Sato Hideaka stared in surprise at the two people before him. Uchiha Kenichi and Inuzuka Jin were the two Sarutobi Asuma had mentioned as having Chunin-level strength, but Hideaka hadn't expected them to target him directly. WWW COM
"You've earned my respect, Ghost. Tell me your name!"
Uchiha Kenichi stood ramrod straight atop a tree branch and spoke coldly.
The Uchiha Clan was renowned as one of the most combat-proficient clans in the Naruto world. Their bodies were naturally suited for battle, and with the Sharingan—which could instantly see through, deflect, and copy every kind of ninjutsu, magic, taijutsu, and genjutsu—they had earned a fearsome reputation: if you encountered an Uchiha one-on-one, you ran!
Ordinary ninjas were utterly outmatched by the Uchiha Clan. But Sato Hideaka had forced Uchiha Kenichi back with a single move, and that had clearly made the proud Uchiha take his opponent seriously.
"I'm Uchiha Kenichi. That move of yours just now counts as a sneak attack, doesn't it?"
Standing before the lava, Sato Hideaka shrugged and looked up as he asked.
Uchiha Kenichi's expression remained cold, and his voice brimmed with killing intent. "If you think it was a sneak attack, then it was. But this is as far as you go..."
His hands flashed through a set of Hand Seals. When he finished, Uchiha Kenichi's eyes snapped open. Two black tomoe spun in his crimson irises as he said calmly, "Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
The scene seemed to flow backward. Before Hideaka's eyes lay a scattered cluster of wooden huts, their chimneys sending up wisps of blue smoke. Beyond a row of towering trees, each ten meters high, ran narrow paths and small, neatly divided plots of farmland.
Fresh air, bright sunlight, birdsong and insects, grass and flowers swaying in the breeze!
As if struck by a sudden realization, Sato Hideaka turned around. There stood a dilapidated mud-and-wood hut. Its doorway was just a square opening; the place didn't even have a door!
This was the place where it had all begun...!
When he turned back again, Sato Hideaka suddenly saw three fierce-looking bandits brutally slaughtering the old, the weak, women, and children. At last, they grinned savagely, their bodies drenched in blood. Cries, pleas for help, and wild laughter rose, staining the silent scene with horror.
One bandit, with a vicious scar at the corner of his right eye, looked in Sato Hideaka's direction. He waved the blood-soaked steel blade in his right hand and gave Hideaka a cruel, bloodthirsty grin, as if a cat had spotted a mouse!
Sato Hideaka tried to use [Lava Style: Hell Hound], but he couldn't gather lava in his right arm. He tried to form Hand Seals and unleash [Crystal Release: Two-Thorn Spear], but after completing the seals, he found only emptiness before him. He couldn't release the ninjutsu at all...
Yet the blood-soaked blade in the scarred bandit's hand came swinging down toward his head!
"Release!"
A clear female voice rang beside his ear. The scene shattered like a mirror, and Sato Hideaka returned to the forest. The towering trees, the dim surroundings, the smell of rotting branches—the world suddenly felt real again.
At the same time, a figure in gray-and-blue clothing lunged at him. Coldness filled his crimson eyes. He held a sharp black Kunai in a reverse grip and was already slashing toward Hideaka's throat!
At the sight of the Kunai only inches away, Sato Hideaka snapped fully awake. Crystal Release Chakra gathered in his palm, and a red crystal Kunai formed in an instant to meet the black one. The weapons collided by the narrowest margin, sending a few sparks flying...
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Uchiha Kenichi's assault was fierce. His family's careful training and disciplined instruction ensured every attack struck at his opponent's weak points, while his Two-Tomoe Sharingan let him clearly spot every opening.
By comparison, Sato Hideaka was in a wretched state. His opponent's attacks came like an unending downpour. Worse still, under the Sharingan's extraordinary visual acuity, every attack Hideaka made only exposed another opening. His several attempts to counter had all come to nothing...
Fortunately, although Sato Hideaka lacked extraordinary visual acuity, he had absolute control over his cells, muscles, and tissues. Whenever danger arose, he could react in time and recover.
The two clashed Kunai again and again at an incredible pace. The grass, the treetops, the trunks—every spot became a battleground. Their fierce combat rang through the silent, open forest, carrying far into the distance!
After all, Uchiha Kenichi was already twelve. His muscles and tissues were more fully developed, and he had been training since the age of five. His Taijutsu was far superior to Sato Hideaka's, and with the Sharingan enhancing him, Hideaka simply couldn't match him...
The fierce exchanges exposed an opening in Sato Hideaka's defense. The rapidly spinning Two-Tomoe in Uchiha Kenichi's crimson eyes caught it instantly. Kenichi drew his right wrist back and raised it high, then brought it down swiftly, smashing his Kunai against the crystal Kunai in Hideaka's hand...
Uchiha Kenichi's bent wrist suddenly straightened. An enormous force jolted through the crystal Kunai in his right hand, and Sato Hideaka's right arm was flung upward, leaving him exposed!
Kenichi raised his right leg and drove his knee into the opening in Sato Hideaka's chest. Hideaka let out a muffled groan and was sent flying, slamming into the dirt and skidding several meters before coming to a stop.
"Cough, cough...!"
Rising to one knee, Sato Hideaka coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood and wiped his lips. His gaze had never been more serious. Uchiha Kenichi was the strongest opponent he had faced since those few members of Root.
In reaction speed, strength, combat experience, and the genjutsu that could catch him off guard, Uchiha Kenichi was far beyond Sato Hideaka, who had trained for just over a month. Hideaka's only advantage might be the powerful ninjutsu he had developed...
But just like the Root members he had killed before, without enough speed, eyesight, reflexes, and experience to support them, even powerful kekkei genkai techniques were useless if they couldn't hit their target!
Against the Sharingan's enhanced vision, an ordinary person would have little chance in a one-on-one fight. But difficult didn't mean impossible. Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, had once nearly killed Uchiha Sasuke, who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, with his Seven-Sword Style!
Even the Fourth Raikage, Ai, could use the full-body activation of the "Lightning Release Chakra Mode" to unleash an exceptional Lightning Body Flicker and completely outpace the Mangekyō Sharingan's vision. In other words, increasing his speed could give Sato Hideaka the advantage...
However, in Hideaka's research, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode could be fully activated without harm for only three minutes. If he went over three minutes but stayed under five, his muscles would become strained. Beyond five minutes, it would start damaging his **cells and nervous system.
And after activating it, he would also suffer a period of exhaustion, leaving him unable to use his full strength for a while. He didn't want to use this technique, which killed a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of his own, unless he absolutely had to!
But now...
Sato Hideaka wiped the blood from his lips and stared sternly at Uchiha Kenichi. A powerful aura surged from his body. He had decided to use the "Lightning Release Chakra Mode." With speed and the Lava Release's immense destructive power, he was eighty percent certain he could defeat his opponent!
Just as he was about to channel the Lightning Release Chakra in his body, Hyuga Xiangning, standing in the distance with her Byakugan activated, spoke anxiously:
"Hideaka, there are three people one thousand meters away in the eleven o'clock direction. Judging by the amount of Chakra in their bodies, they all seem to be Chunin... They're probably the Chunin from the battlefield that the chief examiner mentioned!"