"Of course."
Keigo Uchiha chuckled. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have agreed.
But now, he wanted to see what had changed after he gained the Absolute Control talent.
Absolute Control let him control his chakra with perfect precision—and gave him complete control over the muscles in his arms!
That would dramatically increase his hand seal speed!
"Then let's compare how quickly we can form the hand seals for Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet and see who's faster!"
Seeing that Keigo Uchiha had agreed, Senju Nawaki was brimming with excitement.
He'd spent the past year training specifically to speed up the hand seals for Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
He could already form three and a half seals per second!
That showed Nawaki had some talent after all. He was Senju Hashirama's grandson, but he'd simply been held back.
"Then I'll be the referee."
Kamimura Yanoi's eyes lit up, and he perked up.
He was also curious about how strong Keigo Uchiha had become. Hand seal speed couldn't reveal someone's full strength, but it could offer some indication. For example, as an Elite Chunin, Yanoi could now form four seals per second.
That was his limit.
He couldn't get any faster.
That was generally how it went for shinobi. They reached their peak hand seal speed around seventeen or eighteen, and improving beyond that was difficult. It might even slow down with age.
The others cleared some space, and Senju Nawaki and Keigo Uchiha faced each other.
"Keigo, I'm going to beat you this time and show you who the real genius is. Your Uchiha Clan will never measure up to our Senju Clan!"
As he spoke, Nawaki flashed a smug grin.
He looked as though he'd already won.
Keigo Uchiha: "..."
That mouth of his.
He offended people the moment he opened it. It'd be strange if the kid managed to grow up alive. What a pain in the ass!
"Begin!"
At Kamimura Yanoi's command,
the two immediately began forming hand seals!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Senju Nawaki was brimming with excitement. He was sure he'd win!
Three and a half seals per second—that was the speed of some Elite Chunin. He hadn't wasted the past year and more!
"Whoa! Nawaki's hand seal speed is faster than mine now!"
"Impressive! I can only manage two seals per second!"
Just then, Nawaki heard one surprised, astonished voice after another, as if everyone had seen something unbelievable.
"Hmph, what's the big deal?"
Senju Nawaki wore a smug expression.
He said it as if he didn't care.
But he couldn't hide his excitement.
"Keigo Uchiha, did you see that? That's how fast I can form hand seals now! Hahaha! See? This is my true talent!"
Naturally, he assumed all that praise was for him!
He lifted his head, and his face instantly filled with shock.
Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
"W-what is that?"
Keigo Uchiha's hands blurred as they moved, swift as butterflies flitting through flowers. His hand seals were so fast and graceful that no one could follow them with their eyes, yet there was a unique beauty to them.
His hand seal speed and technique seemed utterly perfect!
"So this is Absolute Control?"
Keigo Uchiha's gaze was clear, and a glimmer of blue shone in his eyes.
In that moment, he knew exactly how to position his hands to form the seals, which transitions would make him faster, and how chakra needed to flow to make his jutsu more powerful!
His hand seal speed had originally been four per second.
Over the past year, he'd gained one more seal per second.
That was already an astonishing speed!
But after gaining Absolute Control, he could now form... six seals per second!
"Six seals per second!? Keigo Uchiha, you're only eight years old! Can someone who hasn't even become a Genin do that?"
Kamimura Yanoi wailed.
Was this what it meant to be a genius?
Did ordinary people like them have no right to live?
Damn it, he could only manage four seals per second!
And Keigo Uchiha was only eight, yet he could already do six per second—a feat even some Elite Jonin couldn't manage!
"Is Lord Hokage's hand seal speed really that fast?"
Kamimura Yanoi suddenly realized something, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
Hand seal speed was a talent.
The younger someone was, the more room they had to improve.
Past a certain age, it was difficult to get any faster.
Six seals per second wasn't something just anyone could achieve!
"Teacher, don't bother competing with Keigo anymore. This guy's a once-in-a-century monster! Even geniuses can only bow their heads before him." Yamanaka Asagao offered a helpless consolation.
Nara Kano shook his head, a bitter smile on his lips. "To be precise, no one can compete with him. All we can do now is wait for him to grow up!"
"Hmph! What a useless bunch! You're giving up over something like this?"
A flash of irritation crossed Hyuga Ruri's pale eyes.
She gritted her teeth. "I'll surpass him and become the strongest!"
As for Senju Nawaki, he was trembling all over like a leaf, unable to believe what he was seeing!
"How can this be? How?"
"I spent over a year specifically training the hand seals for Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, going from one seal per second to four. Why... am I still no match for Keigo Uchiha?!"
His face was twisted with rage.
And humiliation!
But Keigo Uchiha didn't pay him the slightest heed. His gaze was clear as he focused intently on the hand seals he was forming.
"This isn't enough. I can go even faster!"
This wasn't his limit yet.
He furrowed his brows. Then a spark of lightning appeared in his hands! His seals grew even faster, leaving a blur of afterimages!
To break through his limits and experience what it was like to form seven seals per second, Keigo used Lightning Release to stimulate his hands!
Seven seals per second!
"Gasp!"
Everyone stared fixedly at the scene. Seeing his even faster hand seals, they drew in a sharp breath, chills running down their spines!
"This...!"
Hyuga Ruri's mouth fell open in disbelief, her beautiful eyes wide with shock and unwillingness to concede.
"Is he even human?! Seven seals per second—I've never heard of anyone managing that. Even a Kage Level strongman might not be able to do it, right?"
The Hyuga Clan didn't need hand seals.
So they didn't place much importance on them.
But even in Konoha, she'd never heard of anyone who could form seven seals per second!
"In this respect, Keigo's already on par with the strongest shinobi!"
Kamimura Yanoi spoke without hesitation. He gave a bitter laugh. There was no question of competing now.
"And in my memory, the only ones who surpassed him were the First and that ancestor of the Uchiha Clan. They were said to be able to form eight seals per second. That was the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, a level no one could rival!"
But that was only a legend!
Eight seals per second!
A legend of the Shinobi World at its peak!
Now Keigo Uchiha had approached that record at the age of eight, which made it all the more astonishing!
"I give up! This guy's a monster!"
Gekko Yabu nearly wept. "I wanted to beat Keigo, but now it looks like I'll never have a chance in this life!"
Everyone felt a pang of sorrow.
They were so helpless they didn't even know what to say!
"So that's how it works."
A glint shone in Keigo Uchiha's eyes as he gained a deeper understanding of Absolute Control.
"When I can form six seals per second, I can do them with one hand. Even if one hand is injured, or I'm holding a sword, I can still use jutsu!"
For a shinobi,
that was an absolute trump card!
In battle, it could be enough to decide the outcome!
Before you continue