Kameko clutched her sword tighter as she stared at Takuma gazing at her with unblinking eyes.

What the hell? This wasn’t the Takuma she remembered. The person she remembered always had a reluctant face during spars in the academy and acted overly cautious to his detriment during the basic training. So why did it seem like he was a whole other person altogether?

“Both of you ready?” Anko stepped forward.

Kameko released her sword from the scabbard while Takuma simply nodded.

Anko looked at both of them and nodded.

“Go on then, have at each oth—”

Kameko blinked and saw Takuma’s hand move up.

“—er.”

Her eyes narrowed as a kunai flashed in her direction. She raised her sword, and metal rang as the kunai was deflected.

But then she gasped as two more kunai were a split-moment away from her. She hurried to deflect them as well. The first one was a clean redirect to the right, but when she moved her sword to deflect the third one, it felt like she was hitting an iron ingot. A jolt of vibration shot up her arm as she found her arm thrown back from the force.

‘What power!’

She had no time to be startled as Takuma rushed forward the moment he had thrown the first kunai. Kameko hurriedly balanced herself. His first move was to not let her properly wield her sword and struck out strongly down at her sword, but Kameko was prepared and met the strike strongly. It wasn’t as strong as she expected and countered effortlessly.

With Takuma so near to her, Kameko got a hold of herself and prepared to cut him down. She wielded a sword, and he was using kunai—she held the range advantage. Her footwork flowed as she gripped her sword in both hands and began parrying and blocking Takuma’s assault.

The way he handled his kunai was forceful and violent. She could feel the intention behind every strike of drawing her blood. It was barbaric in a sense. She didn’t find that to be a fault; it was simply a way to fight. But she preferred finesse and skill.

Kameko’s sword flowed, meeting Takuma’s aggressive assault head-on. She let him push her back as she observed his fight style, but the moment she felt comfortable enough to mount a counter, she stopped and pushed him back.

The frown on his face as she pushed him back filled her with confidence. He became more aggressive. Kameko simply picked up pace to thwart anything he threw at her.

Takuma used his free hand to grab her sword arm and pulled. It was a common tactic though risky to go for a grab and disarm when the opponent had a sword, but Kameko was prepared for it and smashed her other into Takuma’s face. He blocked it with his arm, but Kameko was able to pull her arm free.

Kameko decided it was time to grab the momentum and go on the offensive.

But just as she raised her sword, Takuma kicked her calf. The force almost made her stumble, but she lost the stance for her strike.

The next moment, Takuma’s raised arm came down at Kameko with a kunai and she rushed to grab his wrist. A contest of strength ensued, and Takuma was stronger than Kameko. But Takuma didn’t push Kameko and dropped his kunai. It landed in Takuma’s other hand. Kameko’s eyes widened as he pulled his hand back for a stab to the gut. Her sword arm moved quickly, and she swung for his neck.

Takuma ducked down a moment before the sword reached him.

Kameko didn’t retreat and double-gripped her sword to slice it down at the crouching Takuma.

However, Takuma kicked her in the legs once more. It wasn’t enough to stop her, but it slowed her down, and Takuma rolled away to evade the attack.

Kameko clicked her tongue and quickly switched gears to go after Takuma, who launched two shurikens at her from his crouching position. Not intending to let herself be slowed down, Kameko moved her sword to parry them, but when the first shuriken hit her, it carried a brutish force like the kunai before, yet Kameko pushed forth and also deflected the second shuriken.

‘Heavy!’

It was as though she was attempting to parry a heavy greatsword. How could one throw a shuriken so hard?

The second shuriken created a gap that Takuma jumped at. He blitzed Kameko and kicked her in the knee.

‘He’s targeting my legs,’ Kameko realized as she was forced to stand still.

Takuma’s fist came quick as a viper and smashed into the side of her face. She stumbled back. A palm strike struck her in the chest, followed by another punch to her liver. Kameko felt pain, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t experienced before. She focused her gaze on Takuma and saw his fist moving towards her. She clenched her sword. She would take that punch and immediately counter with her sword. Cut him down where he stood.

Stolen novel; please report.

As she adjusted her posture to allow the best recovery, the fist dug into her stomach.

Kameko’s eye bulged as in an instant all the air was forced out of her lungs. She felt a force slam into her body. She couldn’t breathe nor react when the sheer force assaulted her body.

The grass around them fluttered from the wind displaced from Takuma’s strike as Kameko flew through the air like a bullet. It was so sudden that the audience watching from a considerable distance had to scamper to clear the way as Kameko rag-dolled past them.

——

.

“What the hell?” Anko muttered in surprise when she saw Kameko fly through the air.

“Chakra augmentations, isn’t it,” commented Jonin Shirakumo beside her. “And from the looks of it, he is decently proficient in it. His taijutsu is also commendable, it’s clear that he has worked hard on it. You have got a good genin, Chunin Mitarashi.”

“It would seem like, sir,” Anko said as she watched the fight.

“Hmm… I expected him to be a genjutsu user. It’s different from what I imagined,” said Jonin Toridasu.

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“Well… just a hunch,” said Toridasu.

“Oh, ninjutsu so early? Is that wise?” said Shirakumo.

Anko turned to the fight to see Takuma weaving hand seals as he ran towards Kameko.

——

.

Kameko tried to push herself up, but her knees buckled as her body shivered in pain, which spread out from her abdomen. She hadn’t been hit that hard ever.

Chakra augmentation?

Kameko looked up and saw Takuma running towards her with hand seals. The shock of a possible ninjutsu attack woke Kameko up, and she stood up with great difficulty. She didn’t know what was coming, so she went with the quickest jutsu with the most versatile defense she possessed. She weaved the hand seals.

As a pressured wave of water was thrown at her, Kameko held her hand forward, and a strong gust of wind shot forward, creating a pseudo-wall protecting her from the attack.

Wind Release: Wild Gust

The water slammed with the wind wall. Some of it was stopped, but the wave continued. Kameko gritted her teeth as she held strong while water pushed its way through the wind wall until it appeared on the other side.

Kameko gasped as the wave enveloped her.

But other than being drenched by a huge wave, Kameko remained uninjured. The wind wall did its part and took away most of the force behind the water.

She immediately picked up her sword and charged Takuma when she saw him weaving another set of hand seals. But this time, she chose to go on the offensive. She channeled chakra into her sword, and it hummed silently in her hand.

Her eyes widened, and she got scared when a globule of water rushed past her from behind, and then another, and another, until a whole lot of water flew through the air and settled behind Takuma.

‘What is that jutsu?’

She was cautious but didn’t slow down or stop. She got her answer the next moment as she entered the range to attack, two water tentacles shot from behind his back, with two kunai protruding out from the front.

Instantly, her target changed from Takuma to the two tentacles. She parried the kunai, but they came right back. The next second, a third one came out, with a fourth following soon. The pressure went from zero to a hundred within a second, and as she got cut three times in a couple of seconds, Kameko considered backing off, but then an idea entered her mind.

She swung her sword at the tentacle itself. A portion of the water separated, and the kunai fell to the ground.

‘Got it!’

With the weakness identified, she would cut them down in an instant and go for Takuma.

Two hands suddenly shot forward and grabbed Kameko’s shoulder.

“Huh?”

Takuma pulled her forward and was about to smash his forehead into her head, but she moved her head, and he got her shoulder. Kameko pushed his back and swung her sword in a horizontal strike. Takuma jumped back out of reach, and the sword passed through without cutting anything.

He said, “That was a mis—"

Takuma looked down as a line ripped in his shirt, and inside a very shallow cut appeared on his chest. The blade had passed through the chainmail and cut the flesh underneath.

“Kenjutsu,” he looked up at her.

“I am a Taketori, what did you expect?” she said, proudly.

“That’s true,” Takuma stood straighter. He rolled his shoulders, and eight tentacles shot out of his back. “But, I get your sword now…. It’s nothing special.”

“…What?” Kameko’s eyes sharpened. “What did you say?”

“Taketori isn’t anything special. If it is, you are not it,” said Takuma. “If you’re in-charge of combat in the team, I pity the guys because you’re going to get them killed. You know what, I don’t think I want to be on the team if I have to entrust my back to you.”

“Take that back.”

“I don’t think I will,” Takuma raised his hands wide. “I don’t want to be on the team. I will allow you to cut me down so Anko trades me out. Come on, let’s get this over with… or can you not even manage to do that.”

Kameko disliked him, but now she felt a burning hatred.

She raised her sword, and it hummed noisily as she pointed it at him.

“I will make you regret everything.”

———

.

Kameko was dangerous.

After seeing her swordplay, Takuma had to admit, it was one of the best he had faced. It was better than what he had experienced against Okubo Momoe and from the assassins. But he also knew she hadn’t shown him any of her clan jutsu.

She was an unknown opponent. He had no frame-of-reference for combat style, so he probed her by putting pressure on her to see how she would react under an aggressive assault.

He concluded that Kameko had an offensive-type combat style. If he hadn’t intimidated her before the fight and then overwhelmed her from the start, she would’ve put him on the back foot with a high-powered offense with that sword of hers.

He glanced at her sword, which was humming ominously. He couldn’t get hit with that sword. He could defeat her with his usual strategy, but he knew she would get one or two serious attacks in. He did not want that. He was too reckless during fights and traded damage instead of getting in hits through the opening.

He needed to learn not to take damage.

It was high time he changed his combat style to add some well-needed self-preservation.

‘She gets riled up easily,’ he thought.

And, well, a volatile mind was always an easier target.

And if he wanted Anko to have a proper measure of his ability, he needed to show her more.

‘Sorry, but not sorry, Kameko. But I’m going to use you to make a presentation.’