"Yes!"
Before the words finished leaving his mouth, Zhao Yi Qianming snapped a Kunai from his right hand, but Yamamoto Hideyoshi slipped past it with ease.
Zhao Yi Qianming never expected one Kunai to wound Yamamoto Hideyoshi. He only meant to buy time.
The instant the Kunai left his fingers, both hands flew through Hand Seals. His sealing speed was fast. In good form he could make about five seals per second, a pace many jōnin could not match.
Age stiffened the finger joints. If you didn't train from childhood, it was hard to push your seal speed later.
Yamamoto had just avoided the Kunai when Zhao Yi Qianming's jutsu completed.
[Earth Release—Rock Pillar Spear]
This was his only attack-type Ninjutsu so far. It raised several earthen spikes from the ground to skewer an opponent, but its area was small.
According to Yamamoto, there was an upgraded form, [Earth Release—Earth Flow Spears], which produced a wide field of spikes—something a bit like Kimimaro's [Dance of the Seedling Ferns]. With Zhao Yi Qianming's current Chakra, though, such jutsu were out of reach.
Squelch!
No surprise, Yamamoto Hideyoshi was 'run through' by the spikes, yet Zhao Yi Qianming showed no joy.
If Yamamoto had dodged, he would have faced a string of follow-ups. The fact that he hadn't dodged was wrong on its face.
Without hesitation, Zhao Yi Qianming triggered the [Substitution Technique] on reflex. A heartbeat later, the training log left by the Substitution was split clean in two by Yamamoto's strike.
He was completely suppressed. His offense did nothing. Yamamoto Hideyoshi might not rank among Konoha's elites, but a chunin was still a chunin. His combat experience far outstripped Zhao Yi Qianming's. Using only basic Taijutsu and the Three Basic Techniques, he toyed with Zhao Yi Qianming in the palm of his hand.
There was nothing to be done. Zhao Yi Qianming had tried his best, but he simply knew too little. His offense was too single-note. Against an opponent superior across the board, he had no way to resist.
After a while, seeing Zhao Yi Qianming's stamina was shot and he was at the end of his rope, Yamamoto called a halt. "That's enough. We'll stop here today."
Bent over with hands on knees, Zhao Yi Qianming gulped air.
"Qianming, your fundamentals are solid. Your weakness is lack of live experience. In sparring it's hard to see, but at life-and-death range your shortcomings are laid bare," Yamamoto assessed. "I relied only on the Three Basic Techniques, and you had no answers."
"Understood, Instructor Yamamoto," Zhao Yi Qianming said.
He had thought his strength decent. He could thrash his peers, and even the famed Uchiha were no different from ordinary ninja before awakening the Sharingan.
Yet trading earnest blows with Yamamoto today, he felt tied hand and foot.
"In real combat at your age, you shouldn't throw out jutsu like [Rock Pillar Spear] at will," Yamamoto continued. "Once your Chakra runs dry you're meat on the block. Unless it's a kill-shot, fight with the Three Basic Techniques in tandem with Taijutsu. Using [Rock Pillar Spear] as bait the way you did today is deadliest to you."
Zhao Yi Qianming nodded. He agreed. Youth meant not only less strength but pitiful Chakra reserves. A handful of jutsu and he would be empty.
His Chakra control was excellent. He wasted not a shred when using [Rock Pillar Spear]. That still didn't justify spamming Ninjutsu.
He couldn't help envying the original protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto had extraordinary recovery and so much Chakra he could even fight with [Multi-Size Technique].
If Zhao Yi Qianming had Naruto's reserves, then coupled with his control his power would leap severalfold. He could even function like an artillery caster.
But fantasy was fantasy. He came from ordinary stock with no Kekkei Genkai. Strength would come only from step-by-step grind.
"For the next few days I'll use only Taijutsu and the Three Basic Techniques against you, and you'll do the same. I hope you put up a strong result in the graduation trial," Yamamoto said.
"I understand, Instructor," Zhao Yi Qianming answered, serious.
"Good." Yamamoto nodded, then added, "Qianming, you know this: the village has many civilian shinobi, but those with real voice are still the clans. In wartime we civilians are thrown forward as fodder."
By the end his tone brimmed with hatred.
"…"
Staring at Yamamoto's slightly twisted expression, Zhao Yi Qianming did not know what to say.
He had sensed the tension between clan shinobi and civilians at the Academy, but he didn't know what Yamamoto had lived through to breed such deep resentment.
To be fair, before the hidden villages were founded, the shinobi world was only clans. Only when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded Konohagakure and Tobirama Senju established the Academy did civilian ninja appear in numbers.
That still didn't justify using civilians as disposable assets. Over time, conflict was inevitable.
Zhao Yi Qianming did not intend to dwell on it. The shinobi world respected only strength. Orochimaru and Jiraiya were respected for power. Minato Namikaze became Fourth Hokage for the same reason.
Fixating on factional disputes would only stall growth.
Seeing him silent, Yamamoto went on. "Qianming, do you know why I chose to teach you?"
Zhao Yi Qianming nodded but said nothing.
"Because I see hope in you," Yamamoto said. "Konoha's pillars now are Lord Orochimaru and Lord Jiraiya. When you grow up, I believe civilian shinobi will have their rise. In all my years at the Academy I have never seen talent like yours. Even the prodigy Kakashi Hatake fell to you. Promise me you won't die on some mission."
"Mm. I absolutely will not die," Zhao Yi Qianming replied with a nod.
—