The Power of the Demon

"Yu!!"

Seeing Itachi actually fling his shuriken, the two girls, Mayuna and Momoka, felt their hearts tighten as they watched Yu standing frozen in place, seemingly stunned and unresponsive.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

But soon, three crisp sounds of metal colliding rang out.

Urushi, Mayuna, Momoka, and all the other children present widened their eyes in shock.

Facing the three shuriken thrown by the furious Itachi, Yu, who had been standing still, remained unhurried. As if by magic, three kunai appeared in his hands and were flung out in a flash!

Under the incredulous gazes of all the children.

The three kunai Yu threw arrived first despite being launched later, miraculously striking the center holes of Itachi's shuriken and pinning them firmly into the trunk of a nearby tree!

"My shuriken were actually...!"

Seeing this masterful display of shuriken technique, Itachi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"A student of the Ninja Academy using ninja tools against an ordinary villager."

"The punishment for such an offense shouldn't be light, right?"

As if oblivious to the disbelieving stares of the children, Yu looked at the stunned Itachi, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

To achieve such a result...

It seems all that practice following Uchiha Itachi's shuriken-throwing style from the original story wasn't in vain...

"How could a brat like this do such a thing!!"

Recovering from his shock and hearing the calm words from Yu, Itachi imagined the punishment he might soon face, and his anger surged even further. He gathered his chakra and charged toward Yu like a cheetah.

Facing Yu, who looked two years younger than him, Itachi was confident he could knock this brat down with a single punch, just as he had done to Urushi and the others.

"Bang!!"

With a dull thud, Itachi was stunned once again.

The Yu before him had caught his fist firmly in his palm!

"This is... chakra?!"

Facing Yu, whose small hand was gripping his fist tightly, Itachi's eyes widened as he sensed the chakra flowing within the white-haired boy.

A brat this young, who wasn't even a student at the Ninja Academy, had actually already refined chakra?!

One had to know that in the entire Konoha village, only children from the Uchiha, Hyuga, and other prominent clans were typically able to refine chakra and begin training at such a young age.

"If we're talking about chakra."

"I don't think I'll be any weaker than you."

Holding onto the fist Itachi had swung with a burst of chakra, Yu stood his ground, unmoving.

Although he was two or three years younger than Itachi, the amount of chakra within Yu was already very close to that of a genin.

Furthermore, thanks to the modifications from the String-String Fruit, Yu's body, though still undeveloped, was already far sturdier than Itachi's.

A Paramecia-type Devil Fruit—superhuman, indeed; his body naturally surpassed that of an ordinary person.

"Don't get cocky!"

Facing Yu's calm and indifferent expression, a surge of intense anger welled up in Itachi's heart for no reason.

If word got out that an honor student from the Ninja Academy couldn't handle a four or five-year-old brat, he didn't know how the others at the academy would mock him.

"Poof!!"

Accompanied by a crisp pop, a cloud of white smoke dispersed.

Itachi, whose fist had been caught by Yu, had instantly transformed into a log!

It was the Body Replacement Technique!!

Seeing this sudden change, Yu was momentarily taken aback.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he had witnessed a ninjutsu used by a ninja.

Body Replacement Technique—one of the most basic ninjutsu taught at the Ninja Academy, allowing one to instantly swap places with an object or animal to evade an attack.

"Go to hell, brat!!"

With a violent roar, Itachi's figure appeared behind Yu.

He was already clutching a kunai in his hand, slashing viciously toward Yu's handsome face.

"No!!"

Seeing such a perilous scene, Urushi, standing nearby, was instantly alarmed.

They had never expected that a simple scuffle between children would escalate to this extent.

"Why..."

"Why..."

Turning to face the sharp kunai slashing toward him from Itachi's hand.

For no reason, a surge of inexplicable annoyance and irritation welled up in Yu's heart.

"Someone like the Director, traveling between various nations..."

"Risking her life time and time again just to bring intelligence back to the village..."

"Even though we have already been pushed to the very fringes of the village..."

Recalling Yakushi Nonō's gentle yet persistent face.

In Yu's eyes, the prosperity of Konoha before him had been bought at the cost of countless sacrifices from people like Yakushi Nonō.

"Why do you people, who clearly know nothing at all, still trample upon this hard-won peace!!"

His amber eyes were gradually stained with a layer of crimson.

Staring at Itachi, who wore a cruel smirk on his face, Yu could clearly feel the power of the devil rampaging and roaring within his body.

"Bang!!"

A distinct sound of flesh being pierced rang out.

Blood splattered everywhere, and everyone present froze in shock.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

"It hurts! It hurts so much!!!"

Accompanied by a scream like a slaughtered pig.

Before everyone's eyes, Itachi had already collapsed to the ground.

The palm holding the kunai had been forcibly pierced through by an unknown object, leaving it a bloody, mangled mess.

"If you scream one more time."

"The next shot will go through your head."

A flat, indifferent voice rang out, and Itachi's pig-like shrieking came to an abrupt halt.

Yu stood before Itachi, his right index finger raised, pointed at his forehead like a handgun.

Bullet String—this was one of the most basic techniques of the String-String Fruit.

By raising the index finger and curling the others, one could fire thin threads generated from the fingertip at high speeds, much like a gunshot.

Its destructive power was strong enough to pierce through human bone in a single strike, and it could easily hit targets even at a distance.

With enough training, its impact could even cause a building to explode.

"No, don't!"

"Don't kill me!!"

Although Yu's empty-handed gesture looked somewhat like child's play.

Yet, facing the index finger Yu had aimed at his head, Itachi's face was filled with terror.

Just moments ago, it was a thin thread fired from that empty-looking finger that had struck like a bullet and pierced straight through his palm.

As Itachi's face twisted in fear, a foul, pungent odor began to permeate the air.

A puddle of murky yellow liquid flowed from between Itachi's legs, soaking the ground at Yu's feet.

Despite being a student at the Ninja Academy, he was, after all, only a seven or eight-year-old child.

Itachi had actually—wet himself in fear.