Minato stood on the platform, his usual bright smile on his face.
"…Ahaha," he chuckled awkwardly, realizing he couldn't even slip in a word.
"Minato, listen to me." Hayashi, standing across from him, spoke calmly. "Right now, you're not my match. If you want to save your strength for the next fight, you should forfeit. Otherwise, you'll just end up getting injured."
"Thanks for the concern," Minato replied firmly, "but I still want to fight you."
Hayashi gave a small shake of his head. He already knew Minato well enough. Once his friend decided on something, nothing could change his mind.
Minato pulled two cotton balls from his pocket and stuffed them into his ears. Then he lowered his head so that his eyes never met Hayashi's hands, instead focusing on his legs.
"I've seen you fight," Minato explained. "Most of your genjutsu relies on sound and sight. If I block my hearing and avoid looking at your hands, your illusions won't work on me."
Hayashi nodded, slightly impressed. He was right—without the Sharingan, his genjutsu depended on sound and visual cues. Against someone like Might Guy, who specialized in taijutsu, it would be nearly useless. But Minato wasn't Guy. And at the Academy, students had never been taught how to properly break genjutsu. This was just Minato's improvised strategy.
Hayashi suddenly flicked several shuriken toward him.
The crowd leaned forward in anticipation. After all, both sight and sound were critical for a shinobi—fighting while blocking them was unheard of.
The shuriken whistled through the air. Minato reacted too late; two of them grazed his cheeks, drawing shallow cuts. Blood welled, but Minato didn't flinch. He had already predicted Hayashi wouldn't aim to hit him directly.
"Don't bother with tricks like that," Minato called, knocking aside the rebounding blades. "I came prepared."
"Alright then," Hayashi muttered, weaving hand seals.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A blazing sphere of flame roared toward Minato, the heat washing over the arena. Though smaller than a full Great Fireball, it was still deadly.
Minato's body blurred. Shunshin no Jutsu!
A charred log burst into flames where Minato had stood, while the real him reappeared safely at the edge. He countered quickly, flinging shuriken at Hayashi in a tight spread.
"Do you take me for someone who only knows genjutsu?" Hayashi smirked, even though Minato couldn't hear him. He spoke more for the audience below. With a flick of his wrists, he threw his own kunai. Each one struck perfectly, knocking Minato's shuriken aside.
"Such precise aim…" Jiraiya's eyes widened. Shurikenjutsu had never been his specialty, but even he could see the mastery behind Hayashi's throws.
Minato didn't waste a breath. His hands blurred through seals. "Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
The slicing gust tore toward Hayashi, a technique Hayashi himself had once taught him after discovering Minato's wind affinity.
Hayashi vanished in a flicker, reappearing at Minato's side. Steel clashed as their kunai locked.
The two boys exchanged rapid blows—kicks, punches, and slashes ringing across the arena. Hayashi's taijutsu, however, was sharper. A spinning kick cracked against Minato's guard, and when Minato tried to counter with a punch, Hayashi caught his fist, shifted aside, and drove a knee into his stomach.
"Urgh!" Minato gasped, the air knocked from his lungs.
Without hesitation, Hayashi followed with a whip kick, sending Minato tumbling across the stage. The difference in taijutsu skill was clear.
But Hayashi didn't press the advantage. Instead, he reached for more kunai. With a smooth motion, he hurled them—seemingly wide, missing Minato entirely.
"Missed?" a student whispered.
The kunai curved mid-flight, ricocheting in the air to angle upward. Now they were aimed straight at Minato's lowered head.
Startled, Minato looked up instinctively.
And that was enough.
Hayashi's fingers twitched, his subtle movement hidden in the motion. Minato's widened eyes caught it.
"...Sleep."
The world spun. Genjutsu.
The Academy didn't teach countermeasures against illusions until after graduation. For all his brilliance, Minato was still only a second-year student. His body staggered, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"For a genjutsu user, even the slightest gesture is enough," Hayashi murmured, brushing his cloak back. He crouched, lifted Minato gently onto his shoulders, and carried him off the stage.
"Wow! So cool!"
"Hayashi! Hayashi! Hayashi!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, the sound shaking the arena.
Jiraiya, stunned, watched in silence. "So this… is the difference between me and true genius?"
...
"Hayashi, are you alright?!"
Mikoto rushed to his side the moment he stepped down. Her gaze immediately locked on his arm, where a shallow kunai wound bled faintly. She almost winced as though it hurt her instead.
"It's just a scratch," Hayashi assured her, waving dismissively.
But Mikoto wasn't convinced. She tugged his sleeve and insisted on dragging him to Tsunade's side for treatment.
Meanwhile, poor Minato still lay on the ground, forgotten for the moment.