When Seinsei's hand cut through the air, for me, the world seemed as if it slowed down to a snail's pace. So... this is what they call focus, hm? Or is this because of the chakra flowing in me? Or my Sharingan? But it's too early for that to kick in... no? Whatever it was, my eyes were fixed on Arai's limbs, trying to predict what he would do next. He shifted his weight from left foot to right foot, and I could tell by his posture that he was overconfident. Yet I could see every flaw... his balance was too high, his stance too narrow to put all his body weight behind his attack. I'd practiced with Dad long enough to recognize someone who thought that looking cool mattered more than actually knowing how to fight, because I was like that... when I was three. Then... he lunged at me, just as I expected. It was done in a straight line, headfirst, fists swinging at me way too openly.
I wasn't a fighter in my old life, so there was not much to pull from my brawls. Honestly, the only scuffles I got into were in the orphanage, and I lost half of them... And those included bites and whatnot... But this guy? Disappointing... He was way too open. I only had to shift my waist, and then his sleeve brushed past me as I dodged. It was... exhilarating, and I even felt the wind behind his fist. Then, to get away from his front, I ducked low, pivoted around him, and then reset my guard, waiting for what he would do next... I was curious. Just how much does he know? What type of taijutsu was he taught? Can I recognize it? Maybe even copy it? Probably not, as I don't have the eyes yet.
"Come on, Renjiro!" Arai barked, circling around, "What, scared?"
"Not really." I smiled. "Just trying to decide how hard to embarrass you."
Keep angering him, I told myself... that would open him up even more. Of course, it was working, because he roared in anger and came again, feinting right, striking left. It was so easy to read from how he placed his legs, so I blocked, the impact thudding through my forearm, sending tiny motes of pain right around my nervous system. It hurt a bit but... There was no actual destructive power behind his swings. I could take a lot of these, huh? Then, seeing that he managed to hit me, or at least, he thought so, he swung again. This time, I ducked to the other direction, watching the rhythm of his steps, waiting for the pause between his breaths. Come on, kick out, you have the perfect aim at my head! I could then grab it and... no. Nothing. He didn't capitalize on the option before him.
Is he stupid?
And then, for the first time since the fight started, I felt the itch... That I had my fun, and it was time to go on the offense... I can't learn anything from him; he is... not good. Not good at all. Just as I thought about it, I remembered a scene from the anime. It flashed through my eyes, not the exact episode, but the motion itself. It was how Rock Lee squared off against his opponents, with his clean lines and smooth jabs, kicks... There was a kind of perfect flow between attack and defense in his movesets, using every muscle in his body. So, my own moved on its own, following that memory.
First, left step. Second... Pivot on the heel. Third.. Low sweep. I replayed it mentally as Arai came at me again, using it without any reservations. When I was past his defenses, putting myself in an undodgeable range... It would come... Yes... I should grab with the right hand, redirect the punch he is throwing, then use my open palm with the other hand... Of course, my body followed the sequence before I could second-guess it. I saw as he jabbed at me, and I caught his wrist with my right. Then, his momentum carried him forward, so I turned my hip, swept his front foot from under him, and felt his weight tilt towards where I wanted... He was perfectly leaning into my finisher now, his chest wide open. So what comes next is the palm strike... I had already shifted my stance, chakra unconsciously stabilizing my soles and rushing into my wrist, giving me the perfect ratio to put behind my hand as my fist opened, fingers flat. It was going to hit. The moment I knew that, a rush of heat rose within my chest, coming from pure excitement, feeling my victory a moment away... and then, for a heartbeat, the world blurred around me.
"Enough!"
The voice was like a thunderclap in my ears, and something grabbed my wrist mid-swing, stopping it before it would make contact. It hurt a little, but as the fingers curled around my hand, they expertly diverted the energy behind my punch, preventing me from any type of backlash. When I blinked and returned to my senses... I already knew that it was Akira-sensei's hand. He'd moved faster than either of us realized, which wasn't weird, given the difference between us. I saw how he held Arai with his other hand, stopping him from making contact with me as my open palm stopped inches from Arai's sternum, just where his heart would be hiding behind it.
For a moment, I just stood there before I blinked my eyes, my breath catching up with my movements, a bucket-full of adrenaline still going through me, my heart pounding in my ears. Maybe it was thanks to that I noticed how Arai froze too, his eyes wide open, just then realizing how close that had been... but that shock soon was replaced with incredible anger, a simmering hatred, almost as if his eyes were turning into flames as he glared at me.
"Okay," Akira-sensei's voice was calm, but iron-hard, looking at both of us, "We will stop the fight here, both of you." And with that, his grip eased just slightly. "You were about to drive him into the ground," he said quietly, his eyes landing directly on me. "Do you even know what that last motion would have done to him?"
"Um..." I swallowed hard because his eyes were piercing into mine, "I— no, I didn't think—"
"That's the point." He released me fully by then, "Thinking comes first." I didn't know what to say, really, but Akira-sensei continued without further lecturing, "Both of you, reset stance. Bow."
I followed his instructions automatically, though my arms still tingled from the rush and from the fact that I missed actually hitting him. What a bummer... On the other hand, Arai was rubbing his chest as he bowed too, barely so, then turned on his heel and stalked off without a word. Seeing me just standing there, Akira-sensei exhaled through his nose, calling me over.
"Renjiro," he said, his tone softer now than before, "that was a clean execution. Too clean for a first-year, in fact. Where did you learn it?"
"I…" I hesitated. What should I say? That I saw it on TV? "I just remembered something... That I... I... Saw it once..."
"Then remember this instead," he said, telling me seriously, meeting my eyes. "Don't let excitement blind you. If that had hit Arai, you would have broken his ribs, maybe even stopped his heart. You put ample chakra behind it, while he had none in his hands nor anywhere in his body for defense. Renjiro... Control your strength... And not the other way around, or you will become a mindless killer."
"Um..." I nodded, my throat dry as I didn't even think about that it would kill Arai... Or hurt him that much... I thought, at best, it would just knock the air out of him, "Yes, sensei."
"We will need to find you a proper sparring partner..." He whispered as he held my gaze for another second, then turned to the class, "Okay! Line up everyone, I want to see what you got!"
As for me, I was sent to the dummies and kept throwing shurkiens until the lesson ended. I was... not even paying attention, throwing them without thought, and still hitting the marks. Haahh... Sensei is right... I need to be mindful. Plus, it seems my knowledge of this place is not only theoretical. Not only does my mind remember it, but my body too? Ahh, it's best not to question it. Instead, let's focus on how not to kill my allies when we train! That would actually look bad on my resume, and I don't want to become a missing-nin...
I didn't even notice when the classes were over and when the crowd scattered, buzzing with excitement and gossip about what had happened today. I only came to my senses when the inner courtyard was being emptied of the dummies... Still lost in thoughts, I sat under the same tree that Minato and I had eaten lunch beneath earlier that day. It was then that he approached me, hands in his pockets.
"That move," he said. "You improvised it?"
"Kind of." I rubbed the back of my neck, looking up at him, giving him a stupid smile. "It was… something I saw once. It just clicked and I acted on it."
"You moved like you'd practiced it for years, though." He answered, tilting his head slightly.
"Yeah..." I sighed. "That's what scares me."
"..." He studied me a moment, looking at me, probably wanting to see if I was honest or not, "You didn't mean to hit him."
"I did," I answered honestly, "I wanted to hit him."
"Not with the intent to kill, though." He nodded, raising a brow.
"Of course not!" I yelped at once. "Why would I want to kill him? Arai may be annoying or an idiot, but that's just... that. I wouldn't want to actually hurt him..."
"Then don't let it bother you," he said simply, "You stopped. That is what counts."
"No, I..." I wanted to argue that I hadn't stopped, and it was Akira-sensei who stopped my hand... but I just nodded in the end. "Thanks, Minato."
"You're welcome," He gave me a small smile, "I'm glad we're in the same class!"
"Same." I smiled back at him and stood back up, "Just promise me you won't pick a fight to see how it feels..."
"Oh," he deflated a little, making me twitch my eye a little.
"I mean, dueling doesn't count as it's official." I added, putting my hands on my hips, "I meant, don't ambush me on the streets to test the limits of both of us."
"Oh!" his eyes lit back up, "I see. I wouldn't do that... I think."
"You think?!" I laughed, shaking my head, "Let's go, I can see everyone has left already. I'm hungry!"
"Aren't you always?"
"Hey!" I elbowed him, "I spent some energy... Come on. I will invite you to a snack, I still have my allowance, and there is a ramen place I wanted to try out..."
Luckily, he didn't refuse my invitation! What I didn't know was that, while we were leaving the Academy, the teachers were already talking about us.
"He's fast," Akira said, standing in the empty classroom, watching us leave through the window, "And he is too coordinated for a child of his age. That combination? Uchiha or not, it was patterned... I know when someone's copying advanced forms."
"From his father?" The Head Instructor asked.
"Not sure..." Akira answered, crossing his arms, "Daizen's good, so it could be him. As a chuunin, he has the skills to pull something like that off, but... I don't remember him specializing in taijutsu; he is more of a ninjutsu user."
"He is a Uchiha after all, they are very good at copying. Maybe he wanted to improve where he was weaker," Shinno-sensei chuckled softly, "Even without their Sharingan, they can adapt fast, it seems. Anyway, when training, keep an eye on him, Tenma. Match him with the Namikaze kid, as he was also bored... The only difference is that he knows how to hold back and let his sparring partners lose with dignity. They can clash and let the blondie smoothen out the Uchiha's rough edges."