29 29. Spar with Obito Part-1

As Akio is brainstorming different methods to impress Minato with his sword skills. Kakashi, Obito, and Minato walk towards them.

Kushina leaves Rin from her embrace and pushes Akio forward.

"You have to say something, right?"

"Ah yes! Yes!"

The sudden push flusters Akio. He turns towards Minato with a serious look and bows his head.

"Minato-san, thank you for saving my uncle's life."

"Oh!"

Minato curiously stares at Akio as he scrutinizes the latter.

'I can see a sense of composure and confidence I have never seen before, even in the likes of someone like Kakashi. But there is also seems to be a childish and immature side to him which is more prevalent.'

He uses his sensory skills to inspect Akio's chakra and deduct Akio's personality just by his facial expression, heartbeat, and breathing pattern.

'I can't sense any chakra fluctuations from him, but looking at his fine-toned body, this kid probably trains a lot.'

"There is no need for it. I was doing my job." Minato shakes his head but accepts his thanks.

Akio turns towards Rin and expresses his gratitude.

"Thank you for performing preliminary treatment on my uncle, Rin-san!"

"Eee… there is no need to thank me. I just couldn't see him in such a state. So, I did the little I could." Rin shakes her hands to deny the credit.

Obito, who is stuffing a sandwich in his mouth, turns towards Akio.

"Huh?! Isn't this the guy who was denied entry in the academy because he doesn't have chakra?"

He walks in front of Akio and inspects him from top to down.

"He is!" Obito nods his head.

Hmm…

Kakashi also turns towards Akio with slight interest. He recognizes the latter as the manager of the weapon shop, from which he frequently buys his supply.

'Makes sense! Not everyone can enter the academy. Only a few people meet the chakra requirement to enter the academy. If not, then every person in the village would be a ninja.' Kakashi silently nods in agreement.

"Well!" Akio scratches his head in embarrassment.

That was the biggest shame of his life. He resolutely clutches his fist and turns to Obito with a glint.

'Buddy! There is no bad blood in between us. I know it wasn't your intention, but you touched my sore spot. So, it will be you then. I will use you to leave an impression on Minato-san to complete my mission.'

At the sidelines,

Minato and Kushina stare at their interaction with curiosity.

'Is he the one you mentioned?'

Minato turns to Kushina.

'He is! Nine years ago, before her death; Grandma Mito saved his life. But the cost was too great!' She whispers.

Sigh…

Minato shakes his head.

'Kazuya-san was my ideal when I started my life as a shinobi. To think that his son has to go through such a thing! Fate is unkind to him.' Minato shakes his head.

Akio inspects Obito's stats before issuing the challenge.

[Name: Obito Uchiha

Race: Human (Trace amounts of Otsutsuki)

Age: 9 years, 7 months

Class: Genin

Combat Strength: Mid-tier Genin

Bloodline: - Uchiha Clan (Grants +30 agility, +50 chakra, +20 intelligence, +30 spirit), Otsutsuki Bloodline (Traces 3%)

Strength: 24 Vitality: 21 Agility: 47 Dexterity: 36 Endurance: 27 Resilience: 27 Stamina: 30 Chakra: 69

Hidden Stat: Intelligence: 25 Spirit: 34 Wisdom: 7 Plot Armor: 78

Proficiency: Fire Release: 6/10 Wind Release: 1/10 Lightning Release: 1/10 Water Release: 1/10 Earth Release: 1/10 Yin Release: 3/10 Yang Release: 1/10

Title: - Dark horse of Uchiha (+ 50 Plot Armor)

Special Abilities: - Flame Control (Bloodline Skill: Increase the proficiency of Fire Release by +3) Yin Control (Bloodline Skill: Increase the proficiency of Yin Release by +3) Sharingan (Not Awakened)]

'Darkhorse, huh? I can manage if you only have such stats.' Akio makes up his mind.

"I am not the same kid you saw back then!" Akio's expression turns serious

"If you want to pity me, then prove that you are stronger than me instead of using that long tongue of yours." Akio challenges Obito.

'Sorry Obito! No bad blood alright!'

"Oh!"

Akio's sudden challenge surprises Kakashi, Minato, and Kushina.

'Where does he get his confidence from?'

All three of them think the same thing as they can see that Akio has little to no chakra.

"Huh?!"

Obito stares at Akio with an unfriendly gaze and flashes his headband.

"You see, I am a certified genin and a shinobi. How can I bully a civilian like you?"

"Hmm… that makes sense!" Minato butts in.

"Akio, do you think you can spar against Obito?" But he doesn't discourage Akio from fighting.

"Of course, if it's just this pineapple head; then I can easily floor him."

Pfft… Haha…

Kushina and Rin burst out in laughter. Even Kakashi snickers behind his mask.

"Oi! You are asking for it." Obito raises his sleeves.

Akio ignores him and continues.

"Though I might have to go all out against that broom head to get a chance to win. But I am confident of scoring a tie."

Akio declares as he stares at Kakashi's stats.

[Name: Kakashi Hatake

Race: Human

Age: 8 years, 7 months

Class: Chunnin

Combat Strength: Mid-tier Chunnin

Bloodline: - Hatake Clan (Grants +30 dexterity, + 10agility)

Strength: 22 Vitality: 24 Agility: 53 Dexterity: 45 Endurance: 23 Resilience: 29 Stamina: 33 Chakra: 42

Hidden Stat: Intelligence: 15 Spirit: 18 Wisdom: 29 Plot Armor: 100

Proficiency: Fire Release: 1/10 Wind Release: 1/10 Lightning Release: 6/10 Water Release: 1/10 Earth Release: 1/10 Yin Release: 1/10 Yang Release: 1/10

Title: - Prodigy of Konoha (+ 60 Plot Armor)

Special Abilities: - Lightning Control (Bloodline Skill: Increase the proficiency of Lightning Release by +3)]

Even though Kakashi's stats are much higher than Obito's, Akio has the confidence to tie with him.

This confidence comes from the overpowered skill Bullet Time. This gives him an insane triple perception, reaction time, and cognitive ability boost, which is equivalent to his agility stat multiplied 3 times. Akio has the confidence to maneuverer around each of Kakashi's attacks.

"Alright!" Minato nods and turns to Obito.

"Obito! Do you accept his challenge?"

"Of course! I will show him to never underestimate a shinobi and especially the person who will become the next hokage." Obito declares proudly.

"Then both of you move towards the center of the training field. This will be a friendly spar so none of you are allowed to use any lethal attack against each other.

I will immediately stop the spar if I sense something amiss. Also, the first person to land a blow that could be considered life-threatening will win the spar. Do you understand?" Minato turns towards them.

"Yes, Minato-san!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

Click… click…

Akio removes the bag tied around his shoulder. He takes out a standard katana from the bag and passes the bag to Kushina.

"Kushina Nee-san, please take care of it for me."

Mm…

Kushina grabs the bag and curiously stares at the katana in Akio's hand.

"Akio-kun, you know kenjutsu?"

"Just a little bit! I picked a few skills from the scroll uncle brought from the land of Iron."

This is the excuse he came up with to explain his kendo skills. The samurais from Land of Iron use similar sword stance and sword skills and Kazuha indeed exchanged a few scrolls with basic sword moves from the land of Iron.

"Then, I am excited to see your sword moves." Kushina nods to him.

"Good luck to both of you!"

She cheers both Akio and Obito.

Haaah…

Akio takes a deep breath and calms his nerves. Obito also bends his body slightly backward, ready to attack any moment.

Akio notices his stance and predicts.

'Judging from his stance, he will test me out with a kunai first. From his looks, I can see he is worried about my safety. Fate is marvelous. Such a kind person turned into a mass murderer responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, including his Sensei and his wife.

So, to deflect the kunai; I will adjust my stance to gedan.'

Akio holds the katana with both hands and points it downwards towards the waist. His right foot is pressed forward. This stance is known as 'Fool's guard' in kendo as it is used to bait opponents by exposing a weakness.

"Alright, start!"

Minato waves his hand and jumps backward.

Swish… swish…

As predicted, Obito takes out a pair of kunais from his holster and launches them towards Akio.

Akio ignores the kunais and presses forward.

'What's he doing?'

Kakashi and Kushina stare at Akio's reckless move with trepidation. Only Minato has a calm expression on his face.

Swish…

When the kunais are about to hit him, Akio twists his hands and performs an upward slash.

Clang… clang…

He deflects the kunais and continues forwards with the same momentum.

"Woah!"

His sudden move surprises Kushina and Rin. Even Kakashi is slightly shocked by the angle of the slash.

"That's one of the five basic moves of the Samurai swordsmanship. The stance he used might expose his weakness, but it is also a bait to lure his enemies in attacking his weakness. The swordsman will push forward with an initial momentum and use it to deflect strikes and create an opportunity to strike the enemy."

Minato explains to them.

"And from the looks of it, Akio-kun has practiced a lot."