Chapter 45: Sparring Against Mei
After half an hour, Naruto and Mei appeared on his training ground together with her guards. One of her guards was a young swordsman while the other was a middle-aged man with an eyepatch.
"Before we start our lessons, I need to understand your strength. And, I mean your strength, not your Tailed Beast."
Mei spoke as she stood in front of him.
Naruto thought for a moment and nodded.
"Alright! But, just to be clear we will stop before we do too much damage."
Mei nodded her head.
"So, how do you want to start?"
"Let's go with the flow! Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and any other special skills." Naruto answered.
"Mei-sama, why don't you let me test his strength?" Ao, the eyepatch guy walked forward and spoke.
"Ao, stay back! Since I will be teaching him, I need to understand his strength." Mei gave him a sharp glare and spoke.
Then, she looked at Naruto and nodded. Without any hesitation, both kicked the ground and jumped toward each other.
Mei moved her right hand for a straight punch in the cheek but Naruto simply blocked it with his forearm and swung his leg toward her stomach.
Mei blocked a history attack with her leg and pulled back her right arm. She tried to throw five punches at a fast speed, each having the speed and strength of a Jonin.
Naruto was strong, abnormally strong for a Genin but he wasn't strong as a Jonin without Kurama's Chakra.
He boosted his strength with his own Chakra and immediately used Dragon Style. He started moving his hand like a Gentle Fist user and punched back at Mei's punches.
Unlike Gentle Fist, he wasn't sending his Chakra into her fist but rather he was pushing her fist with his. Every strike he used had a nimble movement like a snake and ferocious power like a tiger.
He raised his knee and tried to strike her stomach but she slapped on his knee and jumped. She swung her right leg and tried to kick him on the head while Naruto instantly dodged.
Naruto somersaulted as he tried to kick her jaw with his leg but she managed to dodge it rather easily. She landed on the ground and proceeded to kick him in the chest.
Naruto couldn't dodge this kick and focused on using his forearm to block it. He was pushed several meters away from the kick but managed to stay on his feet.
Mei paused for a moment.
'Even when I am using Jonin Level strength, speed, and chakra, I can't defeat him instantly. His fighting style reminded me of Hyuga's Gentle Fist but his punches carried a lot of power.'
'If I continue in Taijutsu, I might be able to get the upper hand but it won't do me any good. Besides, from my observation, he is easily Chunin Level in Taijutsu alone.'
Just when Naruto was about to rush forward, Terumi Mei stopped him.
"Alright! Let's end the Taijutsu battle. It is clear that point goes to me and I know your current strength with Taijutsu."
Ao and Chojuro looked at Naruto with stunned expression. Ao could easily see the battle unlike Chojuro and knew just how powerful her attacks were.
She used the strength she would use against any other Jonin. Although Mei wasn't known for her Taijutsu, she was still a proper Kage Level Ninja.
Being able to fight so long against her proved Naruto's strength.
"Then, shall we proceed to Ninjutsu?" Naruto asked.
Mei nodded and said.
"We will do it simple. You will use three of your most powerful attacks against me."
Hearing her words, Naruto immediately thought for a moment.
'I need to keep my trump card. That means I shouldn't use all of my A-Rank Jutsu. I will use Drilling Firestorm, Inferno Blaze, and Great Waterfall Jutsu. I will keep Blade of Wind hidden.'
"Alright! But my Jutsu can be pretty destructive." Naruto nodded and didn't forget to warn her.
Mei chuckled and said.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
[Shadow Clone Jutsu]
Naruto formed a shadow clone next to him and they immediately started performing hand seals. One of them released a large wind bullet while another released a medium-sized Flame Bullet.
[Combination Style- Drilling Firestorm]
With the combination of fire and wind, a massive stream of fire burst out. It was condensed into the shape of a bullet as it launched toward Mei.
Seeing this, Mei's eyes widened as she quickly put her hand in front of her mouth after using the Tiger Hand seal. and spit out a large torrent of water that burst toward Drilling Firestorm.
[Water Style- Water Formation Pillar]
The power of her water release was easily able to overpower his Jutsu but it left a surprised look on her face. The barricade of water slowly faded away when the fire was extinguished.
'I used fifty percent less Chakra in that Jutsu but it was only able to block it. Considering the flow of water, I thought it would crush it and then move toward him.'
'I didn't expect his first attack to be so powerful.'
Of course, Naruto wasn't done yet.
[Fire Style- Inferno Blaze]
He quickly formed hand seals and put out his palms. Two large streams of fire burst out of his palm like a moving train and melted the ground over which it passed.
Seeing this, Mei's eyes widened. Even if it was very far from her, she could still feel the heat and the speed by which it was moving made her use the Tiger Hand seal instantaneously.
By kneading her Chakra inside her body and converting it into water, she spat out the same Jutsu as before but with greater force and quantity.
As they collided against each other, the intense heat from Inferno Blaze managed to turn all of that water into vapor but in the process, it also got extinguished.
'Such a powerful Jutsu! This time I had to use eighty percent of its total power. Before, he used a B-Rank Wind Release Jutsu with the combination of C-Rank Fire Release Jutsu.'
'That created a powerful combination attack but the intensity of the heat wasn't as powerful as this. It must be an A-Rank Jutsu. So, what's next?'
After the mist slowly cleared up, Naruto started using hand seals once again. He started kneading his Chakra and converted it into Water Chakra.
The vapor around him began to turn into a large vortex of water with his Chakra and rose above him.
'This is the Great Waterfall Technique. How did he get his hands on it? Was it Kakashi the Copy ninja?'
Mei immediately recognized the Jutsu and she put her hand in front of her mouth and spit out a large amount of water. It condenses into a massive water dragon and launches toward Naruto's Water vortex.
[Water Release- Water Dragon Bullet Technique]
Bang!
The water vortex and water dragon collided, creating a large impact of water. The water began to splash everywhere. The vortex tried to devour the dragon while the dragon tried to eat the vortex.
But, their power was almost equal, unable to overpower each other, they destroyed each other.
A large amount of water fell in the middle while some of it splashed toward Naruto and Mei.
'Amazing! Although my Jutsu was just a B-Rank Jutsu compared to his A-Rank Jutsu, my control over Water Release should be much higher than his.'
'But, my Jutsu wasn't able to overpower his even though I used 100 percent of its power. This kid is only thirteen and he already has the power to rival Kage-level Ninjutsu.'
'Is it due to his Jinchuriki status or was it because of his Uzumaki genes? Or, maybe a bit of both? No matter what the reason might be, this kid will become a Ninjutsu powerhouse for sure.'
'Should I really give him the Sanbi?'
She shook her head and thought.
'I have already promised. Besides, Tailed Beasts are too stubborn to agree. Yes, he won't get Sanbi because it won't agree at all.'
While she had already been satisfied with his strength, Ao and Chojuro were shocked.
Both were unable to say anything about his performance. Before this, Ao believed that he would be able to take on Naruto if he didn't use his tailed beast chakra.
But, it turned out he was underestimating Naruto's talent in Ninjutsu. Launching two A-Rank Jutsu and one combination Jutsu that has the power of an A-Rank Jutsu takes a massive amount of Chakra.
And, he could see that the kid wasn't even tired. He didn't even look as if he had consumed any Chakra.
"Amazing, Naruto-kun! I should have expected you to be a Ninjutsu powerhouse. But, what about Genjutsu?"
Mei spoke.
Suddenly, Naruto couldn't help but feel his mind going blank. The surroundings began to change and he could see the Old Man Hokage getting stabbed in the back.
For a moment, it looked so real that Naruto almost screamed. But, he quickly realized that he was inside the Genjutsu and moved his hands together to form Tiger Seal.
[Release]