Hearing Hikari's suggestion to spar, Shikamaru and Ino inwardly groaned. After exchanging a glance, they launched their attacks.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Ino launched the first sneak attack. Even though she knew it wouldn't have much effect, she still used it.
After all, there was only one Kamizuki Hikari in the entire shinobi world. She refused to believe anyone else could remain completely unscathed facing this jutsu the way he always did.
Of course, Hikari wasn't going to get hit. To him, even the improved Ino-Shika-Chō trio posed no real threat.
To defeat the three of them, he could just brute force his way through. But if he did that, the training would be meaningless.
This time, Hikari decided to limit himself to the level of a special jōnin, just to see what kind of countermeasures Shikamaru would come up with.
Before long, Shikamaru sensed something was off.
Hikari's speed was only slightly faster than theirs; more importantly, he relied on footwork and observation to dodge their attacks.
Realizing this, Shikamaru decided to probe him.
"Chōji!"
"On it!"
As the defense and offense pillar of the Ino-Shika-Chō team, Chōji entered his rampage mode as soon as Shikamaru called.
"Partial Multi-Size Technique!"
His two arms instantly grew massive, like towering hammers descending toward Hikari.
Dodge—and dodge again.
With Chōji strengthened like this, a single punch hitting the ground could cause destruction on par with a special jōnin. If not for his significant personal shortcomings, a promotion in rank wouldn't be a problem at all.
Hikari had already thought of countermeasures the moment Chōji moved.
Partial Multi-Size Technique.
Multi-Size Technique.
Super Multi-Size Technique.
These three ninjutsu were the foundation of all Akimichi clan techniques, and the ones used most frequently.
To conserve stamina, Chōji had only used Partial one.
Hikari nimbly evaded the attack and formed hand seals.
He split into two.
The real body and the clone charged toward Shikamaru from opposite sides.
"Attack!"
Facing Hikari's clone, Shikamaru didn't dare gamble on which was real. His only option was to attack both.
With such a huge gap in strength, if Hikari got close, Shikamaru couldn't guarantee his own safety.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
"Partial Multi-Size Technique!"
Shikamaru's shadow split in two and stretched across the ground toward Hikari.
He only needed to hinder him for an instant for Chōji's attack to land.
Hikari could only dodge.
Jumping forward was out of the question.
The frightening thing about Shadow Imitation was that controlling the shadow meant controlling the body. If Hikari jumped, he'd fall straight into Shikamaru's hands.
The next moment, Chōji's two massive arms swept clean through several trees, crashing down toward Hikari like a collapsing mountain.
This was the Ino–Shika–Cho team's synergy.
Shikamaru and Ino only needed to support. Chōji's attacks were usually enough to finish most enemies.
At the moment, Hikari could only retreat again and again, dodging nonstop.
They never said it aloud, but both he and Shikamaru tacitly understood: if Hikari used a stronger level of power, he'd count that as losing.
Sheer force could overwhelm any technique.
But doing so would make the evaluation pointless.
He'd simply be beating up the three kids, hurting their morale instead of helping them realize the true gap.
"Next, I'm going to use tools!"
Seeing how difficult it was to get close with taijutsu alone, Hikari warned Shikamaru in advance.
Shikamaru opened his mouth to respond—then three kunai flew at him in a triangular formation.
They were fast. So fast Shikamaru silently cursed Hikari's entire family.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
A giant hand blocked the kunai. No need to guess—it was Chōji.
"Hikari-senpai, that's dirty!"
"Talking to me while launching a sneak attack?"
Shikamaru shot a sarcastic remark at Hikari, then signaled for Ino to pull out her own tools.
Explosive tags were out of the question. This wasn't a real battle to the death—using those would kill someone.
"You can sneak attack me too!"
Hikari grinned. "Besides, I only used muscle strength earlier. I haven't even used chakra nature transformation yet. Want to try it?"
*Crackle!*
It sounded just like Chidori. The next moment, Shikamaru's vision flashed white, and heat blasted past his ear.
*BOOM!*
An explosion erupted behind him, shaking him onto the ground. He stared wide-eyed at the blast zone.
At the center of the explosion was a slightly deformed kunai, surrounded by scorch marks as if it had been struck by lightning release.
"How's that? Pretty cool, right?"
Hikari strolled forward, four kunai in hand.
"That was Lightning Release. By infusing chakra into the kunai, its speed and power increase. If I'd aimed at your head just now, you'd be dead."
*Whoosh!*
A black streak flashed. Shikamaru saw Chōji's clothes rip open beside him.
Behind the tear, a kunai was embedded deep into a tree.
Buried several inches in.
"Wind Release increases speed and cutting ability."
*Fwoosh...*
"Fire Release raises destructive power. Kunai infused with it burn hotter."
A glowing red kunai landed right beside Ino, nearly singeing her hair.
"Water release—increases concealment and reduces the sound of it cutting through the air."
"Earth release—increases hardness and impact force."
Once again, completely crushed.
Shikamaru stared at Hikari, clearly unconvinced.
"Hikari-senpai, this already reaches jōnin-level ability!"
"If you think mastering a single chakra nature transformation makes someone a jōnin, then sure—call it jōnin-level." Hikari didn't dodge the accusation.
"Compared to Chōji's balanced offense and defense, if you and Ino can only support, your future ceiling will be low."
Shikamaru fell silent.
Hikari's words struck the doubts in his heart.
Every shinobi wanted the power to protect their comrades and become unbeatable.
As a member of the Nara clan, he'd been raised to value teamwork.
But chakra nature transformation—those were things elite chūnin could start training. It was just that Hikari had researched them far more deeply than most, leading to this overwhelming disparity.
"Your physical talents will become your limits."
"But true shinobi break through limitation after limitation, achieving what others think is impossible!"
"Even with your current chakra reserves, you can still research nature transformation. It's harder than normal elemental training... but I believe you'll succeed."
Encouraged by Hikari's words, Shikamaru quickly recovered.
"Hikari-senpai, please teach us!"