Chapter 4 .2:
...
The sun remained high, as if it held a personal grudge/vendetta against Suna's students.
The air was so thick you could almost slice it with a dull kunai. Footsteps crunched over the dry sand as the group of students began to gather around the training field. It wasn't an official exam, but the tension in the air felt like the prelude to a major battle.
And well… in a way, it was.
As the match was about to begin, Kiba stood facing Rasa….. currently regarded as the academy's top fighter. The boy who was already expected to take the early graduation exam by the end of the year
He didn't need to see him to know the boy was completely focused. He could feel it in his breathing, his firm stance, the faint hum of his chakra… which, by the way, was still absurdly vast for an eight-year-old.
And yes, it still stung a bit his ego a little.
"Just training," said the sensei. "Taijutsu, ninjutsu, basic tools… well, anything you can think of is allowed. Just try not to kill each other. Mostly because the paperwork is a pain"
Karura let out a giggle from somewhere at the edge of the circle.
Kiba merely stepped forward and rolled his shoulders. The sand underfoot wasn't ideal for him and his taijutsu since it shifted too much, stole your footing…. but that was part of the challenge. If you could move well here, you could move well anywhere.
A few students had gathered nearby to watch…. some out of curiosity, others out of sheer disbelief. A blind kid against that Rasa?
"Ready?" asked the instructor.
"Always," replied Rasa. And Kiba couldn't help but be a bit amused by the boy's response, though he didn't let it show… offending his clan leader's son was not on anyone's to-do list.
"Whenever you're ready," Kiba murmured calmly and adjusted his stance slightly..
"Begin!"
…
Rasa was the first to move. He released two sealing scrolls containing gold dust…
The gold dust around him rose slightly, as if responding to his will, but he didn't attack with it. Not yet. The boy approached with a series of quick, direct, clean strikes.
Pure taijutsu.
No tricks. Yet…
It was quite fast and precise… but nothing special. Yet Rasa wasn't reckless… he tested the waters, sending quick jabs and low kicks to measure Kiba's reactions.
Kiba recognized the style…. it was just the Jiki clan's taijutsu. His grandfather had taught it to him, but to Kiba, it was far inferior to his own taijutsu.
Kiba answered each move smoothly, he didn't need eyes to anticipate every move. His body had already mapped out Rasa's movements from the first step. His [Radar Sense] vibrated with each footfall, each arm swing, each shift in weight. He even felt the changes in the air, the vibrations in the ground, the shift in the rhythm of his opponent's breathing.
He deflected a punch with his palm, dodged a kick by ducking, and countered with a push to Rasa's chest that sent him back a few steps. Precise. Effortless.
"Impressive… What was that… 'Desert Flow'?" asked Rasa, not missing a beat.
"Something like that," Kiba replied, spinning and delivering a low kick.
Rasa jumped, blocked mid-air, and landed with a backward somersault.
And so it began.
An intense, relentless sequence.
Strike. Dodge. Spin. Counterattack.
Kiba moved as if the ground spoke to him. Rasa, for his part, was a wall that adapted its shape with each hit. He didn't yield. He didn't fall apart. He simply responded, each time more intelligently.
But to any observer, it was clear that Kiba held the advantage in this fight…. he was too calm, facing Rasa, who was giving it his all.
Then Rasa changed tactics. A sudden burst of speed, a feint left, then a sweeping kick from the right.
Kiba bent low, dodging just in time, and countered with a palm strike that nearly grazed Rasa's ribs. The other boy leapt back, adjusting.
Truth be told, Kiba was not yet even going at half capacity in the fight, but he still had the upper hand.
Then, Kiba started to push just a little bit harder, leaving Rasa almost no room to breathe.
"You're not using the gold dust…" said Kiba between movements.
"I want to test your taijutsu first… and see if I can beat you without it."
"Oh? And why's that?"
Rasa didn't respond immediately, but for a fraction of a second, his gaze settled on Karura…
And for Kiba, that was almost like receiving a direct and utterly sincere answer: "Because Karura is watching."
Kiba smiled, slightly amused, and let his thoughts wander for a brief moment… and that caused him to lose rhythm for half a second.
And that was a mistake. He knew better than anyone that in a fight, nothing could distract you.
Rasa took advantage and pushed him back forcefully. Kiba stopped himself, sliding across the sand, planting a foot to avoid falling. Even if he was distracted, he had a clear taijutsu advantage over his opponent, so recovering wasn't difficult… something that wouldn't have been the case against someone at his level.
"…You're really in love, aren't you?" Kiba commented to himself, not realizing he had murmured it aloud instead of keeping it in his head.
Oh, and it seems that, however softly he had murmured it, Rasa heard it…. at least if his furiously red face was any indication.
"Shut up and fight."
Kiba launched two shuriken from his sleeve. One aimed directly. The other, off-target… by design. An old tactic, but effective. He might not have been the best at bukijutsu, but he wasn't bad either.
Still, Rasa saw it coming and raised his hand.
The gold dust rose like a serpent and caught both projectiles mid-air. His chakra, until now restrained, began to expand.
"Sorry," said Rasa. "But I want to try something else."
The air changed.
The gold dust began to swirl around him in tense, charged spirals, as if awaiting a mental command to act.
Kiba frowned.
'He's starting to play for real,' Kiba thought.
He couldn't see the shimmer, but he could feel the weight in the air, the murmur of chakra in motion.
Now it was a real fight.
The next attack was faster. A sudden gust of golden dust surged toward him... not enough to really injure, but enough to distract. Kiba ducked low, rolled to the side, and closed the distance.
He landed a hit. A solid one. Palm strike to Rasa's shoulder.
Gasps rose from the onlookers.
Rasa staggered slightly, more surprised than hurt.
Kiba backed off instantly, not pushing the advantage. He knew better. This wasn't about finishing it—it was about making a statement.
Rasa's expression shifted, just a little.
As if he had not been expecting that Kiba could so easily dodge his quick attack and at the same time manage to hit him in such an easy way.
And if his face didn't show enough surprise and shock at this fact, his actions then spoke for themselves as he began to gather golden dust around him but this time Kiba knew that this time it was both to attack and to defend himself and not get hit again like this time when he was careless...
It was quite remarkable for Kiba to see how at only 9 years old Rasa seemed to already learn from his mistakes instead of getting frustrated... and his recognition of his mistake was instantaneous... truly a ninja prodigy, he has the talent, the skills, and the right mentality.
Kiba would never figure out how this kid in front of him would end up as the damn Rasa of the Naruto canon.
"Alright. Let's go all out," Kiba murmured to himself.