The Mysterious Man

December 31st.

The last day of the 42nd year of the Konoha calendar.

Early in the morning, the entire Konoha was filled with an intense New Year atmosphere.

The conflicts between Konoha and Kumogakure finally settled down recently, so the villagers were pleased to enjoy a peaceful New Year this year.

Many shops had already started New Year's promotions, with various lucky bags piled high at the entrances.

The streets were also lined with numerous stalls selling all sorts of goods.

The ninjas returning from the front lines with their pockets full of money were indulging in revenge shopping, pushing the festive atmosphere to its peak.

Even Natsuhiko's spirited bar was benefitting from this, breaking sales records day after day.

"Natsuhiko, Natsuhiko, look over there! They're giving out free New Year gifts. Should we go get some?"

"Natsuhiko, Natsuhiko, this takoyaki is delicious! Do you want to try some?"

"Wow, they're selling watermelons in December! Natsuhiko, I'm going over to check it out!"

Watching Kushina darting off ahead, Natsuhiko rubbed his forehead with a bit of exasperation before slowly following her.

As soon as he got closer, he heard Kushina speaking to the watermelon vendor:

"Boss, are these watermelons fully ripe?"

The vendor, a burly man with a fierce face, glared and said, "I run a fruit stall. Do you think I'd sell you unripe watermelons?"

Natsuhiko couldn't help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu. He quickly pulled Kushina away, sighing in resignation:

"Kushina, how long do you plan on shopping?"

"Don't forget, it was you who woke me up early in the morning by sending dozens of messages through the communication bracelet, saying you wanted to spar with me."

After the kidnapping incident, Kushina became more focused on her training.

Besides practising projection techniques with the students, she often invited Natsuhiko to spar, honing her skills.

Natsuhiko was actually pleased with this but worried that, like before, her enthusiasm might only last for a short time.

And it seemed his concerns were not unfounded.

Kushina blinked in realisation, finally remembering she had indeed mentioned something about sparring.

She stuck out her tongue, a bit disappointed, and said, "Alright, we'll come back and look after we're done sparring."

So the two of them continued towards the small grove where they often practised.

But after just a few minutes...

"Natsuhiko, Natsuhiko, it looks like someone's performing over there! I'll just take a quick look!"

Watching Kushina dart off like an unleashed wild dog, Natsuhiko shook his head, sighed, and followed her once again.

At that moment, Natsuhiko hadn't noticed that a passerby, wearing a black veiled hat and having just brushed past him, suddenly turned to look at the two of them, a playful smile forming on his barely visible lips...

...

In the small grove near the Ninja Academy, Natsuhiko and Kushina were darting back and forth among the trees, chasing each other.

"Little junior brother, take this punch!"

A sharp shout echoed as Kushina suddenly pushed off a tree branch with great force, lunging towards Natsuhiko.

Her seemingly delicate fist, accompanied by a robust whooshing sound, aimed straight at Natsuhiko.

But Natsuhiko remained calm as if this was nothing new.

"Too many openings."

He commented, sweeping her punch aside with his left hand while using his right to strike her in the stomach, sending her flying towards the ground.

It wasn't just the three little ones who were training hard; Natsuhiko himself had also been putting a lot of effort into taijutsu.

In addition to strengthening his meridians with nightly exercises, he frequently sparred with Might Duy or Kushina to refine his skills.

After a semester of rigorous training, his taijutsu had improved significantly.

At least now, unlike when he first sparred with Kushina and had to be on high alert to avoid any mishaps, he could now hold his own using only taijutsu, even gaining the upper hand.

As she was about to hit the ground, Kushina managed to adjust her posture, landing in a crouching position and carving two long grooves into the ground.

She then quickly dashed behind a large tree, disappearing from Natsuhiko's sight.

Seeing this, Natsuhiko smiled, guessing that Kushina was planning to use the Shadow Clone Technique to lure him in and then ambush him herself.

Despite all their sparring sessions, she still resorted to the same strategy.

Her battle instincts were indeed inferior to Naruto's.

And the poor Kushina didn't realise that Natsuhiko could actually monitor the surroundings using a small mapping technique.

So whether it was a decoy clone or a direct attack, it would never work against him.

After all, you can't ambush a player with a full-map hack.

Recently, however, Natsuhiko had been temporarily turning off his mapping program during their sparring sessions.

In the ninja world, many could avoid detection by sensory arrays.

Natsuhiko feared that relying too much on the sensory array would dull his instincts, which might lead to a disastrous mistake one day. So, during sparring, he selectively turned off this feature to maintain his sense of danger.

Thus, Natsuhiko had no idea what Kushina was doing behind the tree at that moment.

He landed on a thick branch, assuming a defensive stance, ready to counter any attack from Kushina.

But as he waited... and waited... after more than twenty seconds without any sign of movement, he started to feel something was off.

Was Kushina preparing a Rasengan or something?

Why was she taking so long?

Natsuhiko wondered to himself but decided not to overthink it. Instead, he chose to go on the offensive.

He jumped to the ground, heading towards the tree where Kushina had disappeared.

At that moment, Kushina suddenly charged out from behind the tree, arms swinging as she sprinted towards Natsuhiko!

Natsuhiko was initially taken aback but then smiled and rushed to meet her.

Smack! Smack, smack, smack!

The sound of their fists and feet colliding echoed through the grove.

In just a few seconds, they had exchanged dozens of blows.

But this time, something was different. Kushina seemed to have suddenly improved, her strikes sharper than before, quickly putting Natsuhiko on the defensive.

Natsuhiko realised things couldn't continue like this. After forcing Kushina back with a roundhouse kick, he suddenly snapped his fingers.

In the next moment, darkness fell.

Thick black mist enveloped the two of them.

Natsuhiko's figure blurred and reappeared behind Kushina.

The scene was a perfect replay of their first sparring match.

Even Natsuhiko's cold, icy voice echoed behind Kushina...

"Konoha Secret Taijutsu—Thousand Years of Death!"

Boom!

A wave of chakra erupted, dispersing the surrounding black mist.

Kushina's feet suddenly flared with intense chakra, and in a flash, she moved away from her original spot. She reappeared not far away, staring at Natsuhiko with a complex expression.

Natsuhiko remained in place, smiling as he looked at her.

"That's White Fang's technique. How did you learn it?"

Kushina asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "But more importantly, how did you know I wasn't Kushina?"

With a puff of smoke, Kushina vanished, revealing a long-haired, androgynous man wearing a plain kimono with golden vertical pupils.

Tilting his head, he added:

"Or do you youngsters play this rough all the time now?"

(End of This Chapter)

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