Chapter 28: Sparring

The Top Rookie?

Minato had never heard of this title before. In their class, the most outstanding student had always been Uchiha Homura. 

In their last battle, Minato couldn't really say he had won. Towards the end, Homura lost focus after using the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, allowing Minato to easily subdue him. Otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain if they kept fighting.

However, the students at the Ninja Academy didn't understand these nuances. On the surface, it appeared Minato narrowly defeated Homura.

Thus, the "Top Rookie" title that belonged to Uchiha Homura was passed on to Minato.

Upon hearing this, Minato shook his head and explained, "Senior Nawaki, I'm not the top rookie. Uchiha Homura is very strong too. I didn't truly defeat him."

"But I don't mind sparring," he added with a focused gaze.

Nawaki didn't know the details of their fight's outcome. From Minato's humble words, he seemed like a modest person.

Looking at Minato's frame, half a head shorter than himself, Nawaki felt he had met a formidable opponent.

"In that case, let's begin!" Nawaki smiled and walked towards the backyard training ground.

"Minato, you..." The two suddenly decided to spar, surprising Jiraiya. Not that he opposed it, but after that morning's training, Minato's stamina had not fully recovered.

Sparring with Nawaki in this condition could easily lead to injury.

However, when Jiraiya saw the resolute look in Nawaki's eyes, he swallowed his words.

"Thank you, Master," Minato noticed Jiraiya's concern and gave him a grateful smile in return.

It wasn't out of stubbornness, but Minato's recovery ability exceeded his expectations. The fatigue was not completely gone, but sparring would not be an issue.

Moreover, he hadn't used any chakra during that morning's training.

Entering the training area a few meters across from Nawaki, Minato bowed respectfully, following proper Ninja Academy etiquette when a junior spars with a senior.

Nawaki returned a slight bow, then focused his gaze and said, "Then I'll start!"

Swish!

As soon as the words left his mouth, Nawaki charged straight at Minato with extreme speed, generating a gust of wind that ruffled Minato's bangs.

He threw a punch towards Minato's face. The force behind it was evident from the gust of wind. Moreover, his movement speed seemed even faster than Uchiha Homura's.

As expected of someone trained by the Sannin Tsunade and Orochimaru!

While Minato was strong, he didn't plan to match power with Nawaki. Being younger, he had no advantage in that aspect.

Nawaki was incredibly fast, but speed was Minato's specialty. He dodged Nawaki's punch by sidestepping, simultaneously swinging his left hand in a knife-strike towards Nawaki's neck.

A direct punch is one of the hardest strikes to retract force from, while the neck is one of the most vulnerable areas. Even without full power, a hit there could stun the opponent and severely diminish their combat ability, if not render them unconscious.

Nawaki glanced sideways, noticing Minato's move. With Minato's speed, he couldn't form a proper defense in time.

If that was the case, he would take the offensive!

Nawaki swung his left leg back to kick Minato.

Their bodies overlapped slightly, almost touching. Nawaki aimed to disrupt Minato's balance with that kick.

Minato spotted it and was forced to withdraw his knife-hand, leaping back to avoid Nawaki's kick.

"So strong..."

This spar was even more intense than his fight against Uchiha Homura. If he had been half a second slower, Nawaki's kick would have thrown off his balance, leaving him defenseless against any followup attacks and ensuring defeat. 

Nawaki was equally surprised. Minato instantly defused his aggressive offense and attempted a counterattack, despite Nawaki breaking through it. It was enough to impress him.

"Perfect, since I'm not skilled at ninjutsu either, let's have a taijutsu match!" Nawaki smiled, his positive impression of Minato growing.

Minato felt a chill. While his chakra reserves were considerable, he didn't know any offensive ninjutsu.

Despite becoming Jiraiya's student, his teacher didn't seem intent on teaching him any techniques yet. 

Even a basic C-rank ninjutsu would likely overwhelm Minato, like Homura's Great Fireball Technique during their last fight. Minato could evade it with the Body Flicker Technique, but at a massive chakra cost.

Speaking of chakra, it inevitably led to discussing the Senju clan's innate prowess.

The Senju were blessed with superior physical traits, granting them immense chakra reserves and strength.

Nawaki, inheriting those Senju bloodline traits, gave Minato a glimpse of his power. His chakra levels definitely exceeded Homura's, meaning any ninjutsu he used would likely be more powerful.

After all, he was personally trained by the Sannin Tsunade and Orochimaru.

For Minato, this was good news. 

Swish!

With that said, Nawaki charged again, unleashing another intense offensive barrage.

Minato didn't recklessly clash head-on but took advantage of his superior agility and unpredictability. For a while, neither gained a clear upper hand.

Jiraiya observed from the sidelines, well-aware of Minato and Nawaki's respective abilities. In a pure taijutsu bout, they were quite evenly matched.

However...

After trading blows for some time, Minato was forced to block one of Nawaki's punches directly with his arms in a crossed guard, causing him to crumple to the ground with numb arms.

"Senior Nawaki, I lost," Minato admitted defeat gracefully.

Nawaki offered his hand to help Minato up. Minato hesitated briefly before accepting it.

Once on his feet, Nawaki said, "I could tell you must have trained intensively with Jiraiya-brother this morning, which is why your stamina ran low, right?"

Minato nodded.

"You're incredibly skilled. It took Tsunade-sister and the others two years to get me to this level. I don't know how long you've been Jiraiya-brother's student, but for your age, I'm the one who lost," Nawaki laughed heartily.

His laughter, while lacking Minato's gentle warmth, exuded an refreshingly bright charm that drew people to him.

Then he extended his right fist towards Minato with a smile. "Let's fist-bump. From now on, we're friends!"

(End of chapter)