Whoosh.
Wind howled past her ears as Konome's silver hair streamed behind her like a battle flag.
Every step she took shattered the ground beneath her feet.
Her Byakugan locked firmly onto the unmoving figure ahead. Using the momentum of her charge, Konome brought her hands together, bent her right arm, and drove her elbow straight toward Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest.
Seeing this, Hiruzen formed a one handed seal with his left hand and raised his right palm in front of him.
Thick Earth Release chakra surged into his palm.
Boom.
Just as his chakra finished gathering, the crimson blur was already right in front of him.
Elbow and palm collided in an instant.
The elbow strike, wrapped in the Nine Tails' cloak, was like mounting a spear on the front of a locomotive, carrying terrifying killing power.
Crack.
The heavy strike smashed into his palm.
Earth chakra burst out in all directions.
Hiruzen's expression turned serious. His feet scraped across the ground, carving out two scorching tracks in the dirt.
His right hand, wrapped in dusky yellow chakra, clamped down around Konome's elbow. The muscles of his left arm bulged like steel cables.
Step.
His right foot crushed into the ground, anchoring his body.
Hiruzen stopped Konome's charge with one arm.
"Good power."
He spoke calmly as his vast chakra supported his muscles like blood in a circulatory system. At the same time, he was feeling out the limits of her strength.
Konome clenched her teeth. Every muscle in her body fired at once, but the figure in front of her, who did not look especially large, felt like an unshakable mountain.
Realizing she could not overpower him, Konome changed moves without hesitation.
Using her elbow as the center and her forearm as the radius, she snapped her right fist around like a whip toward Hiruzen's cheek.
"Your reach is short, and…"
Hiruzen tilted his head back slightly, dodging the whip like punch with ease. His left hand dropped to block the left hook she tried to sneak into his abdomen at the same time.
"Your intentions are too obvious."
Before he could finish the sentence, Konome suddenly shifted again.
Both hands opened from fists to claws and latched onto Hiruzen's wrists.
The crimson tailed beast cloak warped, chakra surging and condensing into a third arm on her chest.
Dead ash colored ocular power flashed in her eyes.
Crack, crack.
The tailed beast chakra arm grew bones in an instant. Muscles and skin layered over them, the texture so realistic it could have belonged to a real person.
The huge fist clenched tight and hammered toward Hiruzen's torso.
Shape transformation: Fist.
For the first time in this bout, a change flickered across Hiruzen's face as he saw the sudden third arm.
He pushed down hard with both hands, forcing Konome into the ground. The terrifying force pinned her completely in place.
Then he raised his leg and kicked.
Boom.
Fist and foot collided.
Konome's surprise attack with the third arm was once again stopped by Hiruzen.
She suddenly raised her head.
Blub, blub.
With her feet pressed into the dirt, the cloak around her face dissolved in an instant.
Her small lips parted. Wind Release chakra churned inside her mouth, shining a bright blue.
Hiruzen's mouth curled into a slight grin.
He tilted his head just a little to the side, revealing another version of himself standing right behind him, hands clasped together and mouth already aglow with gathering flames.
Shadow Clone Jutsu.
The Hiruzen behind him took a step forward, standing back to back with the one restraining Konome, lining up perfectly from Konome's perspective as if the Hokage had grown a second head.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
The clone swelled his chest and unleashed a wave of roaring flame.
Fwoom.
In Konome's eyes, the orange red blaze filled her entire world in a heartbeat.
At such close range, the already massive fireball felt like the sun itself crashing down from the sky.
Buzz.
Invisible wind tore through the air and slammed into the fireball.
But the blade like Wind Release, which tore everything else apart, met its natural enemy here.
The raging fire staggered for half a second, then flared up even more violently, like gasoline had just been thrown onto it.
It was too late to reform the tailed beast cloak to block it.
Violet light flashed through the Byakugan.
Her skeletal mastery over her own flesh activated again.
The muscles of her thighs drew taut like bowstrings. The explosive release was so abrupt that several muscle fibers snapped under the strain.
Boom.
Konome kicked off the ground, her body slamming backward.
Using that rebound, she ripped free from Hiruzen's grip and flew in the opposite direction.
Fwoom.
The fireball still chased after her relentlessly, dragging a long tail of flame behind it.
In the air, the rapidly expanding inferno seemed almost motionless relative to her, the burning light baking her pale skin a painful red.
A surge of danger shot up her spine like a lightning strike and exploded in the back of her brain.
The chakra core in her heart flickered rapidly with violet light.
Crash.
A torrent of water materialized out of thin air in front of Konome and surged down like a curtain, enveloping the Fireball Jutsu.
Water and fire collided.
Whether it was because her Wind Release had strengthened the flames or because Hiruzen's mastery of Fire Style was simply too high, the water curtain could not immediately overpower the blaze.
Sizzle, sizzle.
Steam roared into existence as the flames boiled the water away in great clouds.
White mist exploded outward until even the air turned milky.
In the end, fire could not compete with Water Release in stamina.
A streak of white flashed inside the orange glow and the chakra light suddenly dimmed.
Boom.
Konome hit the ground with a heavy thud. The earth cracked under her heels.
Steam slowly dispersed as the Nine Tails' power soothed the exhaustion in her muscles.
When she looked up again, two dry, thin figures were standing in the sea of white mist.
Aside from the slight difference in number, they looked exactly the same as they had before she charged.
"Can you tell which is which?"
Both Hiruzen figures spoke at once through the fog, their aged voices overlapping perfectly.
"No need."
Konome locked onto both with her Byakugan and raised her hands. The Three Tails' power surged through her body.
"Freeze."
The drifting steam in the area stopped expanding all at once, as if reality had been paused and turned into a static landscape painting.
Konome spread her fingers, bending them into claws and aiming one hand at each Hiruzen.
"Condense."
Whoosh.
The ephemeral mist shrank and converged in an instant, compressing back into rushing water that wrapped around both figures.
Konome's eyes sharpened.
Her clawed hands clenched into fists.
"Water Release: Serpent Strangle."
The spiraling water around Hiruzen's bodies twisted into the shape of giant constricting serpents.
They flicked their tongues and their flowing muscles tightened as they coiled.
Crack, crack, crack.
The snakes squeezed down on their prey.
The Hiruzen on the left vanished in a puff of smoke.
That one.
Konome's gaze shifted to the other.
The remaining Hiruzen's face turned bright red from the constriction, but then his lips curled into a stiff smile and his body crumbled into mud.
Not good.
Konome's heart clenched. She flared her Byakugan to its fullest, expanding her three hundred and sixty degree field of vision.
A blinding mass of chakra was already glowing right beneath her feet.
Splurt.
Two large hands burst up from the ground and clamped around her ankles.
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."
The world dropped away under her.
Konome's perspective plunged, and in the blink of an eye only a silver haired head remained above the surface of the earth.
Hiruzen's upper body rose smoothly out of the ground in front of her, moving through the soil like a fish through water.
"Do not put blind faith in your sensory abilities."
Looking down at Konome's head half buried in the dirt, Hiruzen spoke slowly.
"The human brain has many flaws. Even if you sense me, if your attention is focused elsewhere, it will automatically categorize me as unimportant and ignore me.
"I once caught a pickpocket in the act. This is what he taught me. Now I am passing it on to you."
"Lesson learned."
Boom, boom.
Two crimson arms punched up out of the earth.
Hiruzen's eyelid twitched and he quickly stepped back.
Konome dug her fingers into the ground and hauled herself up with brute strength, tearing free of the soil in less than half a second.
Muscles bulged and trembled under her skin as the dense earth crumbled around her like loose flour.
The dust clinging to her tailed beast cloak fell away as it dissipated.
After such a fierce exchange, neither of them even had a scratch on their clothes.
They stood facing each other in the sunset, distance between them and breathing calm.
"Do you want to continue?" Konome asked.
"No need."
Hiruzen slowly shook his head.
Looking at the girl whose breath had already stabilized and whose chakra and stamina were still overflowing, he had a solid sense of her limits now.
Konome's physical stats were terrifying.
They had completely surpassed the normal jonin ceiling.
Other than a slight deficiency in agility due to her excessive body weight, she had almost no weaknesses.
Her greatest strength was her defense.
Normally, his grip was strong enough to crush steel into a lump.
Yet when he grabbed her elbow, Konome had not even changed expressions.
That level of force was nothing to her.
Bones harder than steel.
So this was the Taketori clan's Shikotsumyaku.
Thinking of the reports from Kirigakure, Hiruzen understood perfectly where her monstrous defenses came from.
Of course, Konome was not without flaws.
Compared to her super sized taijutsu, her ninjutsu was relatively underdeveloped.
Her shape transformations were precise, but her nature transformations were still immature.
Her jutsu speed was high because she did not need hand seals.
Her techniques were powerful because that strange violet chakra of hers was of extremely high quality.
In short, she lacked technique and was brute forcing everything with raw talent.
"I have a clear understanding of your fighting style now."
Hearing this, Konome stayed where she was, waiting for her teacher's verdict.
"There are two paths your future combat system can take."
Hiruzen raised two fingers.
"First is the road you are already on. Ninjutsu and taijutsu advancing together.
"Use all five elemental nature transformations to enrich your tools and build a multi layered tactical system. Once complete, you will be something like a new version of me."
"Second is to take the hybrid route of using ninjutsu to enhance taijutsu, by specializing in Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
"Which one do you want?"
Konome paused for a moment.
"Why not both?"
Hiruzen chuckled.
"Human energy is limited.
"If you have the ability to merge the two into one, then of course that would be ideal."
"Then I want both."
"That is possible, but no one has ever walked that path. The road ahead will be very hard. I will not be able to chart it for you."
Hiruzen nodded without hesitation.
As the teacher who had raised the three Sannin, he had always given his students maximum autonomy.
And with Konome's talent, she certainly had the qualifications to choose this kind of route.
"Your taijutsu already has its own distinctive style. You just need to keep pushing along that line.
"Kumo's Lightning Release Chakra Mode is dangerous, but with your physique, it should not be a problem.
"Once your body matures, you can use Lightning Mode to compensate for your lack of agility. Once that is done, your taijutsu will naturally have no weak points. I do not need to meddle there."
"What about ninjutsu?" Konome asked.
"I have always believed that the best ninjutsu is the one that suits you.
"And the ones that suit you best are those you develop with your own hands.
"Aside from Lightning Release Chakra Mode, I do not recommend learning too many ready made techniques for now.
"What you are doing right now is very good. Your current ninjutsu are immature, which tells me you have not blindly crammed a full system of existing jutsu, but chosen to develop your own instead.
"Although they are crude, that is normal. You can polish them slowly."
Is that supposed to be praise?
Konome was not sure whether she should feel pleased or depressed.
"So in other words, I became your disciple for nothing."
"Hardly."
Hiruzen smiled.
"You are already an elite jonin, not a fresh graduate of the academy.
"Anyone who reaches this level is already one of the rare strong in the shinobi world. Their combat style is nearly complete.
"All I can do now is patch the gaps or point out the places that can be strengthened.
"Right now, your biggest problem is that your nature transformations are still rough.
"Today I will explain all five elemental transformations to you in one sitting, as well as the logic behind elemental counters.
"In the future, whenever you run into problems while developing new jutsu, write them down. I will come at this time every week to answer them."
"Fine."
Konome was a little disappointed, but when she thought of how wildly different the Sannin's fighting styles were, understanding bloomed in her chest.
Copy pasting a single combat template or stacking powerful techniques was not what made a top tier shinobi.
This was Hiruzen's way of teaching.
Give each student maximum freedom, and only provide core knowledge for developing jutsu, rather than spoon feeding complete, powerful techniques.
Hiruzen glanced at the sky.
At some point, only half a sun remained hanging on the horizon.
"Your overall tactics do not need major correction. The topic of nature transformation will be long, so I will keep it as concise as possible."
As he spoke, he began forming hand seals.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Rampart."
Rumble.
A thick wall of earth rose from the ground in the battered training field.
"Earth Release is most similar to Water Release, so we will start there."
Konome sat cross legged and listened closely.
"Water Release chakra, after undergoing nature transformation, remains loosely arranged.
"The forces between individual chakra particles are weak, which is why Water Release has fluidity.
"Earth Release is the exact opposite.
"To perform Earth Release nature transformation, you must construct a three dimensional structure with your chakra, like building a house, where each part is tightly connected and cannot be easily separated.
"That makes Earth the most solid."
Konome activated her Byakugan and examined the Earth Release chakra carefully.
Under extreme magnification, she saw that the chakra particles were indeed stacked together like carefully arranged blocks, nothing like the scattered pattern of Water Release.
"Attack it with Water Release."
Hiruzen pointed at the wall.
Konome drew up water and sent it crashing into the earth wall, but the soft water failed to break through.
All it could do was soak the yellow wall and turn it into darker, muddier earth.
"Because of its flow, water is the softest nature among the five elements, and the weakest in raw offense.
"Earth's three dimensional structure makes it the hardest.
"That hardness is the first layer of Earth's advantage over Water."
He formed the Ram seal and pointed at the mud.
The sludge reshaped itself quickly and flowed back into the wall.
"When you doused my fire just now, the water in the air could still be reused.
"That is because Water Release produces something solid. Fire's heat is completely absorbed by the water, leaving the water itself unaffected.
"But when water collides with earth, that insubstantial water is absorbed by something more solid than itself.
"In that case, my earth can still be used, but your water cannot.
"That is the second layer of the counter."
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