I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 14 Physical Combat

"Sarutobi-sensei, are you not letting us disband just so these kids can have some pointless fun?"

Inside an empty classroom in the Ninja Academy's teaching building, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with his three hardworking land spirits, looked at the scene on the playground below. Orochimaru said with some dissatisfaction.

"Don't rush, the main characters I want you to see haven't appeared yet. I've already arranged for the two of them to duel. Observe them carefully later and see if it can inspire your interest in taking on disciples."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand and said, while Orochimaru frowned and said, "I'll pass. I've already promised Tsunade that I'd take care of her younger brother. With our current workload, taking care of another one would distract me."

Hearing Orochimaru's direct refusal, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't say anything. Instead, he glanced at Jiraiya and Tsunade. Jiraiya reached into the gap in his clothes, scratched his belly, then looked at the seam between his nails and said:

"I would like to take on disciples, after all, I should be a good teacher, but it depends on who it is, I don't just look up to just anyone, hahaha~"

Jiraiya's words brought a smile to Hiruzen Sarutobi's face. He then turned his gaze to Tsunade, who frowned and said:

"Didn't Jiraiya say he wanted to take on disciples? Why not just give them all to him?"

"Tsunade, the inheritance of the Will of Fire is not the obligation of any one person, nor the obligation of any one generation, but the obligation of every Konoha ninja, and even every Konoha villager."

Just as the Will of Fire I inherited from Lord Tobirama was passed down to you, your Will of Fire should also continue, and be passed on to the newborn children.

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke earnestly, but Tsunade shrugged dismissively. At that moment, Hiruzen noticed the two children had appeared, so he stopped trying to persuade her and instead said:

"These are the two children. Take a closer look; they might be the ones to carry on your will."

Seeing how much Hiruzen Sarutobi valued it, even Orochimaru, who had initially stated that he would no longer accept disciples, became slightly more focused and looked down at the training ground.

Jiraiya leaned back on the windowsill, watching intently as Tsunade continued fiddling with her hair, looking somewhat impatient.

On the training ground, Tatsuma and Minato, who had entered the designated area for the competition, formed opposing hand seals without Sarutobi Awaura needing to speak. Before the competition even started, the two focused on refining their chakra.

"As expected of you!"

Tatsuma started with his usual catchphrase, then said, "I trained so much last night and still managed to beat Choza and Sento in a row. But this time, I still want to win."

"It's not that simple, Tatsuma. Don't forget you used up more energy than I did last night."

Minato smiled. In the battle between Tatsuma and Uchiha Tenka just now, pursuing an efficient solution was not Tatsuma's habit. There was only one reason for doing so: Tatsuma's physical strength was probably worse than his own, which was Tatsuma's current weakness.

If he can exploit Tatsuma's severe lack of stamina and slow down the pace of the game, then he will win!

Tatsuma fell silent after hearing this. Indeed, his physical condition was terrible. Although he was better at realizing his talents than Minato, his talent ceiling was too low. Minato had many advantages that he couldn't fully realize.

For example, in terms of physical and mental abilities, as the upper limit of his talents in these two areas has increased over this period, Tatsuma can feel that his recovery ability is also growing. As for Minato's talent upper limit, it is undoubtedly higher than his at present.

In other words, Minato can recover more stamina in the same amount of time than him, so Tatsuma has no advantage whatsoever.

Looking at the two of them, Hepu reminded himself to keep a close eye on them and make sure nothing went wrong, since the Hokage seemed to be watching from the sidelines.

"start!"

After Sarutobi Awaura finished speaking, he quickly stepped aside, a kunai appearing in his hand, ready to intervene at any moment.

"Ding ding ding~"

Tatsuma and Minato had already completed a round of ninja tool throwing. Tatsuma's ninja tool throwing talent came from Minato, and Minato's ninja tool throwing was taught by Tatsuma. Therefore, the two's ninja tool throwing collided in mid-air with great coordination.

In short, this situation can be summed up in one sentence: "Even though they were taught by the same master, they can't break each other's moves!"

However, this only applies to ninja tool throwing. In other areas, although they have trained together for a long time and are very familiar with each other, there is still some room for improvement compared to ninja tool throwing.

After throwing his ninja tools, Tatsuma sprinted quickly, trying to close the distance and defeat Minato with his superior physique. However, Minato had anticipated this before the battle and quickly pulled back as well.

"Hmm? These two brats are quite spirited."

Seeing that the two were different from the others who were still focused on exam preparation, Jiraiya became a little interested. His words also made Tsunade, who had been lost in thought, look down.

He opened the water gate of the space, quickly pulled out another shuriken, and aimed it at Tatsuma's charging motion. He threw it directly at Tatsuma, who didn't stop, but two kunai appeared in his hands and struck at the flying shuriken.

"We can't let this drag on any longer."

Tatsuma pursed his lips, his eyes darted around, and he threw a kunai with his left hand, predicting Minato's next move. Minato had no choice but to stop and deal with the flying kunai.

Noticing that Tatsuma was still in pursuit, Minato caught the kunai that was shot at him and then gripped it tightly to meet Tatsuma's attack.

"Ding~"

The kunai collided, producing a small spark. Minato quickly retracted his right hand holding the kunai and thrust it out again. Tatsuma, seizing the opportunity, sidestepped and tilted his head to dodge Minato's kunai.

Grab Minato's wrist holding the kunai with your left hand, and pass your right hand under Minato's arm, aiming the kunai straight for Minato's throat. This is a flexible application of the "wind-blown sleeve" technique.

However, Minato, who had practiced with Tatsuma countless times, naturally knew this move of Tatsuma's. He also tilted his head and crouched down to dodge, causing Tatsuma's kunai to only glide across Minato's shoulder and back without achieving any effect.

At the same time, Minato pulled back his right hand, trying to create distance again, but Tatsuma didn't want to give Minato a chance. He grabbed Minato's restrained right hand with both hands at the same time, then pressed down hard and simultaneously slammed his knee into Minato's face.

"Hiss~ That's ruthless!"

Jiraiya, who was watching the battle, suddenly shuddered. Of course, it wasn't that he hadn't seen this kind of method before, or even one a hundred times more cruel. But Tatsuma and Minato were just two children who were not yet six years old.

Even among students at the Ninja Academy, such decisiveness is extremely rare. For example, the groups we saw earlier seemed to be playing a ninja game rather than actually taking action.

Faced with a knee aimed at his face, Minato could only barely block it with his left hand. It wasn't that he was concerned about his image, but rather that his face was too vulnerable; even a slight blow would greatly affect his performance.

After his first attempt to strike failed, Tatsuma quickly switched his pivot foot and raised his other knee, trying to make a series of strikes. But Minato was not stupid and immediately lunged forward and tackled Tatsuma to the ground.

The sudden loss of balance caused Tatsuma to loosen his grip on Minato's right hand. Minato withdrew his right hand and thrust his kunai straight down, not wanting to give Tatsuma a chance.

Tatsuma abandoned defenses elsewhere, grabbed Minato's right hand with his left hand and pried his thumb, while his right hand gripped Minato's left hand to prevent him from exerting force with both hands.

"Aren't you going to stop it?"

Jiraiya frowned as he saw the kunai only centimeters from Tatsuma's eyes, but Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand and said, "For these two little guys, this is just the beginning."

(End of this chapter)