Two kunai passed wide. One grazed his sleeve. He caught the fourth in the air between two fingers, without looking.
—Decent throw —he commented, letting the kunai fall to the ground—. But predictable.
The swordsman paled.
—Sharingan... he has a Sharingan too!
Juro was also stunned.
—Wait... —he said, narrowing his eyes—. Your eyes... the left is Sharingan, the right Byakugan. But how...?
Noah smiled.
—Want to see something interesting?
He brought his hands together in a sequence of seals familiar to Juro and, suddenly, spat out a mass of liquid lava that shot toward the swordsman, who was not expecting such an attack.
—Lava Style: Lava Demon Technique.
The swordsman tried to dodge, but the lava ball was too fast.
In barely a second, it struck his right shoulder and exploded like a bubble, releasing a large amount of liquid lava that engulfed his entire body.
Juro took a step back, his eyes wide.
—You have Lava Style too?! Since when?
—For a while now —Noah replied, giving no further details—. But I hadn't had a chance to test it in real combat. So... thanks.
—It doesn't matter that you have Lava Style. Mine is better. I've been using it for years!
—Then prove it —Noah replied.
The battle intensified.
Juro launched ball after ball of lava, each time faster, more concentrated. Noah, instead of blocking with wood, decided to respond with his own Lava Style. He copied Juro's seals —his Sharingan recording every movement— and spat out his own incandescent mass.
The lava balls collided in midair, exploding into showers of cinder that rained down around them.