Betaed by Doodledon122
Chapter: 11 Inspection of Skill
The sun sat high in the sky above the Hidden Leaf Village. It had only been a day or so since my engagement with Senshi and Sasuke.
I couldn't say I entirely disagreed with Senshi's motivation. Before the massacre, the Uchiha clan had been looked down upon, scrutinized, and discriminated against by the village. Even now, with only three surviving members, much of that distrust persisted. Senshi only wished to open the eyes of the village to the truth—that the Uchiha were their allies. Unable to do so through official means, Senshi had resorted to going behind the Hokage's back, undertaking self-appointed missions and strategies for the village's sake.
I forced these thoughts to the back of my mind to focus on my current task. At the moment, I stood just outside the village in a forest clearing with Tenten. Gai had asked me to help her improve her combat abilities, so here we were, standing across from each other with wooden practice swords in hand.
Tenten held her practice sword in both hands, her stance grounded and her expression serious. She positioned the sword at a diagonal angle, covering her right shoulder down to her left hip, where the pommel rested.
"Glad to see you've got a proper stance—grounded and ready with a good defensive position," I said. "Now let's see how well you can swing that thing around."
Unexpectedly, Tenten didn't charge forward right away. Instead, she moved toward me slowly and deliberately, her steps careful as she began to circle around me. A small smile crept onto my face—she was playing it smart. Knowing how much more skilled I was, she had to approach with extreme caution.
"That's it," I encouraged. "Don't just charge in blindly. Study your opponent. Gauge their strengths and weaknesses. Watch for patterns and even the smallest movements in their shoulders."
I allowed her to maneuver behind me, observing her composure. As soon as she lunged forward, I spun around, swinging my practice sword at the side of her neck. Tenten planted her foot and ducked under my strike, slashing at my feet in response. I leapt over her wooden blade and landed several feet away.
By the time my feet touched the ground, Tenten had already rushed forward. She dropped her practice sword, digging its tip into the dirt before slinging a clump of dirt toward my face. I shifted left and turned, letting the dirt fly past me. Though my vision was obscured, I could still sense her chakra.
As Tenten slashed at my right side, I raised my wooden sword, bracing its back against the remnants of my right arm to block her attack.
"Good," I said, pushing her blade away. "You're fighting with your head just as much as your body. Staying one step ahead of your opponent is smart, but it won't guarantee victory."
She pulled her blade back and swung at my neck. Leaning backward, I parried her strike, throwing her sword over my head. Tenten spun from the momentum of my deflection, attempting another strike across my stomach. I hunched forward, leaning back to avoid the attack.
"You're too eager to end the fight," I pointed out. "Going for kill strikes over and over again won't work against an experienced opponent."
I slashed upward at her in a diagonal arc. She barely managed to block the strike in time, redirecting my blade just inches away from her.
"A kill isn't something you can just claim. It's something you have to carve out methodically, each move building toward the final blow."
Tenten leapt backward and high into the air, tossing her practice sword down at me. I deflected it effortlessly as it clattered off to the side.
Her fundamentals were solid, but she lacked experience and the deeper knowledge needed to master weapon-based combat. Her next move confirmed this—she retrieved a scroll from her pouch and summoned a bo staff.
Dashing forward, Tenten twirled the staff with impressive speed, sliding along the ground to sweep at my legs. I stepped back, raising my foot to evade her strike. Leaning my head back, I dodged a follow-up swing, then ducked under a third strike as she spun the staff around her back.
Throwing my practice sword up to my left side, I blocked her next attack before whipping my blade across my body to counter her recovery strike.
"Too aggressive," I said. "You need to adapt your fighting style to the weapon you're using."
I lunged forward, delivering a powerful sideways slash. With the distance between us closed, her bo staff was no longer effective offensively. Tenten used the long shaft to block my strike, but she was forced to retreat under the barrage of slashes I unleashed.
"A bo staff is a defensive weapon," I explained, continuing my relentless assault. "Once the distance is closed, its advantages are lost. It's best used to keep your opponent at bay with rapid, stunning strikes to the head and joints."
Tenten desperately deflected each of my attacks, but she was losing ground fast. "You've made a mistake in the heat of combat, and now you have seconds to recover. How do you get out of this situation? Versatility is your strength, but that means little if you lack the knowledge and precision to use it fully."
I spoke these words as my relentless onslaught continued, forcing Tenten back with each strike that landed on her bo staff. Had this been a real contest, Tenten would have already lost. However, an outright victory wouldn't help her training. I wanted to see if she could think her way out of this predicament, though I wouldn't give her forever.
As the assault continued and Tenten struggled to defend, her staff began to crack under the repeated blows. Noticing this, I spun around, adding extra force to my next strike. But as I became flashy and turned my back to her, Tenten made her move.
The moment my back was turned, she snapped her staff in half, creating two roughly three-foot batons. As I followed through on my spin and final blow, Tenten parried my practice sword with the baton in her right hand, deflecting it up and over her head. This left me open for her to slam the butt of her second baton into my chest, knocking the air from my lungs. She followed with a strike across my face before leaping backward and flinging both batons at me.
Recovering quickly, I straightened up and swatted the incoming batons aside with my practice sword. A smile spread across my face as I rubbed the cheek where she had struck me.
"Patience and knowledge," I said. "The only counter to greater skill. You let me get cocky so I'd slip up—a risky move, but it paid off."
"Thanks," Tenten replied, pulling a scroll from her sleeve. "But if you weren't taking it easy on me, I wouldn't have had the opportunity."
She unrolled the scroll on the ground, summoning a naginata wrapped in cut-resistant cloth to avoid injury.
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Your greatest strength is your versatility. Used properly, you can keep your opponent off guard by constantly changing your combat style. Just don't stick with one weapon too long, or your opponent will adapt."
Tenten charged forward, unleashing a rapid flurry of thrusts. I slipped to the right, then left, dodging the first two. When the third came at my left shoulder, I leaned back, letting it pass just over me. Straightening up, I shifted left again and raised my foot, slamming it down onto the cloth-covered blade aimed at my waist, driving it into the dirt.
Tenten immediately wrenched the shaft of her weapon upward, throwing me off balance and forcing me to take several steps back. Capitalizing on my imbalance, she flipped into the air, swinging her naginata down with tremendous force. I jumped back, avoiding the strike as it sank into the loose dirt.
From the end of the embedded naginata, Tenten leapt even higher, pulling another scroll from her sleeve. This one was already unrolled. Six kunai shot forward in pairs, aimed to pass on either side of me. Each set was connected by thin strings that glinted faintly in the sunlight.
I swung my practice sword upward, releasing an arc of wind chakra that sliced through the strings. The kunai scattered harmlessly as Tenten landed before me, now wielding a chain sickle. Holding the chain's midsection in her left hand, she spun the weighted ball at the end with her right.
Twice she whipped the chain at my ankles, attempting to trip me. Each time, I stepped back and raised my feet to avoid it. When she aimed for my side, I intercepted the chain with my practice sword. Taking advantage of the moment, Tenten yanked the chain with both hands, disarming me.
Now unarmed, I faced her next attack—a series of slashes with a kunai she drew from her pouch. I deflected each strike by slamming my open palm into her wrist. On her fourth attempt, I caught her wrist and swept her legs out from under her, wrenching the kunai from her hand and placing its tip under her chin.
Her form disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a log behind.
Landing behind me from a nearby tree, Tenten pressed the cloth-wrapped tip of a tanto against my back. I glanced over my shoulder to see her grinning, her breaths deep and steady.
"That was a smart use of substitution jutsu," I said, impressed. "Just be ready for an opponent to react. A good sensory ninja like me can sense you in the tree the whole time and might turn the tides in that decisive moment."
I smiled as I turned to face her. "That's enough for today. You've got an excellent understanding of your arsenal, but your ability to implement your weapon variety needs work. Focus on figuring out which weapons are best for offense or defense and practice switching between them seamlessly. I can help if you've got spare time—swing by anytime. I don't have much going on right now."
Tenten lowered her tanto and sank to the ground, visibly fatigued after hours of drills and sparring.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it," she said with a short laugh. "Gai-sensei isn't exactly an expert in weapon combat. Speaking of weapon expertise, how did you break my ninja wire with nothing but your practice sword?"
Taking a second to grab said sword I would infuse it with wind chakra, "While I don't remember where I learned to do this I am infusing my chakra through my weapon specifically Wind Nature Chakra which specializes in cutting. Some ninjas use this technique a notable example being Asuma but this technique is most well known as being used by the Samurai of the Land of Iron."
"Well thank you for that information that might be something I should add to my weapon fighting, but anyways," she continued, sealing her tanto back into the scroll, "what's this I hear about Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura escorting you out of the village? Sounds like something big."
"Just a simple delivery," I replied with a laugh. "I'm still a blacksmith, after all. As much as I hate to admit it, they are my escorts."
"So Lady Hokage doesn't think you're strong enough to make the delivery safely on your own?" Tenten teased. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Eternal genin and all."
She laughed again, covering her mouth. It was a lighthearted joke, and I couldn't help but laugh with her.
"Alright, get your weapons and get out of here before I grab a practice club instead," I said.
With that, Tenten began gathering her scattered weapons from the training grounds. By the time we both left, the sun was dipping toward the treeline.