Kushina is Convinced!

"Don't be like that, I want to fight alongside Uchiha Kurohane too!"

Kushina Uzumaki puffed out her cheeks, stubbornly refusing to leave Uchiha Kurohane's side.

"They're wearing genin headbands, which means they've already graduated from the Ninja Academy. They're quite strong, so don't underestimate them!"

In Uchiha Kurohane's eyes, a genin headband was essentially a certificate of cannon fodder status.

Don't let the twelve rookies of the main cast fool you; they were all genin, yet they possessed world-destroying power.

That was just the protagonist's halo at work.

In reality, genin were just cannon fodder meant to be sacrificed.

In battle, they were usually taken out by a single kunai; if they could even intercept an enemy's ninjutsu, it was considered a major victory.

"Dealing with these three small fries is enough for me alone. You go stand over there."

Uchiha Kurohane's confident tone completely infuriated the nameless trio with the fruity hairstyles.

Pumpkin Head let out a cold snort and said viciously.

"A dead-last student from the Ninja Academy dares to look down on a genin? This is outrageous. I'll show you the true power of a genin!"

Pumpkin Head swung his hand with a flourish, throwing the kunai in his hand toward Uchiha Kurohane.

At the same time, he quickly formed hand seals with both hands.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Swish, swish, swish!

Three more shuriken appeared out of thin air in mid-air, and four shuriken flew rapidly toward Uchiha Kurohane, the immense speed whipping up a gust of wind.

Kushina Uzumaki had never seen such a ninjutsu before and stood there, stunned in surprise.

Uchiha Kurohane, however, calmly activated his Sharingan.

As his eyes turned scarlet, the rapidly approaching shuriken suddenly slowed down several times over.

Immediately, the flight trajectories of the four shuriken appeared clearly in his mind.

One was flying toward Kushina Uzumaki's abdomen, while the other three were aimed at his own.

Slow-motion vision combined with trajectory prediction—this was the formidable power of the Sharingan!

No wonder Sasuke was so confident.

With eyes like these that could see through everything, who wouldn't be confident?

Uchiha Kurohane first pushed hard against Kushina Uzumaki's fair arm with his left hand, shoving her toward the side and helping her dodge the shuriken.

Then, he quickly pulled a kunai from his pouch and swung it rapidly in front of him.

Clang, clang, clang!

Uchiha Kurohane easily deflected the three incoming shuriken.

The entire sequence of movements was fluid and seamless, executed with effortless grace.

"This guy actually managed to block Pumpkin Head's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique?"

"Pumpkin Head is the top ninja tool expert among this year's graduates. His shuriken throws never miss; he's known as the Little Prince of Eight Hundred Li. How could he have missed?"

Pineapple Head was so shocked he kept rubbing his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong.

"Impossible! Even our teachers can't block the shuriken my brother throws. How could he deflect them so easily? Am I dreaming?"

Kushina, who had fallen to the ground, was terrified by the shuriken that had landed right in front of her.

"This shuriken is incredibly sharp—it's real! That guy really intended to kill me!"

Although she had a strong and brave personality, she was, after all, a young girl with no combat experience; she was genuinely frightened by the real shuriken.

At this moment, only Pumpkin Head realized the problem first. A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and his expression turned serious.

"Damn it, this guy actually has a Sharingan. No wonder he could block my shuriken!"

His two companions immediately wore expressions of shock.

"Oh right, his eyes turned red and there's a tomoe—he has a Sharingan!"

"Damn, how old is he? How did he already awaken the Sharingan? Is he a genius?"

Hearing this, Kushina Uzumaki froze, then looked up at Uchiha Kurohane's eyes.

She was captivated by the scarlet glow in Uchiha Kurohane's eyes, her gaze filled with admiration and infatuation.

"So Kurohane-kun has already awakened the Sharingan. He's so amazing!"

So cool!

Pumpkin Head turned his head to complain to his younger brother.

"You idiot brother, why did you say he was a dead-last? He has a Sharingan! The intel you gave me is wrong!"

"How was I supposed to know? All his grades at the Ninja Academy were at the bottom. Another classmate from the Uchiha clan said that even the Uchiha clansmen look down on him, calling him the Disgrace of the Uchiha!"

Pumpkin Head sighed helplessly.

"Damn it, he probably awakened his Sharingan after beating you guys last time."

Watermelon Head wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and asked in terror.

"Now that he has the Sharingan, are we still going to fight?"

Pumpkin Head took a small scroll from his pouch and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"There's no choice; we've already offended him. If we run away now, we'll become a laughingstock. Besides, I have a secret weapon to deal with the Sharingan. Let's keep fighting!"

Uchiha Kurohane asked with a calm, composed smile.

"Are you going to challenge me one-on-one? Who's going first?"

Pumpkin Head exchanged glances with his two companions, his mouth curling into a domineering, arrogant smirk.

"One-on-one? What a joke. Let me tell you something: only children do one-on-one. Adults always gang up on people—"

"Fine, then I'll start by shooting you, Pumpkin Head!"

Uchiha Kurohane interrupted him with a commanding voice, simultaneously waving his hand with flair.

A kunai flew rapidly toward Pumpkin Head.

Swish!

The kunai grazed Pumpkin Head's waist, scaring him into a cold sweat.

Did he miss?

Phew, I thought he was aiming for my kidney. This brat talks about justice, but his moves are truly underhanded!

What a disgusting rat!

Still, the force behind his throw was immense. The momentum of the kunai was too fierce, and it was so fast I couldn't react. Maybe he really could throw one from eight hundred miles away.

But when it comes to throwing kunai, accuracy is more important than distance.

If you can't hit your target, what's the point of throwing it far?

His shurikenjutsu is far inferior to mine!

Just as Pumpkin Head was feeling smug, a shrill scream erupted from behind him.

"Ah, my waist!"

The three eccentric genin turned around and saw Pineapple Head kneeling on the ground in agony, a kunai lodged firmly in his right side.

That was the location of his kidney!

His kidney had been pierced!

It turned out that Uchiha Kurohane's shurikenjutsu wasn't actually that high; he had missed his target, but accidentally struck Pineapple Head, who was hiding behind.

Pineapple Head had caught a stray bullet while just lying there.

Uchiha Kurohane pretended nothing had happened and said nonchalantly.

"You saw that, right? One kunai to take one out. That is my strength."

Kushina Uzumaki asked skeptically.

"Um, didn't you just miss?"

Her blunt, adorable voice sounded a bit jarring at that moment.

Uchiha Kurohane replied with dissatisfaction.

"Missed? Do you have eyes on your butt? Didn't you see the kunai stuck in him?"

Kushina Uzumaki was an honest person and stuck to her opinion.

"But you just said you were going to shoot Pumpkin Head, right?"

"Idiot, the Art of War says: appear weak when you are strong, and appear strong when you are weak. By saying I was going to shoot Pumpkin Head, I made Pineapple Head let his guard down. In reality, Pineapple Head was my target all along."

Kushina Uzumaki had a sudden realization and nodded with an expression of pure admiration.

"So that's it! Kurohane-kun is truly brilliant. I never would have thought of such a tactic."

"I'm impressed!"