Hodaka and Feng Zheng stood facing each other, ten meters apart.
Renjiro announced, "In this battle, you can use everything you know: Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Kenjutsu are all allowed, but do not inflict fatal injuries on each other."
Both children nodded.
Renjiro announced, "Start!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hodaka activated his Byakugan and charged forward at top speed, aiming for close combat with Feng Zheng.
However, Feng Zheng vanished in a flash, and after creating enough distance, he prepared a Wind Blast Technique in each hand.
Seeing this, Hodaka stopped and quickly began to perform the Hand Seals for the Rock Shield Technique.
Feng Zheng recognized the Hand Seals and threw a Wind Ball at Hodaka.
This put a lot of pressure on Hodaka, but he still managed to create a rock shield in time.
The Wind Ball struck the rock shield, exploding and generating a large amount of wind.
Seeing that his Ninjutsu had worked, Hodaka breathed a sigh of relief and temporarily lowered his guard.
This proved to be a mistake, as Hodaka's Byakugan immediately saw a Wind Ball coming at him from the left.
He tried to jump away quickly, but the Wind Ball exploded next to him.
The explosion generated more wind, and as Hodaka was in the air, a huge gust of wind blew towards him.
The wind blew him off course, causing him to fall heavily to the ground.
Hodaka quickly got to his feet, only to see another Wind Ball coming straight at him.
This time, he didn't jump, but chose to run.
However, more and more Wind Balls kept coming at him.
For the next 15 seconds, Hodaka was constantly dodging.
The wind from the explosions left small scratches on him, and his clothes were tattered.
Hodaka finally adjusted himself and began to dodge the Wind Balls correctly.
He used his Byakugan to see the Wind Balls as soon as they were launched and dodged in the correct direction. Feng Zheng thought, "Not bad. But the speed at which I create Wind Balls is only one-fifth of my true strength, and their power is one-third of their maximum power. Yet he's still struggling so much. Oh well, let's end this farce now."
Feng Zheng halved the number of Wind Balls he was throwing. This allowed Hodaka to close the distance between him and Feng Zheng. He thought, "Finally! He's slowed down. It's time to finish him with my Gentle Fist."
When the two were only ten meters apart, Feng Zheng began to retreat. Hodaka thought, "If he creates distance again, it will be troublesome."
So he sped up.
However, Feng Zheng quickly performed a few Hand Seals.
Seeing Feng Zheng perform Hand Seals, Hodaka tried to speed up even more, but he quickly realized and panicked.
He hurriedly performed Hand Seals, preparing a rock shield, but it was too late.
Feng Zheng, only a few meters away from him, directly unleashed a fierce gale. The resulting wind blew Hodaka violently backward.
Renjiro was about to jump in to stop it, but he noticed, "So that's it."
The amount of Chakra Feng Zheng invested in the Ninjutsu was very low, and he also cast it very gently.
If he had used it with the same force as before, this Ninjutsu might have injured Hodaka.
The wind blew Hodaka back about 50 meters.
Despite Feng Zheng's attempt to limit the Ninjutsu's power, Hodaka was still dragged along the ground by the strong wind, causing many scratches and bleeding.
After the wind stopped, Feng Zheng picked up a small stone nearby and threw it at Hodaka.
As Feng Zheng expected, Hodaka still stood up, wanting to fight again.
Hodaka noticed the stone flying towards him, so he stepped aside.
He was about to prepare to charge at Feng Zheng again, but the stone suddenly made a sharp turn and went straight for him.
Before Hodaka could react, the stone directly hit him in the chest.
Although this attack did not cause any harm to Hodaka, Renjiro announced, "Alright, Feng Zheng wins."
Upon hearing this, Hodaka knelt to the ground in dejection.
Although he was unwilling to admit it, he knew that if Feng Zheng had used a Shuriken instead of a stone, he would have been seriously injured. This defeat hit him hard.
Feng Zheng had anticipated this, and so had Renjiro.
In his four years at school, Hodaka had never lost to any classmate. In the second graduation exam, he even defeated an upperclassman.
But this time he was defeated, and he had no chance of winning at all.
Looking at Hodaka's dejected expression, Renjiro sighed and thought, "Although I expected this outcome, I didn't expect the gap to be so wide. He didn't even have a chance."
Then he looked at Feng Zheng and thought, "Although I told this child to maintain distance in battle, I didn't expect him to do so well. He controlled the rhythm of the entire battle, making Hodaka act according to his intentions. He even deliberately threw a ball at Hodaka's defense just to make him lower his guard. This child is much stronger than I imagined. Haha, this makes me very interested in his future. Perhaps in the next major war, he might be an important figure."
Then he looked at Hodaka and said, "Do you understand now why Ninjutsu is so important?"
Hodaka looked up at his teacher. Renjiro continued, "Your opponent used two Rank D ninjutsu and one Rank C Ninjutsu. One was a movement technique, and the other two were mid-range Ninjutsu. You only used one defensive Rank E Ninjutsu. Although you are good at Taijutsu, you didn't even have a chance to engage the enemy with it."
Hodaka nodded sadly.
Renjiro showed a kind smile and comforted him, "I know you really like Taijutsu, and I support your passion for it. But you also need to understand and master Ninjutsu to effectively use your Taijutsu. No Ninja has ever become strong by only focusing on Taijutsu and neglecting everything else."
As Renjiro spoke, he thought to himself, "Although there is one Ninja who could challenge my words. Maito Dai, he killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from Hidden Mist Village and forced the remaining three to flee. Just as we attribute the victory over Iwagakure to Minato, our victory over Hidden Mist Village can be attributed to Maito Dai. Since that incident, they haven't dared to engage us in battle again."
"Even so, I will still stick to what I told Hodaka. Although Maito Dai's strength is so great, he still struggles with ordinary missions. Relying solely on Taijutsu without any good Genjutsu or Ninjutsu is not a good idea. His son, although he also prefers Taijutsu and uses it most of the time, has also mastered quite a bit of Ninjutsu. But if his Taijutsu continues to improve at the same rate, what I said might become invalid."
Hodaka nodded and said decisively, "Yes, sensei, I will also work hard to practice Ninjutsu."
Renjiro maintained his kind smile, a sigh of relief in his heart, and thought, "Finally, another child is on the right track! I have to admit, the old man is quite good at handling children; no wonder he was able to train the Sannin! Anyway, my team is finally taking shape."