[Itagaki Mitsumi]

The gambit had actually worked! Mitsumi couldn't help but feel a thrill of pride, even as she tried to crush it and focus on the sparring match. If she had more practice, perhaps she'd be able to use the wire to actually trap a limb, but settling for a trip and a follow-up strike would have to suffice.

Mitsumi forewent the kunai, her left hand too occupied with the first wire to want to risk drawing a second and becoming entangled. It was only a sparring match, so a fist would have to suffice.

But apparently, flipping Hinoe upside down was not enough. The first kick caught the side of her head, and the hand she had drawn back to deal the decisive blow instead came in to block the second. She kicked hard, even from such a disadvantageous position, and stars burst in her vision.

She cried out as her legs were swept before she could regain her bearings. Less gracefully than Hinoe, she rolled back and away in a simple ukemi, drawing a kunai and another wire, adopting a defensive stance, clearly on the back foot once again.

It had been a good gambit, but she needed something with a bit more reach and speed to properly capitalize against a competent opponent.

[Hyuuga Hinoe]

Hinoe was quite pleased to see that her impromptu acrobatics yielded the results she hoped for. Even though Miitsumi had managed to block the second kick, the first had hit its target, and Hinoe had succeeded in her follow-up sweep. Still, and this was something the Hyuuga suspected Izusa might view with a bit of dissatisfaction, Hinoe had paused when Mitsumi had cried out as she fell. She could have attempted to try to push her advantage by pressing the attack on the Kumo girl, while the latter righted herself, but Hinoe had stalled.

"Great going, genius! You could have just attacked her as she rolled; why did you pause?" she chided herself. But Hinoe knew why she had paused. It was probably something that a ninja was not supposed to express, but she had felt unwilling to attack Mitsumi while she was down, very likely because of the image of vulnerability that the girl presented. In retrospect, Hinoe felt that hiding a manipulative side behind a more diffident cover was quite an effective mask for a ninja with concealed untoward intentions. But Mitsumi did not seem to be that sort.

Besides, Hinoe was not a fan of attacking people when they were down, even though she suspected that sometime in her future occupation as a ninja she would have to do such a thing. It felt like something a bully would do, and Hinoe disliked any form of such behavior. Still, on the flip side, Mitsumi could realize the reason she had paused, and resent her for it, especially as Hinoe realized too late that there was an expression of concern on her face as Mitsumi had hit the ground. The expression was quickly replaced by her usual deadpan expression, and Hinoe advanced again, aiming a kick at the opposite side of her opponent to that where the kunai was held. Still, the Hyuuga kept her eyes on the weapon. Mitsumi seemed to be a very quick thinker, after all.

Uchiha Izusa | Itagaki Mitsumi

[Uchiha Izusa]

Spring shall come in joy

---

Izusa continued to watch silently, appraising each of the students' performances to himself as he kept vigilant for any sign of things going too far. Hinoe and Mitsumi were still just students, but their control was surprisingly adequate.

No getting carried away, not rash bursts of anger, just a proper spar between peers. "This is a nice change of pace from overseeing kids." He thought to himself, leaning forward a bit to observe more closely. A kick to the side of Mitsumi's head and her rolling backwards made him narrow his eyes slightly. "She can't take another one of those."

There weren't many people who could, and even at this distance he could see the telltale signs of dizziness start to set in. True to form, Hinoe hesitated when the time came to strike the decisive blow. "There's still some reluctance," he noted, but still planned on saving his analysis for later. "In this case... that might be for the best." The prospect of an allied village's academy student being knocked unconscious under his supervision did not sound all that great...

For many reasons, least of all being his own being reprimanded. Mitsumi for her part was fending off her foe better than he expected, especially considering the Hyūga's prowess with taijutsu. Hinoe charged again and Izusa let his hand fall from his chin, to hide within his haori's sleeves with his other as he formed a single, sly Tora seal.

He had to be ready to jump in at a moments' notice, and this bout was getting down to the wire. So for the next tense few seconds, he would wait as he watched the two students fight, ready to intervene if he absolutely needed to.

---

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Unfortunately for her, Mitsumi's only real plan had been the wire snare - whatever other ideas she had come in with had been scattered by a kick to the head. She had failed to capitalize, and now she was on the defensive.

She needed distance. A way to make distance. A way to strike decisively from a distance. Her mind raced, but she had no time for any new plans. She needed techniques to draw on. Actual skill and instincts, not just grit and determination.

Perhaps a more skilled fighter would have have been able to block the kick and catch it in wire in one smooth motion. Instead, the simple arm block caught her in place, the impact stinging even after softening it with her arm.

Hinoe hit hard. Harder than anyone she had fought, except Tetsumaki. And she was a Jōnin.

Mitsumi raised her voice in a yell. Halfway between a pained exclamation and a battlecry. Still off balance from the force of the absorbed kick, she stabbed out with the blunt tip of the kunai at the other girl's face.

A dangerous move. Mitsumi was over extending herself, leaving her core open to a decisive counterattack of the attack failed. Even if it was successful, even a training knife could do serious damage to the face with a direct hit.

[Hyuuga Hinoe]

Hinoe's kick landed, although Mitsumi blocked it. Still, the Hyuuga could perceive that the defense was not seamless, as her opponent buckled despite warding off the attack. This presented many possibilities, it seemed. With her opponent slightly off balance, she could go in for the kill and do some more relevant damage, except that this was a friendly spar, and with someone who didn't seem too sure of herself in the first place. Perhaps fighting against a more confident person would have made Hinoe more aggressive.

Which was why Hinoe was still settling on a not so painful way to continue the fight, when Mitsumi screamed. A look of alarm registered on the Hyuuga's face, as she wondered if her kick had really damaged Mitsumi that much. "Is she that delicate? Should I have been gentler? Or--" Her stream of thought was halted by the registered sensation of a training kunai speeding towards her face.

In a way, Mitsumi's counterattack was impressive, even if it was not the most graceful thing in the book. By attacking almost as soon as she had been hit, the Kumo girl was ensuring that her opponent would not so readily follow up. Although taken by surprise, Hinoe's hands were both free, and she used one to slap at Mitsumi's offensive hand, before trying to grab her opponent's wrist. The danger was averted, yet a little purple patch, with a drop of blood in its center, on Hinoe's left cheek, was clear proof that it was a bit too close for comfort. Planting her feet, she drew her free hand back, and threw a punch, although she would stop it just before it touched Mitsumi's torso.

Uchiha Izusa | Itagaki Mitsumi