Word of the duel between Uchiha Ronai and Uchiha Houka quickly spread through several classes. It was lunchtime, and everyone was full with nothing to do. With a duel to watch, they eagerly flocked to the scene.
Word spread from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred. By the time Houka and Uchiha Ronai reached the playground, warmed up, traded threats, and glared at each other, they suddenly realized a huge crowd had gathered around them.
It was a sea of people, with red flags waving and a chorus of boos rising from the crowd.
They were only six or seven years old, after all. They loved watching a spectacle and wanted nothing more than to see the two of them trade blows until blood flowed. They chattered noisily all around.
Uchiha Ronai seemed to relish being the center of attention. He straightened his back and puffed out his chest, his eyes gleaming with eager anticipation and a hunger for victory.
"Uchiha Houka, I'm really sorry you're going to embarrass yourself in front of the whole school again. Heh, the shame you carry is destined to follow you for the rest of your life!"
Uchiha Ronai swept out both hands. Two cold glints flashed as he instantly hurled a pair of shuriken, spinning rapidly toward Houka's left and right hands.
Houka raised an eyebrow, drew a kunai, and blocked left and right, knocking both shuriken away at once.
A true expert showed their skill from the very first move!
Houka's display stunned all the kids.
"Whoa, amazing!"
"He actually blocked shuriken moving that fast! Who is that guy?"
"What? You don't know him? He's from the Uchiha Clan. Last term, he challenged Kakashi-senpai and got kicked unconscious. He became a laughingstock."
"Hmph, he really overestimated himself, challenging Kakashi-senpai."
"But he's improved a lot. He looks like a completely different person."
The chatter all around them did nothing to distract the two fighters.
Uchiha Ronai kept shifting his position, wildly hurling shuriken after shuriken at Houka.
With a kunai in hand, Houka defended so thoroughly that not even water could get through. Uchiha Ronai was grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Uchiha Houka, is this all you've got? Use your Fire Release Ninjutsu!" Uchiha Ronai shouted. He had trained incredibly hard for the past six months and had finally mastered the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. He wanted to use it to teach Uchiha Houka a harsh lesson.
"Ninjutsu? Come on, don't joke around. You're nowhere near good enough for me to bother using ninjutsu," Houka replied lazily.
The worst thing was when the air suddenly went quiet.
Uchiha Ronai suddenly realized that everything around him had fallen silent. All his classmates were staring at him as if he were a little kid fooling around in front of adults—or as if they were hoping he'd do something outrageous to amuse them.
"You bastard!" Uchiha Ronai gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
At last, unable to hold back, he began forming Hand Seals.
Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger!
One second, two seconds... five seconds... nine seconds!
Finally, after nine seconds, he completed all six Hand Seals, held one hand upright before his mouth with his fingers pressed together, and roared, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!!"
Boom!
A fireball the size of a human head shot from his mouth. It swelled as it met the wind, rolling toward Houka in a blaze of growing flames as waves of scorching heat swept in every direction.
The crowd erupted.
Apart from a few, the students at the Ninja Academy had never seen real ninjutsu. Every one of them stared, wide-eyed.
Kurenai Yuhi, Rin, Asuma Sarutobi, and the others tensed, feeling inexplicably worried for Houka.
Even Obito, who seemed unconcerned, had sweaty palms.
Only Guy looked confident beneath his thick brows. Houka was strong!
Bang!
The Great Fireball didn't miss. It hit Houka dead-on and exploded violently, sending the watching kids into an uproar.
"He's dead! He's dead!"
"Why didn't he dodge?"
"Because he's an idiot, a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan!"
But the thing that landed amid the explosion was a chunk of wood burning fiercely.
"It's the Substitution Technique!"
"Awesome! That was incredible!"
Uchiha Ronai froze, furious. "You bastard, Houka! Weren't you blocking my shuriken with your kunai just now? Why didn't you block that one? You liar!"
He looked around, but aside from the noisy classmates gathered in a circle, he couldn't see Houka anywhere.
His heart tightened. Then he saw his father, Uchiha Yeshing, standing before him, walking over with a wooden stick tied with straw rope. His face was cold as he glared at him and said icily, "Ronai, you've disappointed me so much. You don't deserve to be my son, much less bear the Uchiha name. You're a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan. I truly regret it. I should never have given birth to you. It would've been better if you'd died in your swaddling clothes!"
"No, that's not true! I—I'm not a disgrace, Father! I've worked so hard. Look, I've already learned the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. I'm a genius! I'm a genius!!!"
Uchiha Ronai's eyes darted in panic. Sweat ran down his forehead, and his whole body trembled. He looked like he was having a seizure, with a sign saying "keep away" hanging over him.
The watching kids were more confused than one another.
"Hey, what's wrong with him? Is he talking to someone?"
"Did he go crazy?"
"What's gotten into him?"
Only a few could immediately see what was going on.
"It's the Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique. It makes someone see what they fear most. Hasn't Houka been training in Taijutsu with Might Duy all this time? When did he learn Genjutsu?" Asuma Sarutobi furrowed his brow slightly.
In a corner, a somewhat tall boy watched the battle with a toothpick in his mouth and his hands in his pockets. "Hell Viewing Technique, huh. Heh, neither of those two is easy to deal with."
His name was Genma Shiranui. In the original story, he was one of the examiners during Naruto's Chunin Ninja Exams.
He was two years older than Houka. His talent was ordinary, and he was still studying at the Ninja Academy, but he already had quite a bit of knowledge.
Just then, Houka suddenly appeared behind Uchiha Ronai and kicked him hard.
"Ah!!!"
Uchiha Ronai screamed and fell flat on his face.
The sharp pain also brought Uchiha Ronai back to his senses.
"Damn you! Damn you! You bastard!" Uchiha Ronai came to, saw the strange looks from his classmates, and ground his teeth so hard they bled. "I'm going to kill you! I'm definitely going to kill you!"
Uchiha Ronai formed Hand Seals again. Maybe it was just his imagination, but this time he was faster, finishing the seals in eight seconds.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Boom!
Another enormous fireball blazed toward Houka.
"You're too young, kid." Houka put away his kunai and charged straight at the enormous fireball instead of retreating.
"Houka!!" Obito, watching from the crowd, was horrified.
"Look out!" Kurenai Yuhi was startled too. He had the advantage already, so why was he trying to meet the attack head-on?
"Another Substitution Technique?" Asuma Sarutobi frowned.
Genma bit down on his toothpick. "That presence... it's like he's about to use some kind of Taijutsu."
Sure enough.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!!!"
Houka leaped into the air, his right leg sweeping forward like a whirlwind.
Boom!!!
Before the enormous fireball could reach him, Houka shattered it with a single kick. It burst into countless sparks that scattered in every direction. The force of his kick swept past the faces of the nearby students in a blast of wind that seemed to carry the heat of the flames with it.
"What?!" Uchiha Ronai stared at the scene in disbelief, his eyes bloodshot. He couldn't accept it. His ninjutsu, the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, had been kicked apart so easily?
Impossible!
The watching kids cried out in amazement, all stunned by Houka's domineering kick.
"How can he have such a relentless, all-or-nothing presence?" In the corner, Masamune Hyuga's eyes widened in disbelief. "What's with this guy's Taijutsu?!" (To be continued)
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