"Ishimori Haneda, step forward."
Iori Nanako's voice echoed in the training ground, marking the beginning of the Anti-Personnel combat evaluation.
Hearing this, the gazes of all teachers and students shifted to Ishimori Haneda, who immediately felt the weight of their penetrating gaze.
Hehe… being the first one called in an uncertain situation or exam never feels comfortable. What bad luck, my friend. Seimei thought inwardly as he saw Haneda stiffen.
Meanwhile, Haneda nodded his head and said, "Yes, sensei."
He wasn't nervous or worried about facing a tough opponent. Although he tensed up a little due to being called first, he relaxed and stepped forward without hesitation.
The only problem was that he didn't know what kind of opponent he would be facing.
All he knew was that his opponent countered him in one way or another. He had no other intel, none at all.
As a Ninjutsu specialist ninja who liked to stay prepared and strike hard to put his opponents off balance, such uncertainties were never good for him.
And according to the current test theme, his opponent was specifically selected to counter his Ninjutsu.
His opponent either had way more chakra than him, or had some way to prevent him from casting Ninjutsu rapidly.
Whatever the case was, it was bad news.
Thinking about it anymore won't help. No matter what kind of challenge I face, I will just deal with it. Haneda thought as he strengthened his resolve.
Nanako looked at Haneda, smiled faintly, and said, "Good attitude, student Haneda."
"Now, it's time to meet your opponent."
Nanako looked at the sheet on the paperboard and called without lifting her head, "Jonin Hyuga Kosei."
As soon as she finished speaking, a long, black-haired ninja with a refined hairstyle removed his mask and stepped forward.
His facial features were also refined and perfectly groomed. He wore a standard Jonin outfit and a pair of thin, metallic gloves made of rare materials and chakra metal.
He had a stoic expression on his face, and his pair of ghostly white Byakugan stared at Ishimori Haneda.
Based on his chakra reserves and quality, he should have the strength of an Elite Jonin. Haneda, you have a tough opponent ahead. Seimei thought as he narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Hyuga Kosei.
"Alright, everyone, except for Jonin Hyuga Kosei and student Ishimori Haneda, step aside," said Nanako.
Hearing this, every ninja, instructor, and student moved to the side, giving Kosei and Haneda more than enough space in the training ground to commence their battle.
Nanako gave a final reminder. "The battle between Hyuga Kosei and Ishimori Haneda will last for five minutes as long as no side forfeits or one side is unable to continue."
"Student Haneda, we will grade you based on your performance against Jonin Kosei, so hold back. Give it your all."
"Treat Jonin Kosei as an enemy you must kill to complete your mission and survive. And try not to lose within one minute. It would be really bad and quite disappointing, you know."
"So…"
"Both parties ready?"
Hearing this, Haneda replied, "Yes, sensei."
Hyuga Kosei also gave a slight nod, and he activated his Byakugan, causing the veins near his temples to bulge.
Seeing their reactions, Nanako didn't delay anymore and declared, "The combat assessment begins…now."
As soon as Iori Nanako finished saying her words, Hyuga Kosei moved without a shred of hesitation or delay.
He rotated his right shoulder to pull his right hand back, all while gathering chakra in his palm.
Next, in the blink of an eye, he pushed his palm forward at Ishimori Haneda at a blinding speed, creating a chakra-infused vacuum shell of immense destructive power.
Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm
The compressed vacuum shell raced toward Haneda at a breakneck speed, making him feel an immense sense of danger.
Fuck! Shouldn't we have a light exchange to feel each other's powers now? You, a dignified Elite Jonin hailing from the Hyuga clan's main family line…why are you kicking off with your ultimate techniques from the start?
Haneda cursed him in his mind, but his hands didn't stay idle.
He quickly formed two hand seals, crouched down, and slammed his right palm on the ground.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall
The Earth chakra seeped into the ground from Haneda's palm, and it immediately molded the ground into a solid, thick, deep brown wall three meters tall and three meters wide.
The moment the sturdy earthen wall was formed, the invisible, chakra-infused vacuum shell arrived right in front of it.
Bang!
The vacuum shell slammed into the wall, instantly causing several cracks to appear in the wall. And in the next moment, the crack spread and the wall crumbled.
The earthen wall did its job. Even though it had crumbled, it had blocked the attack from Hyuga Kosei and dispersed the remnant of the Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm's force.
However, Haneda wasn't happy at all.
As soon as the wall crumbled, Hyuga Kosei appeared just a couple of meters away from Haneda—Kosei's chakra-infused palm, which was surely a product of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist Technique, was rushing toward his chest.
If it landed squarely on his chest, it could seal multiple tenketsu, disturb internal chakra flow, and shake his bones and organs by bypassing his external defenses.
The Elite Jonin Kosei was clearly holding back. Otherwise, this vicious palm technique wouldn't just disrupt the chakra flow network and rattle the internal organs—it would have directly damaged internal organs and caused internal trauma.
But most importantly, it would hurt like hell.
Naturally, seeing Hyuga Kosei's vicious palm approaching his chest, Haneda couldn't help but curse out loud.
"Shit!!"
However, the palm strike was faster than Haneda's curse words.
Kosei didn't give Haneda another moment as his palm directly slammed into Haneda's chest, releasing a torrent of precise chakra to block a bunch of his tenkensu and disrupt his chakra flow.
Puff~
Suddenly, Haneda's figure turned into a human-sized wooden log with a puff of white smoke. Haneda's figure was nowhere to be seen.
Crack! Crack! Bang!
Instead, the wooden log he placed in his place with the Substitution Technique burst into splinters under Kosei's heavy palm strike.
Meanwhile, after substituting himself with the wooden log, Haneda hid himself behind a large rock inside the training ground.
But he knew it was futile. Even if he suppressed his chakra to avoid the sensor ninja's detection, it was futile.
The Hyuga clan ninjas didn't rely on their chakra sensing techniques to find people.
They relied on their Byakugan's almost 360-degree peripheral vision, farsight, and X-ray vision to root out their hidden opponents.
He couldn't hide from Kosei's Byakugan.
It was pointless to hide his figure behind the rock.
And sure enough, Hyuga Kosei immediately found him hiding behind the rock and used the same Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm Technique to launch another destructive vacuum shell at the rock.
Sensing this, Haneda immediately activated the Body Flicker Technique and flickered away from the rock.
And in less than a fraction of a second, the vacuum shell collided with the large rock, shattering it into countless fragments of various shapes and sizes.
BANG!
Good news: Haneda had evaded in time.
Bad news: Hyuga Kosei's eyes were already on him once more.
Seeing Haneda appearing in a different location, Hyuga Kosei, who usually sported a stoic look, curled his lips into a faint smirk.
He had to say, chasing these fledgling ninjas until they couldn't breathe felt amazing.
If he had known it would be this fun, he would have signed up for such assessments earlier.
Not wanting to give Haneda a moment of respite, Kosei instantly dashed toward him once more.
And when Haneda saw this, he immediately cursed him in his mind.
Damn it, this bastard is so sinister. At least give me a moment to breathe.
Is this how a dignified Hyuga ninja should behave?
This Hyuga ninja has no chill.
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