Omoi used Body Flicker Jutsu, increasing his speeds and appearing behind Menma.
Omoi knows the difficulty of using the Body Flicker Jutsu in combat; in fact, throughout the history of the Ninja World, only one person managed to utilize the Body Flicker Technique in combat effectively, and that is Shisui Uchiha.
Of course some ninjas are capable of using Body Flicker Jutsu in combat, but compared to Shisui Uchiha, they might as well be beginners who know nothing of what they are doing.
Omoi knows that he wouldn't be able to use Body Flicker Jutsu as effectively as Shisui Uchiha or veteran ninjas who also had mastery of the ninjutsu since Omoi didn't really focus on training the Body Flicker Jutsu in combat.
The way Omoi uses the Body Flicker Jutsu isn't really all that impressive, but that wasn't really the point, as Omoi only intended to shorten the distance between him and Menma and launch an attack that Menma wouldn't have had time to dodge.
'Cloud Style: Crescent Moon Slice! 'Omoi thought as he swung his sword in incredible speed.
'Shit! ' Menma thought as his body instinctively moved away from Omoi's range, but how could Menma move fast enough and have his back cut by Omoi's sword?
Menma grits his teeth and ignores the pain in his back at this moment. Right now he focuses on gaining distance away from Omoi and repositioning himself for a counterattack.
But how can Omoi let that happen? Omoi didn't stop after he landed his attack and continued swinging his swords, targeting Menma's body and trying to slow down Menma.
This time he moved 100% of his speed, unlike the previous exchanges where he didn't go all out in hopes of surprising Menma. While he didn't manage to secure an opportunity earlier to inflict severe injuries on Menma, right now he is satisfied with the fact that his surprise attack worked.
Menma also didn't hold back anymore and moved as fast as he could, but the problem was the fact that he didn't have a range compared to his opponent.
While he was able to parry and block some of the attack, most of the attacks Omoi launched hit his body, creating cuts around his body.
In order not to weaken from the blood loss, Menma didn't hesitate to use the Nine-Tails Fox power to increase his already incredibly fast regeneration, which he got from being an Uzumaki.
'His overconfidence finally caught up to him,' Kakashi thought while slightly shaking his head.
As someone who is familiar with Minato's family, he already knows the problem Minato and Kushina's children had—with the exception of Naruto, of course.
Out of the three, Menma is by far the most overconfident and always looks down on his enemy's capabilities and overestimates his own.
While it might be okay towards his peers in the Leaf since, without a doubt, he was slightly above, he shouldn't look down on the capabilities of other villages as well.
After all, there are reasons why there are villages equal to Leaf.
"Menma wasn't alert enough, which really caused him a lot," Satsuki said calmly while her eyes—which already turned red thanks to the Sharingan being activated—watched the fight intently.
Not because she worries about Menma. In fact, she couldn't care who wins and who loses, but the fight they had will definitely be useful to her as a reference to improve her fighting style.
"Indeed," Keimei slightly nods. "Luckily for him, he is part of the Uzumaki Clan, and with their incredible healing capabilities, the wounds he suffers wouldn't really slow him down."
"That would be correct, but he receives far more cuts than he could heal, and if he's unable to turn the situation around, it only matters before he lost," Shino chimed in.
"There's no way Menma-kun will be defeated in this. He still hasn't gone all out, and once he does, he will definitely be able to defeat that Cloud Ninja easily," Ino said with vigor.
"That is if he can find an opportunity to turn the situation and give him room to breathe, but I doubt that Cloud Ninja will give Menma a chance, especially how aggressive his attacks are," Shikamaru comments.
"Aren't you supposed to support Menma, especially the fact that he was on our side?"
"This is an individual battle, Ino, not a team battle," Shikimaru responds while slightly rolling his eyes.
"Indeed," Asuma chimed in. "While it was good to cheer your friend, right now one had to be impartial."
"Is Menma about to lose?" Ino asks while staring at her sensei.
"While at the surface his situation isn't good, it's still far from being bad. Right now Menma just has to create a perfect opportunity for him to turn this situation around."
"I doubt that will be easy," Shikamaru whispers, but Asuma heard him, but he didn't respond and stared at the battle.
"It seems that idiot will pass through the third exam," Karui said with a smirk on her face.
"I doubt that," Samui said in a calm voice.
"Why? Isn't Omoi clearly winning in the fight?" Karui asks, voice filled with doubt.
In Karui's opinion it would be a matter of time before Menma lost the fight, especially with the injuries he suffered at the hands of Omoi, and this also doesn't mention the fact that Omoi didn't give Menma a chance to fight back.
"We can't roll out the possibility of that Leaf Genin trump card. Look at the Leaf Jonin, and none of them look worried about his losing."
"Maybe they're just acting."
"Maybe you are right, but you should be clear that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, and I doubt that the Hokage and his wife didn't teach him any useful trump card. You should remember the strength his brother showcased."
Karui didn't respond and frowned as she continued to observe the fight.
'Damn it! I need to think of a way out, or I will lose this match. Menma grits his teeth as his eyes survey the surrounding area for an opportunity he could use while at the same time trying his best to defend and parry Omoi's attack.
Menma's eyes suddenly flash a ruthless light as he moves his hand, blocking the sword. The moment his hand is hit by the sword, blood flows out, but Menma ignores the pain and tightly grips the sword.
Omoi's eyes widen a bit before he notices a punch coming towards his face. He immediately uses the available hand to redirect the punch.
Menma already predicts this and launches a kick towards Omoi's stomach, and the impact is powerful enough to make Omoi take a few steps backwards.
While this was enough to catch a break, Menma knows that with the sword in Omoi's hand, the situation remains the same, so Menma jumps backwards, increasing the distance between them into dozens of meters.
"Oh no! Menma is surely unable to use his arm in this match," Ino screams in concern.
"He will be okay, especially with his healing capabilities," Shikamaru said calmly but inwardly shocked with Menma ruthless action.
Shikamaru didn't expect for Menma to injureMenma's himself in order to break free from his predicament.
"It was a wise move for Menma," Asuma said.
"Indeed," Kurenai slightly nods her head. "While it might be crazy action for others, with his natural healing capability he can quickly recover such a superficial injury."
"Did you teach your children such tactics?" Mikoto turns her head towards Kushina and asks.
"No," Kushina shakes her head. "I never teach such tactics, but I do admit it was incredibly effective in this situation."
"It is an appropriate decision he could make," Zabuza comments with his lips slightly curved, but no one can see it thanks to the bandages covering half of his face.
"Is it really a good decision? While I can see the fact that his natural healing is incredible, I doubt it would cause nothing," Haku said.
"Indeed, it will definitely lower his energy, but if he uses other tactics, he will probably receive far more injuries than what he currently has.
Of course it will depend on that Cloud Ninja action in such a scenario, but with his previous performance, it had a high probability of happening," Zabuza responded.
Of course there are actions Menma could use without injuring his hand in the process, but in order to pull that off, many things had to align correctly, which in that situation didn't happen.
'I didn't think he would sacrifice his hand to turn the situation,' Omoi thought while regret rose within his heart.
He regrets that he didn't manage to finish the fight while he had such advantages, but Omoi also knows that while he had such an advantage, it wasn't really enough to decide the winner of this fight.
Just as Omoi was happy that he wounded Menma's arms, when he noticed the fact they had already healed, it made him frown.
'How can I forget he is part of the Uzumaki Clan?! His regeneration far surpasses typical ninjas even without using medical ninjutsu' Omoi's eyes flash in grimness.