Bai Ye vs. Zhi Yi
---
"Oh, come on."
"Why are you always so cold? Planning to slack off again? You're applying for early graduation but still hiding your real strength. Don't blame the teacher if he kicks you out."
Zhi Yi scowled as Bai Ye maintained his usual indifferent expression. His aloofness had always irritated Zhi Yi, who was determined to shake his mindset.
"The teacher isn't as shallow as you. He's known for a while that I've been training with weights."
"Don't walk so fast. Wait up, I won't nag you anymore."
Zhi Yi chased after Bai Ye as he got up and walked off, not wanting to be left behind.
"Ugh, my progress this month has been terrible. I'm definitely going to drop in the rankings again. I'll get an earful when I get home."
"Haha, serves you right for slacking. My rank hasn't dropped once."
"That's because you haven't improved either. You've been stuck behind the real monsters forever."
"Doesn't matter. What's important is accepting reality with grace."
---
Out on the training grounds, the students gathered in small clusters, discussing the upcoming sparring matches.
Those confident in their abilities looked relaxed, while others seemed nervous, already dreading the consequences of poor performance at home.
"Alright, same rules as always," the instructor announced. "Pick your opponents. Everyone must fight at least once. If you're unhappy with your rank, you may issue a challenge to someone ranked directly above you."
The teacher pulled out a notebook and began jotting down observations, tracking each student's growth.
"Sensei, I choose Bai Ye!" Zhi Yi shouted quickly, dragging Bai Ye forward before anyone else could.
Bai Ye looked mildly annoyed but didn't resist.
"Isn't that the guy who's always hostile toward Bai Ye? No need to go that far just to pick on him..."
"He probably just wants to humiliate him in public."
"Come on, that's the top four versus the bottom-ranked. Bit of a mismatch, no?"
Some students frowned. According to Academy rules, lower-ranked students were allowed to refuse challenges from significantly higher-ranked peers.
The teacher raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Bai Ye, do you want to refuse?"
"No need," Bai Ye replied calmly. "Let's get this over with before he keeps pestering me."
He walked to the side, rolled up his sleeves and pants, and quietly removed four training weights from his limbs.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"So he was wearing weights this whole time..."
"Hmph, could be for show. He's been bottom-ranked for years, never once climbed the list."
The students whispered among themselves, skepticism rampant.
Standing off to the side, Yue—an Uchiha girl—frowned at the chatter. She stood with Hyuga Yuyan, visibly irritated.
Suddenly, two small hands reached around from behind and squished Yue's cheeks, a familiar head leaning over her shoulder.
"Oh~? Did our noble Uchiha lady fall for her rescuer~?"
"No! I—I didn't!" Yue swatted her friend's hands away, a blush blooming on her cheeks.
"Then why the sour face? They're just talking about the lowest-ranked guy."
"He's not the lowest," Yue muttered, adjusting her posture with a pout. "Anyway, the match is starting."
---
Bai Ye stretched lightly after dropping his weights, acclimating to the change in momentum.
"Much better. Now I can move freely."
He stepped forward, exchanging the traditional seal of confrontation with Zhi Yi.
Then—bang!—he vanished.
"What the hell?! Was Bai Ye always this fast?!"
The onlookers blinked in shock. Bai Ye's body flickered out of sight with a sudden burst of speed, akin to Shunpo.
Zhi Yi's pupils contracted. He'd seen the movement, but it was far beyond his ability to respond.
Bai Ye appeared behind him mid-air, executing a precise Konoha Senpū—Leaf Whirlwind—targeting Zhi Yi's temple.
Zhi Yi was struck, his body lifting from the ground as if about to be launched.
But Bai Ye sensed something was off.
He immediately pulled back, withdrawing his leg—but he was still mid-air and slightly vulnerable.
Suddenly, Zhi Yi's body exploded—not from the kick, but by disintegrating into a swarm of kikaichū—the Aburame clan's signature parasites. They surged up Bai Ye's leg, trying to drain his chakra.
"Hadō #1: Shō!"
With a precise chant, Bai Ye fired a point-blank shockwave from his fingertip, blasting the insects off his leg with a crack.
At the same time, he pushed off the ground with his left foot, leaping sideways.
Two shuriken sliced through the air where he'd just been.
Landing smoothly, Bai Ye grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakutō, drawing the blade in one fluid motion. He spun, swinging twice—
Ding! Ding!
Two more shuriken were deflected in the process.
This time, he landed with both feet and regained full control.
---
"Told you!" Yue grinned, turning to Yuyan. "You saw that, right?"
"Tch... don't get cocky." Yuyan responded with a huff, though her twitching fingers betrayed her excitement. Yue blushed slightly again and swatted her hands.
---
Bai Ye weaved between the swarming kikaichū, his Zanpakutō unable to deliver wide-range attacks.
"Damn it... If only I could use Katon right now."
Every time he tried to counter, the swarm forced him on the defensive. If they touched him for too long, his chakra would be drained—typical Aburame tactics.
Knowing he had limited chakra to spare, Bai Ye focused, then disappeared again using a burst of Shunpo pushed to its limit.
Zhi Yi lost visual contact and panicked, ordering his insects to gather and form a defensive dome around him.
But then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Shockwaves struck the insect dome from multiple angles. The compressed mass of bugs buckled inward under invisible blows, as a faint silhouette slipped between their ranks.
"Ikorose... Senbonzakura."
With a whisper, Bai Ye's Zanpakutō transformed, blade dissolving into countless petal-like fragments.
He reformed a condensed tip and thrust forward.
"Shoot to kill—Shinsō!"
The blade extended like a spear, piercing through the gaps in the swarm and stopping right against Zhi Yi's chest.
Zhi Yi gasped, looking down to see the tip of Bai Ye's blade pressing into his flak jacket.
Realizing the duel was over, he sighed and dispelled the kikaichū, acknowledging defeat.
Bai Ye sheathed his Zanpakutō, noting that the chakra consumption this time was lower than expected.
"So the cost scales with distance..." he muttered thoughtfully.
The two boys exchanged a respectful seal of reconciliation, signifying the end of their match.