139-Predictable

With the bets already decided, Renjiro and Hiro chose to head to one of the Hatake Clan's training grounds.

When Renjiro arrived, he was struck by the size and layout of the area. It was expansive, far larger than the training grounds of the Uchiha clan.

The terrain was varied, with open fields, and dense wooded areas. The sky above was clear, and the late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the ground, adding a dramatic flair to the setting.

'This is bigger than the training grounds belonging to the Uchiha clan,' Renjiro thought, 'You'd think that the Hatake clan is on par with the Uchiha Clan.'

While both were regarded as shinobi clans from Konoha, the Uchiha clan was one of the founding clans, while the Hatake clan had only come into prominence a couple of decades ago, with Sakumo being the second clan head after his father.

The first Hokage had picked up an orphan in the Land of Iron during one of his travels. The orphan's name was Hirai, who, after being trained by Hashirama to be a proper shinobi, took on the name Hatake.

It was only when he retired that the Hatake clan was acknowledged by the village as an official clan, with his son, and Sakumo's father, becoming the first clan head of the Hatake Clan.

'Don't get me wrong, but while both clans have contributed to the village, their standings are only similar due to the chasm between the Uchiha clan and the village administration,' Renjiro mused.

Hiro broke Renjiro's train of thought. "Are you ready?"

Renjiro nodded, confirming that he was. Hiro retrieved his two swords and a coin,

"The moment the coin touches the ground, we will begin," Hiro said.

Renjiro nodded in response and retrieved his Bō staff from one of his seals, disassembling it into batons before extending the blades at their ends.

Hiro flipped the coin high into the air. The metallic glint caught the sunlight as it spun before descending. Renjiro prepared himself and changed his stance, shifting his focus between the coin and Hiro interchangeably.

"Clink!"

The instant it hit the ground with a soft sound, both chunin moved with blinding speed.

"Whoosh!"

Hiro's swords cut through the air as he darted forward.

"Clang! clang!"

Renjiro met him head-on, his batons twirling and blocking Hiro's strikes. Sparks flew from their weapons as they clashed.

'This is a different style than he used when we were genins.'

Renjiro's Sharingan spun rapidly as he analysed Hiro's movements. Hiro's dual-wielding style was fast and aggressive, each strike aimed with deadly precision.

Renjiro deflected a slash aimed at his torso, countering with a swift strike to Hiro's side. Hiro twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the blow, and retaliated with a spinning slash that Renjiro ducked under.

Their movements were a blur, each trying to outmanoeuvre the other. The two fought across the training ground, moving from the open field to the edge of the wooded area.

Hiro pressed the attack, his swords slicing through the air with relentless speed. Renjiro parried each strike, his batons a whirl of motion. Hiro was fast, but not faster than Renjiro whose dojutsu helped him in the fast transitions he was experiencing.

"You've gotten stronger," Renjiro remarked, his voice calm even as he blocked another flurry of strikes.

Hiro grinned, his eyes blazing with intensity. "I've been training hard. I'm not the same shinobi I was before."

Renjiro attempted to trap Hiro in a genjutsu, but Hiro, knowing better, consciously disrupted his chakra flow. This proved no issue for Hiro, who barely used chakra, relying almost entirely on his sword style.

He retaliated with a slash aimed at Renjiro's side. Renjiro blocked the attack by combining his batons into an X shape.

As Renjiro blocked, Hiro's shadow clone emerged from behind, leaping into the air while making hand signs. The shadow then exhaled a wave of water from its mouth completing his water balst jutsu.

Fortunately, Renjiro had anticipated the jutsu. Hiro thought Renjiro had flickered away, but an explosion suddenly went off, throwing Hiro back while also dispelling his shadow clone.

Renjiro had not flickered away but had substituted himself with a bunch of his modified explosive tags he had left lying around the moment they entered the training grounds.

The blast sent Hiro sprawling, but he quickly recovered, rolling to his feet and glaring at Renjiro.

The ground around them bore the marks of their clash—scorched earth from the explosion, deep gouges from Hiro's swords, and broken branches from Renjiro's evasive manoeuvres.

"You're always full of surprises," Hiro admitted, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

Renjiro smirked. "Well, I can't say the same."

In a bold move, Hiro threw one of his swords at Renjiro. Renjiro deflected it, but the distraction allowed Hiro to close the distance. He swung his remaining sword in a powerful arc.

"Slash!"

Renjiro sidestepped, using his baton to redirect the blade and deliver a sharp kick to Hiro's midsection. Hiro grunted but used the momentum to spin around and slash at Renjiro's legs with his bladed baton.

Renjiro jumped, narrowly avoiding the strike, and countered with a downward slash that Hiro blocked with his sword.

Renjiro quickly created two shadow clones that emerged from the ground on either side behind Hiro. They immediately began spewing wind bullets from their mouths.

Hiro deftly evaded the projectiles. Despite his agility, he couldn't afford to turn his back on Renjiro and face the clones.

Hiro knew he was in a precarious position. "If I turn my back on Renjiro, I'll be at a disadvantage," he thought.

He focused on evading the wind bullets, trusting his instincts to keep him out of harm's way. However, Renjiro didn't let him breathe as he, too, began using the Wind Bullet Jutsu, creating a barrage of projectiles from three different points.

Despite Hiro's best efforts, some of the wind bullets grazed him, tearing through his clothes and leaving shallow cuts on his skin.

Renjiro was holding back since this was a spar and not a lethal fight. He could have used more powerful techniques, but he chose restraint.

Hiro decided to create some distance. He used the Earth Pillar Jutsu, causing a column of earth to rise beneath him and propel him backwards. He landed a few meters away, panting slightly from the exertion.

Renjiro snickered, "I knew you were weak, but I never knew you were also a coward,"

Hiro screamed internally, struggling to maintain his composure. Renjiro's taunts were getting under his skin, and it took all his self-control to stay focused on the fight.

He must have put a calm front on the outside because when Renjiro saw that Hiro wasn't reacting, he muttered, "So you're just going to stand there? Fine, I was getting tired of these probing attacks anyway."

Renjiro quickly formed a hand sign and unleashed the Fireblast Jutsu. Flames roared from his mouth, surging towards Hiro in a wave of intense heat.

At the same time, the two shadow clones synchronized their efforts, using the Violent Wind Jutsu to amplify the flames.

The combined jutsu created a massive inferno, the wind feeding the fire and making it grow larger and more destructive. The ground between Renjiro and Hiro became a blazing path of fire, and the heat was nearly unbearable.

Hiro's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't panic.

'Why does he always resort to his fire Jutsu? Doesn't he know that it is predictable?'

=====

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