A Fiery Ball, Doubled

So fast, but I can dodge it.

Sasuke didn't even have time to finish his sentence before he immediately crouched down, hoping to evade Lin Fan's leg strike.

He bent his waist and crouched with all his might, barely managing to dodge the afterimage of Lin Fan's calf as it swept past him.

Not bad, but how will you handle what comes next?

No sooner had the words left Lin Fan's lips than his body spun in the air, tracing a beautiful arc.

Returning to the ground in a flash, he planted both palms on the earth and launched his right leg toward Sasuke's head once more.

Too fast, there's no way to dodge this, but I should be able to block it!

Sasuke quickly crossed his arms to the side, attempting to intercept the powerful gust of the kick.

Lin Fan's lips curled into a smirk. Heh, I guessed you'd do that. Leaving your arms to the side leaves your center wide open. Konoha Rising Wind!

As the words fell, his left leg surged upward from below, landing a direct strike on Sasuke's chin.

Sasuke's entire face distorted violently as he was launched into the air, eventually landing heavily on the far side of the training ground.

Silence!

Absolute silence!

The training ground was so quiet that one could clearly hear the sound of a needle dropping.

Sasuke, the top student in the Ninja Academy's graduating class, had actually been kicked flying during a training session?

And by the bottom-ranked dead-last, no less?

Who would believe this if word got out?

Iruka, standing to the side, had his mouth agape, too shocked to speak.

The Konoha Style Taijutsu that Lin Fan had just displayed was so fast that even his own eyes could barely keep up.

Such movement techniques were undoubtedly the strongest among their peers.

The perfection of his speed and power was comparable even to Might Guy, the elite jonin of the village who specialized in taijutsu.

But why had Lin Fan never shown his true strength before, choosing instead to remain a dead-last?

Iruka speculated that Lin Fan must have recently received guidance from an expert.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

"Lin Fan, you're amazing! I knew you could do it! Someone finally put that arrogant Second Pillar in his place!"

Naruto was the first to applaud and cheer, celebrating wildly for Lin Fan.

"Ugh, this guy Lin Fan... was he really secretly training behind our backs?"

"Cool and a good fighter? The gap between us is getting wider and wider."

Shake, shake.

The Truancy Trio also shook their heads with complex expressions.

First knockdown!

Lin Fan finished his silent thought and brushed the dust off his clothes, his expression remaining unchanged.

After all, his Konoha Style Taijutsu was already at max level; performing like this was only natural.

He believed that once he completed his mission and gained the boost of a max-level Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he would dare to challenge even the village's elite jonin.

However, Lin Fan also understood that the Second Pillar lying on the ground before him would not give up so easily.

Sure enough, Sasuke quickly loosened his joints and stood up.

His eyes had turned a scarlet red that made many on the scene shudder.

"Sharingan!"

"It seems I was careless, but from here on out, you dead-last had better pray for your own luck!"

At this moment, besides seeing that Sasuke's eyes had turned into scarlet One-Tomoe Sharingan, Lin Fan noticed that Sasuke's fists were wrapped in a dense layer of sky-blue chakra.

By concentrating chakra into his fists, the current Sasuke could shatter stones and snap trees.

Furthermore, Sasuke believed that with the aid of the Sharingan, every one of Lin Fan's next moves would be seen through by his eyes.

A dead-last would always be a dead-last; the victory of this battle would ultimately be his.

Sasuke widened his eyes, refusing to miss a single movement, and charged straight at Lin Fan.

But this time, Lin Fan did not give Sasuke the chance to swing his chakra-coated heavy fists at him.

His body instantly turned into an afterimage and vanished from where he stood.

Taijutsu Body Flicker?

Sasuke was struck with sudden terror.

The next second, Lin Fan appeared directly in front of Sasuke.

"A strike to the gut!"

He then launched a straight punch toward Sasuke's abdomen, his fist wreathed in a faint, sky-blue chakra gale.

I see it.

Sasuke was overjoyed, preparing to block with his arms held horizontally.

Bang!

Yet, feeling a sharp sting, Sasuke stumbled back two or three meters.

Although Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, barely managing to track the movement of Lin Fan's punch, the gap in their physical constitutions was simply too vast.

Sasuke's defensive block was clearly at least a beat slower than the speed of Lin Fan's offensive.

As soon as Sasuke steadied himself and looked up, he found that Lin Fan had already appeared before him again using Taijutsu Body Flicker.

"This time, it's your chin!"

Lin Fan said with a smile before landing an uppercut squarely on Sasuke's chin, sending him flying into the air.

A trace of blood drifted from the corner of his mouth.

"The final strike—your back."

Lin Fan shouted, flickering behind Sasuke once more and driving his elbow down hard against his back.

Sasuke was sent hurtling toward the ground at high speed.

Of course, Lin Fan had used less than thirty percent of his physical strength and had not channeled much chakra into the point of impact.

Even so, Sasuke was powerless to counter, collapsing onto the ground again after only three moves.

Down for the second time!

Many students on the training ground cast looks of disbelief at Lin Fan.

If the initial exchange could barely be called a sparring match, then after Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he had become the one being completely crushed.

Didn't this mean that from the very beginning, Lin Fan hadn't even considered Sasuke an opponent worthy of being his equal?

"Damn it, Lin Fan, you've gone too far!"

Sasuke realized in that instant that Lin Fan had been toying with him from the start.

His own "sure-win" punch, wrapped in chakra, hadn't even landed on Lin Fan's body once.

Sasuke looked at the handsome figure before him, whose talent and strength seemed far superior to his own.

The young face he had chased until he was seven—the one he now loathed—suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with cold, murderous intent.

He pressed his palms together, preparing to weave hand signs.

Is that the starting stance for a Fire Style jutsu?

"Sasuke, don't!!! The person in front of you is your classmate, not your enemy!"

Iruka sensed that something was wrong with Sasuke's expression and shouted at the top of his lungs.

The students in the class were all standing behind Lin Fan, meaning they were all within the range of Sasuke's jutsu!

But Sasuke could no longer hear him; his hands were flying through the seals.

"Students, get at least five meters away from Sasuke immediately! He's about to use Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!!!"

Iruka shouted to those around him.

How could the students in the class not know about this C-rank Fire Style jutsu, a specialty of the Uchiha Clan?

They immediately scrambled backward in groups, fleeing to the safety zone beyond five meters.

Yet, Lin Fan remained within the range of Sasuke's Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.

"Lin Fan, I'm taking you out of here now!"

Iruka rushed to Lin Fan's side, but upon looking at him, he suddenly froze.

He saw that Lin Fan was performing the exact same hand signs as Sasuke—and at an even faster speed.

Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Two fireballs, one large and one small, were exhaled toward each other.

Iruka watched as the fireball from Lin Fan's mouth was clearly nearly twice the size of Sasuke's.

The smaller fireball was quickly swallowed by the larger one, and the entire training ground was suddenly engulfed in intense, scorching heat.

From Naruto: Starting with Infinite Skill Points by Shenqi Xiao Sima