Cheng Sui looked at Caesar before him, roughly simulating all of his pressure points in his mind.
Although he didn't have the Byakugan for assistance, the Gentle Fist training memories transmitted by the System detailed the approximate locations of various pressure points in the human body.
Without the Byakugan, hitting an enemy's pressure points in actual combat based purely on deduction required extremely high Dynamic Vision from Cheng Sui.
Fortunately, Cheng Sui had the Sharingan, so his Dynamic Vision could just barely keep up.
"I've sparred with Chu Zihang. Your stance looks a bit like the Tai Chi he uses, but it feels slightly different."
"Are you always this talkative?"
Caesar was stunned for a moment; Chu Zihang had once said the exact same thing to him.
Putting away his smile, Caesar's expression also became serious.
Caesar stretched his shoulders and began jumping in place, his feet constantly shifting back and forth, making his direction of attack unpredictable.
This was the Butterfly Step, pioneered by the Boxing Champion Ali, involving complex movements forward, backward, left, right, and turning, whose high frequency made it difficult for opponents to predict his position.
But all of this was seen through by Cheng Sui's pair of Sharingan. The erratic Footwork, which was unpredictable to ordinary people, looked as slow as a little girl jumping rope to Cheng Sui.
Caesar suddenly threw a punch—an extremely concealed and swift strike, as deadly as a poisonous wasp's stinger.
But Cheng Sui was faster than him. The instant Caesar threw his punch, Cheng Sui also moved.
Cheng Sui closed his five fingers and struck Caesar's wrist before Caesar's fist could hit him.
A wave of soreness and numbness immediately shot up Caesar's right arm, traveling like an electric current, causing his entire arm to instantly lose strength.
A crucial tactical concept was once mentioned in the Combat Class at Cassell College. The instructor summarized it as the "Three Firsts."
They are: First of the Later, First of the First, and First of the Before-First.
First of the Later refers to defending first then counterattacking, which is the most passive tactic.
First of the First refers to counterattacking simultaneously when the opponent initiates their move. This relies heavily on individual Reaction Speed and is the tactic with the highest practical value.
But above these two, there is the First of the Before-First: preempting the opponent's intention and attacking first. This is the highest-level tactic, relying not only on Reaction Speed but also on personal Observation Skills and Combat Experience.
However, this is extremely risky in real combat; a slight carelessness could backfire and be counterproductive, so the Combat Class instructor advised against attempting it unless one was completely certain of success.
Cheng Sui had predicted Caesar's punching trajectory, intercepted Caesar's attack one step ahead, and simultaneously used Gentle Fist to seal the pressure point on Caesar's wrist.
But Caesar's subsequent actions were completely beyond Cheng Sui's expectations.
He completely disregarded the numbness in his right arm, shot out his left hand like lightning, gripping Cheng Sui's wrist tightly, then twisted his body and swiftly swept his left leg across Cheng Sui's lower body.
It was the setup for an Over-the-Shoulder Throw! That previous Jab was a trap to lure Cheng Sui!
Cheng Sui was also surprised; he never expected someone as proud as Caesar to have such a cautious fighting style.
Nono sat high up watching the fight, shelling sunflower seeds and muttering to herself:
"Krav Maga, famous for its quick wrist grabs and counter-attacks. It's the world-renowned self-defense technique from the Hebrew Region. No wonder Caesar has been practicing this for the past few days. Ugh, it's so noisy!"
Watching Caesar successfully lift Cheng Sui, the Gymnasium immediately erupted in deafening cheers. Nono covered her ears, clearly disliking such occasions.
Cheng Sui only felt his vision shake, followed by a sense of weightlessness.
Boxing, Footwork, Grappling, Krav Maga... In just a few seconds, Caesar had continuously switched between multiple fighting styles.
If Chu Zihang's fighting style was concise and efficient, like a precisely programmed instrument that makes no unnecessary movements, then Caesar's fighting style was flamboyant, like a stage play, with a sense of ceremony in every gesture.
Confident yet cautious, proud yet not arrogant—this was Caesar Gattruso, a man destined to be a leader.
But what surprised everyone was that Cheng Sui forcibly twisted his unbalanced body mid-air!
"Hey, besides Spider-Man, who else can do that? Senior, you weren't bitten by a strange spider when you were little, were you? Ugh, it's really too noisy!" Nono closed her eyes, tightly covering her ears with her small hands.
The audience erupted in another round of cheers, but this time, it wasn't for Caesar.
Cheng Sui, suspended mid-air, exerted force from his core. The body tempered by the Uzumaki Physique and Gentle Fist erupted with astonishing strength, allowing him to forcibly regain balance mid-air. Simultaneously, Chakra gathered in his hands, and he struck Caesar's left shoulder with another Gentle Fist blow!
If this were a Fight to the Death, Caesar would have already lost.
Cheng Sui could have easily taken advantage of Caesar having his back to him while Cheng Sui was airborne to quickly Form Hand Seals and release the Great Fireball Technique. From that angle, Caesar would have nowhere to hide.
But this was merely a spar, and with so many people watching, how would he explain suddenly spitting fire?
Angers might think you're a Pure-blood Dragon, activate Time Zero, and execute you.
Caesar only felt a wave of soreness and numbness in his left shoulder, but the paralysis wasn't as severe as before; his left hand was only slightly sluggish in movement.
Cheng Sui's expression remained unchanged. Without the Byakugan for assistance, the difficulty of directly hitting the pressure points was still too high.
Both sides landed almost simultaneously, and the instant their feet touched the ground, they both charged toward the other.
Caesar seemed to have seen through the Gentle Fist routine and chose to engage Cheng Sui in Close-Quarters Combat, denying Cheng Sui the space to utilize that strange Boxing style.
Shoulder Bumps, Knee Strikes, Elbow Strikes—Caesar utilized every possible part of his body for attack, his offensive raining down on Cheng Sui relentlessly.
Cheng Sui continuously defended using the Sharingan, but even the most careful plan has a flaw. Caesar seized a weakness in Cheng Sui's defense, and an Elbow Strike grazed Cheng Sui's eye corner.
The Elbow Strike was like a knife, cutting the corner of his eye, and blood immediately gushed out.
Cheng Sui touched the blood on his face, and instead of getting angry, he laughed.
The blood combined with Cheng Sui's smile made him look somewhat ferocious.
"My turn."
Caesar chose Close-Quarters Combat to compress the space Cheng Sui had to use Gentle Fist. This indeed limited Cheng Sui's effectiveness to some extent, even putting him at a disadvantage for a time.
But he could never have guessed that Cheng Sui possessed a pair of Sharingan capable of copying Physical Techniques.
Cheng Sui switched from defense to offense, launching a counterattack using the exact same methods as Caesar.
The Stadium instantly fell silent. Everyone held their breath, watching the two men fighting in close combat in the center.
Fist against fist, elbow against elbow. The force generated by their full-power collision even ruffled Angers' silver hair.
Cold sweat gradually seeped from Caesar's forehead. He felt as though he was fighting a Pure-blood Dragon.
Brutal and ferocious—that was the impression Cheng Sui gave Caesar.
Born into the Gattruso Family, the peak of the Hybrids, he received the best education from childhood, and countless Fighting Champions had served as his Private Tutors.
But he had never witnessed such a crude yet swift fighting style. Cheng Sui was completely foregoing defense, constantly trading injuries with him.
The fight continued.
Angers stood nearby, watching the battle with full concentration.
He knew that at this stage, the battle was no longer a simple spar.
He had to remain focused at all times, or serious injury or death to either of them would be a massive loss.