Thunder Breathing: First Form: Thunderclap and Flash: Iai

Inside Tama no Yu, Konoha.

Uchiha Itachi silently put his clothes back on, covering the shoulder blade that had been exposed.

Hidden within his slender frame was a body tempered through thousands of trials, as hard as steel.

Since the age of six, he had dedicated himself to training in taijutsu and ninjutsu, constantly refining his body into the sharpest of weapons.

Although the Uchiha clan was not known for taijutsu, Itachi's proficiency in it had never been a weakness.

Jiraiya, dressed in a red and white kimono, followed behind Uchiha Shiraha as they rushed toward the outskirts of the village.

The moment Shiraha spoke those words, the contest between the two had officially begun.

Shiraha pushed his speed to the limit, attempting to shake off Jiraiya from the very first step, but Jiraiya was no weakling; his Body Flicker Technique was highly refined. Though the distance between them kept widening, the gap remained small.

This kid... I don't see a single trace of the Body Flicker Technique... Could it be that he's relying entirely on physical prowess? Has he mastered the Eight Inner Gates?

The shock on Jiraiya's face grew more pronounced. From Shiraha's earlier remark, he had caught a glimpse of the boy's personality.

Just like the Uchiha, an arrogant fellow. It seems his heart isn't bad, but as for his true character, I'll have to wait and see.

As he traveled, Jiraiya observed Shiraha's every movement, attempting to discern his true nature.

In front of others, Shiraha kept the more eccentric, "chuunibyou" aspects of his personality well-hidden.

Yet, whenever he killed, a sense of manic, unrestrained flair—a wildness—would leak through.

From the moment he was born, he possessed the fundamental requirement of a true swordsman.

Fear!

He had lost the capacity for fear!

Charging forward had become his most basic instinct.

Whenever his blood was stirred to its core, Shiraha could never suppress the restlessness within his heart.

Especially when encountering a strong opponent!

Under Jiraiya's constant probing, he finally couldn't hold back any longer, intending to cross blades with the man!

This was his first battle since the great clash with Orochimaru, and the Shiraha of now was completely different from the one back then!

In the midst of the serious engagement, the eccentric aura Shiraha usually harbored was buried deep within his heart.

His blade flashed through the air; he halted his momentum, then spun to draw his sword.

Shiraha, who had been sprinting forward, suddenly turned around, catching Jiraiya completely off guard.

This guy, he doesn't follow the rules at all!

Jiraiya scrambled to parry, his Body Flicker Technique landing him right in the path of the blade.

Through numerous battles with jonin, Shiraha's ability to predict the distance of the Body Flicker Technique had become increasingly precise.

With this probe, bolstered by his Mind's Eye, he easily captured Jiraiya's trail.

At this moment, Shiraha had not even activated his Sharingan.

"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"

Jiraiya's combat instincts were formidable; he had inherited the full breadth of the Third Hokage's skills, and aside from Sage Mode, his other ninjutsu capabilities were equally potent.

Upon noticing Shiraha's move, Jiraiya responded instantly, infusing his hair with chakra and transforming it into a dense, sharp wall of steel needles to block Shiraha's counter-strike.

"An opening!"

A smirk curled the corner of Shiraha's mouth. This sudden counter-attack had indeed caused Jiraiya some trouble.

It wasn't a major issue; a standard slash would never break through the defense of the Wild Lion's Mane Technique.

But this was the way one fought a common ninja.

Shiraha was a swordsman to his very marrow, and the first things he had learned were techniques for a one-hit kill.

Thus, Shiraha had developed a habit: seize the weakness, deliver the fatal blow.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash: Iai—Draw!"

His body instantly entered the state of Thunder Breathing. A faint crackle of lightning coursed through his entire frame. With the enhancement of his body and the amplification of his chakra, this single strike condensed nearly all his power.

Concentrated at a single point, reaching the pinnacle!

The moment to break the enemy was in this strike!

Wrapped in the momentum of a surprise attack and an intercepting stance, the turning slash gathered all his rotational force.

Heaven, earth, and man—all conditions were met.

This strike went unexpectedly smoothly.

The blade pierced through the weakest point of the silver-white needles, and the endless barrage of hair was severed in a single stroke.

Jiraiya's defense, in the face of Uchiha Shiraha's attack, was like a fragile sheet of paper.

The white hair on his back was shorn off at the root, and as the blade's edge touched Jiraiya's neck, the air seemed to freeze for an instant.

Jiraiya felt the cold edge pressing against his back; from the moment his ninjutsu defense failed, he had already made his decision.

The white hair could buy him enough time to perform the Substitution Technique.

But in order to test Shiraha once more, he decided to take the risk!

Yet this decision led to his current dead end; in this instant, it felt as long as ten thousand years.

Uchiha Shiraha ultimately did not strike, the blade coming to a rest against Jiraiya's neck...

"It's over."

Shiraha's icy voice came from behind him, and only then did Jiraiya feel a cold sweat break out across his body.

It had been so many years since he had experienced such a thing.

The last time was back when he fought Hanzo the Salamander.

When did such a formidable character appear in the village?

At this moment, Jiraiya believed that the arm of Orochimaru, even in his severely wounded state, could truly have been severed by the child before him.

"If I hadn't been careless..."

Jiraiya turned around, but stopped halfway through his sentence.

Having not undertaken ninja missions for so many years, he had almost forgotten the nature of combat between shinobi.

"He actually used a wooden sword!"

From the very beginning, Shiraha had never intended to truly take Jiraiya's life.

This was a warning for Jiraiya's repeated attempts to probe him.

"Careless, you say?"

Shiraha slowly slid the wooden sword into the scabbard at his waist, his left thumb resting against the hilt of his ninja blade.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash—Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki!"

Combining Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki with Thunder Breathing produced a qualitative change.

The original release distance of Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki was around two meters, only affecting a five-meter radius; amplified by Thunder Breathing, the release distance nearly doubled, and the area of effect expanded even further.

"Since you want to understand, then let's make sure you understand thoroughly!"

Shiraha sneered. Since it had come to this, he would reveal even more of his strength, letting these decaying leaders see clearly.

What it means to be a sword!

The fruits of many years of cultivation.

Perfectly displayed before Jiraiya's eyes.

The Konoha leadership, headed by the Third Hokage, had grown gradually corrupt and cowardly.

They were filled with distrust toward the outside world.

When he took action against the Uchiha Police Force, the Anbu monitoring the Uchiha must have known.

The reason he did not infiltrate the Uchiha Police Force secretly was precisely so that the Third Hokage's eyes and ears would see.

Otherwise, with his strength, he could have waited until the targets were handed over and carried out assassinations in the shadows, ensuring no one would ever know who the culprit was.

It was a pity he hadn't managed to seize physical evidence, otherwise, Shiraha could have gone straight to the Anbu headquarters. In the end, he could only toss out the head of one of the people he had assassinated during that time, which slightly reduced the impact caused within the village.

The Uchiha did not announce exactly who had died, so the villagers all assumed the Uchiha who had died was the squad leader of the Police Force from the previous night.

Three Uchiha clansmen brought benefits numbering in the thousands.

He was unsure if Jiraiya had received instructions from the Third Hokage, but he knew that the Hokage Faction had not accepted his overtures.

What was the situation with Uchiha Itachi?

It was shrouded in layers of fog.

The relationship between the village and the Uchiha appeared to be not so bad, but what happened behind closed doors, no one knew.

Therefore, upon sensing Jiraiya's probing, Shiraha decided to expose a portion of his power to force the village to take him seriously.

Being a Special Jonin had seemed decent at first, but after Jiraiya's repeated tests, any joy had turned into a bellyful of resentment.

This bait held no appeal whatsoever.

Compared to the one hundred million offered by Uchiha Fugaku, it seemed even more inferior.

At this moment, Shiraha decided to make Jiraiya clearly recognize his strength—the strength to possess the power to speak with the Hokage on equal footing!

The power sufficient to change the course of a battle.