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Almost at the same moment the voice fell, Sawara Kiri and Namikaze Minato moved simultaneously.
They circled the entire center of the arena in a large arc.
At the same time, their hands reached for their ninja pouches.
Dozens of Kunai flew out like raindrops, spinning at high speed, abruptly soaring through the air and colliding violently mid-air.
Sparks and clanging sounds from the metal collision echoed continuously, making it impossible for ordinary people to see anything but a dark web woven in the air.
Almost every Kunai was thrown with extremely high precision in the same direction, immediately showcasing the extraordinary throwing skills of both parties.
Amidst the intense clanging, Namikaze Minato remained unmoved, his eyes meticulously discerning every detail in the arena.
Until a certain moment, he seemed to suddenly detect a flaw.
The three-pronged Kunai, which had been held in his palm for a long time, suddenly shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.
As the three-pronged Kunai shot out, Sawara Kiri, who was maintaining a circling escape posture, immediately sensed danger. His leaning posture instantly distorted sideways, and his entire body leaned horizontally, drifting several meters with the immense inertia from high speed, his feet kicking up smoke.
He held a Kunai in a reverse grip with his right hand.
"Clang!"
The three-pronged Kunai, which had shot from the center of the Kunai net, was easily deflected, spinning and soaring into the air.
The next second, a golden streak of light, even faster than the flying Kunai, crossed a large area of Kunai. His spinning, leaping figure grasped the three-pronged Kunai in mid-air, while his body, following the momentum of his sprint, swung down fiercely.
"Clang--!"
Two young figures, one above and one below, exploded in a shower of sparks the moment their Kunai and three-pronged blade collided.
Sawara Kiri, who was below but had already taken a stance, steadily received the blow by instantly deflecting the force and squatting down, then swung his arm horizontally.
Namikaze Minato distorted his waist, used the opposing force to leap half a step back, then suddenly lunged forward, delivering an extremely fast straight punch directly at the throat. His footwork was slightly short, his knees slightly bent, as if ready to squat at any moment.
This is a common routine in Konoha-style taijutsu: first, a close-quarters flurry of short strikes to open the situation, then a Konoha Whirlwind composed of upper and lower sweeping kicks to break balance. If the enemy fails to block, a few strikes aimed at vital points would quickly end their life.
Sawara Kiri advanced instead of retreating. Before Namikaze Minato could lower his body, he had already entered within three feet of him. He parried the straight punch with an upward left elbow strike, while his right hand, holding a Kunai in a reverse grip, stabbed and distorted to lock his incoming three-pronged Kunai, and his foot swiftly lifted to block the knee strike.
The completely nullified offensive shook Namikaze Minato, but his mind remained calm. He immediately took half a step back, preparing to regroup.
However, in that split second, Sawara Kiri's figure suddenly disappeared from his sight.
Before he could react, his arms instinctively rose to block in front of him, guided by a sense of danger.
The next moment, Sawara Kiri, who had lowered his body, stomped forward with his raised foot.
"Bang."
A close-quarters, heavy body blow at extremely close range caused his entire shoulder and body to collide like a mountain against Namikaze Minato's crossed arms over his chest, emitting a dull thud.
Under this immense force, Namikaze Minato slid back three to four meters. Even though he had adopted a defensive stance in a flash, he nearly couldn't catch his breath.
On the second-floor platform, Uchiha Motoya watched Sawara Kiri's series of actions just now, and subconsciously glanced at Hyuga Soumin beside him, asking in confusion:
"Close-quarters technique, Gentle Fist Art?"
As a top-tier powerhouse in all of Konoha, Uchiha Motoya was well-versed.
Such precise taijutsu techniques, which rely heavily on short bursts of power, are most expertly performed by the Hyuga Clan, famous for its Gentle Fist.
"No."
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Soumin shook his head calmly: "He merely borrowed the body movements; he didn't use Chakra techniques to complement them."
"It's just that, to be able to unleash such power relying solely on physical ability..."
"Truly an excellent young man."
Not only the clan heads of the Uchiha and Hyuga, but everyone present, even those who were old and lacked strength, had developed good judgment from the Sengoku period to today.
Even those who had initially been somewhat dismissive unconsciously became a few shades more serious.
Just as they knew, this was an exhibition match.
From the most basic ninja tool throwing to taijutsu duels, Sawara Kiri and Namikaze Minato were gradually showcasing their comprehensive talents, which far surpassed ordinary people.
"Hoo—"
Namikaze Minato exhaled a long breath, lowered his arms, and stared intently at Sawara Kiri, who hadn't even disturbed his breathing, his expression growing more serious.
If, until before the battle, he had harbored some unrealistic doubts about the comprehensiveness of Sawara Kiri's abilities, at this moment, Namikaze Minato truly regarded him as a formidable opponent whose hard power was at least ten percent higher than his own.
However, the immense pressure that washed over him instead made his brain constantly excited, leaping with activity, and spinning rapidly.
Turns out, I still have a long way to go!
'Since I can't gain an advantage in taijutsu, then...'
Thoughts surged through Namikaze Minato's mind like a rushing current. His eyes rapidly scanned every detail in the arena, and he suddenly threw a barrage of Kunai in Sawara Kiri's direction.
Taking advantage of this brief opening, he formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"
In an instant, the oil, refined from a large amount of Chakra, merged with fire in his mouth, transforming into a stream as it was abruptly expelled, then rapidly diffused in the air using oxygen as fuel.
The violent flames, empowered by this multiple enhancement, instantly surged to over a thousand degrees Celsius, and wild, dancing fireballs scattered in all directions.
At the same time, the Shadow Clone beside him formed the final Dragon hand seal.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
With a roar, the wind fueled the fire.
The flames, already raging fiercely under the impetus of the oil, suddenly gained momentum. Their previously somewhat narrow diffusion range abruptly increased severalfold, completely enveloping Sawara Kiri within a radius of dozens of meters.
However, Sawara Kiri himself, standing before the blaze, still maintained his unhurried demeanor, steadily forming the last hand seal.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave."
Seeing this, Uchiha Motoya, a master of Fire Release himself, instinctively shook his head: "It's useless."
"Jiraiya's Oil Release Jutsu is a complete counter to the law of water overcoming fire."
"Wait... this scale?!"
Almost the moment this thought emerged, everyone present couldn't help but widen their eyes.
They saw that the water stream spewing from Sawara Kiri's mouth was simply inexhaustible, like the Second Hokage of old.
Despite being in a waterless area, he forcefully spewed a lake onto the vast ground, completely engulfing the large-scale Fire Release that had spread over dozens of meters.
Even Hatake Sakumo, who was responsible for judging and blocking, had to stand horizontally on the wall, squinting his eyes to watch the scene.
The immense volume of water completely swallowed this exquisitely perfected fusion of Wind, Fire, and Oil, and with terrifying impact, it engulfed Namikaze Minato, who was standing in place.
Sawara Kiri stood atop the surging waves.
However, Namikaze Minato, who had been performing the jutsu in place, suddenly smiled at him.
"Bang, bang."
The two figures that had been standing there simultaneously exploded into clouds of smoke.
At that instant, Sawara Kiri seemed to suddenly realize something and immediately distorted his body to turn around.
Among the dozens of Kunai that had shot into the air earlier, one had, at some unknown point, burst into smoke, transforming into Namikaze Minato's image.
He spun and slashed down.
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