Sharingan

"You... you can't insult the honor of the Uchiha!"

Hearing Yemo insult his Uchiha Clan, Obito flew into a rage. Shouting furiously, he gripped a Kunai and charged across the flames to kill Yemo. As a member of the Uchiha Clan, he had to defend its honor.

"Then show me just how strongly you're determined to defend the Uchiha's honor!"

The moment he spoke, Yemo charged as well. Both rushed forward, crossing the dozen or so meters between them in an instant. Yemo gripped a sharp Kunai in a reverse grip and slashed out. Two black afterimages collided violently in midair.

Clang...

The ringing of colliding metal resounded as sparks flew. Sharp blades screeched against each other in midair, and the two locked in a contest of strength.

Just then, Obito reached out with his left hand. A Kunai slipped from his sleeve and landed firmly in his palm, and he thrust it at Yemo's chest.

In the blink of an eye, before Yemo could react, the Kunai rapidly grew larger before his eyes. Its sharp blade plunged straight into his heart.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. Watching from the side, Rin and Ayame froze in shock. Even Obito was stunned, let alone the two of them, and panic showed in his eyes.

He had only challenged Yemo to prove himself. He had never intended to kill him. Although his attack had been fierce, he had thought Yemo should have been able to dodge an attack of that level. He hadn't expected Yemo to fail to dodge it.

Poof...

Suddenly, Yemo, struck directly in the heart by the blade, vanished in a puff of white smoke. Obito stared blankly for a moment, then realized that the Yemo before him had been a clone.

At that thought, Obito breathed a huge sigh of relief, but he instantly became furious and embarrassed. He had been fooled so thoroughly by one of Yemo's clones.

On the other side, Rin's heart dropped back into place when she saw this, and she breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was a Shadow Clone. If the real Yemo had been stabbed through the heart with a Kunai, he would surely have died.

Rin was very curious about when Yemo had used the clone. Her eyes had never left the fight between the two, yet she hadn't seen him make any Hand Seals.

At the same time, Ayame slowly loosened both hands from Rin's arm. She was fascinated by fights between ninjas, but she had never imagined they could be so cruel.

Obito held a Kunai in each hand and quickly scanned his surroundings, alert to the slightest movement. He knew that Yemo, who had disappeared, was hiding in some dark corner, waiting for him to expose a weakness so he could deliver a fatal blow.

Suddenly, the vanished Yemo appeared behind Obito like a ghost, without the slightest warning. By the time Obito realized Yemo was behind him, it was already too late.

Yemo swung his leg out in a sweeping kick, like an iron whip. Its immense force tore through the air, producing a series of explosive cracks.

Obito still had his back to Yemo and couldn't see his movements. All he could feel was a fierce gust rushing at him from behind; he didn't even know where the attack was aimed.

Yet even under those circumstances, Obito bent and twisted, dodging Yemo's attack. Yemo's powerful sweeping kick struck empty air with an explosive boom. One could imagine how powerful that kick was; if it had landed, Obito would have lost most of his fighting ability even if he hadn't been seriously injured.

Seeing Obito dodge, Yemo's expression grew grave. He said each word distinctly: "Sharingan!"

Obito had been facing away from him and couldn't possibly have seen where he was attacking, yet he had still dodged. Apart from the Sharingan's ability to track movement, Yemo couldn't think of any other way Obito could have done it.

Just as Yemo had expected, when Obito turned around, his eyes gleamed with a bloodlike light. At some point they had turned blood-red, with a black Tomoe in each eye, arranged symmetrically. This was the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, one of the three great Dōjutsu of the Shinobi World.

There was only one Tomoe in each of Obito's eyes. This was the initial form of the awakened Sharingan, also known as the One-Tomoe Sharingan.

"So this is the Uchiha's Sharingan? Interesting." A hint of anticipation entered Yemo's voice as he spoke. Fighting against the Sharingan was what made this interesting. Hadn't he accepted Obito's challenge because he wanted to test its power?

"It's more than just interesting. Next, I'll show you how powerful the Uchiha Sharingan is." This was not arrogance on Obito's part, but confidence. The fighting power one could display with the Sharingan activated was on a completely different level from what one could display without it.

"Then let's give it a try." Although it was only the most basic Sharingan, Yemo was still very cautious. Even the lowest-level Sharingan could see Chakra pathways, discern every subtle movement and Hand Seal an opponent made, and cast Genjutsu to disrupt them.

Yemo made the first move, flinging out several Kunai. A look of disdain appeared at the corner of Obito's mouth. Before the Sharingan, the Kunai, which were difficult for the naked eye to track, seemed several times slower to him.

Obito raised his hands and made several horizontal slashes. With a series of clangs, he easily knocked all the incoming Kunai away.

Taking advantage of the opening, Yemo had already leaped forward, slashing at Obito with a Kunai in his right hand. He attacked at blinding speed, his Kunai striking like a violent storm, leaving no room to breathe.

With his Sharingan activated, Obito's fighting power soared. Thanks to its power, he saw through every one of Yemo's attacks and managed to withstand his storm of blows.

The two darted around the arena, their hands moving so quickly they became a blur of afterimages. One attacked while the other defended. Sparks flashed constantly in the air, and the clang of colliding Kunai rang out without pause.

Even Yemo couldn't sustain such a high-speed assault for long. After a while, his attacks inevitably slowed, and Obito seized the opening to launch a counterattack.

For a time, Yemo, who had held the advantage and pinned Obito down, began to fall behind as Obito slowly gained the upper hand. With the Sharingan's help, Obito saw through all of Yemo's movements and attacked his openings. At first, Yemo could still defend himself, but soon he was in one dangerous situation after another.

There was nothing he could do. Taijutsu had never been Yemo's strong suit; he had spent most of his time learning Ninjutsu. Moreover, relying on his Sharingan, Obito attacked Yemo's openings every time. Yemo was forced to retreat again and again, beginning to fall behind.

Feeling Obito's attacks grow increasingly fierce, Yemo thought, This won't do. I can't keep competing with him in Taijutsu like this. With the Sharingan, Obito has too much of an advantage in this area.

As Yemo thought this, an opening appeared in his movements. Obito wasn't about to let it pass. He knocked the Kunai from Yemo's hand, then spun and kicked straight at his chest.

His Kunai had just been knocked away, and his chest was wide open and undefended. Obito's kick came with the force of his entire body behind it, sending fierce gusts rushing toward Yemo's face.

Yemo's heart tightened. Without thinking, he instinctively crossed his arms in front of himself to block. The next second, Obito's foot slammed into them. An enormous force surged forth like a tide, and Yemo felt as though a boulder had struck his chest. He was sent flying, tumbling several times through the air before crashing to the ground with a bang, kicking up a great cloud of dust.

"Yemo!"

At the sight, Ayame instinctively called out in concern, her bright, wide eyes full of deep worry.

Rin's expression barely changed. Although Yemo had been kicked away, he hadn't suffered any real injury. How did Rin know? What kind of medical-nin would she be if she couldn't even tell that much?

"Cough, cough..."

Yemo waved away the dust around him as he sat on the shattered ground. Dust had entered his nose, choking him and making him cough.

Seeing this, Obito couldn't help feeling smug. He mocked, "This is the genius Minato-sensei talks about? You're nothing special. You still lost to my Uchiha Sharingan."

Hearing this, Yemo smiled faintly from where he sat on the ground. "I've felt the Sharingan's power now. Overall, it's pretty good. Too bad you've only awakened the One-Tomoe Sharingan. The power you can draw from it is still far too weak."

Obito flew into a rage at those words. Yemo was mocking him. This guy, whom he had sent flying, was actually still mocking him. "Even though I can only activate One-Tomoe, I think it's enough. Enough to beat you."

Watching Yemo in the arena, not anxious in the slightest but instead extremely confident, Rin Nohara was very curious. Why was this man so confident? Had he been hiding his strength all along, without using his true power?