NOVEL NEXT 56. Uchiha vs Uchiha pt3
As soon as the signal to start was given both Uchiha rushed towards each other. The first to attack was Sasuke with a straight and telegraphed punch towards Nozomi’s left shoulder. In his mind, Sasuke believed that by attacking first he would be setting the tempo of the fight giving him an advantage. He expected Nozomi to dodge to her right and as such he prepared to kick as soon as she did.
Nozomi for her part understood Sasuke's intentions. Instead of dodging the right like he expected she dropped to the ground doing a leg sweep. Sasuke's reaction was to jump to avoid the leg sweep while kicking towards Nozomi’s head. The girl deviated Sasuke's kick with the back of her left hand before doing a backflip. The backflip also worked as an attack as she added a kick while doing so.
This time Sasuke couldn’t react in time. His position in the air had been compromised by Nozomi’s redirection of his leg. The end result being an unstable landing. As he tried to regain his balance a harsh kick landed on his jaw pushing him backwards. With his compromised balance he would have fallen to the ground and lost. Instead he adjusted his body and did a cartwheel to bleed off the momentum.
To the side the other students and the teacher couldn’t help but admire the high speed combat taking place. Of course compared to an actual chunin or jonin this was nothing more than child’s play. However, it didn’t remove the fact that a pair of eight year old kids were fighting with such skill.
Going back to the fight it had fallen into a lull as both adversaries caught their breaths and analyzed their opponents. Sasuke felt frustrated at the fact that he had been hit first, not to mention it had been a hard hit. He still felt slightly dizzy from the kick. Nozomi for her part felt slightly worried. Sasuke’s speed is superior to hers. It had been thanks to her combat experience against Tomoka and Lee that she could out maneuver him.
After circling around each other one last time the two moved again to continue fighting. This time Nozomi was the first to attack. A quick jab towards Sasuke’s chest had been her choice as it was the attack with the least amount of risk. Sasuke for his part blocked the attack before sending a kick to Nozomi’s side.
Block and counter, block and counter, rinse and repeat. The two Uchiha continued their song and dance as they attempted to take down their opponent. Sometimes one or the other would manage to land a hit. However, no matter what either side tried they were equally matched.
Sasuke hadn't been completely off the mark with his previous analysis. Nozomi had indeed spent a lot of her time training ninjutsu and bukijutsu since those were the Uchiha’s speciality. Her remaining time had been spent in taijutsu. Because of this her taijutsu fell short of her other skills. However, it was still enough to fight Sasuke to a draw. Something neither of them wanted.
The fight continued, Nozomi’s body hurt as she pushed herself to her limit. Bruises had formed where she had been hit and her muscles screamed for her to stop and rest. She ignored the pain and pushed through it. Her conviction, her will would not be broken. Nozomi understood that if things were to continue as they are she would lose.
Her mind made, she decided to go completely on the offensive disregarding any defensive measure. The next attack came, a kick to her left side, the perfect opportunity. Instead of blocking or dodging the kick, as she had done so many times before, she lifted her left arm letting the kick land straight into her ribs. The pain that followed made her mind blank for a fraction of a second. However, her body moved without her input.
Sasuke wanted to gloat as he saw his kick land with devastating force into Nozomi’s unprotected ribs. Unfortunately what came next made his smile disappear. The girl’s left arm fell down grabbing his leg against her body, preventing him from retrieving the limb. What came next was a scream of pure determination escaping Nozomi’s lips. She pulled on the leg with all her strength before landing a punch on Sasuke’s arms that had been crossed to block the attack. All part of her plan.
In an instant Nozomi delivered a brutal kick to Sasuke’s right knee. Causing the limb to go numb and unresponsive with pain. Next she pushed with what little strength she had to knock Sasuke down to the floor. With one leg trapped and the other unresponsive, Sasuke had no other option but to fall.
“Alright, the fight is over, Winner is Nozomi. Are the two of you alright?” Iruka had been so lost in the fight that he had forgotten his role as teacher. He should have stopped the fight sooner but with all that had happened today his mind wasn’t working right. Because of this he could do nothing more but try and help his injured students as much as he could.
Nozomi stood up slowly from her kneeling position, her eyes glazed over as her mind tried to focus. She felt floaty and heavy at the same time, her lungs burned just like her muscles and yet her skin felt chilly. As she opened her mouth to try and talk but blood came out as she fell to the floor coughing thick globs of blood. Her ribs on the left side had been broken. The last thing she saw before passing out was Tomoka’s proud yet concerned smile. It had all been worth it.
