Spirit Release

Shangguan Yue stood in place, eager to give it a try, as if the Great Fireball before him were just a toy he wanted to play with.

"Ah, watch out!"

The girls watching covered their eyes. Shangguan Yue was such a handsome guy; they'd feel bad if he got hurt, even if he was pretty arrogant.

The Great Fireball rushed toward Shangguan Yue. He didn't move an inch as it slammed into him with a rumble, filling the air with smoke.

"Ah? Someone's been killed!"

Uchiha Fugaku panicked a little, too. This was his classmate, and killing someone on the first day wouldn't be good for him.

As the dust slowly settled, a layer of white jade-colored light emerged from Shangguan Yue's body. He was completely unharmed.

"What the—how is that possible?"

"What's that white light around Shangguan Yue?"

"No idea. I've never heard of it."

Uchiha Fugaku couldn't believe it either. Shangguan Yue merely brushed the dust off himself, looking at him with contempt, which only made Fugaku feel worse.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball! Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

He spat out three Great Fireballs in quick succession. They flew toward Shangguan Yue in a triangular formation. This time, Shangguan Yue didn't just stand there and take it. He raised one hand.

The white light around him flowed into his palm, gathering into a huge, curved barrier that wrapped tightly around him.

Soon, the Great Fireballs collided with the barrier. Shangguan Yue shouted, "Vanish!"

The barrier enveloped the Great Fireballs where they had struck. Faint white light surrounded the fiery red orbs, and they shrank in an instant.

Uchiha Fugaku's Great Fireballs disappeared completely. Shangguan Yue beckoned to him, signaling him to keep going.

Provoked by the gesture, Uchiha Fugaku lost his temper. Since his ninjutsu hadn't worked, he drew his sword and swung it at Shangguan Yue.

At first, there was nothing special about the blade; it was just an ordinary katana. But just before it hit Shangguan Yue, a fiery red gleam suddenly appeared along its edge.

It shot toward Shangguan Yue. He had never seen Nintaijutsu like this before, so he watched Uchiha Fugaku's every move intently.

Seeing Shangguan Yue dodge again and again, Uchiha Fugaku attacked with even greater gusto. Each time he swung his katana at Shangguan Yue, he infused it with chakra. Sometimes it burst into flames; other times, it sent out a blade of fire.

Unfortunately, Shangguan Yue was just toying with Uchiha Fugaku. After all, the ninjutsu Fugaku had just used, as well as this Nintaijutsu, had piqued his interest.

He wanted to record them, so he'd have to squeeze every last bit of value out of Fugaku.

The more Uchiha Fugaku swung, the more something felt off. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hurt Shangguan Yue in the slightest.

Meanwhile, he was exhausted, and he hadn't even managed to touch a hair on Shangguan Yue's head. Panting, he stopped where he was and gave up attacking.

He glared at Shangguan Yue and grumbled.

"Can you stop scurrying around like a rat with your head down? Fight me fairly, like a man!"

"Don't blame the road for being uneven when you can't hack it. Fine, I'll give you what you want, Uchiha Fugaku. You won't be able to block this move. Don't go crying when you lose."

Shangguan Yue casually formed a hand seal, pressed his palms together, and shouted, "Spirit Release: Water Ball Bomb!"

He spat out a tiny ball of water, no bigger than a bullet, which shot forward at great speed.

Uchiha Fugaku dodged it by a hair. Unfortunately, although he avoided the water ball, it exploded as soon as it reached him.

Fugaku hadn't even had time to celebrate before he froze, feeling the blast from behind him.

"Oh no! What kind of ninjutsu is that? It can explode?"

Uchiha Fugaku had no time to dodge. He twisted around as hard as he could and raised both hands in front of himself. The shock wave hit, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

A moment later, he thought, Huh? Why am I not hurt? I don't feel anything.

Uchiha Fugaku felt no pain at all. It was as if the explosion had been nothing but an illusion.

"Huh? Why am I getting dizzier and dizzier?"

Uchiha Fugaku staggered, unable to keep his balance, then toppled face-first onto the ground, his eyes blank.

"Ah? Shangguan Yue won just like that?"

"Is Uchiha Fugaku all right? He was fine just a moment ago."

"Obviously. Didn't you hear Shangguan Yue call it a bomb?"

"But that explosion didn't hurt anything. Look, the grass where it went off wasn't even damaged, let alone a person—and his opponent was Uchiha Fugaku, no less."

"..."

Everyone speculated, but no one stepped forward. They had no idea what had happened. Just then, Sarutobi Hinai appeared beside Uchiha Fugaku.

She crouched down and reached out, carefully checking Uchiha Fugaku's condition.

"Good, he's still alive. It looks like he's asleep, but how did he suddenly pass out? Could it really have been Shangguan Yue? That Spirit Release thing he used just now—is it really that powerful?"

"Teacher, how's Uchiha Fugaku?"

"Yeah, yeah, please tell us, Teacher. We're worried sick!"

"Right, Teacher, don't just sit there spacing out!"

Sarutobi Hinai snapped out of her thoughts and reassured the students gathered around her.

"Everyone, Uchiha Fugaku is fine. He's just asleep. I think he probably wore himself out. All right, that's enough. You can all go."

"So he fell asleep. But how did Uchiha Fugaku just fall asleep?"