Facing the sweeping ice spear, Might Guy didn't dodge this time. Instead, he sped up his descent and landed heavily on the spear, forcing Feng Bai to abandon his weapon.
"My weapons are endless, Guy."
Feng Bai dropped the ice spear without hesitation, leaving that remark as he prepared to create a new weapon. But Guy closed the distance in a flash, launching into close-quarters combat.
Fist against fist, leg against leg—this was a fight where every blow landed solidly. Feng Bai relied on his speed to keep pulling away from Guy.
This guy... He's still fighting me with all that extra weight strapped on.
Feeling sharp pain in his calf, Feng Bai resisted the urge to use ninjutsu, continuing to search for an opening in Guy's defense.
Just now, a single kick exchange with Guy had nearly fractured his bone. Now, whenever Guy launched a flying kick, Feng Bai had no choice but to dodge.
"Heh, Feng Bai, if you don't want to lose, it's fine to use ninjutsu."
Guy could see Feng Bai's predicament and grinned smugly, "Otherwise, I'll be taking the victory this time!"
"Is that so?"
Still searching for a weakness, Feng Bai suddenly threw three senbon straight at Guy's shoulder.
Hearing the whistle of metal, Guy quickly performed a backflip, using the weights on his legs to block the senbon. Feng Bai seized the moment to create a new ice spear.
The taijutsu taught by Hiruzen Sarutobi—more accurately, it was staff technique.
Without a staff, all that remained was the technique.
"Hmph, take this—Crushing Earth!"
Feng Bai swung his ice spear, but instead of thrusting, he channeled a surge of chakra into it, reinforcing the spear, then slammed it into the ground.
Just as the technique's name implied, the hard surface of the training ground cracked from the blow, and the resulting shockwave disrupted Guy's movements.
Seeing Guy's footwork falter, Feng Bai didn't let the opportunity slip by. He swung the ice spear again, pressing his advantage and driving Guy toward the edge of the training ground.
"As expected of my lifelong rival—what a dazzling move, Feng Bai!"
Guy ducked under a thrust, feeling a chill on his scalp, but showed no fear. Instead, he flashed a big toothy grin and praised Feng Bai: "I can't fall behind either! Take this—Leaf Whirlwind!"
Seeing Guy spin in place like he was powered up, Feng Bai spun his ice spear in response: "Diamond Whirlwind!"
The two whirlwinds collided, erupting in a thunderous roar. Guy traced a beautiful arc through the air, and just as he was about to crash to the ground, Feng Bai appeared behind him and caught him.
"You're not hurt, are you?"
Once they landed safely, Feng Bai, breathing heavily, checked on Guy.
"I'm fine, just my legs are a bit sore."
Guy hopped in place a couple times, found nothing seriously wrong, and gave Feng Bai a thumbs-up: "This time, victory goes to you, Feng Bai. By the way, how did you appear behind me so suddenly?"
"The Flying Thunder God Technique. He left a mark on you when he lost the ice spear and switched to taijutsu."
Before Feng Bai could answer, a gentle voice spoke up behind him.
"Minato-nii?"
Feng Bai turned around sharply and saw that familiar blond hair, along with the red figure at the entrance to the training ground.
"Kushina-nee."
Feng Bai greeted her sweetly, which made Kushina very happy.
Kushina strode over and ruffled Feng Bai's hair, sensing his chakra as she did: "You're doing well with the Yin Seal training, kid."
"It's all thanks to Tsunade-nee and you, Kushina-nee."
Feng Bai grinned, giving all the credit to them.
"Hmph, such a sweet mouth. Come to my house for dinner tonight, I'll make you something delicious."
Squatting down, Kushina pinched Feng Bai's cheek, then turned to Minato, her tone suddenly a bit more dangerous: "Alright, you've seen enough. Isn't it time to..."
With Kushina's "gentle" reminder, Minato remembered his real task for today—accompanying Kushina shopping. He gave Feng Bai an apologetic look and left the training ground with her.
"Uh, who was that again?"
Guy couldn't recall Minato's name.
"Minato-nii. Never mind, there's no point explaining—you never remember people's faces anyway..."
As for whether to go to Kushina's house for dinner tonight...
Better ask Dad first.
"Ikku-nii?"
Feng Bai called out in a random direction, but after waiting a while with no response, he scratched his head in confusion: "Weird, when did he leave?"
Elsewhere, in an underground tunnel.
Shimura Ikku was busy inspecting the wiring, trying to find the cause of a broken light.
...
Meanwhile, in Sunagakure.
The Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest in history, sat in a dim, quiet room listening to a report from Elder Chiyo.
"The defensive forces on the border of the Land of Fire are much weaker than during the Second Great Ninja War. Many border fortresses have been abandoned, and most troops are concentrated at the Kikyo Mountain stronghold."
After repeated probing, and at the cost of dozens of Sand ninja lives, Chiyo had pieced together the defensive setup of Konoha's forces on the Land of Fire's border from the survivors' reports.
"The biggest problem now is that the one guarding the border is 'Konoha's White Fang.'"
At the mention of that name, even the proud Third Kazekage had to take it seriously.
Single-handedly killing Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, and leading a vastly outnumbered force to defeat the elite Sand ninja army—Sakumo's achievements were still remembered throughout the ninja world.
"Our village's younger generation hasn't grown enough to face such an opponent." The Third Kazekage thought of his own village's youth, especially that young man with dark red hair.
"At least Magnet Release has been passed down."
Chiyo also thought of Rasa, who was currently working hard for the village's development as a miner.
"The Second Great Ninja War cost us dearly, and even now Sunagakure hasn't escaped Konoha's shadow. With the lingering prestige from the last war and their far greater number of ninja, Konoha has taken most of the commissions, leaving our economy stagnant."
"War can make the younger generation grow quickly—and sort out the true gold among them." The Third Kazekage's face was grim; just mentioning Konoha filled him with resentment.
"Are we really going to fight? If it's just us, we probably can't shake Konoha." As someone who had served the Kazekage since the Second, and personally witnessed both the First and Second Great Ninja Wars, Chiyo had fought against Konoha's might, including Hiruzen Sarutobi's generation.
In his view, Sunagakure alone could never hope to match Konoha head-on in open war.
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