Chapter 29: Taijutsu Spar

Ken was currently attending the class that told the students about the various shinobi rules, the structure of the village hierarchy and other shinobi-related things that a shinobi from Konoha should know.

"There are five ranks that shinobi can get in our village which are Genin, Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin and Elite Jonin. After you graduate, You will become a genin. By participating in chunin exams and if you impress the judges, you can become a chunin. You can also complete the required number of missions to become a chunin but this method would take much longer."

He then went on to explain the different criteria and the number and rank of missions that one must complete to become a jonin and an elite jonin.

"A chunin can give genin orders and similarly a jonin can give orders to anyone below them in rank and so on for the other ranks. Shinobi Department heads like the T&I, medical department etc can give orders to even elite jonins during a state of emergency. Thus, department heads have more authority than elite jonins. Above department heads are the three elders of the village and clan heads of the different clans in the village. They together form the village council. The elders are the advisors of the Hokage so they have a little more authority than clan heads.

"Above them are the Jonin Commander and Anbu Commander. And finally, the Hokage is above everyone in rank." The teacher explained

[A/N: This information would be very essential in the story in later chapters.]

"Now I would be telling you different departments that you would be able to join after you become a full-fledged shinobi. It will depend on the department if they want to accept you or not.... ...."

In short, there were more than 80 different jobs that a shinobi could get in Konoha. Ken just skilled all of that.

Today was one of the days that apart from theory classes, they will have shuriken training and taijutsu spars.

Ken threw the shuriken and all of them hit the mark or were just a little off from the center.

Itachi closed his eyes and threw the shuriken. All the shurikens hit dead center just like what was expected from Itachi Uchiha.

He even made the Shurikens curve in the air.

Ken was not jealous or anything. Instead, he was happy that Itachi was going to teach him Shurikenjutsu starting next week. He was going to learn from the best there is in taijutsu.

During the taijutsu spars, the boys in their class fought like dogs fight while the cats had a catfight. Ken was so disappointed to see them fight like that. At least some of them were good like the Hyuga and the Senju.

Itachi and Ken were paired for the taijutsu fight.

"Remember, it's the test of your taijutsu skills so you are only allowed to use taijutsu. No ninjutsu or shadow clones are to to used." The chunin instructor said looking at Ken.

He then looked at Itachi and said "No Genjutsu, shurikens and Sharingan either."

"Can I at least use the jutsu that I use during Taijutsu?" Ken asked about the usage of his ash fist jutsu.

"No" The instructor firmly rejected him.

Ken could only sigh knowing without his ash fist jutsu, his taijutsu skills were pretty ordinary. And ordinary skills were not enough against someone of Itachi's caliber.

"Form the seal of reconciliation," their chunin instructor said to which they compiled and did as instructed.

Itachi and Ken took their respective taijutsu stances.

As the instructor said "Start", Itachi, moved first, darting forward with impressive speed for a six-year-old. He launched a swift low kick at Ken, who quickly sidestepped, showing his agility.

Thanks to his training with the ash fist jutsu, his speed has increased considerably. That jutsu worked just like the weights.

Ken retaliated with a series of punches and kicks, his movements fluid and controlled. Itachi dodged most of the attacks, but one punch grazed his cheek, leaving a small mark. Itachi knew he couldn't underestimate Ken's skills.

'Seems like training taijutsu with Mukai was not in vain after all.'

Itachi countered with a precise roundhouse kick, but Ken blocked it with a well-timed forearm. It was a back-and-forth battle, with both young shinobi displaying impressive taijutsu skills.

Itachi as a testament to his geniusness was able to predict most of Ken's moves even without his Sharingan activated.

Ken seized an opening, performing a quick sweep that knocked Itachi off balance. He followed it up with a series of punches, driving Itachi back.

Itachi after dodging Ken's punches performed a flawless high jump kick, catching Ken off guard. His foot connected with Ken's chest, and the younger Sarutobi tumbled to the ground. Itachi barely managed to stay on his feet, his breathing heavy.

The sensei declared Itachi the winner, but it was evident that he had won by the narrowest of margins.

'These two monsters. Despite Ken saying that he is bad at Taijutsu and he does not like it, he is pretty good at it. Perhaps Lord Hokage has assigned him a good instructor. On the other hand, in my many years of teaching Uchiha's in the academy, Itachi has been the one to use the Uchiha taijutsu style without many mistakes.' The instructor thought.

"Damn, You kick pretty hard. That's why I hate taijutsu. What's so fun about punching and kicking your enemies when you can just burn them?" Ken said as Itachi offered him a hand which Ken took as they formed the seal of reconciliation.

"Taijutsu is the only thing you could use if you did not have any chakra or had your chakra sealed in an enemy's territory without any weapons," Itachi said

"When I say something, you should agree with me despite being right. Otherwise, I would burn you." Ken said as he walked back to his spot.

Itachi had a genuine smile as he watched Ken's back.

'Does he count as my friend? Maybe I should ask Shisui.' He thought

----------------

You can support my work on pat*reon.

Read the next 35+ chapters on my pat*reon

http://pat*reon.com/Pikachu6