The Rasengan Appears

"You!"

Hearing Uchiha Yue's words, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko glared at him at the same time, flames of fury seeming to shoot from their eyes.

After all, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko were both famous talents at the Ninja Academy. Now Uchiha Yue had actually declared that he would challenge them both at once. How could that not make them furious?

However, neither Hatake Dansui nor Hyuga Anihiko was ordinary. In particular, as their strength had grown, so had their resolve. Seeing Uchiha Yue declare that he would challenge them both, they reasoned that he must be confident in his abilities, and gradually calmed down.

Once he had composed himself, Hatake Dansui fixed Uchiha Yue with a cold stare and said, "Fine. Since you want to challenge us both, we'll give you what you want!"

As he spoke, Hatake Dansui secretly tugged at Hyuga Anihiko's sleeve and continued, "Uchiha Yue, meet us at Training Ground No. 18!"

"No need to go to all that trouble! I'll provide a place for your match!"

Just as Hatake Dansui finished speaking, before Uchiha Yue could accept the challenge, a voice suddenly rang out from a distance, drawing everyone's attention.

When Uchiha Yue, Hatake Dansui, and the others turned toward the source of the voice, expressions of shock appeared not only on Uchiha Yue's face, but on Hatake Dansui's and Hyuga Anihiko's as well. Shizune was especially flustered when she saw the figure. She hurried over and said anxiously, "Lady T-Tsunade, I'm sorry, we... we..."

"It's all right. You don't need to apologize, Shizune."

Seeing Shizune's timid expression, Tsunade smiled and waved a hand. "I'd been waiting at home for a while, so I came to see if something had happened. I just didn't expect that coming all this way would turn out to be the right decision. I get to watch another good show!" As she spoke, Tsunade turned her gaze to Uchiha Yue. Her smile gradually faded, and she said seriously, "Uchiha Yue, don't disappoint me."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

Uchiha Yue hadn't expected Tsunade to show up at that moment, so he was slightly taken aback before answering her.

With Tsunade coming specifically to watch the match, the pressure on Uchiha Yue was even greater than before. After all, he absolutely couldn't afford to embarrass himself in front of her. Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko were both very strong, and defeating them both at once would be difficult even for Uchiha Yue as he was now. He had challenged them only to test his own abilities further.

But he enjoyed the feeling. Only under pressure could he improve.

Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko, meanwhile, grew solemn at her words. If they lost their challenge in front of Tsunade, the consequences would be worse than mere embarrassment.

Ever since losing to Uchiha Yue at the Ninja Academy, Hatake Dansui's standing in his clan had—well, as for Hyuga Anihiko, his position in his clan had plummeted. The shinobi world was simply that cruel: shinobi with no value weren't worth raising. Hyuga Anihiko had understood this clearly, which was why he had set aside his pride and come to challenge Uchiha Yue alongside Hatake Dansui.

However, Tsunade's arrival had completely disrupted Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko's plans, making them increasingly uneasy.

At that moment, even Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko felt trapped, with no way out. But in the presence of a powerful shinobi like Tsunade, they had no grounds to object. They could only swallow their bitter disappointment. At the same time, the two exchanged a glance and clenched their fists. They saw the same resolve in each other's eyes: they absolutely could not lose to Uchiha Yue in this challenge.

Tsunade and Shizune then led the way, with Uchiha Yue and the others following them toward Tsunade's residence.

As a princess of the Senju Clan of the Forest and one of the Sannin of Konoha, Tsunade lived in a mansion in the village's most prosperous district. Its grounds were as large as those of a small clan. When she brought Uchiha Yue and the others there, he immediately noticed two figures standing in the training ground on the estate.

With his powerful spiritual energy, Uchiha Yue was the first to notice the two people in the training ground.

When he saw who they were, surprise appeared in his eyes once again.

The two people in Tsunade's training ground were none other than Jiraiya, another of the Sannin, and his beloved student, Minato Namikaze!

"Tsunade, you're really late!"

When Jiraiya saw Tsunade return with Uchiha Yue and the others, he greeted her, then turned his gaze to Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko and asked in surprise, "Huh? You invited Minato and me over today to test that kid, Uchiha Yue, didn't you? Why did you bring so many people back?"

"Oh, these kids want to use my training ground for a match."

At Jiraiya's words, Tsunade didn't even look at him. She turned to Uchiha Yue and the others instead. "All right, you can use my training ground for now. Remember, this isn't an ordinary match. It's a real battle. You're no longer students at the Ninja Academy. You're shinobi now. Understood?"

"Understood!"

As soon as Tsunade finished speaking, Uchiha Yue, Hatake Dansui, and Hyuga Anihiko answered in unison.

Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko lived up to their reputations as the Ninja Academy's top talents. After a brief moment of surprise, they fixed their focused gazes on Uchiha Yue. At that moment, both of them knew they couldn't afford to lose to him in battle. In front of powerful shinobi like Tsunade and Jiraiya, they simply couldn't afford a loss.

Uchiha Yue understood his own situation just as clearly. So when Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko looked his way, he was already ready to fight.

Then...

Once Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze had led Shizune to the side, the battle began at Tsunade's command!

"Whoosh..."

The first to attack wasn't Uchiha Yue, but Hatake Dansui, who drew his short blade.

Known at the Ninja Academy as the Blade of the Night, Hatake Dansui used the Hatake Sword Style the instant the battle began. As Hatake Dansui attacked, Hyuga Anihiko searched for a way to close in on Uchiha Yue. Clearly, after having already suffered one defeat, neither Hatake Dansui nor Hyuga Anihiko dared to underestimate him in the slightest.

The instant Hatake Dansui launched his attack, Uchiha Yue took a deep breath, then used his vast spiritual energy to lock onto Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko. As he analyzed Hatake Dansui's attack path with his spiritual energy, the fingers of both hands slowly spread apart. He drew out a massive amount of chakra and began to control its rotation!

That was right...

The moment the battle began, Uchiha Yue was already preparing to make a stunning first impression!

The jutsu he was using was the new technique he had only recently developed: the Rasengan!