Battle

"Pseudo: Divine Punishment Kill!"

The ground beneath Uchiha En suddenly began to shake violently, and he quickly leaped into the air. Dozens of thick threads burst from the earth like bamboo shoots after rain, piercing toward Uchiha En at astonishing speed.

Uchiha En twisted and darted through the air, doing everything he could to evade the tidal wave of attacks while his mind raced for a countermeasure.

He pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and threw it toward Yūske.

Bang!

The Explosive Tag tied to the kunai detonated instantly, kicking up billowing smoke that completely engulfed Yūske.

Uchiha En rapidly scanned the area with his eyes, remaining highly vigilant in case Yūske launched an attack through the smoke. As the smoke gradually dispersed, Yūske was revealed standing inside a spherical object, completely unharmed.

The instant the defense was released, Yūske wove a sharp sword in his hand and attacked like a gust of wind.

Yūske's taijutsu was certainly formidable, but under the insight of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the trajectories of his movements were still barely visible. Uchiha En confidently drew a kunai and met the challenge.

After several exchanges, several cuts had been slashed into Uchiha En's clothes, and two bloody marks had appeared on his face.

Seeing Uchiha En gradually fall into a disadvantage, Gekko Yoru broke his usual silence. "Chaotic. No structure at all. That guy doesn't understand swordsmanship."

Sniffing the faint scent of blood in the air, Inuzuka Shiro said, "Isn't hitting him enough?"

"Mm. Whenever Yūske gets close to En, he controls countless threads around him to attack Uchiha En. The sword in his hand is merely a distraction." Reon's Byakugan remained active, taking in everything on the battlefield.

The tense atmosphere on the training ground was like a drawn bowstring, ready to snap at any moment.

Uchiha En knew that ordinary taijutsu and ninjutsu were useless against Yūske, so he widened his Sharingan and cast a genjutsu. In an instant, Yūske was trapped in a hell of roaring flames. Scorching heat filled the surroundings, as if it were about to burn him to ashes.

Yūske's gaze became dazed and empty, clearly trapped in the genjutsu. Seeing this, a smug smile flashed across Uchiha En's face. His figure flickered, and he instantly appeared behind Yūske like a ghost. The sharp kunai in his hand gleamed with icy cold light, like Death's scythe, held steadily against Yūske's neck.

"Stop!" Kurenai Yūhi shouted.

The smug smile on Uchiha En's face froze the moment he heard her voice. To his shock, no matter how hard he tried, he could not pull back the kunai held against Yūske's neck.

Looking around, Uchiha En's Sharingan widened as his face filled with disbelief. At some point, countless thin threads had tightly surrounded him. Like venomous snakes poised to strike, every one of them gleamed with chilling light and pointed straight at him. Even the hand holding his kunai had been wrapped in threads, unable to move in the slightest.

Yūske is incredible! He truly is worthy of being the Third Hokage's disciple. Kurenai Yūhi secretly sighed. She had still underestimated Yūske. How could someone accepted as Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple have merely been lucky?

At this point, the victor had been decided.

Yūske drew back every thread. He turned to Uchiha En, his eyes holding not the slightest hint of triumph. Then, he slowly extended his right hand and formed the Reconciliation Seal.

Uchiha En came back to his senses from his shock and shook off his disappointment. After taking a deep breath, he extended his own right hand and formed the Reconciliation Seal with Yūske.

At that moment, Uchiha En and the others were thoroughly convinced by Yūske's strength.

"Yūske, how exactly did you break my genjutsu?"

Though he had lost the battle, Uchiha En was still curious about how the genjutsu his clan took such pride in had been broken so quickly.

"I'm afraid it's a method only I can use. It has something to do with my Kekkei Genkai." Yūske kept one of his secrets hidden. In truth, he had noticed the instant he fell under the genjutsu and immediately drove his threads into himself. The intense pain jolted him awake at once.

"Alright, there's no longer any reason to doubt Yūske's strength. With him joining us, this mission should go much more smoothly." At that moment, Kurenai Yūhi was delighted by Yūske's addition.

The stronger her team was, the higher the chance of completing the mission and the lower the casualty rate.

The battle between Yūske and Uchiha En drew the attention of many people. Especially after Yūske used a ninjutsu they had never seen before and easily defeated Uchiha En, people gathered around and began discussing Yūske. Quite a few even looked at him with admiration.

After all, the Uchiha Clan was hailed as Konoha's foremost Bloodline Family, and their strength had long been deeply ingrained in everyone's minds.

"This isn't a place to talk. Let's go to my house." Seeing the crowd gathering around them, Kurenai Yūhi extended an invitation.

The group headed toward Kurenai Yūhi's home.

Along the way, Yūske quickly became acquainted with Uchiha En and the others.

Kurenai Yūhi was a good-natured person, like a kind older brother.

Though En came from the proud Uchiha Clan, he did not have that look of disdain toward civilian ninja. He was very amiable toward others, just not particularly talkative.

Reon came from the Hyuga Clan branch family, which had countless rules. She spoke and acted properly, but no one noticed that when nobody was paying attention, her smile carried a faintly devious edge.

The Inuzuka Clan had always been bold and uninhibited. Once Yūske learned that Inuzuka Gakuto was Inuzuka Shiro's younger clansman, he became even more uninhibited in his conversations with her.

As for Gekko Yoru, how should one put it? He barely said a few words along the way. In short, he was a reserved type with social anxiety.

"We're here."