Everyone Was Astonished

Ito Hirofumi raised an eyebrow at those words. It looked like Uchiha Sasuke was planning to use the Great Fireball Technique!

Sure enough, as soon as Uchiha Sasuke finished speaking, he took a deep breath.

At the same time, his hands began forming seals. Ito Hirofumi knew that sequence of hand seals extremely well—it was the Great Fireball Technique!

Uchiha Sasuke's movements left all the students around them utterly astonished...

"Hey!!! No way?! Is Sasuke actually forming hand seals?!"

"Does that mean he's already learned a jutsu?!"

"Damn it!!! We're all students at the Ninja Academy, so why is Uchiha Sasuke so much better than us?!"

"What jutsu is that? Does anyone recognize it?!"

"If it's a jutsu... Ito Hirofumi is definitely going to lose, right?!"

"Lose? He could get hurt—or even killed!!!"

"..."

Hearing the students' chatter, Yamanaka Ino clenched her fists nervously and watched Ito Hirofumi with deep concern!

Just moments ago, Ito Hirofumi had shown incredible strength, going toe-to-toe with Uchiha Sasuke after he activated his Sharingan. It had made Yamanaka Ino unbelievably excited!

This is the man I chose!!!

He's handsome and strong!!!

But now, seeing that Uchiha Sasuke had actually learned a jutsu, Yamanaka Ino started to worry again...

After all, no matter how strong Ito Hirofumi was, surely he couldn't withstand a jutsu attack, could he?!

"Shikamaru... can you tell what jutsu that is?!"

Feeling a little nervous, Yamanaka Ino looked over at Nara Shikamaru. He was the smartest, after all, so he might know what jutsu Uchiha Sasuke was performing.

Nara Shikamaru watched Uchiha Sasuke's sequence of hand seals and thought it over carefully...

"That sequence... looks a bit like a Fire Release Ninjutsu! I never thought Uchiha Sasuke had already learned a jutsu. Looks like we've fallen way behind..."

Meanwhile, Iruka-sensei was starting to panic, too!

Was Sasuke really going to use a jutsu?!

Was that little brat out of his mind?!

This was just an ordinary sparring match!

If the jutsu actually landed, Ito Hirofumi would definitely get hurt, wouldn't he?!

"Hey! Sasuke!!! Stop right now!!! This is just an ordinary sparring match between students, and Ito Hirofumi isn't your enemy—he's your classmate! He'll get hurt if you keep this up!!!"

Hearing that, Uchiha Sasuke clenched his teeth and looked at Ito Hirofumi, who stood before him with an air of complete calm...

"You!!! This is the C-rank Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique! It may not be all that powerful, but you still can't defend against it at your current level! I suggest you surrender now!!!"

Ito Hirofumi hadn't expected the haughty Uchiha Sasuke to warn him!

It seemed that his earlier actions, along with the influence of Indra's Chakra, had completely changed Uchiha Sasuke's attitude toward him.

"Of course I know it's the Great Fireball Technique... and I can use it, too!!!"

"What?!"

At Ito Hirofumi's words, Uchiha Sasuke's pupils instantly contracted!

Even the students around them and Iruka-sensei were stunned!

Had Ito Hirofumi just said that he could use the Great Fireball Technique, too?!

No way!

How was that possible?!

It was already hard to believe that even one student had learned a jutsu. And now Ito Hirofumi was saying he could use one, too?!

Ignoring the astonished students and Iruka-sensei, Ito Hirofumi immediately raised both hands and swiftly began forming seals.

His sequence of hand seals was exactly the same as the one Uchiha Sasuke had just performed!

But Uchiha Sasuke's hand seals had been slow, while Ito Hirofumi's looked far more practiced...

Uchiha Sasuke had started forming his seals first, yet the two of them finished at almost exactly the same time.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!!"

They called out the jutsu's name almost simultaneously. In an instant, a fireball burst from each of their mouths, and the two blazing spheres shot toward one another!!!

BANG!!!!

The fireballs collided violently in the middle of the training ground, kicking up clouds of dust...

The entire training ground fell silent in an instant.

Iruka-sensei's mouth hung wide open. His jaw looked like it was about to hit the ground!

After performing the jutsu, Uchiha Sasuke had used up every last bit of chakra in his body.

He swayed twice, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Ito Hirofumi also felt his chakra rapidly draining away. It was an awful sensation, and a wave of weakness washed over him.

Luckily, Uchiha Madara had been beating him senseless for the past two days. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to stand now, either...

But this was only the beginning. From here on, he would grow stronger and stronger at an ever-increasing pace!

The only problem was that he had just a few thousand silver taels to his name. After pestering his grandfather relentlessly yesterday, he had managed to get another ten thousand.

The system's summoning attempts consumed Wealth Points...

White Summoning required ten thousand Wealth Points and summoned a Genin.

Green Summoning required one hundred thousand Wealth Points and summoned a Chunin.

Blue Summoning required one million Wealth Points and summoned a Jonin.

Purple Summoning required ten million Wealth Points and summoned an Elite Jonin.

Golden Summoning required one hundred million Wealth Points and summoned a powerhouse at the level of a Hokage!

He had less than twenty thousand silver taels to his name. He couldn't even summon a Chunin, and honestly, a Genin wouldn't be much use. So from now on, he'd have to figure out how to make money!

Once Iruka-sensei came to his senses, he hurried over and helped Uchiha Sasuke up.

"I hereby declare Ito Hirofumi the winner of this sparring match!!!"

Hearing Iruka-sensei's announcement, Uzumaki Naruto leaped into the air!

"Hirofumi!!! You were so cool just now!! When did you learn a jutsu? I want to learn one, too!!!"

Yamanaka Ino let out a long breath. Her eyes shone with admiration...

"As expected of you, Hirofumi-kun... you were so cool!"

Nara Shikamaru scratched his pineapple-shaped hair...

"I never thought he'd gotten this strong. Looks like I'll have to put in a little effort, too... But training and all that is such a drag..."