The Limit?

"Yue, are you all right?"

Watching Uchiha Yue stagger weakly, Hatake Kakashi's eyes flashed with sympathy. He spoke to Yue in a low voice.

It was obvious that Hatake Kakashi deeply regretted what he had done earlier. He knew full well that if he hadn't tried to win their bet, Uchiha Yue would never have ended up in such a dangerous situation. And because Yue had been protecting Kakashi all along, Kakashi's attitude toward him had clearly changed.

That was easy to see from the way Hatake Kakashi addressed Uchiha Yue.

But when Uchiha Yue heard Kakashi's words, the corner of his mouth suddenly lifted in a smile.

That confident smile appeared on Yue's face, leaving Hatake Kakashi staring at him in stunned silence.

Hatake Kakashi was baffled. How could Uchiha Yue still smile so confidently in a situation like this?

Then Yue's gaze slowly shifted to the members of the Gale Bandit Group in front of him. His trembling right hand tightened around the bloodstained Kunai, and his eyes blazed with fighting spirit. "Kakashi, I'd never abandon a comrade while carrying out a mission! Besides, these nobodies in front of us can't do a thing to me, Uchiha Yue!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Yue abruptly vanished from in front of Hatake Kakashi, leaving only an afterimage behind.

In an instant, Yue reappeared among the members of the Gale Bandit Group, and the Kunai in his hand had disappeared. Under the bandits' horrified gazes, he swiftly formed Hand Seals. Then, using the last trace of Chakra left in his body, Yue performed the Ninjutsu he had trained in for so long!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Boom..."

As Uchiha Yue released the technique, scorching flames burst from his mouth and surged toward the members of the Gale Bandit Group. Although he hadn't completed the nature transformation of Fire Style Chakra, the Fire Release Ninjutsu he unleashed was still formidable. In mere seconds, the flames swept through the bandits, burning countless members of the group.

Before the power of the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique had faded, Chakra Threads formed at Yue's fingertips. He tried to control the Kunai scattered across the ground as best he could. But as he manipulated the Kunai, he could clearly feel that his Chakra was running low. At this crucial moment, however, he could only grit his teeth and keep using his techniques!

"Falling Moon Style: Kunai Manipulation Technique!"

"Whoosh..."

Uchiha Yue controlled ten Kunai at once. In the blink of an eye, another ten members of the Gale Bandit Group fell to the ground.

Including those just killed by the Fire Release Ninjutsu, Yue had finally brought the enemy's numbers down to around twenty. If he could kill the last twenty enemies in front of him, victory would be his. But the Chakra in his body was completely gone. How could he possibly kill the last twenty?

Then...

A member of the Gale Bandit Group came at Uchiha Yue. Without his Kunai to deter them, Yue could no longer kill enemies attacking him from a distance. But the moment the bandit struck, Yue used his mental energy to read the man's attack and barely dodged it.

There were simply too many members of the Gale Bandit Group. Even with his ability to sense them using mental energy, Yue couldn't escape being wounded!

"Swish..."

A flash of cold light, and a bloody gash appeared on Uchiha Yue's arm.

Thanks to his ability to sense his surroundings with mental energy, the wound was only superficial; it hadn't damaged the tendons, bones, or meridians in his arm. But once the first bandit managed to wound Yue, the rest of the Gale Bandit Group lost all fear. They charged together, completely surrounding him.

Yue barely dodged each attack, and in an instant he was covered in blood, with countless wounds across his body. Fortunately, they were all superficial. If he hadn't kept sensing his surroundings with mental energy, though, those wounds would have been fatal.

What was more, even if the wounds were only superficial, Yue was losing far too much blood. His vision grew blurry as the blood drained from him. While barely dodging the enemies' attacks, he used the Kunai in his hand to kill five more members of the Gale Bandit Group.

But fifteen members of the Gale Bandit Group still stood before him, completely unharmed.

At this point, Uchiha Yue had reached his absolute limit. Both his Chakra and stamina were completely exhausted. He was fighting on nothing but sheer willpower!

"Die!"

A furious shout rang beside Uchiha Yue's ear. He could still read the enemy's attack, but his body had reached its limit. He watched helplessly as the sharp steel blade slashed toward him, unable to control his body as it was about to strike his head.

But just as one of the bandits was about to kill Yue, Hatake Kakashi gripped the White Fang Blade and plunged it into the man's abdomen. Thanks to Kakashi's help, Yue narrowly escaped death. But when he saw the remaining members of the Gale Bandit Group in front of him, despair flooded his heart.

"Have I reached my limit?"

Watching the few enemies left before him, Uchiha Yue felt completely weak. He knew he didn't have the strength to fight anymore.

If he could, Yue wished Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki would appear before him. They were the only ones who could save him now. But just as he thought of them, his unfocused gaze slowly sharpened. And in his heart, he began to question himself!

"Didn't I want to become one of the strongest in the Shinobi World?"

"Why... why am I thinking of giving up just because I'm facing a few ordinary bandits?"

"Do I, Uchiha Yue, really have to rely on someone else to save me just to survive?"

"No!"

"Even if I, Uchiha Yue, die, I'll die fighting here!"

As these thoughts surfaced in his mind, Uchiha Yue suddenly felt the Chakra inside him rapidly recovering. Even his body gradually came back under his control.

The returning strength instantly gave Yue the ability to fight again!

Then...

With his strength gradually returning, Uchiha Yue didn't hesitate for a moment. He charged into the members of the Gale Bandit Group once more!

"Die, all of you!"