SS022

Standing in the middle of a clearing with his eyes closed, the late Autumn wind flowing through his hair, Seikun felt as though he was dissolving into his surroundings until a sudden surge of Chakra emanated from his left, a few meters behind him.

Retracting his Chakra, which had been spread out to encompass an area exceeding fifty meters, Seikun abruptly became encased in a bright blue membrane resembling water. Then, raising his left hand, he extended the liquid and expanded the tip to form a concave shield, blocking the nearly three-meter-wide Fireball threatening to envelop him.

Emerging from the Fireball's periphery, taking advantage of the shadow it created by overloading the rods and cones in Seikun's eyes, Sasuke, eyes blazing with a crimson glow and set with concentric circles bearing single tomoe, threw a trio of very real kunai affixed with explosive tags.

Expanding the Chakra enveloping him nearly as quickly as a shockwave, Seikun reduced his defensive capabilities but caused the kunai to stop as if they had impacted water. The explosives tags affixed to them exploded, but, similar to a non-Newtonian fluid, the hemispherical bubble formed by Seikun's Chakra solidified the more force was applied to it. The explosions weren't completely ineffective, leaving a large, distorted cavity in Seikun's barrier, but the hole quickly mended itself as he retracted his Chakra and used it like a whip to attack Sasuke with his left hand.

While weaving between Seikun's attacks and narrowly evading a few by a hair's breadth, Sasuke wove a series of hand signs that appeared to blur due to his speed. Once he was finished, he inhaled a breath so deep that it caused his torso to visibly expand before he swept his head and upper body from left to right, exhaling well over a dozen baseball-sized fireballs that drew curved arcs toward Seikun's position.

As his eyes darted between each of the fireballs, tracing their trajectory, Seikun made a singular hand sign of his own, linking the knuckles of his pinky, ring, and middle fingers together with the tips of his index fingers touching and thumbs tucked in. Then, separating his hands and pointing them outward with his index fingers, pinkies, and thumbs extended, the nebulous veil of Chakra surrounding him briefly ceased its movements as tendrils equal to the number of fireballs shot out of its surface, scattering them in an instant.

Causing Seikun to tense slightly, a total of six shurikens abruptly struck the membrane protecting him, their pointed tips sticking into its surface a few centimeters from his face and upper body. He was the one to suggest Sasuke use actual kunai and shuriken, as there was no way he could harm him using the wooden variety, but it was still pretty nerve-wracking as he often felt like they came out of nowhere.

Feigning calmness, Seikun extended his left hand, causing Sasuke's pupils to contract and the tomoe orbiting it to rev up. The moment he completed the motion, five finger-width tendrils shot out of the membrane like lasers, albeit much slower. A more apt comparison might be pressurized streams of water, but as they could bend and weave with the dextrous movements of Seikun's fingers, they could also be compared to Chakra Strings.

Though his recently awakened Sharingan only had a single tomoe, Sasuke felt like Seikun's attacks were moving in slow motion. Unfortunately, while he could see and even predict their trajectory, the movements of his body were just as slow as Seikun's attack. He initially managed to doge, but as his body simply couldn't keep up with his mind, he was quickly sent flying as one of the tendrils impacted his chest like a steel whip.

Believing that he had won the fight, Seikun began to retract his Chakra, only for Sasuke's body to abruptly burst into smoke, replaced by a neatly cut log. His attack had definitely hit, but as Sasuke had woven the hand signs for the Substitution Jutsu when he briefly lost sight of him, he was effectively able to transfer the damage to the log while teleporting behind him using Chakra-enhanced speed.

'I really hate that Jutsu...' thought Seikun, looking over his shoulder while bringing his hands together with the tips of his pointer fingers, pinkies, and thumbs touching while his middle and ring fingers interlinked to form a Bird Seal. This caused the Chakra swirling around him to change shape into a pair of bird-like wings, which, sadly, had never helped him to attain flight.

Raising his right arm, causing his wings to furl and contract like shields, Seikun blocked the projectiles Sasuke had thrown but soon regretted it as it was a handful of smoke bombs. The nitrates within them mixed with the Chakra around his body, causing it to smell of gunpowder and become black, so he was temporarily blinded as Sasuke flung a pair of kunai that passed around his body but quickly changed direction and encircled him several times, connected by a nearly invisible string formed from the silk of spiders nourished with Chakra, courtesy of the Aburame Clan.

As he only knew what was happening after he was bound, Seikun could not spread his wings in time to prevent it. He could, however, raise himself into the air, the Chakra enveloping forming an inverted teardrop before he contracted the segment anchoring him to the ground, snapping it back to complete a murky black sphere.

Since it would be nearly impossible to fight if he couldn't see, Seikun made a one-handed seal with his right index and middle fingers, causing the Chakra around him to bubble out to its limit. This allowed him to see, but it also significantly decreased his offensive and defensive capabilities as it was too spread out to create any real resistance or protect him. On the other hand, it allowed him to detect others with ease.

Twisting his body in the air, Seikun flung a trio of kunai at where Sasuke was attempting to get into his blind spot. Unfortunately, to the former's tremendous annoyance, he was already halfway through the Hand Seals for the Kamawari/Substitution Jutsu. Thus, as the kunai pierced his body, knocking him back as if they had done actual damage, he abruptly burst into smoke, leaving behind another cut log.

Landing on the ground, Seikun looked to where Sasuke had appeared a few meters to his left, running toward him with his arms trailing behind his body. The rationale for this running style wasn't merely to reduce drag but to ensure a Ninja's hands were always near the pouches typically located at their hip or lower back. This made it exceptionally difficult to see what they were pulling out, so the person being run toward had to stay on their guard or try to slip around to their side for a better vantage.

"If you think I'm out of options, think again...!" shouted Seikun, extending his left hand toward Sasuke before turning it over and forming it into a fist. As he did, the Chakra he had discharged in that direction began to surge back, producing a current akin to a powerful backdraft, causing Sasuke to stumble forward as one of the greatest weaknesses of the Naruto running style was that it shifted one's center of gravity far to the front.

Taking advantage of the very brief window he had created, Seikun leapt toward Sasuke and landed a roundhouse kick to the left side of his face. He made sure to hold back to avoid seriously harming him, but as it was a flawless connection, the young Uchiha was sent reeling and rolling across the ground before falling limp.

"Phew..." exhaled Seikun, wiping the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his right forearm. Sasuke's growth was borderline unreasonable, so even if he pulled out all the stops and relied on what had been classified as his Bloodline Limit, there was no guarantee he would win. Fortunately, he had only lost four of their forty-two matches over the past five months of training.

Making his way over to Sasuke, who had risen to a seated position and was rubbing his swollen cheek with a Chakra-coated hand, Seikun asked, "You good...?" with his right brow perked.

"I think you knocked one of my molars loose..." responded Sasuke, his tone ill-tempered and a slight frown marring his face. However, when Seikun extended a hand to help him up, he didn't hesitate to accept it, waiting until he was on his feet before asking, "So we're taking tomorrow and the day after off, right?"

"Yeah," affirmed Seikun. "It's the vigil for those who lost their lives in the Nine-Tails' attack and also my birthday, so I'm going to attend a memorial service at the orphanage where I was raised before heading to Yakiniku Q with Ino's and Sakura's families."

"I'm aware..." responded Sasuke, rolling his eyes before reaching into his tool pouch to pull out a long, thin wooden box. Fortunately, its contents weren't jewelry but a new, and very expensive, gold-nibbed fountain pen.

"Consider that my thanks for your help over the past few months..." said Sasuke, his voice low as he turned and walked away with his hands in his pockets. He was still relatively cold, but thanks to Seikun teaching him to meditate and convincing him to get professional counseling, he wasn't as abrasive or self-loathing as he would have been.

Since he knew he would only make Sasuke feel embarrassed by thanking him, Seikun smiled and said, "Take care of yourself, man..." before turning to depart in the opposite direction. Seikun knew from personal experience how meaningful it was to hear someone express even a passing concern for your well-being, so every day he and Sasuke met up, he made sure to ask questions related to Sasuke's personal life in the pseudo-orphanage he and the other Uchiha had been placed into before wishing him well as they parted. It wasn't much, but when you felt like your world was falling apart, having someone care without pitying you was as valuable as hope itself...

"Hmmm...?"

Just as Seikun was preparing to use the Body Flicker Technique to reach his apartment quickly, the Chakra he still had scattered through the area, following along with his movements, picked up a faint but familiar Chakra signature.

"Hinata...?" Seikun called out, prompting the girl in question to emerge from behind a tree, rubbing her head with an embarrassed smile as she remarked, "Your sensory abilities keep getting better and better, Seikun..."

"It's rare for you to be out and about this late," noted Seikun, making his way over with slightly raised brows. He could already guess why Hinata was there, but he pretended to be oblivious since he didn't want to ruin her surprise.

"I got permission from my father, and Ko is waiting nearby..." explained Hinata. Then, lowering her hand and adopting a more confident look, she added, "I know you'll be busy tomorrow, so I wanted to give you a gift for your birthday. Is that okay?"

"I'm certainly not going to refuse it..." affirmed Seikun, but he understood why Hinata had asked. She and Ino couldn't be called enemies, but there was a palpable tension between them as Hinata had started to regard him as more than just a friend. How did he know? Because she had admitted it when Ino, Sakura, and the other girls in their class asked.

"Then, please accept this..." said Hinata, lowering her head and extending her hands to present Seikun with a sealed envelope. The latter was a little taken aback by this, as he thought she was gifting him cash, but the truth was exponentially more unexpected as he opened the envelope to find a land and property deed with his name on it. The address listed was a little concerning, as it was located near the village's red light district, but as he ordinarily wouldn't be able to purchase property without serving Konoha for at least ten years, the deed was both a blessing and a curse. Owning land and property was necessary for establishing a clan/house, but there were tax burdens that came with both...

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