Chapter 208: Time Can Dilute Everything, Including Ambitions

"Is it necessary to run this far?"

Having patrolled all night yesterday, Tenko, who stayed up all night, followed behind Minato and Tatsuma. His facial features converged towards the center, indicating that he was exerting considerable effort.

Sento was in a similar situation, but being from the Hyuga Clan, he focused more on physical fitness and Taijutsu training. He hadn't stayed up all night, so although he gritted his teeth slightly, he didn't look as distressed as Tenko.

Upon hearing Tenko's complaint, Tatsuma and Minato intentionally slowed down. In fact, they hadn't realized that their speed was making it difficult for Tenko and Sento, as neither of them had exerted much effort to travel.

They had simply been out of touch with peers for too long and thought they were just taking a leisurely stroll.

Minato's teammates were Akimichi Doto and Inuzuka Gaku, both of whom were their Senpai. In a couple of years, they could even be recommended as Jonin and Special Jonin. Compared to them, Minato's current speed was only average.

Tatsuma, on the other hand, was the one who needed to accommodate others. Having been with high-level ninjas for a long time and lacking experience in leading teams, neither of them knew how to restrain themselves or adapt to their teammates.

After slowing down, Tenko and Sento finally felt less strained. Tatsuma then responded, "It's almost here. Actually, this area is fine too, but a few kilometers ahead, there's a hill where we can fight with the hill at our backs, providing better concealment."

"Why be so cautious if we're just here to spar?" Sento, feeling puzzled, began to remove his oversized clothes, revealing the green tight-fitting garment underneath. Without the bulky clothes, Sento felt much more comfortable.

Tatsuma didn't explain but continued to lead the way. Soon, the four arrived at the location Tatsuma had chosen: a place with a hill at their backs and not too many trees, suitable for arena-style combat.

Stopping, Tatsuma asked, "Do you guys need to take a break?"

Tenko nodded quickly. He was here to test his limits, so he needed to adjust his condition accordingly.

Sento shook his head and said, "This amount of exercise is just right for warming up!"

Hearing this, Tatsuma looked at Minato and asked, "Minato, do you want to practice today?"

Minato didn't need to think twice; he knew what Tatsuma meant. He nodded and said, "Sure, it's perfect. I need to get used to my new Kunai. Sento, how about I be your opponent?"

"Sure, why not," Sento replied.

Before agreeing, Sento glanced at Tenko, his eyes showing reluctance and a hint of disdain, as if silently asking, "Can you handle it, kid?"

Tenko was itching to step up, but he remembered the purpose of today's training and held back.

Minato placed the purchased drinks down and ran to a distance with Sento. After forming the Seal of Confrontation, they began their fight.

Or, more accurately, it was Minato assessing Sento and honing his own skills.

Minato didn't use Ninjutsu; he relied solely on Taijutsu and Ninja Tool Throwing, which made Sento somewhat flustered. Although Sento, with his Byakugan, could see the trajectory of all Kunai, it was too dense to keep track of.

It wasn't just the frequency of Minato's consecutive throws that was impressive; it was his quick retrieval and reuse of Kunai, coupled with occasional Taijutsu attacks, which left Sento struggling to keep up.

The Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan, in Sento's hands, couldn't trouble Minato in the slightest.

Fortunately, Minato gave Sento some leeway. After suppressing Sento for about ten minutes, he exposed a flaw, allowing Sento to land a palm strike, before finally subduing him.

"It's my turn now!"

Feeling sufficiently rested, Tenko jumped up, but stumbled for a moment; after a fast and prolonged run, while his stamina had recovered, his muscles hadn't fully regained their strength.

Seeing Tenko's condition, Sento turned to Tatsuma and said, "Tatsuma, I still want to spar with you."

"Sure," Tatsuma agreed readily and asked "Are you okay in terms of stamina now?"

"No problem. I haven't even faced Minato yet, so I haven't used any Chakra," Sento said as he formed the Seal of Confrontation, and Tatsuma also formed the Seal of Confrontation, saying,

"I watched your fight with Minato just now, and your progress is remarkable. The coordination between the Byakugan and Taijutsu is already quite good. However, you're unable to drag your opponent into a Taijutsu battle. Once you encounter an opponent like Minato, who's much faster than you, you're at a loss."

Upon hearing this, Sento nodded and asked, "So what should I do?"

"Don't stand still. Take the initiative to let your opponent block your path. Whether they use Ninja Tools or Ninjutsu, just keep forcing them to expend their resources. You're accustomed to fighting in one spot, which is why Minato was able to leisurely retrieve his Ninja Tools. If, during the process of him retrieving his Ninja Tools, you move in the opposite direction, he'll have to make a choice: either chase after you or use Ninjutsu."

"As long as you can exhaust your opponent to the point where they find Ninja Tool attacks and Ninjutsu ineffective, your victory will come. With the Byakugan, achieving this isn't difficult for you, unless your opponent excels in all aspects."

Upon hearing Tatsuma's advice, Sento nodded vigorously, then withdrew the Seal of Confrontation and assumed the Gentle Fist stance. Seeing this, Tatsuma also withdrew his hands and said, "But between you and me, let's stick to Taijutsu. I also want to see how much you've improved during this time."

With that, Tatsuma vanished from the spot. Sento immediately activated the Byakugan to swiftly locate Tatsuma's position.

To the left rear! 

Sento swiftly launched a back elbow strike, completely opposite to the style of Gentle Fist, directly aimed at Tatsuma's face appearing to his left rear. Tatsuma pressed down with both hands, thwarting Sento's attempt.

However, Sento's response was not comparable to his inexperienced self from last year. Changing the elbow strike to a single whip hand, he extended the distance and struck towards Tatsuma's abdomen.

"Do you want to inherit my title?"

Tatsuma even found time to jest while raising his knee to block. 

As the knee collided with his whip hand, Sento felt a numbness in his hand, completely unable to use the Gentle Fist to strike Tatsuma's pressure points. The real crisis had just arrived.

With both hands pressing down on Sento's elbow, Tatsuma swiftly attempted to lock Sento's wrist with one hand while the other formed a spear finger, aiming for Sento's throat.

Sento's breathing stalled, but his body quickly reacted. He executed a turning high leg sweep, avoiding Tatsuma's hands and aiming a kick towards Tatsuma's head.

Seeing Sento instinctively evade and counterattack, Tatsuma was also surprised. It seemed that Sento's training under Duy and Nawaki had been effective.

Tatsuma abandoned his countermeasures, stepping back lightly to evade. He intended to let Sento showcase more of his skills.

Subsequently, Sento continued to demonstrate himself, seamlessly transitioning between Hyuga's Gentle Fist and Konoha Style's Strong Fist. It was astonishing that he could master and switch between two different Taijutsu styles with such ease.

Tatsuma also behaved like a qualified sparring partner, sometimes even actively feeding moves to Sento to allow him to perform better.

Sento, completely focused on the fight, surprisingly didn't notice the pair of crimson eyes within his 360-degree field of vision.

At this moment, Tenko's eyes, with double tomoe spinning, continuously observed and learned the Taijutsu demonstrated by the two. Minato noticed the change in Tenko's demeanor, but having been "spoiled" by Tatsuma earlier, he wasn't surprised.

However, watching Tenko's increasingly reckless and rampant smile, Minato suddenly had a feeling that this classmate was in trouble.

Minato speculated that Tenko might believe he had seen through and learned Tatsuma's Taijutsu, thus giving him a chance to defeat Tatsuma. Such a thought was undeniably dangerous.

The Taijutsu Tatsuma used was never about the techniques themselves but rather based on strength and speed, with insight and adaptability being the focus of combat.

Minato knew that Tatsuma had been trying to integrate his unique Taijutsu techniques with Chakra to form a "Taijutsu" similar to Konoha Style Taijutsu, but that was still a long way off.

Tatsuma's unique Taijutsu is currently somewhere between street fighting and structured Taijutsu. Even learning and replicating it is futile because the same move, when faced with different people and different techniques, has different applications.

And these aspects require time, experience, and practical combat to gradually hone and summarize.

Minato wanted to remind Tenko, but... looking at Tenko's expression of "I gradually understand everything," Minato chose to observe quietly.

Tatsuma's battle with Sento lasted longer, and Sento paid a higher price. Not only did he exhaust his stamina and Chakra, but his body also suffered countless bruises.

But unlike the frustration after fighting Minato, Sento wore a smile of "happiness" this time.

"Ding~ [Stamina+5], [Strength+3], Would you like to claim?"

"Claim."

As the saying goes, "Little drops of water make a mighty ocean," even if he had experienced picking up talents thousands or tens of thousands of times in one go, Tatsuma would not disdain these talents that only increased by single digits.

After claiming the rewards, Tatsuma turned to Tenko and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Hmph! I've already seen through your Taijutsu. There's no chance you can defeat me!" Tenko said proudly, with his head held high. Minato, upon hearing this, couldn't help but smile strangely. This Tenko...

"Have you stayed up late and gone crazy? Your eyes are all red. Go back and rest!" Sento said without giving face. Tenko pointed at his own eyes angrily and said, "This is the Sharingan! The mighty Sharingan!"

Sento was taken aback for a moment, then observed carefully and decided to play dumb to show his disdain "What's the use?"

"I can see through all Taijutsu and replicate them!" proudly answered Tenko.

Seeing Sento's ignorant look, Tenko generously explained. But Sento smiled suddenly as Tenko fell into his trap "So you've learned all my Eight Trigrams Gentle Fist techniques?"

"Uh..."

Seeing Tenko's expression, Sento knew he hadn't learned it. He rolled his eyes and said, "As expected, Uchiha aren't capable. My Hyuga Clan has the best Dojutsu."

"You..."

"Enough. If we delay any longer, we might not make it on time," Tatsuma interrupted the two. He was also eager to have a match with the Sharingan user. Tenko, upon hearing this, snorted and walked up to Tatsuma, crossing his arms in front of his chest, saying, "Come on! This is your only chance."

"Let's form the Seal of Confrontation, or else I won't hold back," Tatsuma said with a tug at the corner of his mouth. Tenko realized and quickly formed the Seal of Confrontation. The little momentum he had just built up dissipated instantly.

"I've always heard about the marvel and power of the Uchiha Sharingan. Tenko, let me witness it," Tatsuma said.

"As you wish!"

As they withdrew their hands, Tenko quickly raised his hand and threw several shuriken.

"Swish~"

Before the shuriken could be thrown, his sleeve was torn. For a moment, the four of them fell silent. Tatsuma didn't even dodge; Tenko's misaimed shuriken only grazed his body.

"Hahahahahahaha~"

Sento mercilessly laughed. Tenko, frustrated and embarrassed, turned red with anger and snapped at Sento, "Shut up!"

With that, he turned back to Tatsuma, forming hand seals and then spitting out several small fireballs. Along with the fireballs, he rushed towards Tatsuma.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"

Seeing the fist-sized fireballs coming at him, Tatsuma didn't dodge or retaliate with ninjutsu. Instead, he struck the fireballs directly with his hands. Thanks to his Enhanced Strength, the surging chakra shattered the fireballs.

As Tenko rushed towards Tatsuma, intending to attack, he abruptly stopped, not daring to approach Tatsuma, whose chakra had exploded, completely altering the atmosphere around him.

"Is this your determination? The determination to kill Jonin, to avenge your family?"

Tenko's ridiculous performance irritated Tatsuma. He frowned and pursed his lips. The pressure he exerted on Tenko was reminiscent of the oppression felt by the Uchiha clan in the past, constantly labeled as "evil Uchiha" by others.

Hearing Tatsuma's words brought back painful memories for Tenko, memories that he had buried deep in his mind. His expression changed, and he took a step back, unzipping his robe and removing it.

With a serious expression, Tenko put aside his earlier arrogance and said earnestly, "I'm sorry. From now on, I will approach our battle with the attitude I would have for a real fight."

"Then, let's begin."

---- 

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