Konoha: Who Says the Shinobi World Can't Play Hunter?

Chapter 30: The Unlucky Duo (Part 2)

After taking a brief rest to recover his stamina, Kazama was ready once more to face Ichirō's challenge.

As soon as they clashed, the immense resistance from their arm collisions forced Kazama to abandon the approach he had used against Nobuko—directly blocking and countering. Instead, he resorted more to dodging, guiding, and maintaining distance. Unexpectedly, this only made Ichirō even more excited.

For the past year, both he and Nobuko had been neglected. Even though Ichirō was naturally honest and quiet, the constant criticism and exclusion deeply hurt him. Nobuko could at least vent her frustrations to him, but Ichirō, who was poor with words, could only bottle it up inside. He used taijutsu as an outlet for his frustration—exhausting himself until he collapsed from fatigue, so he wouldn't have the energy to feel sad. That was how he coped with pain—by trying to forget it.

His fight with Kazama today gave him an entirely different feeling. While Kazama's defensive approach helped him gauge his teammates' abilities, to the lonely Ichirō, Kazama was the perfect opponent. Not only could he withstand his punches, but he could also hold out for an extended period—sometimes even managing to land a hit of his own. A truly evenly matched opponent!

Realizing this, Ichirō became even more excited, swinging his fists faster and harder. Like a lonely child who had suddenly found a playmate, how could he not be thrilled?

Meanwhile, Kazama was having a rough time. It wasn't that he had never been beaten before—he had gotten into plenty of fights at school. But he had never been this frustrated. Even when facing old man Kosuke, at least the old man wasn't this relentless and would stop once a point was made. But Ichirō, lost in his excitement, didn't care—his only concern was fighting to his heart's content.

With no other choice, Kazama's hands surged with chakra. A layer of water-natured chakra coated his arms, providing a degree of resistance against the impact. Of course, this wasn't his true goal. Ever since he discovered that water was one of his natural affinities, Kazama had been thinking about the nature transformations of water-style jutsu.

Basic concepts like water pressure, impact, and fluidity were too conventional. To make his techniques powerful, he would need an enormous chakra supply. Looking at the original story, only a few shinobi truly stood out for their water-style jutsu—Tobirama Senju and Kisame Hoshigaki. Both of them had immense chakra reserves. Kazama knew he didn't have that kind of chakra talent, so he needed a unique approach to water-style ninjutsu.

Among all the water techniques in the original story, two particularly intrigued him.

One was the water-style used by the "Gate Opener Duo"—it transformed water into an incredibly sticky, glue-like substance capable of trapping even Naruto like a stuck rat. Just imagining it was amusing.

The second was a jutsu that condensed moisture from the air to act as a magnifying lens, focusing sunlight into a burning beam that could scorch enemies. It even allowed the user to move through the air. That one was amazing.

Kazama wanted both.

For now, he had only mastered one: turning ordinary water into a thick, adhesive gel. He hadn't yet learned the accompanying Water Style: Starch Syrup Capture Field, as it required mid-range casting, which didn't fit his long-range combat preference.

However, using it against this rampaging bull of an opponent seemed perfect.

After a few more exchanges, Ichirō's body was soon covered in the sticky, syrup-like substance. The high viscosity restricted his movements, making it increasingly difficult for him to exert force. As Kazama continuously applied this technique, Ichirō was eventually wrapped up like a ball. From a distance, he looked like a piece of amber with only his head sticking out—a truly comical sight.

Ichirō struggled for a while, but the more he moved, the tighter it got. Eventually, he gave up.

"Ichirō, I have to say, your taijutsu is impressive, but your adaptability is a bit lacking," Kazama commented.

As he spoke, he deactivated the water-style transformation. The sticky substance liquefied, dissolving away. Ichirō immediately sprang up, relieved—being trapped like that, unable to rip or tear his way out while the substance only tightened, was an absolutely awful experience.

Nobuko watched as Ichirō received yet another compliment, and her mood grew heavier. She hadn't been praised even once.

"Next is ninjutsu. Show me what you can do—any type of ninjutsu is fine, no restrictions," Kazama said.

Engaging Ichirō in close combat had been his biggest mistake of the day. By tomorrow morning, his body would be covered in bruises, no doubt about it.

In terms of ninjutsu, Nobuko had confidence—after all, her competition was Ichirō.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly formed hand seals. A simple Clone Jutsu was completed in an instant.

With a series of "poof" sounds, more than ten clones appeared behind her, each identical.

Next was Transformation Jutsu—Nobuko and her clones simultaneously transformed into Kazama, their mimicry nearly perfect.

Finally, she performed Substitution Jutsu, completing the five-hand-seal sequence in a second, swapping places with a tree stump in the distance.

Kazama's evaluation: Very good. Fast hand seals, stable execution—the only issue was the simplicity of the ninjutsu. If this was a graduation test, she would score top marks. But they had already been genin for a year, and at this level, it wasn't quite acceptable anymore. The lack of a proper instructor was evident.

"Not bad," Kazama said, giving her a decent evaluation.

Nobuko felt a slight sense of relief, but as she saw Ichirō step forward, she became worried again. Ichirō's ninjutsu was the weakest—he had barely passed the graduation exam.

"I… I'm not good at ninjutsu," Ichirō mumbled after a long pause.

Kazama could barely hold back his frustration. He had to stay patient—pushing too hard would only make Ichirō more nervous, making things worse.

"No worries. Just show me what you can do. It's only the three of us here—no one will laugh at you," Kazama encouraged.

Ichirō had managed to graduate, which meant he wasn't completely incapable of ninjutsu. At the very least, he should be able to perform the three basic jutsu.

Sure enough, he performed Clone Jutsu, managing to create four clones. His Transformation Jutsu was passable, and for Substitution Jutsu, he used a scarecrow—a clear sign of his minimal proficiency.

To explain, Substitution Jutsu requires a prepared replacement object. The closer the object resembles the user, the easier the technique becomes. This similarity is not just in proximity but also in form.

A scarecrow, since it is humanoid, makes the technique much easier and is suitable for beginners. A step above that would be using logs, tree branches, or even small animals. More advanced users could substitute themselves with leaves or kunai.

For example, today, Kazama had witnessed elite jonin Hayate Gekkō perform an impressive Leaf Substitution Jutsu, a prime example of high-level usage.

Now that both Nobuko and Ichirō had demonstrated their abilities, they quietly waited for Kazama's judgment.

What they didn't realize was that Nobuko had been anticipating this moment for an entire year.

Having teammates, having a teacher—it meant they could take on missions, grow stronger, and continue their careers as shinobi. If Kazama refused to team up with them, they would be left with two choices: abandon the ninja path to become ordinary civilians or remain forever stuck as genin, struggling like old man Kosuke.

Either path was essentially a death sentence for their dreams.

This was why, despite being older than Kazama, they were far more nervous than he was.

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