Battle Against Asuma Sarutobi, Uchiha's Summoning Dog

"Sora Uchiha versus Asuma Sarutobi."

After multiple rounds of combat, the final exam had once again fallen to Sora Uchiha.

As for his opponent, it was someone familiar, practically a friend—the well-known Old Ma.

Before him stood a youth with long black hair, clad in black clothes marked with red Anbu insignia on his shoulders and back, and bearing the Land of Fire crest at his waist.

Sora Uchiha kept his hands in his pockets, a faint smile in his eyes as he observed the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The young Asuma Sarutobi lacked the gentleness of his future self; instead, his gaze was sharp and his demeanor arrogant, befitting the pride of his status and era.

The two didn't start fighting immediately upon meeting, instead exchanging casual banter.

"Asuma, it's been a while," Sora Uchiha spoke first.

The arrogance in Asuma's eyes faded slightly as he shook his arms and rolled his neck. "Yeah, I didn't beat you last time, so I've been training hard ever since."

When the two graduated from the Ninja Academy, Asuma had been resentful toward Sora and challenged him to a fight once.

The result, of course, was Asuma getting beaten up.

Hearing this, Sora tugged at his collar and said helplessly, "Asuma, honestly, there's no need to compare yourself to me."

"What do you mean, looking down on me?" Asuma clenched his fists, glaring angrily.

Sora paused, a bit speechless. He clearly hadn't meant it that way—how did Asuma interpret it like that?

Ah, it seemed Asuma still had a long way to go before becoming the gentle person of the future.

Yume and the other watched the two chatting like old friends, a slight twitch at the corners of their mouths. These two—one a genius of the Uchiha Clan, the other the Third Hokage's son—were people they couldn't afford to offend.

"Ahem." A light cough reminded the two that this was the Chunin Exam.

Asuma assumed a boxing stance, a chakra blade formed from chakra appearing in his hand.

"Come on, Sora, see the results of my training."

Sora nodded, drawing a kunai from his waist.

In an instant, Asuma appeared beside him with a Body Flicker, his chakra blade carving a perfect arc through the air.

Clang—!

The crisp sound of impact rang out.

Feeling the strong force in his hand, Sora made a judgment in his mind.

This guy Asuma had clearly improved in both chakra control and strength during this period of training.

He was almost unable to hold his ground...

He sighed softly.

Indeed, when it came to raw power, he still had a significant weakness.

But that was fine—the Uchiha were never like the barbarians of Kumogakure, training their biceps every day. The Uchiha competed with the Sharingan, that "cheat."

And Sora Uchiha competed with an even greater cheat.

Pressing his thumb on a scroll, Secret Scroll: Protective Shuriken!

In an instant, two shuriken flew from his sleeve, rapidly spinning around him at high speed.

Asuma was startled but reacted quickly.

"Chakra Blade Consecutive Slash!"

He swung his chakra blade rapidly with both hands, clashing continuously with the shuriken.

A relentless clatter rang out, and sweat slowly beaded on Asuma's forehead. He wanted to finish this quickly, but he couldn't get past those two shuriken.

Rain soaked the hair of both youths, evaporating instantly upon contact with chakra.

Sora narrowed his eyes, formed hand seals, gathered chakra from his entire body into his chest, and made the signature tiger seal of the Uchiha Clan.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The Great Fireball Technique wasn't jokingly called the "can't-kill-anyone technique" for nothing.

The moment the fireball was expelled, Asuma's expression changed. He abandoned his attempt to break through the protective shuriken and swiftly retreated.

With a booming roar, steam hissed and condensed into thick mist.

The two returned to their original distance.

Sora Uchiha was as before, without a scratch.

Asuma coughed violently twice, his face covered in soot.

Though they had exchanged many moves and seemed to have fought for a while, only a few seconds had passed.

On the observation platform, Despite Kurenai Yuhi mouthing curses for Sora to lose, she was actually cheering him on in her heart.

"Sora! Keep going!"

Obito curled his lip. "With Sora's strength, does he even need encouragement? That summoning dog of his—just use the signature Summoning Technique, and this fight's over in one move."

That was right. Sora Uchiha's strongest move was his absurdly overpowered Summoning Technique.

Back when they were still learning the Shadow Clone Technique, the moment they'd accidentally discovered Sora using the Summoning Technique to call forth a toad bigger than a house—

They'd all known Sora was a monster.

"I wonder what Asuma was thinking, actually daring to challenge Sora?" Obito grumbled.

"Does Asuma know Sora can use the Summoning Technique?" Rin suddenly spoke up.

At those words, the whole group fell silent. The atmosphere turned subtly awkward...

After a long moment, Obito stuck out his tongue.

"Seems... probably... maybe... he doesn't? The day Sora summoned his summon beast, Asuma got called away by the Third Hokage. Did any of you tell Asuma afterward?"

"No." Kurenai Yuhi shook her head.

"Me neither." Rin shook her head too.

"My eyes are only on surpassing Kakashi." Might Guy's eyes were full of youth.

In their younger days, Asuma had been too arrogant. Everyone's relationship with him was a bit delicate.

"Haha..." Obito gave an awkward laugh. "Looks like Asuma doesn't know about Sora's Summoning Technique. No wonder he thought he could beat Sora..."

The group dropped the topic and silently turned their gazes to the fierce battle unfolding below—

Or rather, Asuma fighting fiercely all by himself.

"Sora! Don't hold back. Let me see your real strength." Asuma shouted sternly, his hands already flying through hand signs.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

In an instant, three Asumas charged at Sora Uchiha, Chakra Blades in hand.

Watching the Asumas closing in from three different directions, Sora Uchiha smirked, backflipping to create some distance.

"Since Asuma's so eager, I'll naturally oblige you."

With that, he slapped his right hand against the ground. Instantly, black runes spread like a spiderweb.

"Summoning: Blue Snake."

Boom, boom, boom—

A dozen blue serpents, thick as water jets, burst from the earth, wrapped in flying dust and rubble. They writhed like demons, madly biting at everything around them.

Thud, thud.

Two Shadow Clones were ruthlessly torn apart by the serpents. As for the last one—the real body—he forcibly halted his charge, staring blankly at the swarm of blue snakes before him.

After a long silence, he dismissed the Chakra Blade in his hand and turned to walk toward the exit.

"Uh, the fight's not over yet." Yumeno Chunin reminded him.

Asuma roared, "Fight, fight, fight?! How the hell am I supposed to fight this?! What kind of thing did he just summon?!"

Yumeno Chunin choked. He looked at the writhing blue mass in the arena and fell silent too.

This thing... could he beat it? He wasn't confident. Probably... maybe... probably not?

Clearing his throat twice, he announced the result.

"Sora Uchiha wins."

"Hahaha, did you guys see how furious Asuma looked? 'Fight, fight, fight?! How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!'" Obito mimicked Asuma's tone and repeated the line.

He couldn't hold it in anymore.

"If Asuma finds out you're badmouthing him behind his back, he'll definitely come after you." Kurenai Yuhi laughed. "Asuma can't beat Sora, but beating you is more than enough."

Obito's expression froze. Then he said indignantly, "Just wait until I awaken my Sharingan. I'll leave all of you in the dust."

This future truth made everyone burst into laughter...

And so the Chunin Exam ended quietly in this cheerful atmosphere.

It also meant—

Their generation was about to step onto the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War...

Under the setting sun, Shio Nara stood on the rooftop, silently watching the retreating backs of the young boys. His eyes were deep.

"Uchiha..."