Chapter 10

'Hiraishin: Combo level 2'

Kenji's eyes widened as Minato disappeared into deadly slashes of yellow.

'Water stream encampment!'

*Clang* ×10

"That taijutsu style of yours, you are able to counter my hiraishin with it, how very amazing."

Kenji was sweating and gasping for breath. Him and Minato had been fighting for over two hours with none getting the upper hand. While he had been fighting with everything he had, Minato had slowly raised his effort.

"I stopped holding back half an hour ago. For a ten year old genin to be able to fight toe to toe against me is a bit embarrassing. Commendable, but you do seem lacking. I guess, you need some more on field experience."

Minato proceded to create a rasengan and once again disappeared in a flash of blue and yellow.

'Rasen Senko Gen'ei Shikku Nishiki.'

The attack was absolutely devastating and Kenji barely managed to escape by using 'Futon: Josho', creating massive amounts of wind chakra underneath him to launch himself away from the attack.

Catching Minato with a jutsu was nigh impossible with his hiraishin. The only way to hit him was to allow the man to get close and somehow be faster than him.

'Futon: One with the wind.'

'Futon: Wind armor.'

Minato wasn't a samurai who would allow his opponents to charge their attacks. He immediately attacked with 'Rasengan: flash'.

Kenji, using the momentum of the rasengan, rotated his body and smashed his palm into Minato's face. The force behind the palm strike was strong enough to throw the Hokage tumbling away.

Minato got up with a bloody nose and a grin on his face.

Kenji held his sword and used 'Ju ichi no kata: Nagi'. Minato had a trepidation that if he allowed Kenji to continue, it would not bode well for him.

He prepared to attack once again as Kenji got into a different stance. Lightning danced around his body as his hand rested atop his sheathed sword's hilt.

'Hiraishin: Jiku Shippu Senko Rennodan Zeroshiki!'

Over the months, Kenji had worked extremely hard in trying to integrate two different breathing styles together. It was a result of his efforts that he had managed to come up with combining water breathing's 'Dead calm' and thunder breathing's 'Thunderclap and flash'.

'Nagi: Hekireki issen hachiren!'

A deadly dance of kunai and sword decimated the clearing as the two attacked each other. Minato was flabbergasted by Kenji's speed. He could tell that it was the boy's best possible attack and counter to his hiraishin.

Minato was more than impressed. Not even Kumogakure's Ay or Killer B had managed to leave such an impression on him.

The exchange ended with Minato's rasengan clashing against Kenji's tsurugi and both of them were thrown away by the shockwaves. Both had wounds on their bodies, but none were willing to back down.

'Nagi: Shinsoku!'

The ground beneath Kenji's feet exploded as he flashed towards Minato, fully intending to decapitate the man. Minato barely managed to duck and the slash grazed against his hair while cutting through a mountain behind him.

Minato used Hiraishin again to get away from Kenji.

"Alright, I've seen enough."

There was nothing left of the forst that once stood around the clearing. It appeared like a battle of epic proportions had just taken place there.

Kenji was so tired that his knees gave away and he fell on his back. His arms were battered and he couldn't even hold onto his sword.

*Gasp* "Go ahead... You won..."

'I guess my luck wasn't enough. I'll die tonight... Before reaching puberty... What a waste of a life...'

"Go ahead and do what? Did you think that I was going to kill you? Now, why in the world would I do that? You are the future of this village! I was merely testing if you were strong enough to back your words or not."

'The fuck?!'

Kenji was feeling a lot of things in that moment. Outrage, indignation, disbelief, and embarrassment were some of them.

"You.. You.. HUH?!?!?!"

"Come on. We need to get patched up before Kushina-chan banishes me out of the house for a month. Let me tell you, she doesn't hesitate to use her frying pan! I still remember when she whacked me on my head with it."

Kenji wanted to say a lot of things to the deplorable man in front of him. But, no words would come out of his mouth. In the end, he took a deep breath and said, "Hokage-sama...!"

"Yes, Kenji-kun?"

"You're an imbecile!!"

"Now, now. No need to use such harsh words."

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO KILL ME!!"

"It was a good prank, I must say."

"A prank doesn't involve two people nearly killing each other!!"

"Hahahaha!! There's no need to exaggerate. Like you could kill me, Kenji-kun. That was a nice joke!"

Kenji could only scream to the skies above as the the moron Hokage laughed while slapping the boy on the back.

[-1 WIS for doubting the Goddess of luck]

'God fucking dammit!! I'm sorry! I'll knowtow to your statue a hindred times for my mistake!'

[+2 WIS]

"..."

The pair were tended to by a team of iryonin who were exasperated by the Hokage's outrageous reasons for the fight. The man was a genius, but an eccentric one.

[Raiton: Grandmaster (05%)]

'Atleast I gained something from it!'

As Minato looked at the grumbing genin, he was trying hard not to launch into a frenzy of questions. He wanted to learn more of the boy's taijutsu and kenjitsu. It was so unique and powerful. He wanted to know how the boy came up with them.

Even Hayama, the boy's sensei was at a loss of words when Minato had asked him about Kenji's style. When the man finally decided to show up, the boy pointed towards him and shouted, "You were in in it?!"

Hayama had the decency to look sorry as he said, "In my defense, I did not know that Hokage-sama will take it that far."

"How could you?! You're my sensei!!"

"It was learning experience for you, right?"

"You'll be getting scraps as food on our missions, ya hear?! Scraps!!"

Hayama was truly taken by the boy's skill. He only wished he knew how Kenji achieved so much in such a little time.

But, Minato understood that it was the boy's own secret to tell. The special tai and kenjutsu were Kenji's ultimate arts. They were his magnum opus.

They were healed with utmost care leaving not a single sign of the battle on their bodies. They changed in their spare clothes and were about to return to their homes when Minato said, "Kenji-kun, Kiri will be hosting the first chunin exams after the war. Your team will be sent for the exams. Perform well, and upon your return, I will promote you to the rank of jonin."