Everyone else just chuckled quietly, and a few seconds later Kasumi laughed herself. She wasn't the least bit angry at Aya; she was only indignant about her own loss. Back when she was still in the Nara clan, she had learned not to get angry at winning opponents, but nothing stopped her from cursing the uncomfortable chair that had kept her from victory, or the bird whose singing had distracted her from triumph.
Then Kenshin and Kasumi left for the gym, while Aya and Natsumi decided to play one more round.
As soon as they entered the gym, Kenshin instantly ordered his sons to line up.
"Attention. Kasumi will temporarily be your new instructor. You are obligated to obey everything she says. The only one who can challenge her orders is Ichiro. If any irresolvable disputes arise, go to him."
"Where do we start?" Kenshin asked his new wife.
"Hm, I think we should check the level of your sons' skills first. Ichiro, let's have a taijutsu spar." Kasumi suggested, and Ichiro nodded with a smile. They headed to the adjacent room with a reinforced floor and walls.
Kenshin and the rest of the sons stood in the far corner so as not to interfere with the fight and to see everything.
As soon as Kasumi stood opposite Ichiro, all her playfulness vanished in an instant, and the girl became like a naked blade. Her eyes gleamed dangerously, and her body was ready for a deadly lunge.
Ichiro had already seen such a combat mindset in an enemy missing-nin of Chunin rank, and he instantly became serious himself. He knew that the Nara clan's taijutsu style was aimed at defense, so he attacked first—and in literally three movements was sent flying.
Regrouping, he landed on his feet and immediately jumped away from a possible follow-up attack, but none came. Rubbing his bruised chest, he rushed at the girl ready for defense again. He remembered that his father had forbidden him to use spatial authority against Kasumi in a harmless spar. Right now the task wasn't to win with tricky abilities, but to hone taijutsu skill.
As soon as Ichiro made a second attempt to attack, Kasumi dodged the lunge without much trouble, parried the next strike with her palm—hitting him quite hard in the forearm—then grabbed him and flipped him over herself. She could clearly see that Ichiro was currently only a peak Genin, and was surprised that her combat instinct still warned her to be careful with him.
Rising from the floor, Ichiro felt incredible shame. His father and brothers were currently watching what he considered an unbelievable disgrace. Suddenly he couldn't stand it and activated his Sharingan, rushing into another attack.
"WHAT?!" Kasumi exclaimed, but didn't have time to continue—she was completely occupied. She barely managed to parry those incredible strikes.
Now Ichiro saw every movement of the evasive girl and didn't let himself be driven into a corner.
In a few seconds they exchanged a dozen blows, and finally Ichiro saw an opening in Kasumi's defense. After another exchange, she finally left herself open for a strike, and he—completely immersed in combat trance—hit her in the stomach with a spinning kick.
Kenshin, calmly watching the spar, flinched at that moment and was about to do something, but his body couldn't keep up with his perception. Fortunately for him, Kasumi had vast combat experience, so at the last moment she put up a block, took the blow on both arms, and flew back five meters.
Regrouping in mid-air, the girl landed on all fours and slid another meter across the floor, nearly wearing out the soles of her shoes. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and pushing off the ground, she rushed into attack.
Another ten seconds of chaotic fighting continued until Kasumi finally managed to get revenge. She calculated every move, but it was practically useless. With the Sharingan, Ichiro had very few weak points, but Kasumi decided to take a very risky step and force him to lose vigilance. When Ichiro thought she had left herself open, he decided to act—and barely managed to notice himself flying from a kick to the chest.
"Enough." Kenshin declared authoritatively, and Kasumi left the ring.
"Sorry, Father, I couldn't hold back…" Ichiro said guiltily, rubbing his chest—he had apparently earned a bruise in the shape of the petite girl's foot.
"You lost control of yourself. Vanity went to your head. Didn't want to look weak in front of everyone? Liked the respect from your younger brothers? In battle that could have cost you your life! Those you love and want to protect could have died!" Kenshin declared, displeased with his eldest son's actions.
"I… I understand, Father… I'm sorry…"
"For two weeks you are relieved of the position of deputy commander. Third will take the post for now." Kenshin delivered the verdict and saw the surprised looks of his sons. They never could have imagined that Ichiro, Father's favorite, could receive such a harsh reprimand.
Ichiro finally wilted and only nodded to his father, accepting the sentence. He never even dreamed of going against his father's orders, so he stepped back and stood behind his brothers, awaiting further instructions.
"Why didn't you tell me your eldest son has the Sharingan, and where did he get it?" Kasumi asked when Ichiro had received his reprimand. Though she felt sorry for the boy, she knew full well that one shouldn't discuss orders with superiors in front of subordinates and planned to do so privately.
"Not just the eldest. Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth." Kenshin commanded, and the named sons' eyes turned red.
"FIVE WITH SHARINGAN?!" Kasumi exclaimed in shock. From what she knew, even in the heyday of the Uchiha clan, not every member had the Sharingan.
"Mm-hmm. It's all thanks to Aya. She is a descendant of the Uchiha clan." Kenshin answered with a smile. He liked watching the shocked girl. She wrinkled her nose so cutely when surprised.
"That little one? Wow! I never would have thought…" Kasumi whispered, greatly surprised that this fragile and unremarkable girl was a descendant of the Uchiha clan.
"Good. We'll discuss the rest later. For now, take charge of training these blockheads." Kenshin said with a laugh and stepped aside to observe.
Kasumi very quickly took the group under her command, and within two minutes they were all warming up before training. The Nara clan's requirements for flexibility were very high, but thanks to the "system," Kenshin's sons by age twenty had perfectly developed bodies with flexible ligaments and strong tendons.
Fifteen minutes later, Kasumi wanted to call out one person from the group to teach him the basics, because with so many people any instruction lost effectiveness. It would take far too long to teach each one individually.