Chapter 17: Showdown with a Jonin
Not far away, Kurenai Yuhi heard Qianye no longer even calling her "Sensei" and her mouth twitched in irritation. She said impatiently, "Have you two decided yet? I'm in a hurry."
"Oh, we're ready," Qianye said with a smile.
"Then let's begin." Kurenai Yuhi stood still, her aura suddenly changing as she instantly entered combat mode.
Qianye and the other two nodded to each other. Akizuki Airi made the first move, throwing a few shuriken forward and taking out her kunai.
Kurenai Yuhi merely stood her ground, not even using a kunai, and easily dodged with a few side steps.
She suddenly appeared in front of Airi with a Body Flicker, snatched her kunai, and punched her in the abdomen.
Airi retched, her body flying backward and instantly losing combat effectiveness.
Just then, Ponc's giant fist, enlarged by the Partial Expansion Jutsu, came down. With a roar, the ground shook, leaving a shallow pit, and thick smoke billowed.
"Did I get her?" Akimichi Ponc pulled back his fist, swallowed, and stared intently ahead.
"Not yet," Qianye's voice sounded beside him, along with Kurenai Yuhi's voice, "Too naive."
As her words fell, Kurenai Yuhi's dainty foot landed on Ponc's neck, kicking his hefty body flying.
And with a muffled thud, a rotten log appeared out of thin air in the shallow pit. Clearly, Kurenai Yuhi had used the Substitution Jutsu, one of the Three Body Technique.
"Next, it's your turn, Qianye." Having dealt with two of the three, Kurenai Yuhi finally looked at Fujiwara Chiye, who had remained still.
"Alright. But if I happen to win, Sensei Kurenai, you have to promise to date me when I grow up," Qianye said with a playful smile.
"If you can manage that!" Kurenai Yuhi's competitive spirit was also ignited, and she charged forward in a single leap. Although, as Airi said, her strength lay in genjutsu and she wasn't skilled in taijutsu, she was still a Special Jonin, and her taijutsu was far superior to that of a freshly graduated Genin.
But very quickly, she regretted it. Facing her barrage of taijutsu attacks, Qianye was surprisingly at ease, and his strength was astonishing, completely unlike what a child under twelve should possess.
Every time their bodies collided, a stinging sensation would emanate from the point of contact, as if she were fighting not a person, but a body of steel.
"Who exactly is this brat? Could he also have practiced the Steel Fist like Might Guy?" Kurenai Yuhi thought in surprise.
Meanwhile, Akizuki Airi and Akimichi Ponc, who had already been defeated, also exclaimed, "So strong! He can actually fight Sensei Kurenai."
"Sensei Kurenai, it looks like you're destined to be my second wife in the future," Qianye chuckled, teasing her. He hadn't used his cultivation technique, only relying on his formidable physique and basic taijutsu to spar with Kurenai Yuhi.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself." Kurenai Yuhi hadn't expected to encounter such a difficult student on her first assignment as a squad leader Jonin. If she didn't teach him a lesson today, how would she lead her squad in the future?
She then used a Body Flicker to create distance between them, formed hand seals, and her entire body suddenly transformed into a fluid, disappearing from her spot.
At the same time, saplings sprouted from beneath Qianye's feet, and in the blink of an eye, they grew into a towering tree, binding his limbs.
Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu was activated.
"Brat, you're still too green." The ground rippled, and Kurenai Yuhi's true body slowly emerged.
"Is that so?" Qianye's voice suddenly sounded next to Kurenai Yuhi's ear. Her pupils widened abruptly, and in the next instant, she felt a chill on her neck as a kunai was suddenly held against it.
Akizuki Airi and Akimichi Ponc, who had been watching from afar, were utterly bewildered, completely unable to understand what had just happened between the two.
What exactly is going on?
How did Sensei Kurenai suddenly stand still and start talking to herself, and then Qianye calmly walked behind her and put a kunai to her neck?
"Ponc-kun, do you know what happened?" Akizuki Airi looked at Akimichi Ponc beside her. His face was swollen, but he was still vigorously eating potato chips.
Enduring the stinging pain, Akimichi Ponc grabbed a large handful of potato chips and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing as he shook his head, "I don't know, but it looks really amazing."
"How did you do that?" Kurenai Yuhi took a deep breath, feeling a touch of disappointment.
As a Special Jonin, to be defeated by a child who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, what was this?
Qianye put away his kunai, pointed at the clone bound by the large tree opposite Kurenai Yuhi, and chuckled, "Sensei Kurenai, the Ninja School textbooks mention that genjutsu is a technique that interferes with the opponent's five senses by disrupting their Chakra, causing them to fall into an illusion."
"Although I don't know what hand seals you formed, you said you specialize in genjutsu, so before the fight started, I continuously disrupted my own Chakra, preventing your genjutsu from taking effect. Then, taking advantage of the gap while you were casting your genjutsu, I released a clone to mislead you."
"Sensei Kurenai, you were careless."
As his words fell, Qianye's clone and the large tree simultaneously vanished, and the ground slowly returned to its original state.
"I see, you're right, I lost. I didn't expect you to defeat me with the most basic Body Clone Technique among the Three Body Technique. It seems Lord Third was right, you truly are a genius." Kurenai Yuhi showed a self-deprecating smile.
"Sensei Kurenai, you flatter me. You intentionally went easy on me. If this were a fight to the death, I would probably already be a corpse."
Qianye once again played the role of a humble victor, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
The Third Hokage had secretly sent people to monitor him. How could Qianye, with his exceptionally keen senses, not know?
However, for the past five or six years, no matter where he went or whom he met, whenever there was an opportunity, he would habitually release Mirror Flower Water Moon.
The "him" that the Third Hokage was monitoring was, for the most part, just an illusion.
Otherwise, how could he have developed safely and discreetly?
Now, relying on Mirror Flower Water Moon and the Immortal Chakra stored by Tiangang skill, he was already capable of self-preservation.
And the tip of the iceberg of his strength that he displayed by defeating Kurenai Yuhi this time was merely to facilitate showing Mirror Flower Water Moon to more people in Konoha in the future.
"A loss is a loss, a win is a win. You don't need to make excuses for me, but..." Her tone shifted, and a sly smile suddenly appeared on Kurenai Yuhi's face, "Why aren't you calling me Kurenai anymore?"
"Are you serious?" Qianye was startled, a playful smile appearing on his face as his gaze met Kurenai Yuhi's.
Kurenai Yuhi's competitive spirit was also ignited, and the two stared at each other for a long time. In the end, Kurenai Yuhi's pretty face flushed crimson as she conceded defeat, clicking her tongue, "Tsk, tsk... You're a little brat who acts like an adult. I really don't know what you learned in Ninja Academy."
"You three, what happened today is classified. No one is allowed to speak of it. Remember to gather here on time tomorrow. I won't wait if you're late."
The last sentence was directed at Airi and Ponc.
After speaking, she looked back at Qianye once more, her figure flashing, and she left with her heart pounding like a startled deer.
Watching Kurenai Yuhi's distant figure, Qianye's smile abruptly vanished. He murmured to himself, "Still an easy-to-read little girl..."
P.S.: First update, thanks to [Beauty] for the 1500 Qidian coins.
Thanks to [Book Friend **0097] for the 500 Qidian coins.
Thanks to [Book Friend **444] for the 100 Qidian coins.