Uchiha

After a long standoff, Ichigo struck first. "Flash Body Single Blade Slash!" He vanished in an instant, then, in the blink of an eye, lunged forward and slashed down with his short blade. It all happened in a flash. What incredible speed! Uchiha Zhuang was astonished, but his body reacted just as quickly. He retreated several steps, tossed a smoke bomb with one hand, then pressed his other hand to the ground and summoned the Flowing Light Red Dragon Tachi from his inventory. To onlookers, it looked as though Uchiha Zhuang had tossed a smoke bomb and then summoned a sealed weapon, all in one smooth motion.

Ichigo's first strike missed, but he stepped in and attacked again, his short blade whipping about like a violent storm. Each strike was vicious and precise, aimed at the eyes, nose, throat, heart, kidneys, and groin. Uchiha Zhuang struggled to defend himself. If the greatsword hadn't been long enough to block the short blade, he would have already fallen beneath that barrage. Ichigo's attacks hadn't achieved the results he'd hoped for. According to his investigation, Uchiha Zhuang had barely trained in Taijutsu or swordsmanship. Those were supposed to be his weaknesses, yet the flurry of slashes had failed. It seemed Uchiha Zhuang's practical combat skills made up for his lack of training. After a brief pause, Ichigo formed Hand Seals with one hand while holding the short blade in the other. Dazzling blue lightning crackled along the blade. Then he used the Clone Technique to create two copies, and the pair surrounded Uchiha Zhuang before charging at him.

Uchiha Zhuang kept his composure and stood his ground, releasing Water Style: Water Formation Wall! It blocked Ichigo's attack. The two Ichigos leapt, trying to slash down from above, but Uchiha Zhuang poured in more chakra. The Water Formation Wall changed from a semicircle into a dome, once again stopping Ichigo's advance. Forced to abandon his attempt to fight at close range for the moment, Ichigo waited for the wall to subside, then formed Hand Seals and used Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique! He slipped several kunai into the volley of fireballs and sent them flying. Uchiha Zhuang instantly launched another ninjutsu. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" The newly formed Great Fireball absorbed all the smaller fireballs, but neither of them had expected explosive tags to be hidden among the kunai! Two violent explosions rang out without warning. At the last moment, Uchiha Zhuang unleashed Water Style: Water Colliding Wave! It barely held back the heat and blast from the close-range explosions. As the explosions gradually subsided, Uchiha Zhuang stood amid the high-temperature steam, his whole body bright red, like a boiled shrimp. Before the mist could clear, a low cry rang out: "Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!" Wrapped in lightning, Ichigo moved at incredible speed. He crossed the dozen-odd meters in the blink of an eye and thrust the lightning ball in his hand into Uchiha Zhuang's body. The sound of tearing cloth was jarringly loud. A gaping hole had been punched through Uchiha Zhuang's abdomen. He stared at Ichigo in disbelief, then looked down at the enormous wound. His bewildered gaze swept over the onlookers before he slowly fell to the ground.

Ignoring Uchiha Zhuang's charred body, Ichigo turned away in silent grief. Everyone around them was equally stunned. Had a generation's genius really fallen just like that? "How could this be?!" Genmu cried out silently, frozen in shock, but he didn't dare take a single step forward. "Water Style: Water Starch Glue!" A voice rang out, and the injured figure vanished with a poof. Uchiha Zhuang slowly emerged from behind a tree stump, still red from being scalded by the high-temperature water, but his face was serious. "You think I'm still the kid from two months ago who couldn't even use the Three Basic Techniques?! Now it's my turn." Ichigo, stuck in the glue, chuckled. "There really isn't anyone in this generation of the Uchiha Clan who can match you. You've opened my eyes, Uchiha Zhuang." Without wasting words, Uchiha Zhuang focused on defeating him, meeting him head-on in range and power. His stalling tactic wouldn't work anymore. The training ground was wide and open, with no narrow, complicated terrain to exploit. He also lacked extensive combat experience, while Ichigo was incredibly seasoned, attacking with a measured rhythm that had completely thrown Uchiha Zhuang's plans into disarray. His stalling tactic had lost much of its effectiveness. He had to end this quickly, or he'd fall further behind in the unknown battles to come.

"Water Style: Water Bullet Technique!" A dense barrage of water bullets shot toward Ichigo. Ichigo countered with Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, absorbing every water bullet and continuing straight for Uchiha Zhuang. Uchiha Zhuang dodged with the Body Flicker Technique, then unleashed a combination attack on Ichigo, whose movement was still hampered by the glue. "Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" The main purpose of this technique was to turn Training Ground One into a lake filled with a huge volume of water. In that watery environment, Ichigo couldn't use Lightning Release freely, or the conductive water would paralyze him first. "Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!" A mass of water crashed into Ichigo, then a gigantic wave slammed into him and swept him up, tossing him about in its churning waters.

Bent over and panting heavily, Uchiha Zhuang felt the muscles in his legs trembling. Releasing several large-scale Water Release Ninjutsu in a row had overtaxed his young body! He pulled out a Senzu Bean and swallowed one. A moment later, Mm! It really is a treasure of the Dragon Ball world. My stamina and energy recovered instantly! His skin had healed, though he was still bright red. For safety, he hurled a few Shuriken at Ichigo, who was slumped by some tree roots in the distance. A cloud of white smoke burst out. As expected, it was the Substitution Technique. You sneaky bastard!

A round of applause rang out. "As expected of the Uchiha Clan's young genius. That much chakra and such incredible will to fight"—his extensively scalded skin was proof of that—"and you're almost perfect, except for a few flaws in your basic Taijutsu." The praise came unexpectedly from Ichigo, the clan leader. "Now, with so little chakra left, what moves do you still have up your sleeve? Show me, kid!" Ichigo walked forward, then stopped. Uchiha Zhuang continued throwing Shuriken at him. Ichigo knocked them all aside with a few clangs of his blade. "That's how you use Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, kid." As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of Shuriken flew over like scattering blossoms. Then another volley of kunai shot out, clanging through the air before repeatedly attacking Uchiha Zhuang from the front and behind.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" Fireballs were mixed in among the flying weapons. Uchiha Zhuang couldn't keep up and had to summon Water Style: Water Formation Wall again! "The same trick won't work twice, kid!" Ichigo roared, his body enveloped in lightning. "Lightning Style: Lightning Armor!" As he charged, he continued forming Hand Seals and released "Lightning Style: Sharp Spear!" The lightning in Ichigo's hand thrust straight forward. The spear's powerful concentrated force pierced through the Water Formation Wall and struck Uchiha Zhuang's left arm, making the wall vanish. "Water Style: Great Water Bullet!" Uchiha Zhuang fired water bullets at high speed, but Ichigo nimbly dodged each one. With Ichigo about to break through, Uchiha Zhuang gritted his teeth and used all his remaining chakra, extending one hand and forming a Rasengan. It grew larger and larger until it was as big as Uchiha Zhuang himself. As Ichigo slowed down to attack from the side, Uchiha Zhuang ran toward him, raised the Rasengan, and slammed it down. Knowing his Lightning Release couldn't possibly stand up to the brilliantly glowing chakra sphere, Ichigo shouted, "Uchiha Counter!" With a bang, the heirloom Uchiha Gunbai appeared. It took the gigantic Rasengan head-on, absorbed a huge amount of chakra, then unleashed its innate Wind Release effect. A howling cyclone struck Uchiha Zhuang from the front. The fierce wind sent him flying. He crossed his arms over his head as he soared into the air, then began to fall. That he wasn't destroyed by the direct, close-range Wind Release attack was thanks to the potions he'd taken earlier, which had strengthened his body.

Everyone watched from a distance, exchanging stunned looks. They couldn't believe that a young Uchiha who wasn't even a ninja had forced the clan leader to use the Uchiha Clan's treasured heirloom, the Uchiha Gunbai. It was unbelievable! Back where Uchiha Zhuang had landed, his ears were ringing, his vision was swimming, his head was pounding, and his limbs felt weak. He could clearly feel himself slowly falling under gravity. If he didn't move, he'd fall to his death! Uchiha Zhuang struggled to move, like someone trying to drag themselves out of bed to go to work in the morning. The resistance was immense! Half-asleep and half-awake, he kept trying until he finally managed to use chakra. He stopped pretending, formed no Hand Seals, and instantly released "Water Style: Water Giant Technique!" With a deafening crash, the Water Giant fell from the sky onto the ground. Uchiha Zhuang used it to lessen the force of his fall, then slowly sank to the bottom of the water and dispelled the Water Giant.

Uchiha Zhuang staggered over to Ichigo and said, "You seem to have forgotten there's still a move you haven't used. Let me see your Three-Tomoe Sharingan!" he said, looking slightly deranged. The sun had almost completely set. Night and day wrestled over the last traces of light, their strange battle raging on the distant horizon. Beneath the several bonfires that had been lit around the training ground at some point, both sides' exhaustion was plain to see.

"Enough already. You've beaten me in a way, so there's no need to keep fighting." Looking at Uchiha Zhuang's crazed expression, Ichigo felt a familiar sensation rise within him: the feeling of madness. Under that bloodthirsty frenzy, Uchiha Zhuang might very well awaken his Sharingan. But not now! The clan elders promptly stepped forward and declared the fight over. Uchiha Zhuang had won the support of the Uchiha Clan leader and all the elders. He would receive special training, and it was decided that Uchiha Zhuang would be the next clan leader.