Shatter! Kyōka Suigetsu!

"A direct hit!"

"Taking a Great Fireball head-on, even a Chunin would be severely wounded, right?"

"That Uchiha Ryūha is done for. Uchiha Setsuna went too far, but that's the ninja world for you."

The stands were buzzing with discussion; many of the girls even covered their eyes, unable to bear the sight of the impending carnage.

Uchiha Setsuna stood his ground, breathing slightly heavily, a victor's cold sneer hanging on his lips.

"Hmph, pathetic."

He turned toward the proctor, speaking with arrogance: "Teacher, can you announce the result now? Although I killed him by accident, it's only because he was too weak..."

Whoosh—

A gust of wind blew by, and the dust and smoke gradually dispersed.

The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.

The previously noisy stands were as if gripped by an invisible hand, all sound coming to an abrupt halt.

The smile on Uchiha Setsuna's face froze.

Uchiha Fugaku's eyes snapped open, his Sharingan activating instantly as he stared fixedly at the center of the arena.

"This is..."

Where the smoke had cleared, the ground had been scorched into a charred, blackened crater.

Yet, in the very center of that crater, Uchiha Ryūha remained standing.

Not even the hem of his clothes was singed, and not a single speck of dust had touched his plain-lens glasses.

He held his blade in one hand, the tip pointing diagonally toward the ground.

His posture was as relaxed as if he had just finished attending a party, rather than having survived a life-or-death struggle.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Uchiha Setsuna's pupils contracted violently as he shrieked, "My Great Fireball clearly hit you! That temperature, that impact... why are you completely unscathed?!"

Uchiha Ryūha looked up, peering at Setsuna through his lenses with a trace of pity in his eyes.

It was as if he were looking at an ant struggling in a downpour.

"Did you really hit me, Setsuna-kun?"

Uchiha Ryūha's voice was soft, echoing across the empty training ground, "Or perhaps, everything you saw was merely an illusion you wished to see?"

Having said that, Uchiha Ryūha felt a strange sense of excitement; as it turned out, he really was a chuunibyou.

"An illusion? Stop playing these mind games!"

Setsuna was enraged by that look, the shame causing his face to flush bright red.

"Since you didn't die, then die again!"

With a roar, Setsuna pulled four shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, explosive tags wedged between his fingers.

"Shuriken Manipulation: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

He hurled them with force, the shuriken tracing eerie arcs through the air, sealing off every possible escape route for Ryūha.

The burning fuses of the explosive tags hissed.

However, a bizarre scene unfolded.

In the eyes of all the spectators—

Uchiha Ryūha hadn't moved at all.

He simply stood quietly in place, even slowly sheathing the blade in his hand.

But in the eyes of Uchiha Setsuna—

He saw Uchiha Ryūha suddenly transform into a massive black dragon made of ink, lunging toward him with its maw wide open!

"Ahhh! What is this monster!"

Uchiha Setsuna screamed in terror.

Although children in the ninja world were generally precocious, he was, after all, only ten years old.

The shuriken that were supposed to be aimed at Uchiha Ryūha uncontrollably veered off in his hands, slamming fiercely into the empty ground beside him!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosive tags detonated on the open ground, sending dirt flying.

Immediately after, Uchiha Setsuna began frantically forming hand seals, dodging, and throwing punches at the empty air.

"Don't come over here! Don't come over here!"

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

"Why can't I cut you down! Why!"

He acted like a madman, rolling and leaping across the flat ground.

He unleashed one high-cost ninjutsu after another into the empty air.

Great Fireball, Phoenix Sage Fire, and even the Dragon Flame Jutsu, which he had yet to master...

His chakra poured out as if it were worthless, yet every strike hit nothing but empty space or exploded at his own feet.

"What... what is happening?"

The proctor's mouth hung agape, oblivious to the clipboard sliding from his hand. "Did Uchiha Setsuna fall under a genjutsu? But Uchiha Ryūha didn't weave any hand signs, nor did he make eye contact!"

Genjutsu cast by the Sharingan requires eye contact to initiate.

This is an ironclad rule of the ninja world!

Of course, the still-obscure Izanami is the exception to this rule.

In the stands, the expression on Fugaku's face was dark enough to wring water from.

His three-tomoe Sharingan spun frantically, attempting to pierce through the flow of Ryūha's chakra.

No traces of hand signs... his chakra flow is perfectly steady... this isn't a Sharingan genjutsu.

A tempest raged in Fugaku's heart. This technique, which forces an opponent into complete madness and utterly blinds their senses... what on earth is it?

In the center of the battlefield.

Uchiha Ryūha gently adjusted his glasses, watching Uchiha Setsuna, who was gasping for air with his chakra nearly depleted.

Under the Complete Hypnosis of Kyōka Suigetsu, Setsuna's five senses—

Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—were all under Ryūha's control.

Setsuna believed he was fighting a monster, when in reality, he was merely locked in a battle of wits with the air.

"It's about time to end this."

Ryūha whispered to himself.

He closed the distance to Uchiha Setsuna rapidly.

Not wanting to reveal his Flash Step, Ryūha simply used his spiritual pressure to accelerate.

At this moment, Setsuna was kneeling on the ground, his hands braced against the earth.

Sweat soaked his clothes, and his eyes were bloodshot, filled with terror.

"Ha... ha... finally... is it dead..." Setsuna looked at the phantom of the monster he had "slain," a neurotic smile spreading across his face.

"Where are you looking?"

A voice, gentle as jade, rang out abruptly beside his ear.

Setsuna's entire body stiffened as he turned his head mechanically.

What met his eyes was the face of Uchiha Ryūha, still clean and handsome, wearing a faint smile.

And, pressed against his throat, was a cold scabbard.

"You've lost, Setsuna-kun."

Setsuna's pupils dilated instantly as the massive psychological collapse and the weakness of chakra exhaustion hit him simultaneously.

"Mon... monster..."

He rolled his eyes back, foam bubbling from his mouth, and collapsed into unconsciousness.

The entire arena was deathly silent.

Only the rustling of wind through the leaves could be heard.

Everyone stared at the seemingly harmless youth in the center of the field with eyes that looked upon a stranger, or perhaps, a monster.

Ryūha sheathed his blade, turned to the stunned proctor, and bowed slightly with impeccable, flawless etiquette:

"Teacher, has the examination concluded?"