Clan Tournament (2) [Seeking Follow-ups!]

Deciding the outcome in a single move sounds like a child's joke.

But when it truly happens before one's eyes, the crowd in the stands feels no surprise, for everyone here is a ninja.

Only a total crushing of strength can achieve such a feat.

The silent stands are filled with eager gazes; "his" disciple is about to take the stage for the grand finale.

Walking to the center of the arena, Rikusei feels the gazes of the people in the stands are rather strange.

"Go for it! Naori, don't you dare go easy on my grandson!!!"

The familiar voice of his grandmother, who loves to throw him under the bus, drifts from afar, making Rikusei look with a headache at the woman who is beaming with joy and siding with an outsider.

Fine then.

Danzo and Hiruzen are there too, though fortunately, they are looking at him with encouraging eyes.

Beside Hiruzen, a somewhat unfamiliar girl blinks her eyes, looking at him with great curiosity.

There is no time for overthinking; the girl before him says softly, "Are you ready?"

Naori chuckles, and to the surprise of the audience, she hands the other short sword at her waist to Rikusei: "Just treat this like a normal training session."

"Mn."

Drawing the short sword and gripping it tightly, Rikusei responds to the girl's clear gaze.

"Clang! Clang!"

The short sword deflects all the shuriken flying toward him. Before the sparks from the metal collision in Naori's eyes fade, the boy's wind-like figure follows close behind.

The sparks generated by the clashing blades are exceptionally dazzling in the Training Ground, which is shrouded in the shadows of dark clouds.

With white knuckles on her slender fingers, she exerts force to steady the slightly trembling hilt, her bright eyes fixed on the boy who is waiting for an opening.

They have lost count of how many times they have done this kind of training.

Will it be the Sharingan next? the girl thinks to herself, sinking her shoulders, gathering strength, and steadying her mind.

Black tomoe swirled slowly within his crimson pupils, and the flow of the world seemed to slow down in Rikusei's sight.

Clenching the short sword, he concentrates his chakra into his feet and charges toward the girl who is standing at the ready.

The slightly scorching Summer Wind is mixed with flashes of cold light. Naori shifts her Ninja Shoes slightly to stabilize her stance, her soft, delicate toes resting quietly on the black surface of the shoes, dealing with the rain-like onslaught without panic.

Squinting her eyes to look directly at the biting intent of the blade, the cold wind generated by the high-speed body flicker technique blows her hair away completely, and the fire of battle ignited in her heart burns fiercely.

The powerful pressure of the combat wraps tightly around her; among their peers, only Rikusei can let her fully enjoy the thrill of a fight.

This is also the reason why she is willing to lend him her short sword.

The blade shadows in the girl's hands are like a gale; as Rikusei's speed increases, so does hers. Fighting speed with speed, the sparks and sounds of clashing blades echo throughout the entire Training Ground.

"Ah, this..." Biwako holds a cotton candy in her hand, staring blankly at Hiruzen beside her: "Is Naori-chan usually this strong? She's even holding the upper hand against the Sharingan."

"No, this is the first time we've seen it too." Danzo, who can barely maintain his composure, glances at Hiruzen, whose mind has been completely drawn into the battle, and explains for him.

The clash between the two in the arena continues.

The Uchiha who have awakened their eyes in the stands realize the situation. Although the single-tomoe Sharingan increases insight, if the opponent's speed is fast enough, the insight of the Sharingan will inevitably be greatly affected.

Some have already activated their single tomoe, trying to observe the blade shadows in the arena from a first-person perspective.

No, I can only see afterimages.

Chakra begins to flow along the meridians toward their eye sockets; only with the double tomoe can they clearly see the two people fighting in the arena.

Only the Uchiha who have activated their single-eye three-tomoe or single-eye double-tomoe can fully see their movements. After looking at their clansmen who are also observing with the Sharingan in shock, they exchange glances.

Does this mean their swordsmanship has reached a level where one needs a three-tomoe to see it clearly?

At their age, they are truly formidable successors.

Looking at Kaku, who wears a calm expression, in surprise, someone says with a trembling voice: "Is this the disciple he taught to go up against the clan head?"

Naori grits her teeth, enduring the trembling of her arm muscles and meridians, gripping the short sword tightly to continue the attack, concentrating all the chakra in her body to unleash her full power.

She doesn't want to prove anything in this Clan Tournament, because she can clearly perceive that in their past training, Rikusei was always holding back.

Taking advantage of the large crowd this time, she wants to see Rikusei's true strength for herself.

Now, her arm, which is gradually losing sensation from gripping the hilt, has already given her the answer.

The soreness in her arm is nothing compared to the exhilaration of the fight.

Rikusei frowns, also enduring the swelling pain, and notices a momentary pause in the girl's attacking rhythm.

The blades entwine and cross; he reaches straight up to hook her hilt, and the short sword slips from her hand, plunging straight into the dirt.

As the short sword she was holding falls to the ground, Naori's beautiful eyes shrink slightly. This was her move; she didn't expect him to have learned it.

The damp purple hair on her forehead is scattered casually, carrying a touch of elegance. Her lively eyes are filled with gratification as Naori says softly: "You win."

The soft voice drifts across the entire Training Ground with the Summer Wind. The dark clouds that were blocking the sun happen to disperse, and the bright sunlight shines right upon them.

Rikusei steadies his numb arm, switches the sun-drenched short sword to his other hand, slowly inserts it into the scabbard at the girl's waist, and points to his rotating tomoe: "If it weren't for these eyes, the winner would be you."

His sincere words make Naori smile brilliantly. She knows the boy before her is speaking from the heart. She smiles, wipes the short sword that was stuck in the dirt clean, and inserts it back into the scabbard at her waist.

Basking in the glory that belonged to them, she quietly gripped the boy's right hand, sharing in the cheers that were theirs alone.

"Ouch!"

As his right hand was suddenly seized by that soft jade-like grip, a sensation of throbbing pain mixed with cool softness flooded his mind; Rikusei gritted his back teeth, keeping his expression unchanged as he savored the Little Beauty's favor.

Stunned in the corridor, Kagami forced himself to regain his composure and spoke to the trio beside him: "Have you ever seen them like this?"

"No!"

The trio standing at the front of the line replied in unison, their voices trembling slightly.

After the incessant cheering finally died down, Kaku watched the departure of the unexpected little Gunbai, then stood up and addressed everyone present: "From today on, the Uchiha Clan Academy is abolished!"

This news was even more explosive than the battle just moments ago, and a wave of noisy chatter erupted, only to be silenced when Kaku released his powerful chakra aura, forcing the spectator stands into quietude.

Indeed.

This battle had proven to them that the instruction at the Ninja Academy was truly superior to that of the Clan Academy.

Of course, excluding those last two; the fact that Kagami could defeat Rai and Naka, who ranked at the top of the Clan Academy, had already proven this situation.

"We don't have a school to attend anymore?!"

Overwhelmed by the continuous stream of events, Baru said in disbelief, his mouth hanging open.

"Isn't that great? Now we can finally stay far away from..." Rai lowered his voice and cast a sidelong glance at the purple-haired girl sitting on the bench, who was applying ointment to Rikusei, "...a dangerous ninja life!"

"The new generation of the Uchiha Clan will join the Ninja Academy, and classes will be reorganized."

Then, Kaku's voice continued, completely shattering his illusions.

In the dim environment, Naka cast a sympathetic look at him; this was the fate of their generation of Uchiha.

On the spectator stands, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Sitting in the back row, the God of Shinobi smiled and said to the Uchiha Clan Head beside him: "Well done! Madara."

"Idol! What is there to be happy about? Didn't you already disband the Senju!" The smile that had been revealed in Madara's covered right eye instantly shifted to the same indifferent expression as his left.

"Sorry."

Hashirama, suddenly dejected, apologized with a sincere face.

Unable to watch any longer, Madara was just about to drag Hashirama away when they were interrupted by Tobirama, who arrived via Body Flicker: "Elder Brother, Madara, what are you doing here! Come with me quickly to prepare to welcome the delegation from the Land of Whirlpools led by Clan Head Ashina; they will arrive in one day."

"Tobirama, you'll have to be busy again in a moment," Hashirama said, standing up with a sheepish expression.

"I heard everything Kaku said just now, and besides, it's already on file at the Office, so I've known for a long time; wouldn't it be enough to just expand the student intake by one year?" Tobirama's silver-white hair shimmered in the sunlight as his confident words reached the ears of the two men.

"Rest time ends here."

After Hashirama's gaze met Madara's in the air, he said with a look of agony.

"Mm, it hurts."

Inside the infirmary, Naori took off her coat, revealing her pinkish-white arms, and trembled like a wounded fawn, her bright eyes misting over.

Rikusei rolled his eyes at her, dipped a cotton swab into the ointment, and gently applied it to the red, swollen area, saying softly: "Bear with it, I'll take you to eat something good later."

The cool sensation of the ointment could not extinguish the burning pain on her arm, but Rikusei's gentle words acted like dry firewood, reigniting a strange flame within her heart just as the fires of battle had been extinguished.