Training Ground No. 10.
Hyūga Akira stood atop a wooden post, looking down at Nawaki in the distance. His arms hung loosely at his sides, his entire body seemingly full of openings.
Nawaki stood opposite him with his arms crossed, looking up.
Just like always—
One stood high above, the other looked up from below.
But today—
That would change.
Nawaki moved first.
He charged forward and leapt into the air, delivering a powerful kick. Akira suddenly crouched and dodged it. Midair, Nawaki spun, his leg chopping down like an axe.
Akira sidestepped and casually tapped Nawaki once.
Nawaki landed and rolled backward on the ground.
A terrifying killing intent suddenly pressed down on him.
Akira smiled gently—but the killing intent surrounding him made it hard for Nawaki to breathe.
"I won't fall in the same place twice!!!"
Nawaki broke free from the pressure.
Clap!
His hands struck together, then he raised his fist and slammed it into the ground.
"Earth Release: Shaking Earth Fist — Combo!"
Spikes of earth rapidly erupted from the ground, stabbing toward Akira.
Akira leapt backward, dodging the fast-growing spikes one after another.
Eventually, the spikes formed a continuous path, then stopped.
Akira flipped and landed on top of one of the spikes, folding his arms as he looked down at Nawaki.
"Doesn't seem like much has changed."
Same techniques as before.
Nawaki grinned.
"It's not over yet!!"
He swung his fist through the air.
A massive stone fist burst out of the ground, rising higher than Akira and casting a shadow over him.
"Wow, that's pretty big," Akira remarked.
The giant stone fist came crashing down.
"Boom!!"
A thunderous explosion echoed as dust filled the air.
Akira's figure emerged from the dust, wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead.
"That was close. Almost hit me."
Good thing his reflexes were fast enough.
Nawaki stood up and launched an uppercut.
Another stone fist formed from the ground and shot upward toward Akira.
Akira was in midair with no foothold—
There was no way to dodge.
So—
He would take it head-on.
His body swelled several times in size. His clothes burst apart, and his skin rapidly turned red.
Demon Mode—Activated!
"Wooooh!!" Aburame Mushihime waved excitedly, her face flushed red.
Kushina and Minato glanced at her.
For some reason, she seemed even more excited than the fighters themselves.
Minato, however, looked thoughtful as he examined the altered terrain.
"So Nawaki infused chakra into the ground from the very beginning?"
A sustained-type ninjutsu.
Those usually consumed a massive amount of chakra.
Kushina muttered, "So… does Mushihime like this kind of body type?"
They were clearly not on the same wavelength.
Meanwhile—
Akira threw a punch at the incoming stone arm.
"Boom!!"
A violent shockwave exploded outward, like countless blades of wind spreading in all directions.
Crack… crack…
The stone arm began to fracture.
Then—
It shattered into countless fragments.
"It's not over yet!!" Nawaki roared, smashing his fists together.
Two massive stone fists rose from the ground, closing in on Akira from both sides.
"Go!! Shaking Earth Fist!! Let him see the results of our training!!"
"Boom!!"
The two fists slammed together.
For a moment—
Everything went silent.
Then—
Black-blue flames erupted from the point of impact.
The flames burst outward violently, shattering the stone fists into pieces that rained down to the ground.
Akira floated in midair.
Black-blue flames formed wings behind him. Flames on his forehead curved like horns, and his white eyes glowed with dark-blue light.
Like a demon descending upon the world.
Nawaki had forced Akira to use Fire Release.
He grinned brightly.
"Finally made you use your full strength, Akira-nii."
"Not bad."
Akira stepped forward—
And instantly appeared in front of Nawaki.
He reached out and lightly tapped Nawaki's forehead.
"Your improvement is impressive."
At the very least, Nawaki had forced him to use flames.
That level was already approaching jōnin.
"But don't get carried away."
Nawaki smiled as he slowly fell backward.
At some point, his eyes had already closed.
Akira's single tap had cut off oxygen flow to his brain, knocking him unconscious.
He wasn't going to play Itachi's style.
Now—
Nawaki was ready to be harvested.
[EXP +5897]
Akira nodded in satisfaction.
"You guys… what have you done?!!!"
A furious roar suddenly echoed across the training ground.
The facility manager glared at them in anger.
Akira glanced behind him—
At the earth spikes and shattered stone scattered everywhere.
He silently pointed at the unconscious Nawaki.
"He did it."
Before the manager could react, Akira grabbed Kushina in one hand and Minato in the other—
And ran.
Mushihime stood there blankly for a moment, then looked at the enraged manager.
"Wait for me!!"
She hurried after them.
Kushina, being carried away, flailed wildly.
"How can you just abandon Nawaki-nii like that?!"
"This is betrayal!! Betrayal!!!"
Akira paused mid-run.
That… made sense.
He suddenly turned around and ran back to the training ground.
In front of the manager, he set Kushina and Minato down.
"They're with him."
Then—
He vanished, already over a hundred meters away.
Leaving Kushina and Minato standing there in stunned silence.
"HYŪGA AKIRA!!! I didn't ask you to bring us back!!!" Kushina's furious voice echoed across the ruined training ground.
Minato muttered helplessly, "I didn't say anything…"
Why was he left behind too?
…
Akira returned home, completely satisfied.
As for the angry manager—
That was Nawaki's problem now.
"Beat someone up and run… so exciting."
Akira couldn't suppress the grin on his face.
Seeing him like that, Natsuna whispered to Machi,
"He definitely did something bad. Look at that smile."
Machi rolled her eyes, eating her snacks calmly.
"Isn't he always like this?"
Akira suddenly frowned.
It felt like he had forgotten something.
Ah, whatever.
It probably wasn't important.
Meanwhile—
Aburame Mushihime, who had been left outside all night, quietly walked into Akira's bedroom.
This talent—
Was definitely not useless after all.
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