I just wanted to know the answer.
Why was that so hard?
Meanwhile, on the other side.
At the training ground behind Konoha.
Chiba and Itachi faced each other.
Their abilities far surpassed those of their peers, and neither thought they could learn anything at the Ninja Academy.
At a time like this, Shadow Clones made the perfect disguise.
For Itachi and Chiba, attending the Ninja Academy was merely part of enlisting as Konoha Ninja.
Itachi wanted to catch up to Chiba. At the same time, he wanted to go to the battlefield and learn what it meant to be a ninja, and what the meaning of life was.
"Skipping class on the first day? That's not like you, Itachi!"
"With Shadow Clones, we won't get caught! Besides... I don't think we can learn anything at school that we can't learn from training with each other!"
As he spoke, Itachi pulled a kunai from his ninja pouch and fixed his gaze on Chiba, utterly serious.
Chiba simply stood still.
Both hands rested on his cane, and a black cloth covered his eyes.
Even standing there, he exuded a faint, murderous aura.
"In that case, let's get started!"
"Then... be careful, Chiba!"
The instant he finished speaking, Itachi moved.
At that moment, Itachi burst into motion with terrifying speed. The explosive burst was far beyond what a five-year-old child should have been capable of.
"As expected of Uchiha Fugaku's son... He's got a remarkable talent for combat!"
In the nearby bushes, a little white snake flicked its tongue as it silently watched.
Rumor had it that Fugaku had taken Itachi to the battlefield when he was four.
And when an Iwagakure Ninja had launched a sudden close-range attack, Itachi had slit the man's throat on the spot.
It was an instinct for combat—a terrifying gift.
Now, it seemed the rumors were true.
Itachi's talent was even more terrifying than Orochimaru had imagined.
With a flick of his right hand, Itachi threw three shuriken, but they weren't aimed at Chiba.
It looked as if Itachi had missed.
But then he threw another three shuriken, and these flew faster than the first set.
The shuriken from the second volley caught up with the first, and metal clashed against metal.
The little white snake was stunned.
The shuriken's collision had changed their trajectories.
The six shuriken that had originally veered off course now flew toward Chiba from six different directions.
"Such skill with shuriken... He can do this without even having awakened the Sharingan?"
What a terrifying clan, the Uchiha.
Uchiha Itachi's talent might even surpass Uchiha Shisui's.
But Orochimaru wasn't watching Uchiha Itachi. His subject of interest was Itachi's opponent, Uchiha Chiba.
So, as Chiba's opponent—and the subject of his observation—how would Uchiha Chiba, who couldn't see a thing, respond?
Chiba remained where he was, both hands resting on his cane.
He seemed to be waiting for the shuriken to reach him.
All six shuriken flew in almost simultaneously.
They came from every direction, leaving no blind spot.
If he didn't dodge now, there would be no chance.
Chiba still didn't move.
Was he too slow to react? Or was he absolutely confident in himself?
The little white snake soon saw the answer.
The moment the sword hidden in Chiba's cane left its sheath, he struck six times.
What terrifying swordsmanship!
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Chapter 11
It was swordsmanship impressive enough to amaze even Orochimaru, one of the Konoha Sannin.
He struck six times in an instant, each movement flowing seamlessly, without the slightest wasted motion.
It was incredibly smooth.
It was almost impossible to believe that a five-year-old could do that.
The last time he had seen technique like this was during the Second Shinobi World War.
Hatake Sakumo had dominated the Shinobi World with his Hatake Sword Technique, striking fear into countless people.
Could this Uchiha Chiba really reach the heights of Hatake Sakumo's swordsmanship?
At that moment.
Orochimaru began to understand why Danzo had asked him to observe Chiba.
Swordsmanship like that was already enough to amaze anyone.
More importantly, Chiba was blind.
To reach such heights while blind was an unimaginable challenge.
And yet Chiba had done it.
His rate of growth was far too abnormal.
At this rate, even Kakashi Hatake, hailed as a peerless genius, seemed almost ordinary.
"Is it because of his eyes?"
The Sharingan gave the Uchiha Clan a terrifying boost.
Uchiha Shisui was a perfect example.
After awakening the Sharingan, his strength had grown almost exponentially, and he had made a name for himself throughout the world as Body Flicker Shisui.
"So his Sharingan might not have been defective from birth... Could he have lost his sight because the strain of awakening it was too great?"
If so, then perhaps he might regain his sight as his body grew.
"The Sharingan really is fascinating!"
"Chiba, you've given me yet another reason to keep an eye on you!"
The two continued fighting.
It was clear that Uchiha Itachi was trying to keep his distance from Chiba.
After seeing Chiba's swordsmanship, the little white snake was certain that Itachi had made the right call.
With swordsmanship like that, going blade to blade with Chiba would be incredibly dangerous.
The only way to deal with Chiba was to attack from medium to long range with shuriken or ninjutsu.
That would not only keep Chiba from using his greatest strength, but also disrupt his judgment of Itachi's attacks.
Indeed, the little white snake naturally assumed that Chiba used sound and chakra to read Itachi's attacks.
For a ninja, those were the only two ways to make up for lost sight.
In the little white snake's eyes, Chiba was clearly an exceptionally gifted sensory ninja.
Unfortunately.
He'd guessed wrong.
Chiba's Observation Haki had already seen through everything.
He had even sensed the little snake hiding in the bushes.
A dense barrage of shuriken flew toward Chiba, fast and from tricky angles.
But Chiba knocked every one of them away.
As Itachi threw shuriken faster and faster, in greater and greater numbers, until their trajectories filled the air,
the little white snake was utterly bewildered.
He had underestimated the two Uchiha children after all.
What... was going on?
How was Uchiha Itachi throwing such an absurd number of shuriken?
Itachi aside, his shuriken were almost as numerous as those from a Sealing Scroll. It was outrageous, but still within reason.
But what was Uchiha Chiba's excuse?
Chiba knocked away every shuriken in that dense barrage with astonishing precision.
But he was blind!
He couldn't see!
Shuriken weren't like ninjutsu attacks. Chakra sensing couldn't detect them.
That meant Chiba could only judge their paths by sound.
How exceptional would his hearing have to be to handle a barrage this dense?
It was terrifying.
"Good grief... Danzo, I can't believe you sent me a monster!"
A monster in every sense of the word!
The blade in Chiba's hand moved faster and faster.
When he brought down his final slash, a streak of sword light visibly cut through the air.
Before the blade's force, every shuriken was sent flying.
That was sword pressure!
The little white snake was completely overwhelmed.
Chiba's swordsmanship had reached a terrifying level.
His speed and strength were lacking, but that was because of his physical limitations.
As for his technique, it would have taken years of study to reach this level.
"As expected of Chiba... Your defense is still flawless!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly.
The instant Chiba's blade drew a streak of light, Itachi seized the opening.
His hands formed seals at incredible speed. He took a deep breath, then exhaled fiercely.