The scorching Great Flame Technique was like an overwhelming wall of fire, its fierce blaze violently crashing against the Water Formation Wall.
The water visibly decreased by a large amount, but the Water Formation Wall technique inherently has a cyclical nature; with the power of rotation, the missing parts were quickly replenished by the surrounding water.
Seeing that Ino was not struggling, Asuma immediately increased his Chakra output, and the flame's temperature turned deep red.
Ino, on her side, showed no hesitation either, similarly accelerating the water wall's absorption and rotation speed.
With circle after circle of rotation, the water wall, instead of thinning under the impact of the flames, grew thicker and more solid due to the addition of water from the natural environment.
Both their "Ninja" stats should be at level 9, meaning their control over Ninjutsu was the same, and their "Stamina" representing total Chakra was also similar; Asuma was slightly higher, probably 7 points, while Ino was now very close to 7. Their remaining hand seal level, Ninjutsu rank, and even the rank of the Ninjutsu itself were all about the same.
The Sarutobi Clan's Fire Release Ninjutsu had its unique aspects, and the Water Formation Wall, improved by the Second Hokage, was also an extremely powerful Water Release Ninjutsu. The most crucial factor was that water counters fire.
The Second Hokage's rigorous training in Water Release was not without the intention of using it against the Uchiha Clan.
The Fire Release: Great Flame Technique was completely blocked by the Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Asuma increased his Chakra output twice consecutively, but due to water countering fire, he was unable to break through Ino's defense.
Asuma's specialty was still Taijutsu; Ninjutsu was merely an auxiliary for him. Seeing that their Ninjutsu was evenly matched, he immediately utilized his strong suit.
"Watch out!" He charged forward in a single bound.
After the two techniques collided, a large amount of steam permeated the air. Ino didn't use the Hidden Mist Technique this time, nor did she have any intention of competing with Asuma in Taijutsu; her meager Taijutsu was only good for a chicken-pecking fight with Sasuke at this point, but against an elite Jonin, it would be suicide.
She inhaled deeply, not even looking at Asuma, who was charging for close combat. Adding Water Release nature transformation to her Chakra, she continuously performed hand seals with both hands.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Her Chakra transformed into a surging torrent of water, violently rushing towards Asuma directly in front of her.
"That technique is quite good!" Asuma praised.
He saw the direction of the water flow, leaped into the air, and continued his assault by running on water.
"The title 'Yamanaka Wild Boar' should really belong to you!" Ino secretly grumbled, then brought her index and middle fingers together to form a cross, making the "Jin" hand seal, and created a Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone quickly performed three hand seals: "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Asuma, without using a weapon, deftly dodged the Wild Water Wave with a precise sidestep, barely losing any momentum in his charge.
Ino's Shadow Clone drew a Kunai and lunged at Asuma's throat. Unfortunately, the gap in their Taijutsu was too vast; in less than a second, the Shadow Clone was easily dealt with by Asuma.
Using the brief time bought by the Wild Water Wave and the Shadow Clone, Ino finally completed her last technique.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" Fifteen consecutive hand seals were rapidly completed, and a water dragon burst from the water, carrying a powerful impact, letting out a roar, and directly crashing into Asuma.
"This move is a bit rigid," Asuma commented, then took two steps to the left, attempting to dodge the Water Dragon Bullet. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Ino, after releasing the Water Dragon Bullet, hadn't let go, but was still firmly holding the last "Yu" hand seal.
This technique isn't over yet??
Facing a Jonin-level Water Release Ninjutsu, Asuma didn't dare to take it head-on. He quickly dashed several more steps to the left. Ino let out a soft cry, and the winding water dragon, despite having gone off target, was controlled by Chakra, turning back and curving around to attack again.
"Isn't this Kosuke-sensei's move? Interesting!" Asuma finally became serious. He took out his Chakra Blade, wearing it like brass knuckles. His right hand clenched into a fist, Wind Release Chakra coating the Chakra Blade. Seeing the direction the water dragon was approaching from, the light blue Chakra, like a sharp blade, sliced through the water dragon at a third of its length. Then, instead of retreating, he advanced, breaking through the Water Formation Wall.
Ino immediately raised her hands in surrender.
"I give up!"
Asuma put away his Chakra Blade, thought for a moment, and said, "Your Water Release abilities are really good, and your Chakra seems abundant. However, you need to strengthen your close-combat training. You can't just give up next time an enemy defeats your Water Release, can you?"
For Ino, who was determined to be a long-range artillery, she naturally knew her close-combat skills were weak, but she also couldn't help it. After entering puberty, her physical stats were increasing daily. It would be too wasteful to use stat points before her physical growth reached its limit.
Anyway, with the Ino–Shika–Choji combination, being a standing artillery was perfectly fine.
Ino's reliance was on her teammates. She could fully add points to close-combat attributes after her Ninja, Speed, and Stamina attributes were maxed out.
She humbly accepted Asuma's advice but didn't plan to change anything for now.
Asuma also knew that close-combat ability couldn't be trained in a day or two; it required perseverance, diligence, and a lot of sweat.
He taught Ino a very famous Taijutsu, the Body Flicker Technique, to improve her survival ability. Afterwards, combining various Water Release Ninjutsu, he developed a Water Body Flicker Technique that was quite suitable for Ino.
A full-fledged Body Flicker Ino was impossible due to her low Taijutsu level, but it could be used as a means of escape in critical moments.
Asuma created a Shadow Clone to train Ino in the Body Flicker Technique, while he himself looked at Shikamaru: "Come on, kid, attack me!"
Through combat, he understood the strengths of the three and then developed different training methods tailored to their characteristics.
He didn't need to guide them on their clan's Secret Techniques, nor did he want to commit that taboo.
He focused on strengthening the trio's weaknesses through intensive training.
Ino and Shikamaru didn't worry him. He considered Ino to be truly exceptionally talented; at twelve years old, Asuma himself certainly didn't possess her strength. In terms of talent, excluding the older generation and not being familiar with the Uchiha Clan, among his peers he had seen, perhaps only Kakashi surpassed Ino in talent.
Shikamaru's talent was also good; this boy complained about things being troublesome, but when it came down to it, he wouldn't give up. He clearly knew what he should do and how to do it.
The real trouble was Choji. Even with "with great power comes great responsibility" as an incentive, the chubby boy's mind was still not mature enough. He hadn't shifted his mindset from student to Ninja. He didn't quite understand why his companions were working so hard; most of the time, he just saw Ino training hard and Shikamaru training hard, so he trained hard too. This mentality was fundamentally flawed.
Asuma wasn't his father, so there were many things he couldn't say. Instead, he increased the chubby boy's training load! "Go run laps! How many laps? Run until you can't run anymore!"
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