Seimei and his friends didn't waste any time.

As soon as they finished setting the rules, they took their positions, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

The rules were simple.

No explosive tags.

No ninja tools that detonated with immense explosive power.

No ninja artifacts.

And finally, they were banned from using any Ninjutsu that might cause significant wide-area damage.

The use of chakra recovery or healing potions was not allowed either.

Other than that, everything else was permitted.

Shurikens, kunai, senbon, smoke bombs, ninja wires, cold steel ninja blades with sharp edges, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu—everything else could be used without restriction.

As long as any individual fainted or was locked in a situation where their defeat was obvious, they would be eliminated from the battle royale.

The battle would continue until only one of them was standing.

Simple, practical, and hardcore.

In this world, kids like them, who hadn't even entered their teens, were fighting with deadly weapons and wielding the destructive power of elements to have friendly matches.

What was he doing when he was eleven years old in his previous life?

Eh?

He was probably busy playing pranks, watching Power Rangers, and making chuunibyou poses while imagining himself powering up like some random Super Saiyan preparing to beat another random frost demon from an anime about seven glowing balls that could fulfill any wishes.

It was a dark phase of his life. That dark history should remain buried.

Anyway, the point was that at that age, he was afraid to even go near a kitchen knife without parental supervision.

Why? Because Seimei's parents drilled into him that knives were dangerous objects. And Seimei, the ever-so-obedient child, believed them.

And look at him now. Forget about knives.

He had already held a sword and cut down enemies with it like cutting down vegetables.

To him, slashing a sharp ninja blade at his friends for fun was common sense, and it didn't even feel weird anymore.

Indeed. Humans were an inherently adaptive race.

He didn't even notice when his whole idea about playing games with friends changed.

In his previous life, playing games with friends meant swinging a baseball bat at a baseball.

In this life, however, playing games with friends meant throwing deadly shurikens and kunai at them.

Never mind.

At least, it was better than throwing explosive tags at them.

Let's throw Ninjutsu at them instead. After all, Ninjutsu was controllable, unlike the explosive tags.

Where would they get a friend as caring as him in this cruel Shinobi world with twisted common sense?

Soon, Seimei snapped out of his thoughts and focused on his friends.

The sparring match was about to begin, after all.

-----------------

"So, is everyone ready?" Reina asked as she looked at her friends.

Haneda reinforced his body with chakra and began to rapidly circulate it through his chakra pathway, ready to unleash his Ninjutsu in the blink of an eye.

Uchiha Touma and Sarutobi Yuto had unsheathed their ninja swords.

Nara Shikamo's eyes darted here and there. He was clearly planning something, but Reina didn't know what.

Uzumaki Keiko had already unfurled the golden Adamantine Sealing Chains.

As for Seimei…

He was standing 10 meters away from her to her right side. His body language was casual, but his Tenseigan was glowing faintly in a royal blue hue.

Reina knew that his guy may look casual, but he was capable of striking faster than anyone else. Well, except for her, of course.

At one glance, it was clear that everyone was ready to engage in battle.

However, before the battle could even begin, Seimei and Reina witnessed something strange.

Haneda, Touma, Yuto, Shikamo, and Keiko were moving toward each other while watching Seimei and Reina warily.

Seeing this weird behavior, a string of imaginary question marks immediately popped over Seimei's head.

Seimei: ???????????????

Seimei: (+_+)?

Confused, Seimei looked toward Reina, who also turned her head toward him.

Then, as if they could reach each other's thoughts, they began exchanging simple information with nothing but their eyes.

Reina:(⊙_⊙)?

Seimei: ¯\\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

Reina: (￣_￣|||)

Seimei: (●__●)

Finally, Seimei couldn't help but ask, "What are you guys doing?"

Reina also looked at them curiously.

Yuto immediately replied, "You two are monsters. There is no way we can defeat you in a one-on-one fight."

Shikamo nodded, "Only by forming a group do we have the slightest chance to beat you two and become winners of the sparring match ourselves."

Keiko's eyes burned with fighting spirit. "Although I am not keen on ganging up on my friends, I really want to win once, too."

Touma shifted his attention from Keiko to Reina and said apologetically, "Sorry, Miss Reina. But that's how it is."

Haneda gazed at Seimei and nodded silently.

Meanwhile, Reina chuckled with amusement. "So, you guys think you can defeat me…or to be more precise, you think you can defeat me and Seimei by teaming up against us?"

The five remained silent. They were ready to launch attacks at any moment.

Seeing their determination, Reina smiled, "I must admit, your strategy is good. When you face a foe too powerful to handle alone, ganging up on them is the best option."

"As long as you can find their weakness and coordinate with your teammates to launch unavoidable strikes, you can indeed win."

"But…"

Reina shook her head slightly and said, "Very well. Then, let me see how far you have come in the last few months."

As soon as Reina said her piece, the other five became even more tense.

And their reactions were perfectly normal.

After all, before them were Uchiha Reina and Senju Seimei.

Two absolute monsters whose strength defied common sense. Ninjas who might grow up to be as powerful as the legendary Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

Haneda, Yuto, Shikamo, Keiko, and Touma were also prodigies.

Each of them possessed enough power to battle and even defeat an average full-fledged Jonin.

Yet, these five were only eleven or twelve years old. They were prodigies that appeared once in every generation within a clan or a group of ninjas.

They stood out even among the S-class students, who were also geniuses destined to reach the Jonin-level strength before turning twenty.

However, in front of Reina and Seimei, two absolute monsters that might appear only once or twice in every millennium, these five prodigies were nothing but weak children in front of fully grown adults.

In one-on-one fights against Reina or Seimei, they could try all the plans and tricks they had in their arsenals, but they would still lose.

Once Reina or Seimei unleashed their full strength, they would be crushed.

So, they had only one option.

Form a group and gang up on them. This way, they might have a sliver of a chance to eliminate them from the battle royale.

And they were willing to gamble on that tiny chance.

They also wanted to see how far they had come. And how far they still need to travel before they could stand shoulder to shoulder with their two friends, Seimei and Reina.

It was time for them to go all out.

Meanwhile, Seimei and Reina were still completely unaware of their five friends' thoughts.

Reina tilted her head toward Seimei and asked, "Would you handle them? Or do you want me to step up?"

Seimei shook his head and responded, "No. Let's fight them together. The faster we eliminate them,..."

Seimei's lips curled up slightly as he continued, "...the sooner we have our rematch."

Reina added, "Does it matter? You'd lose, you know?"

Then, Seimei looked at Reina's dark, glittering eyes with his ocean-blue Tenseigan and said, "Nah, I'd win!"

Seeing Seimei's forever confident demeanor, Reina gave a faint smile and said, "We will see."

After that, she turned her head back to her five friends, who formed a group to take her and Seimei down.

She grabbed a single coin with one Ryo denomination from her pouch and declared, "I will toss the coin into the air within a few seconds. When it hits the ground, that's when the battle royale begins."

Beside Reina, Seimei watched as she tossed the coin into the air.

The coin soared into the air for a while before it came to a halt. Clearly, it had reached the highest point possible.

And then, the coin began to fall.

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