Limit?

"Yue, are you alright?"

Watching Uchiha Yue's weak, staggering figure, a flash of pity crossed Hatake Kakashi's eyes as he spoke in a low voice to the boy before him.

Clearly, Hatake Kakashi deeply regretted his previous actions. He knew very well that if he hadn't been so focused on winning their wager, Uchiha Yue would never have fallen into such a perilous situation. Furthermore, because Uchiha Yue had been protecting him all this time, Hatake Kakashi's attitude toward him had undergone a distinct change.

This was clearly evident in the way Hatake Kakashi addressed Uchiha Yue.

However, upon hearing Hatake Kakashi's words, the corners of Uchiha Yue's mouth suddenly curled into a smile.

That confident smile appeared on Uchiha Yue's face, leaving Hatake Kakashi stunned where he stood.

Hatake Kakashi was utterly confused; how could Uchiha Yue still smile with such confidence under these circumstances?

Immediately after, as Uchiha Yue's gaze slowly shifted toward the members of the Gale Bandit Group, he gripped his blood-stained kunai tightly with his trembling right hand. With intense battle intent burning in his eyes, he said, "Kakashi, when I am on a mission, it is absolutely impossible for me to abandon my comrades! Besides, these mere lackeys before us are no match for me, Uchiha Yue!"

As he said this, Uchiha Yue's figure suddenly vanished from before Hatake Kakashi, leaving only an afterimage in his original position.

In an instant, Uchiha Yue's figure flashed into the midst of the Gale Bandit Group members, and the kunai in his hand had already disappeared. Then, under the terrified gazes of the bandits, Uchiha Yue's hands moved rapidly to form seals. With the last trace of chakra remaining in his body, he unleashed a ninjutsu he had long practiced!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"BOOM..."

As Uchiha Yue unleashed the ninjutsu, scorching flames erupted from his mouth, appearing instantly before the members of the Gale Bandit Group. Even though Uchiha Yue had not been able to complete the nature transformation of his fire-attribute chakra, the Fire Style ninjutsu he unleashed was still incredibly powerful. In just a few seconds, it spread through the crowd of bandits, and countless members of the Gale Bandit Group were scorched by his flames.

Taking advantage of the fact that the power of the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique had not yet dissipated, Uchiha Yue condensed chakra threads between his ten fingers, controlling the scattered kunai on the ground as best he could. However, while controlling the weapons, Uchiha Yue clearly felt the insufficiency of his own chakra. Yet, at this critical moment, Uchiha Yue could only grit his teeth and continue to unleash his ninjutsu!

"Falling Moon Style: Kunai Manipulation Technique!"

"SWISH..."

Ten kunai were controlled simultaneously by Uchiha Yue, and in a flash, another ten members of the Gale Bandit Group fell to the ground.

Counting the members of the Gale Bandit Group just killed by his fire ninjutsu, Uchiha Yue had finally whittled the number of enemies down to about twenty. At this very moment, if Uchiha Yue could kill the final twenty enemies before him, he would be the one to achieve final victory. However, the chakra in Uchiha Yue's body was completely exhausted; how difficult would it be to kill these last twenty enemies?

Following that...

A member of the Gale Bandit Group reached Uchiha Yue. Without the threat of the kunai, Uchiha Yue had no way to kill the attacking enemy from a distance. However, the moment the bandit launched his attack, Uchiha Yue used his mental energy to observe the opponent's attack pattern and barely managed to dodge the strike.

But there were simply too many members of the Gale Bandit Group, and even with his mental energy perception, Uchiha Yue could not escape the fate of being wounded!

"SLASH..."

A cold light flashed, and a bloodstain appeared on Uchiha Yue's arm.

Thanks to Uchiha Yue's ability to use mental energy perception, he had only suffered a superficial wound, avoiding damage to the muscles, bones, or meridians of his arm. However, once the first member of the Gale Bandit Group managed to wound him, the remaining bandits lost all fear and swarmed him, completely surrounding Uchiha Yue.

Each time he barely dodged an attack, Uchiha Yue was soon covered in blood, with countless wounds appearing on his body. Fortunately, they were all superficial, but had Uchiha Yue not been constantly using his mental energy perception, these injuries would have been fatal.

Furthermore, even though all of Uchiha Yue's injuries were superficial, he had lost far too much blood. The loss of blood caused Uchiha Yue's vision to blur, yet while barely dodging an enemy attack, Uchiha Yue used the kunai in his hand to kill another five members of the Gale Bandit Group.

However, there were still fifteen members of the Gale Bandit Group standing unscathed before Uchiha Yue.

At this point, Uchiha Yue had completely reached his limit. Both his chakra and physical strength were entirely depleted; he was fighting purely on willpower!

"Go to hell!"

A roar thundered in Uchiha Yue's ears. Even though he could see the opponent's attack pattern clearly, his body had reached its limit. Watching helplessly as a sharp steel blade swept toward him, Uchiha Yue could not control his body at all, and he was about to be struck in the head by the enemy's blade.

However, just as Uchiha Yue was about to be killed by a member of the Gale Bandit Group, Hatake Kakashi suddenly gripped his White Fang Blade and thrust it into the abdomen of that bandit. With Hatake Kakashi's help, Uchiha Yue had managed to escape disaster, but when he looked at the remaining members of the Gale Bandit Group, a sense of despair instantly filled his heart.

Have I reached my limit?

Looking at the remaining enemies with a body devoid of strength, Uchiha Yue knew he had no energy left to fight.

If it were possible, Uchiha Yue wished that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki would appear before him; only they could save him now. However, just as Uchiha Yue thought this, his unfocused gaze began to sharpen bit by bit. Deep within his heart, he began to question himself!

Didn't I promise to become a powerhouse of the ninja world?

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

Am I, Uchiha Yue, really going to rely on others to save me just to survive?

"NO!"

"Even if I, Uchiha Yue, am to die, I will die fighting right here!"

As this thought emerged in his mind, Uchiha Yue suddenly felt the chakra in his body rapidly recovering, and even his control over his body began to return.

The restored power allowed Uchiha Yue to instantly regain his ability to fight!

Following that...

Uchiha Yue, his strength gradually returning, did not hesitate for a moment and charged once more into the crowd of the Gale Bandit Group!

"All of you, die!"