Spirit Release

Shangguan Yue stood his ground, looking eager to try, as if the Great Fireball before him were merely a toy he wanted to fiddle with.

"Ah, be careful!"

The female students watching from the sidelines covered their eyes; Shangguan Yue was such a handsome guy that they would feel heartbroken if he got hurt, even if he was quite arrogant.

The Great Fireball reached Shangguan Yue, who stood motionless. The fireball slammed into him with a booming sound, filling the air with thick smoke.

"Ah? He's been killed!"

Uchiha Fugaku panicked slightly; this was a classmate, and killing someone on the first day was not a good thing for him.

Slowly, the dust settled to reveal a layer of white jade-like light radiating from Shangguan Yue's body, leaving him completely unscathed.

"Nani? How could this be?"

"What is that white light on Shangguan Yue?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of it."

Uchiha Fugaku was also in disbelief. Seeing Shangguan Yue simply brush the dust off his clothes with a look of disdain made him feel even worse.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball," "Fire Release: Great Fireball"...

He spat out three Great Fireballs in quick succession, flying toward Shangguan Yue in a triangular formation. This time, Shangguan Yue did not sit and wait for death; instead, he reached out a hand.

The white light on his body flowed into his palm, converging into a massive, arc-shaped defensive barrier that wrapped tightly around him.

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

The barrier enveloped the colliding fireballs; a faint white light wrapped around the fiery red spheres, causing them to shrink instantly.

Uchiha Fugaku's Great Fireballs vanished and were extinguished in an instant. Shangguan Yue beckoned with his hand, signaling for Uchiha Fugaku to continue.

Provoked by this gesture, Uchiha Fugaku lost his cool. Seeing that his ninjutsu was useless, he drew his sword and slashed at Shangguan Yue.

At first, there was nothing special about the blade—it was just an ordinary katana—but as it was about to strike Shangguan Yue, a fiery red light erupted from it.

It shot toward Shangguan Yue. Having never seen such Nintaijutsu, Shangguan Yue focused intently, observing every move Uchiha Fugaku made.

Seeing Shangguan Yue constantly dodging, Uchiha Fugaku slashed with even more vigor. Every time the katana swung toward Shangguan Yue, it was imbued with chakra, sometimes burning, sometimes emitting blades of fire.

Unfortunately, Shangguan Yue was merely toying with Uchiha Fugaku; after all, the ninjutsu and Nintaijutsu the boy had just displayed had piqued his interest.

He wanted to record them, so he had to squeeze out every last bit of value.

Uchiha Fugaku felt that something was increasingly wrong; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't inflict a single scratch on Shangguan Yue.

Instead, he was the one exhausted, unable to touch a single hair on Shangguan Yue's head. He stopped in his tracks, panting heavily, and glared at Shangguan Yue.

"Can you stop scurrying around like a rat? Be a man and let's have a proper duel!"

"A poor workman blames his tools. I'll satisfy you, Uchiha Fugaku. This move isn't something you can block, so don't cry if you lose."

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

A tiny water ball, no larger than a bullet, shot from Shangguan Yue's mouth at high speed.

Uchiha Fugaku dodged it by a hair's breadth, but unfortunately, even though he evaded the projectile, the water ball exploded the moment it passed him.

Uchiha Fugaku, who hadn't even had time to celebrate, was stunned as he felt the blast wave hit him from behind.

"Oh no, what kind of ninjutsu is this? It can explode?"

Before he could dodge, Uchiha Fugaku twisted his body and held his hands in front of him. As the shockwave hit, he squeezed his eyes shut.

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

Uchiha Fugaku felt no pain at all, as if the explosion had been a mere hallucination.

"Huh? Why am I getting so dizzy?"

Uchiha Fugaku swayed, unable to stand, and collapsed to the ground with vacant eyes.

"Ah? Did Shangguan Yue just win?"

"Is Uchiha Fugaku okay? He was fine just a second ago."

"Duh, didn't you hear Shangguan Yue say what kind of bomb it was?"

"But this explosion didn't have any destructive power. Look, the grass at the blast site isn't even damaged, let alone a person—and that person is Uchiha Fugaku."

"..."

The crowd murmured, but no one stepped forward, unsure of the situation. Just then, Sarutobi Hinai appeared instantly beside Uchiha Fugaku.

She leaned down, reached out, and carefully examined Uchiha Fugaku's condition.

"He's fine, he's still alive. It looks like he's in a deep sleep, but how did he pass out so suddenly? Could it really be Shangguan Yue? That 'Spirit Release' thing... it has this kind of power!?"

"Teacher, how is Uchiha Fugaku?"

"Yeah, yeah, tell us, Teacher, we're dying of curiosity."

"That's right, don't just sit there in a daze."

Sarutobi Hinai snapped out of her thoughts, looked at the students surrounding her, and comforted them.

"Students, Uchiha Fugaku is fine; he's just asleep. I suspect he simply exhausted himself. Everyone, disperse."

"So he's just asleep, but why would Uchiha Fugaku just fall asleep like that?"