Chapter 15: Breaking Through with Speed!

The black kunai, transformed into afterimages. In the eyes of the many students, they were merely black flashes, leaving no trace behind. 

Their trajectories were so intricate that even a chunin like Kunio Shindō, who was a teacher at the Ninja Academy, would find them extremely tricky. Even he himself admitted that despite being an instructor, he did not possess such superior kunai techniques.

After all, this was a skill passed down within the Uchiha clan!

However, in Minato's eyes at that moment, although the kunai moved extremely fast, their speed had not reached an unavoidable level. It was just that Uchiha Homura's few kunai had almost sealed off all of Minato's escape routes.

No matter which direction he tried to evade, one or two kunai would still catch him.

From afar, Uchiha Homura showed a smug expression, mocking Minato. Even if Minato's talent was decent, as an ordinary person, he could never match the abilities of Uchiha Homura, a genius from the prestigious Uchiha clan. 

Minato's golden eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he didn't seem too troubled. Although Uchiha Homura's kunai techniques were superb, it didn't mean Minato had no skills with kunai.

Soon, in his azure eyes, the spinning kunai drew closer. Minato's hands pulled out several wooden practice kunai from the Ninja Academy.

Swish swish!

Minato then swiftly waved his arms, his movements even faster than Uchiha Homura's earlier ones. Those few wooden kunai also traveled along different trajectories.

Bang bang!

The collision sounds rang out as Minato's wooden kunai deflected most of Uchiha Homura's real ones. Only a couple still came at him.

This showed that while Minato's basic abilities might not be inferior to Uchiha Homura's, or even superior, he was at a disadvantage in techniques.

"This kid Minato, his calculations are so precise!" 

At that moment, in a corner of the Ninja Academy, Jiraiya was observing everything, unnoticed by anyone.

Minato didn't just lose to Uchiha Homura in kunai throwing skills. The sharpness of wooden kunai was vastly different from real ones, so he intentionally let Uchiha Homura's kunai get closer.

The longer a kunai's trajectory, the less force it carried.

Even so, the few wooden kunai Minato used to deflect Uchiha Homura's were still cut open.

Not only did Uchiha Homura master the Uchiha clan's kunai throwing techniques, his force was also far beyond an ordinary genin's level!

Undeniably, this kid was arrogant, but also a true genius.

Seeing Minato deflect his real kunai with wooden ones, Uchiha Homura's black eyes showed surprise. He was well aware of the difference between the two types.

However, Minato didn't have time to deflect the remaining two kunai.

Just as Uchiha Homura thought this, the last two came at Minato from different angles.

When Kunio Shindō thought Minato couldn't evade them and was about to intervene, Minato stomped the ground and swiftly retreated backwards.

Swish!

Minato's figure was like a golden flash, retreating several meters in an instant. 

That speed was too fast for the observing students and even startled Kunio.

He hadn't expected Minato's speed to be so fast.

After retreating, Minato casually sidestepped, shifting away from the trajectories of the last two kunai which then hit the outer wire fence and dropped.

"Such speed..."

Even Jiraiya in hiding was shocked. Although Minato's speed wasn't much to him, for a Ninja Academy student, it was unbelievable.

No wonder he could escape the Third Hokage's Anbu after tricking them with his Transformation Jutsu. 

This speed was almost on par with a chunin's!

Actually, just a week ago, Minato's speed wasn't this fast. But ever since that strange chakra growth incident, each of his training sessions brought immense progress.

If he had an unrestricted chakra supply right now, with speed alone, Minato was confident he could render all of Uchiha Homura's techniques ineffective.

No matter how powerful an attack was, if the opponent couldn't even be tracked, that powerful offense meant nothing.

Uchiha Homura was also startled by Minato's speed. Originally, he thought this battle was over. 

Flustered, he prepared to take out more kunai to force Minato into a corner with no escape.

Swish!

However, after evading those kunai, Minato maintained his speed and charged at Uchiha Homura!

Caught off guard, Uchiha Homura had no chance to unleash his powerful kunai techniques as Minato's fist, accompanied by a shockwave, came at him.

As someone trained from a young age, his reflexes were very sharp. He tilted his head slightly as Minato's fist grazed his cheek, leaving a stinging pain.

Though not a direct hit, Minato's fist still grazed Uchiha Homura's face. 

Uchiha Homura didn't panic, raising his right knee towards Minato's abdomen.

At their close distance, if Minato insisted on pressing the attack, he'd have to take Uchiha Homura's knee strike. However, it seemed Minato had predicted Uchiha Homura's move, retracting his fist and stepping back while his other hand struck Uchiha Homura's knee, locking it down. 

Even if he evaded, Uchiha Homura would just turn the knee strike into a kick, but Minato didn't fall for it.

Yet, Uchiha Homura's counterattack wasn't over as he threw an upward punch towards Minato's chin.

Minato turned his retracted fist into a palm and blocked the upward punch.

In that brief moment, they had already exchanged several moves, leaving the observing students dazed, even the higher-level ones who came to watch.

Because their movements were too fast!

Of course, there were some outstanding students who could make out the details, including Mikoto.

Her young face showed shock. She wasn't surprised by Uchiha Homura's strength.

While ordinary children were still coddled by their parents, the Uchiha clan's children had already undergone extremely rigorous training.

So-called geniuses had to put in arduous effort behind the scenes. 

However, she never expected Minato to be able to neutralize and block Uchiha Homura's kunai barrage, and even engage him so fiercely in taijutsu.

Besides Kunio Shindō, there were a few other Ninja Academy instructors present, and they could hardly believe their eyes. 

The ones engaging in such an intense battle were merely freshmen at the Ninja Academy?!!

(end of chapter)