"Sensei Anko, if you want to be my instructor, but your strength isn't up to par… that could be very dangerous for you."
Yoruha smiled faintly as he looked at Anko, the meaning behind his words crystal clear.
Over the years, Yoruha's strength had grown significantly, but what he still lacked was real combat experience.
Sure, he had stunned both Uzuki Yugao and Mitarashi Anko with a single sword strike—but that wasn't enough.
Anko, after all, was a seasoned ninja.
Now that she understood some of his techniques, she'd surely plan around them next time.
If Yoruha truly wanted to cut his way through the ninja world with his blade, he'd need a lot more live combat training.
"Hmph! A brat like you, actually looking down on your teacher?" Anko snorted, clearly annoyed.
"Even if you are cute, that doesn't mean I'll let you talk to me like that."
"And you know what's really dangerous?" she added with a wicked grin, licking the corner of her mouth.
"An unhappy woman."
Yoruha chuckled, eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Oh? Then stop holding back and show me just how dangerous and adorable you are when you're pissed off."
As he spoke, a faint blue glow shimmered to life around the blade of his sword—chakra infusion.
"A chakra blade?" Anko's eyes narrowed slightly. "Not bad."
"Alright then. Let's turn up the heat."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball nearly four meters wide surged forward, roaring through the air toward Yoruha.
Even before it reached him, the heat in the air became unbearable.
Whoosh!
Yoruha raised his chakra blade and slashed—a sharp arc of light tore through the fireball, cleaving it in two.
The flames burst into the air with a blazing explosion, bathing the grove in orange light.
Yoruha shielded his eyes from the glare.
But in that very instant—
Crack!
The ground behind him split apart.
Anko sprang up from beneath the earth, kunai in hand.
"Ninjutsu: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Hiss!
Three large green snakes, fangs bared, lunged toward Yoruha's neck, arm, and thigh with blinding speed.
But Yoruha didn't flinch.
As if he had anticipated it all along, his hand moved behind his back—clang!
Three shuriken spun through the air, slicing the snakes in half mid-lunge.
She was trying to disarm me and follow up. Classic feint combo. Doesn't matter if I'm ready.
Anko clicked her tongue in frustration and tapped her foot on the ground, trying to disrupt his stance.
But Yoruha had already turned.
Whoosh!
A shuriken flashed through the air—straight at the bell hanging from Anko's waist.
Clang!
She blocked it with a kunai, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Is that all you've got?" she muttered.
But before she could even exhale—
Buzz!
The blocked shuriken suddenly spun again, releasing a razor-thin wind blade that sliced clean through the red cord holding the bell.
"Wind Release enchantment—!" Anko's eyes widened. She reached for the falling bell—
Too late.
Thunk!
A second projectile whistled past her.
A senbon embedded itself deep in the trunk behind her—with the bell pinned neatly to the bark.
Yoruha stood a few steps away, hand casually resting on his sword, smirking.
"Sensei Anko, still planning to grab the bell from the tree?"
"My body flicker is Wind Release-based. It's a lot faster than the average movement technique."
He didn't move. Didn't even flinch.
Anko turned slowly to stare at the bell, then back at Yoruha.
She clenched her fists.
"You little bastard…" she hissed, biting her lower lip. "You can infuse Wind Release into shuriken? No wonder you had the guts to ask the Hokage for your own team."
It was annoying.
Without intel on Yoruha beforehand, even seasoned ninja like her would fall for something like that.
And this kid? He had just graduated from the Academy!
How the hell was he already able to extract Wind chakra with such precision and power?
She stared at him, dumbfounded for a beat.
Then Yoruha calmly sheathed his sword, the blade humming softly as it slid home.
"So, Sensei," he said with a calm, amused smile, "am I qualified?"
"Or do you still have some hidden tricks left to show off?"