Three Months Later

"Whoosh..."

"Whoosh..."

Leaping down from a towering tree with his eyes closed, Uchiha Yue inverted his body in mid-air and threw six kunai.

Every kunai thrown by Uchiha Yue traced a graceful arc through the air. In that same instant, it felt as if the entire world had gone silent; aside from the sharp whistling of the kunai cutting through the air, the only thing in Uchiha Yue's mind was the target marked with a red heart. Finally, as the six kunai followed their distinct trajectories and struck the red hearts, Uchiha Yue landed steadily on the ground. The entire process was flawless.

"Phew, finally succeeded."

Opening his eyes and seeing all six kunai embedded in the red hearts, a faint smile finally curled the corners of Uchiha Yue's mouth.

After three full months of training, Uchiha Yue was finally able to control six kunai simultaneously and strike the pre-marked targets with precision.

Following the completion of his daily kunai training, Uchiha Yue wiped the sweat from his forehead, clenched his fists, and thought to himself:

"Three full months of grueling training, and the time for the duel is finally here!"

"Hatake Kakashi, tomorrow at the Ninja Academy, I will settle this with you once and for all!"

"And tomorrow, I will let everyone in Konoha know that I, Uchiha Yue, am the number one genius of the Ninja Academy!"

At this moment, Uchiha Yue, with his fists tightly clenched, was filled with immense confidence. He firmly believed that his three months of hard work had given him the strength to defeat Hatake Kakashi!

Due to objective factors like his age and physical development, Uchiha Yue knew he hadn't yet reached the optimal time for intensive taijutsu training. Furthermore, while at the Ninja Academy, he had discovered that he possessed a remarkable talent for projectile weapons. Therefore, over the past three months, Uchiha Yue had reduced his taijutsu training and intensified his practice with hidden weapons, all for the sake of tomorrow's showdown.

Defeating Hatake Kakashi was not only the goal ahead of Uchiha Yue, but also the best opportunity to test his true strength.

As long as he could defeat Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Yue felt his strength would be comparable to a genin, and he would even have the credentials to graduate directly from the Ninja Academy.

To defeat Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Yue had prepared for three full months, enduring three months of bitter training.

Throughout these three months, Uchiha Yue's life had been extremely disciplined, with every day following a strictly formulated plan.

Because he had to attend the Ninja Academy every day, Uchiha Yue scheduled his chakra training for the morning, heading to school only after he finished. After all, utilizing physical energy to its limit to cultivate chakra left a period of fatigue, and since he didn't want to waste too much time at the Ninja Academy, he intentionally let the exhaustion from his morning training coincide with the academy's morning lectures.

The morning sessions at the Ninja Academy were mostly theoretical, which provided Uchiha Yue with the perfect opportunity to rest.

The lunch break was also when Uchiha Yue faced his challengers. For three full months, Uchiha Yue had gone to the Ninja Academy Training Ground every day, sacrificing his meal times to deal with an endless stream of challengers. Of course, this allowed Uchiha Yue to accumulate sufficient combat experience, further elevating his strength.

Every afternoon, Uchiha Yue accompanied Uchiha Obito in training. Since the afternoons were reserved for practice at the Ninja Academy, Uchiha Yue didn't mind spending the time helping his friend. Likewise, while training with Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Yue would consolidate his own foundations; a tall building must rise from the ground, and he didn't want to reach the later stages of his training only to realize that poor foundations were hindering his progress.

Uchiha Yue's true training time always began after the Ninja Academy let out for the day.

After three months of hard work, Uchiha Yue's strength had improved significantly, starting, of course, with his projectile skills.

Just as he had demonstrated earlier, after repeated failures, Uchiha Yue was now able to throw six kunai simultaneously and hit the red hearts. However, while his current projectile technique was impressive, it was still slightly inferior to the Uchiha Itachi of the original story; after all, the targets Uchiha Yue was hitting were not located in blind spots.

Yet, this did not discourage Uchiha Yue. After all, even the Uchiha Itachi from the original story only possessed such exceptional projectile skills in his early teens. As long as he continued to train his projectile skills, he believed he could reach the level of the original Uchiha Itachi within a year. With such a rate of progress, Uchiha Yue felt he should be gratified rather than distressed.

In addition to projectile training, Uchiha Yue had not neglected his chakra cultivation, hand seal practice, basic taijutsu, or basic ninjutsu.

While things like hand seals, basic taijutsu, and basic ninjutsu were things Uchiha Yue needed to master initially—and his daily practice was merely to lay a foundation for the future without needing excessive depth—the Falling Moon Style: Afterimage Fist, a newly created ninjutsu, required diligent daily practice. It was the most useful technique he had in actual combat and the first ninjutsu he had developed since transmigrating.

While practicing the Falling Moon Style: Afterimage Fist, Uchiha Yue realized there was still room for improvement. For instance, he could potentially create two clones to confuse the enemy while using the technique. He had other novel ideas he intended to integrate into the Falling Moon Style: Afterimage Fist, and he planned to continue developing his new ninjutsu, striving to create an entire series of Falling Moon Style techniques.

Chakra cultivation was one of the areas Uchiha Yue prioritized most, and he could not afford to be sloppy in the slightest.

Over these three months, because Uchiha Yue was able to perfectly utilize the physical energy within his body and had expanded his internal meridians, he now possessed a level of chakra no less than that of any entry-level genin. Having the chakra levels of an entry-level genin allowed Uchiha Yue's strength to soar, giving him the capital to defeat Hatake Kakashi.

Uchiha Yue believed that among his peers, no one possessed a chakra reserve like his.

Therefore, if Uchiha Yue were to engage in a war of attrition with Hatake Kakashi, the one who would lose in the end would definitely be Hatake Kakashi.

It was precisely because of this that Uchiha Yue looked forward to tomorrow's battle with Hatake Kakashi even more; he couldn't wait to prove himself!

The more one looks forward to something, the faster time seems to pass.

After completing all his training, Uchiha Yue finally arrived at the day of the challenge against Hatake Kakashi; he hadn't even absorbed much of the morning's lessons at the Ninja Academy. At the same time, countless spectators prepared to watch the duel between Uchiha Yue and Hatake Kakashi, waiting early at the Ninja Academy Training Ground.

And when Uchiha Yue arrived at the Ninja Academy Training Ground, accompanied by Uchiha Obito and Rin...

Sure enough, Hatake Kakashi was already standing in the training ground, and upon seeing Uchiha Yue and the others approach, he provocatively beckoned with his finger!

"Finally here, are you? Uchiha Yue!"