Rock vs. Lightning, Let's Decide the Winner in One Blow!

The golden radiance drew everyone's gaze, Uchiha Izumi included.

She froze for a split second, her expression shifting abruptly as she halted her advance and retreated with lightning speed.

Thwack!

The very next second, a rock pillar over two meters tall erupted from the ground exactly where she had been standing.

Then came a series of thwack-thwack sounds as one pillar after another shot upward, resembling the jagged dorsal spines of a giant dragon—a sight that felt inherently dangerous.

"An Eye of God?"

Izumi stopped, asking with a mix of astonishment and pleasant surprise.

"Yeah."

Uchiha Arashi was equally surprised; he never expected the Eye of God to resonate with him at a moment like this.

He had simply been unwilling to lose, and he hadn't imagined that such a simple desire would trigger a reaction from the Eye of God.

Looking at the Eye of God now, a rock emblem had appeared inside it—yep, the Liyue style.

Currently, aside from the Yin-attribute Eye of God which displayed a unique tomoe pattern, the other three—Lightning, Fire, and Uchiha Arashi's Geo—all featured internal patterns identical to those in the game.

At the same time, upon achieving resonance with the Eye of God, Uchiha Arashi could clearly feel a connection forming with the earth beneath his feet.

Simply put, he could manipulate rock as he pleased, shaping it into various forms to launch attacks or establish defenses at will.

However, as far as he knew, the Eye of God itself didn't possess power; it was merely an external organ that allowed the user to better channel elemental energy. In other words, the combat prowess of those in the game who possessed an Eye of God relied more on their own innate talent.

The Eye of God simply channeled that talent, allowing it to be converted into combat power more smoothly.

Does this mean I actually have the talent to use Earth Release? Uchiha Arashi wondered.

This was a path he had considered before. The Uchiha clan's primary chakra nature was Fire, and they were the most adept at wielding fire in the Ninja World. While this body possessed Uchiha blood, making him naturally gifted with Fire Release, he hadn't yet tried to develop a secondary nature. In his original projections, Wind or Lightning would have been fine choices.

He just never expected it to be Earth Release.

"It seems we're back on the same starting line. Sharingan, ninjutsu, Eye of God... now this is a fight worth having."

Izumi smiled faintly, her eyes burning with the desire for battle.

The little brother he once was had become someone she could rely on, and now, he had become a ninja who stood as her equal. This feeling... well, it was quite exhilarating.

Izumi's face even flushed slightly at the thought, as she contemplated things she couldn't quite put into words.

"Yeah, I didn't expect this either. So, Izumi-nee, are you ready?"

Uchiha Arashi nodded and slowly raised his right hand. The ground around them began to tremble, and tiny pebbles drifted into the air.

"I've been ready! That's a line I should be the one asking!"

Uchiha Izumi crouched low, and in the next second, she transformed into a bolt of lightning and charged out.

Uchiha Arashi narrowed his eyes, doing his best to track Izumi's movement while controlling the surrounding stones to construct a defensive belt of debris around himself.

These fragments didn't look like much, but they formed a dense ring; anyone attempting to force their way through would be met with an immediate barrage of stone attacks.

"Useless!"

Uchiha Izumi's figure jolted to a sudden stop, and she flicked a kunai toward Uchiha Arashi. The kunai was wreathed in lightning, its speed surging.

Uchiha Arashi hurriedly controlled the stones to form a rock shield to block the attack.

But as everyone knew, Lightning beats Earth, so the kunai pierced through the rock shield with ease; the shield only managed to slow its momentum slightly.

"It seems you still have a lot to learn about basic elemental affinities."

Uchiha Izumi appeared inside the defensive perimeter as if she had teleported.

Because Uchiha Arashi had to focus on shaping the rock shield, a gap had opened in his defenses, and she had seized the opportunity.

Izumi grabbed the kunai, looking down at Uchiha Arashi. Her hair, eyes, and skin were crackling with electricity, making her look like a descending god of thunder.

"Even if you've activated an Eye of God, Arashi-kun, you're still going to lose to me today!"

"Is that so? That's not necessarily true!"

Uchiha Arashi clenched his right fist, and five massive pillars erupted from the ground around them. These pillars acted like giant hands, swiftly reaching out to grab Uchiha Izumi.

At the same time, a shell of rock manifested over Uchiha Arashi's body, and with the aid of this stone casing, he sank into the ground at an extraordinary speed.

Lightning-attribute might counter Earth-attribute, but that came with conditions. If the Earth Release user was already submerged underground, the Lightning-attribute would be rendered completely helpless.

Furthermore, rock itself could be used to conduct lightning, so the so-called elemental affinity relationship was by no means as simple as it appeared on paper.

Seeing the surrounding attacks closing in while Uchiha Arashi's body was already mostly submerged, Izumi remained calm and unconcerned.

She grinned.

"Then let's settle this in one strike!"

She gathered all her strength, focusing every ounce of her lightning into the kunai, then twisted her waist and hurled it at Uchiha Arashi with everything she had.

The kunai turned into a beam of light, piercing straight through the two massive rock pillars in front of her.

Completely abandoning her defense, Izumi was struck by the remaining three pillars and sent flying.

That kunai followed Uchiha Arashi into the ground, triggering an explosion beneath the surface that sent dust and debris billowing into the sky.

The younger children retreated again and again, watching the fierce battle between their older brother and sister, feeling as though their eyes could barely keep up with the action.

When had they ever witnessed combat of this caliber?

Even on the night of the massacre, when Uchiha Itachi killed their parents, it had always ended in an instant; their parents were no match for Itachi, and there had never been any question of an evenly matched fight.

Naturally, there had been no grand spectacle to speak of.

But now, Uchiha Arashi and Uchiha Izumi were truly showcasing the grand scale of ninja combat right before their eyes.

Of course, compared to a real large-scale battle, this fight was actually quite minor, but the little ones had never seen anything like it; what was unfolding before them was already enough to leave them stunned.

Yet, alongside their shock, everyone felt a sense of worry, fearing that Uchiha Arashi might be injured or even accidentally killed.

Fortunately, their concerns proved to be largely unnecessary, as the dust gradually settled and Uchiha Arashi's figure soon reappeared before them.

He stood there with the sleeve of his right arm shredded, revealing a massive gash that cut deep enough to expose the bone.

Fresh blood dripped steadily from his arm, hitting the ground with a rhythmic patter.