Uchiha

In the long standoff, Ichigo launched the first attack. "Flash Body Single Blade Slash!" Ichigo vanished from sight in an instant, appearing in the blink of an eye to deliver a diagonal slash with his short blade; everything happened in the space of a spark. Such incredible speed! Uchiha Zhuang was inwardly shocked, but his body's reaction was not slow in the slightest. He retreated several steps, flicked his hand to throw a smoke bomb, pressed his palm to the ground, and summoned the Flowing Light Red Dragon Tachi from his inventory. To an outsider, this seamless sequence looked like Uchiha Zhuang had simply thrown a smoke bomb before summoning a sealed weapon.

Ichigo failed to land his first strike and immediately stepped in for another, his short blade dancing like a torrential storm. Every strike was cunning and vicious, aimed directly at vital points: eyes, nose, throat, heart, kidneys, and the groin. Uchiha Zhuang was hard-pressed to parry; had the length of his great tachi not been sufficient to block the short blade's attacks, Uchiha Zhuang would have fallen long ago. Ichigo's assault had not achieved the desired effect. According to his investigations, Uchiha Zhuang had barely trained in taijutsu or swordsmanship—it was supposed to be his weakness—yet these strikes were failing. It seemed Uchiha Zhuang's practical combat ability was compensating for his lack of training. Ichigo paused for a moment, then performed a one-handed seal with the hand holding the short blade. The entire blade erupted with dazzling blue electricity, crackling loudly. He then used the Clone Technique to create two figures, surrounding and charging at Uchiha Zhuang.

Uchiha Zhuang responded calmly, standing his ground to release Water Style: Water Formation Wall! It blocked Ichigo's offensive, and as both Ichigos leaped into the air to strike downward, Uchiha Zhuang increased his output, shifting the Water Formation Wall from a semicircle into a bowl shape, once again thwarting Ichigo's advance. Forced to temporarily abandon the idea of close-quarters combat, Ichigo waited for the Water Formation Wall to stop, then instantly performed seals to unleash Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique! He took the opportunity to mix several shuriken into the barrage of fireballs. Uchiha Zhuang once again used an instant-cast jutsu: "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" The newly formed fireball successfully absorbed all the smaller fireballs, but he never expected that there were Explosive Tags hidden within the shuriken! Two violent explosions occurred without warning. At the very last moment, Uchiha Zhuang instantly cast Water Style: Water Colliding Wave! He barely resisted the heat waves and high temperatures of the close-range explosion. As the blast slowly dissipated, Uchiha Zhuang stood amidst the high-temperature steam, his entire body bright red like a boiled shrimp. Before the water mist could clear, a low shout rang out: "Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!" Ichigo, his body surging with electricity, moved with extreme speed. Covering the dozen-meter distance in the blink of an eye, he thrust his lightning-charged hand into Uchiha Zhuang's torso. The sound of tearing fabric was piercingly harsh. Uchiha Zhuang, a massive hole blown through his abdomen, looked at Ichigo in disbelief, then looked down at his own gaping wound, and finally gazed at the onlookers with a stunned expression before slowly collapsing to the ground.

Ignoring the charred remains of Uchiha Zhuang, Ichigo turned away and offered a silent prayer. The surrounding crowd was also in disbelief; had a genius of a generation fallen just like that? "How is this possible!" Genmu screamed inwardly, but he dared not take a single step forward. "Water Style: Water Starch Glue!" A voice rang out, and the injured figure vanished with a pop. Uchiha Zhuang emerged slowly from behind a tree stump, still red and scalded from the boiling water, but his face was set in a look of intense focus. "Did you think I was still the same kid from two months ago who couldn't even use the Three Basic Jutsu?! Now it's my turn." Ichigo, stuck in the glue, chuckled and said, "Indeed, not a single person of this generation of the Uchiha can compare to you. You have truly opened my eyes, Uchiha Zhuang." Without further ado, Uchiha Zhuang was determined to finish him, opting for a direct confrontation in range and intensity! The previous strategy of dragging out the fight was no longer applicable. In this fixed, wide-open training ground, there was no narrow or complex terrain to exploit, and he lacked extensive combat experience. Moreover, Ichigo's experience was so seasoned, and his rhythmic, well-paced attacks had completely disrupted Uchiha Zhuang's plans. The "drag-it-out" strategy had lost its effectiveness. He had to end this quickly, or his disadvantage would only grow more severe in the unknown battles to come.

"Water Style: Water Bullet Technique!" Dense water bullets fired toward Ichigo, who countered with Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique! It absorbed all the water bullets and even launched a counterattack toward Uchiha Zhuang. Dodging the fireball with a flash-step, Uchiha Zhuang launched a combo ultimate against Ichigo, who was still struggling to move within the sticky fluid: "Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" This technique was primarily intended to turn Training Ground No. 1 into a lake filled with a massive volume of water. In a water-based environment, Lightning Style could not be used recklessly, or the conductivity of the water would cause the user to be paralyzed first. "Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!" A massive torrent of water surged toward Ichigo, and the giant wave crashed into him, rolling him up and tossing him amidst the swells.

Bending over and panting heavily, Uchiha Zhuang felt his thigh muscles trembling slightly. Releasing several large-scale Water Style jutsus in a row had overloaded his young body! He pulled out a Senzu Bean and popped it into his mouth. A moment later, hmm! As expected of the supreme treasure of the Dragon Ball world, his stamina and energy were instantly restored! His skin damage was also repaired, though it still looked bright red. Gazing at Ichigo, who was slumped against the roots of a tree in the distance, Uchiha Zhuang threw several shuriken just to be safe. Pop! A puff of white smoke—it was the Substitution Technique, that old fox!

"Clap, clap, clap." A round of applause rang out. "As expected of a genius of the young Uchiha clan. Such chakra reserves and astonishing fighting spirit (despite having large areas of skin scalded), aside from slight flaws in basic taijutsu, it is nothing short of perfect." Then, looking at me, who has little chakra left, what other moves do you have left to show? Let me see them, kid!" The praise came unexpectedly from the clan head, Ichigo. As he walked forward and came to a stop, Uchiha Zhuang continued to throw shuriken, which Ichigo batted away one by one with his blade. "Uchiha Shurikenjutsu is done like this, kid." No sooner had Ichigo finished speaking than dozens of shuriken flew out like scattered flowers, followed by a barrage of kunai that clattered in the air, occasionally sandwiching Uchiha Zhuang from front and back.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" Fireballs were mixed in among the flying weapons. Unable to parry, Uchiha Zhuang had no choice but to bring out the Water Style: Water Formation Wall again! "The same trick won't work a second time, kid!" Ichigo roared, his entire body enveloped in lightning. "Lightning Style: Lightning Armor!" He continued to weave seals while charging: "Lightning Style: Sharp Spear!" The lightning ball in Ichigo's hand thrust straight out; the high density of the Sharp Spear pierced through the Water Formation Wall and struck Uchiha Zhuang directly in the left arm, causing the wall to dissipate instantly. "Water Style: Great Water Bullet!" Ichigo nimbly dodged the high-speed water spheres one by one. Seeing Ichigo about to break through, Uchiha Zhuang gritted his teeth and used every last bit of his chakra to extend one hand, condensing a Rasengan. The formed Rasengan grew larger and larger, eventually rotating into a sphere as large as Uchiha Zhuang himself. Facing Ichigo, who had slowed down to attempt a flank, Uchiha Zhuang began to run, raising the Rasengan and slamming it down toward him. Knowing his Lightning Style could not possibly overpower this chakra sphere radiating such dazzling light, Ichigo shouted, "Uchiha Counter!" With a bang, the ancestral Uchiha Gunbai appeared, taking the full force of Uchiha Zhuang's massive Rasengan head-on. After absorbing a vast amount of chakra, it violently unleashed its innate Wind Style effect, a hurricane howling toward Uchiha Zhuang. Blown away by the fierce gale, Uchiha Zhuang crossed his arms to protect his head as he flew into the sky and then plummeted. Being hit head-on at close range by the violent Wind Style, it was only thanks to the several potions Uchiha Zhuang had previously consumed to evolve his body that he wasn't completely destroyed.

The crowd watched from afar, all looking at each other in dismay. They never imagined that a young Uchiha who wasn't even a ninja yet could force the clan head to use the Uchiha clan's heirloom, the Uchiha Gunbai. It was truly unbelievable! Back to Uchiha Zhuang: tinnitus, dizziness, a throbbing head, and weakness in his limbs were the most real sensations he felt. He could clearly feel the sensation of gravity as he slowly fell; if he didn't move now, he would die from the impact! Uchiha Zhuang struggled to move, much like the effort we make to get out of bed for work in the morning—the resistance was immense! Between half-asleep and half-awake, he kept trying, and finally, he was able to use his chakra. He stopped pretending and, without seals, instantly cast "Water Style: Water Giant Technique!" With a thunderous boom, the water giant in the air crashed into the ground. Uchiha Zhuang used the momentum to dissipate the kinetic energy of the fall, slowly sinking to the bottom of the water before dispelling the giant.

Uchiha Zhuang shakily walked up to Ichigo and said, "You seem to have forgotten what other moves you haven't used yet?! Let me see the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!" Uchiha Zhuang said with a hint of madness. By now, the sun had almost completely set, and night and day were fighting for the last glimmer of hope. The strange horizon was in a fierce struggle, and under the light of several large bonfires lit around the training ground, the exhaustion of both sides was clearly visible.

"Iida-ro (Enough), you have already defeated me to a certain extent; there is no need to continue fighting." Looking at Uchiha Zhuang's crazed expression, a familiar feeling welled up in Ichigo's heart—it was the feeling of madness. Under such bloodthirsty, frenzied emotions, it was highly likely that the Sharingan would evolve. But not yet! The surrounding clan elders stepped forward in time to announce the end of the battle. Uchiha Zhuang had already won the support of the Uchiha clan head and all the elders; he would receive focused training, and it was confirmed that the next clan head would be Uchiha Zhuang!