Itachi's Perfect Timing

Itachi had wanted to spar with Yamato, but it ended up becoming a spar with Anko.

"Who do you think will win?" Kabuto asked Yamato beside him.

Yamato quietly watched the two facing off at the Uchiha Training Grounds. "Hard to say."

Kabuto was somewhat surprised.

Anko was a Chunin.

She was twelve, while Itachi was only six.

Half an age difference, and at an age when children were still growing rapidly.

Kabuto immediately thought of a legendary figure, someone who had graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and become a Chunin at six.

He could be called the most talked-about legendary genius since Konoha's founding.

"Another Kakashi? Having Chunin-level strength at six?"

"He probably doesn't have Chunin-level strength yet," Yamato said. "But the feeling he gives me is very peculiar."

"How peculiar?"

Kabuto humbly sought guidance.

He still held great respect for Yamato, a Wood Release Ninja.

Besides, the director was taking care of him now. In a sense, Yamato was more like one of Kabuto's own.

Watching Itachi in the field, Yamato said, "Itachi's movements always feel perfectly timed. It even seems like he doesn't do it deliberately. He simply manages it instinctively."

"Perfectly timed?"

Kabuto pinched his chin, mulling over those words.

He was a Medical Ninja, so of course he understood the meaning behind perfect timing. Precise Medical Ninjutsu also required things to be done at exactly the right moment.

Kabuto was meticulous by nature and exceptionally skilled at fine operations.

However, his precision was proactive. It even required advance preparation, sufficient accumulation, thought and planning, followed by precise arrangements that allowed him to enter at the right moment.

Simply put, he relied on his brain. Of course, his instincts were also strong. In a sense, both his talent and intellect were exceptional, which was why Orochimaru had favored him.

But according to Yamato—

Itachi could instinctively achieve perfect timing in every movement. What kind of talent was that?

"Here she comes!"

Anko shouted.

The two raised their fingers together and formed the Seal of Confrontation.

Then Anko charged forward.

She keenly chose to suppress him with Taijutsu. The age gap was right there, after all. She drew a kunai and stabbed toward Itachi.

The moment she moved, Itachi formed hand seals. That was—the Great Fireball Technique!

The Uchiha Clan was Konoha's strongest Fire Release clan.

Anko did not dare let her guard down. She dodged aside and flung out a kunai to interfere with him.

Itachi was prepared. He leaned back to evade it, then pulled a kunai from where it was strapped to his leg and fired it out.

Anko dodged again, about to attack while Itachi was leaning back.

But at that moment, a sharp sound tore through the air behind her.

Itachi had pulled on the steel wire attached to the kunai.

At the same time, a kunai appeared beneath his foot. With the motion of leaning back, he flicked it out with his foot.

Anko gritted her teeth.

Shadow Snake Hand!

A string of serpent shadows shot out from her arm, covering both front and back.

The kunai attacking her from both directions were quickly swallowed up.

But at the same time, she lost her vision.

Taking advantage of that brief opening, Itachi had already finished forming hand seals after landing.

Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!

Boom!

A massive fireball blasted forth.

Having already released Shadow Snake Hand, Anko could only use it to block the attack.

"She's fallen into Itachi's rhythm," Yamato said. "Shadow Snake Hand is a close-to-mid-range ninjutsu, yet she has to use it to withstand a long-range ninjutsu like Itachi's Great Fireball Technique. That kind of exchange is extremely unfavorable to her. Itachi's control over the tempo is truly perfect—he always maintains the advantage."

"But the gap in raw strength is still there," Kabuto said. "Itachi is only six. Even if he is a genius of the Uchiha Clan and has far more Chakra than ordinary children his age, there is still a limit. A single Great Fireball Technique consumes a considerable amount of his Chakra. For Senior Anko, though, Shadow Snake Hand isn't much of a burden. Of course, using that ninjutsu to block a Great Fireball Technique means she'll definitely suffer a little."

After the Great Fireball's bombardment, Anko, who had done her best to release Shadow Snake Hand to block it, still suffered some burns.

They brought some unfavorable effects, but Anko clenched her teeth tightly.

The burns on her body did not seem to inconvenience her much.

Sure enough.

When she used Shadow Snake Hand to block the Great Fireball Technique, Kabuto had noticed that Anko's gaze remained remarkably calm. That meant she still had confidence.

Just as he had guessed, Anko had only suffered a minor loss from that exchange.

Her endurance had always been stronger than most people's. After Shadow Snake Hand had dissipated most of the Great Fireball Technique's power, the remaining burns were not unbearable.

The pain even further ignited her fighting spirit.

She charged forward again!

She still needed to close the distance, while Itachi held several kunai between his fingers and waited in full readiness...

Kabuto and Yamato were not the only ones watching this battle. Nearby, Uchiha Clan ninja were also lurking in observation.

The Uchiha Clan could not afford to be careless. A Wood Release Ninja had come here. Ultimately, the ninja lurking nearby were there to keep an eye on this Wood Release Ninja and ensure that nothing happened to him within the clan.

While Itachi and Anko sparred, one of the Uchiha ninja lurking nearby left to relay the news.

Not long afterward, Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha Clan, also arrived in the shadows nearby, watching his son fight another disciple of Fifth Hokage Orochimaru.

Of course, Fugaku knew Anko's information. As Orochimaru's disciple, she was a highly sensitive figure.

He knew she was a Chunin and had mastered Lord Fifth's ninjutsu.

She truly was a difficult opponent for Itachi.

Could Itachi win?

"How is this possible?"

Looking at Itachi, who was covered in wounds, Anko still could not accept the kunai pressed against her throat.

She lay on the ground, one leg bound and tripped by steel wire. Other than that, she only had the burns from earlier.

Itachi had quite a few wounds on his body, including marks where snake jaws had bitten him.

He felt very weak at the moment, yet he still held the kunai steadily in his grip.

He knelt over Anko, his gaze without a ripple, though sweat poured down his forehead.

He had just carried out several perilous maneuvers before completing the final setup and making Anko step into the trap.

From beginning to end, Anko had been trapped in his rhythm.

Of course, this was already his limit. If Anko had been a little stronger, or even a little calmer, the outcome truly would have been hard to predict.

"Mm!"

Anko's cheeks puffed up.

Her eyes quickly grew moist.

Itachi, whose gaze had just been so calm, became slightly flustered.

"Sorry!" he hurriedly said.

"Hmph!"

With a flushed face, Anko turned her head away in embarrassment, her eyes still red.

She simply could not accept the fact that she had lost to a six-year-old child.

She was a twelve-year-old Chunin!!!