Attack on Titan

"Don't let excitement cloud your judgment, and never in any circumstances underestimate your enemy! Do you hear me, drop eyes?" Asuma said menacingly. He crossed his arms and sneered.

"Dang it, Sensei, you just hate to lose, don't you?" Shikamaru said, half annoyed that he still holds no chance against jounin-ranked shinobi, at least without proper advantage.

"An enemy will take each and every advantage they have against you, dirty or not; all is game for survival. The winner is the king, while the loser is the peasant!" Asuma did not mince his words at all; his students needed to know the ruthless side of the world. "Get up and stand to the side, Chouji; you're up next!"

"Yes, Sensei! Please don't hold back!" Chouji said excitedly; he was kind of impatient to compare notes with his Sensei. This is literally the first time he would be able to spar freely with his sensei.

"Come, Sumo kid! Show me what you got!"

Chouji weaved a series of hand seals, then kicked the ground and charged forward, his right hand throwing multiple exploding tags while his left hand formed a hand seal, then slammed his hands on the ground. A multitude of rocks from the ground fly to Asuma like a hail bullet.

'[Doton: Tobi Tsubute]!' [1]

The exploding tags propelled along with the hail of rocks to Asuma, and Asuma was slightly startled by Chouji's sudden action. 'Nice one, C-ranked technique right off the bat! However...'

Like magic, Asuma's figure among the explosion was replaced by a log before Chouji's attack managed to hit him. "You're open!"

Asuma's right hand was raised and immediately in motion to smack Chouji's head from the back. Asuma wondered whether Chouji was not as strong as he thought.

"[Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu]!" [2]

'Shi-' The figure of Chouji that Asuma almost smacked earlier puffed with a loud bang. A hand almost managed to grab his ankle; fortunately for him, Asuma quickly flickered. He was not harmed, but unfortunately for him, his cigarette fell victim to the technique and was smashed by Chouji while he was surfacing from the ground.

'I just bought it, and it's my favorite!' He was lost for words. A while ago, he just advised his students never to underestimate the opponent, yet here he was suffering from underestimating Chouji.

"Okay, I underestimated you, Chouji! Now I will raise the stakes a bit..." Asuma appeared a dozen meters away and said to Chouji. He took out his trench knife made from a special material called Chakra metal.

While Asuma said his piece, Chouji didn't stop and executed another technique of his.

"[Doton: Tobi Tsubute]!'

With another series of hand seals, Chouji propelled another batch of rock that flew toward the target, Asuma, from his side.

In response, Asuma holds the trench knife right-side up. Then, after infusing chakra into the knife and further expanding the blade's length, he slashed horizontally at the fire swarm, which effectively dispersed most of them before he dodged the rest. 'Bukijutsu: [Maichimonji]' [3]

"Futon: [Surudoi Kaze]!" [4]

Asuma slashed and threw a fast wind blade generated from his quick slash, empowered by his wind-natured chakra, toward Chouji. Chouji, who had just taken his first step forward, immediately sidestepped and managed to evade the attack by a hairbreadth.

'Sensei's reflex is inhuman, damn. As expected from a jounin, the Hokage's son, and the former guardian, he's strong...' Chouji thought as he dodged several more of the same attacks when suddenly two Asuma appeared on both of his sides and already charged at him. Chouji hastily used another earth-style technique to erect two rock walls on both of his sides to either stall for time or better if Asuma rammed straight through it and became incapacitated as a result, which has abysmally low possibilities.

'If only I'm able to cover my whole body with an armor strong enough to shield me from harm, I could smash my whole enemies flat with reckless abandon...'

'Wait, that's it! It's only a makeshift technique that I created when I reverse-engineering several Jutsus; it's not a forbidden technique or anything, only... I've yet to try it. Moreover, it's not certain that it could be used in battle...'

Chouji continued his line of thought while his body still danced, following the rhythm of the battle. His almost rotund body bounced left and right while throwing some attack of his own occasionally.

'Screw it, no pain, no gain, it's a spar anyway!' With it, Chouji, for the first time in this spar, formed a series of hand seals. His left and right hand each formed different seals altogether.

"Combination technique, Doton: [Rokkutaitan]!" [5]

With a clasp of his hand, Chouji's body began to expand just like when he used the Multi-size technique, and the rock on the field flew toward him, encompassing his expanded body just like armor would.

"Grand straight!" As his body expanded, Chouji jumped high in the air. He faced down where the training field was and took a karate-like stance with his right hand on his hips, then his waist turned, and he swiftly threw his now-massive rock-encased fist.

'Oh, holy cow...' Sweat trickled on Asuma's forehead; he flickered hastily and took both Shikamaru and Ino out of Arena.

After the dust settled, Asuma looked back and took sight of the devastated arena, and his mouth twitched. 'I'm gonna get an earful scolding from the old man...'

Both Shikamaru and Ino were slack-jawed; they couldn't believe their eyes. They knew that their teammate, Chouji, was strong because he never ceases to train. But they didn't know that he was THIS strong. Both senses of inferiority and the need for Improvement rose in their heart; they were unwilling to be a burden to Chouji. A team was supposed to cover each other weaknesses and amplify each other strong points.

Chouji was akin to a mountain, and they're akin to a little sand dune. He can easily protect them and cover them, but when an enemy that is able to pressurize him appears, it is a big question whether they would be able to cover his back.

'I need to get stronger...' Ino bit her lips, her hands clenched hard. She slightly regretted the time that she spent on many unnecessary things, fawning at the Uchiha heir included, instead of improving herself further.

'So it was still not enough. More, I need to train more...' Shikamaru gritted his teeth. he loves his freedom and lax time, on condition all of his close ones are safe from all harm and he's not become a burden to them. He hates to be a burden.

Unknown to all but themselves, from this point, the string of fate began to strum a little. Whether it was a good omen or a bad one, no one has yet to know.

"Sensei, can we postpone our mission for a while? We want to train a bit more."

"Yes, Sensei. We want to ensure our prowess is enough to survive the harsh world."

Both Shikamaru and Ino asked Asuma for a chance to shape themselves further so they would not become more of a burden for Chouji; at least, that's what they thought.

"Okay then, One week! In this one week, I'll help you get stronger. As for how far you can go, that's all up to you. Shikamaru, I'll help you with your Buki Jutsu! Ino, I'll ask a friend of mine to teach you some genjutsu tricks; she is one of the best non-bloodline limit genjutsu users in Konoha." Asuma said with a grin plastered on his face; he was happy; after all, which teacher would not feel happy if their students were so enthusiastic? Besides, he got more reasons to meet 'her'.

"Bwahaha, I'm sorry guys, I was slightly overexcited back there..." Chouji walked to them with a sheepish grin. 'As expected, that Jutsu is yet to be completed...'

He sighed as he clenched and opened his hand slowly, trying to feel his numb hand and waist. 'My body is not quite ready either...'

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[1] Earth Style: Flying Thrown Stones

[2] Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique

[3] Weapon technique: One straight line

[4] Wind Style: Sharp Wind

[5] Earth Style: Rock Titan