Pumpkin Head saw his younger brother rolling on the ground in agony and flew into a rage, but the anger in his heart was quickly swallowed by fear.
The kidneys were extremely fragile organs, with special meridians and acupoints that affected certain very important abilities.
Even if they were healed with the Mystical Palm Technique after being injured, there would still be certain unspeakable aftereffects.
For male ninja, kidney injuries were a nightmare.
Pumpkin Head was scared. He did not dare give Uchiha Kurohane another chance to throw kunai.
"Brothers, don't be afraid of him. He was just lucky and happened to hit us. Let's use that move against him together."
"Fine! Let them witness the power of the Konoha First Shooting Squad!"
Watermelon Head and Winter Melon Head also took out ninja tool scrolls. With a bang, the scrolls transformed into massive shuriken one meter in diameter.
These were called Fuma Shuriken. Because of their enormous size, they were incredibly lethal. Once thrown, they spun at high speed and cut any enemy they struck cleanly in half at the waist.
After enlarging the ninja tool scroll in his hand, Pumpkin Head tossed it into the sky. It unfurled in midair, covered in special runes.
This was a combat ninja tool scroll used to store shuriken and kunai. With Space–Time Ninjutsu, the ninja tools stored within could be summoned and launched at enemies under chakra control.
Pumpkin Head shouted loudly.
"Watch closely! This is the trump card of Konoha's shuriken geniuses—Shuriken Barrage!"
The moment his words fell, countless shuriken appeared out of thin air before the scroll and shot at Uchiha Kurohane like raindrops.
"The middle is mine! You take the left and right!"
Watermelon Head threw a Giant Fuma Shuriken toward Uchiha Kurohane's left, while Winter Melon Head threw another toward his right.
This was the coordinated technique they had developed together: Shuriken Hell!
First, the Giant Fuma Shuriken sealed off both sides of the enemy, preventing him from moving or dodging. Then the rain-like Shuriken Barrage would turn him into a porcupine.
The hundreds of shuriken fired from the ninja tool scroll in an instant were too densely packed. Even an enemy with the Sharingan could not dodge them all.
Therefore, the enemy's only choice was to leap into the air to evade them.
But that was Pumpkin Head's true goal.
When ordinary ninja jumped into the air, they could not change their trajectory, nor could they make effective defensive movements.
Pumpkin Head, however, could change the direction of the ninja tool scroll and fire the Shuriken Barrage into the air.
That would deliver the killing blow.
This was the perfect shuriken formation the three of them had developed through countless days and nights of study.
Uchiha Kurohane saw through their intentions. His assessment was that they were too young, too naïve.
This tactic was full of loopholes and flaws.
Most fundamentally, they actually thought they could kill someone with shuriken.
How foolish!
Could something like shuriken really kill people in the world of Naruto?
Uchiha Kurohane focused the pupils of his Sharingan, instantly seeing through the flight paths of every shuriken. Gripping his kunai tightly in both hands, he swung them rapidly before him at an unbelievable speed.
Amid a dazzling flurry of movements, sparks flashed wildly, followed by a series of crisp metallic explosions.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
In an instant, more than a dozen shuriken were knocked away and fell to the ground.
With Yatagarasu's automatic substitution ability, he was not worried about being struck by shuriken. Instead, he used the opportunity to practice his blocking skills.
But as more and more shuriken flew toward him, Uchiha Kurohane felt that he had reached his limit. He twisted aside and leaped to the right.
Watermelon Head raised his arm excitedly and shouted.
"Haha! He actually ran straight in front of the Fuma Shuriken. That is the stupidest choice he could have made!"
"Shuriken are weak. Even if he gets turned into a porcupine, he won't die. But if the Fuma Shuriken hits him, he'll be seriously injured even if he survives. He's too stupid..."
Before Watermelon Head could finish speaking, Uchiha Kurohane reached out toward the incoming Fuma Shuriken.
Everyone was startled by the sight.
What was he doing? The high-speed spinning Fuma Shuriken was incredibly sharp. It would grind anything it touched into minced meat.
Did he not want his hand anymore?
The very next instant, as they stood there in confusion, Uchiha Kurohane's hand passed through the hole in the center of the Fuma Shuriken, and he easily caught the massive shuriken in his hand.
"He actually caught a rapidly spinning Fuma Shuriken with his bare hand. Is he even human?"
Watermelon Head and Winter Melon Head broke out in cold sweat. The two kidney-deficient youths instantly got wet.
Pumpkin Head did not give up. He immediately changed the direction of the ninja tool scroll and fired all the remaining shuriken at Uchiha Kurohane.
Uchiha Kurohane hid behind the enormous Fuma Shuriken and easily knocked away the several hundred incoming shuriken.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang...
Another burst of loud metallic clanging rang out.
A few seconds later, the ground beneath Uchiha Kurohane's feet was piled with fallen shuriken.
Pumpkin Head had fired all eight hundred shuriken from the ninja tool scroll.
(The genin from Amegakure during the Chunin Ninja Exams could throw tens of thousands of senbon, so don't say that eight hundred shuriken were too expensive to throw.)
Summoning so many shuriken in such a short time had consumed an enormous amount of his chakra.
His formerly rosy face turned pale. With his head hanging low, he panted heavily and looked utterly exhausted.
Winter Melon Head asked anxiously.
"He blocked all eight hundred shuriken. He's a monster! Should we retreat?"
Pumpkin Head was afraid too, and he also considered retreating.
But he was unwilling to accept it.
Their opponent was only the dead last at the Ninja Academy. If three genin had to flee from him, it would be too humiliating if word got out.
They would never be able to show their faces in the ninja world again.
They could not run. They had to fight to the death!
Not only were they genin who had passed the Ninja Academy's examinations, they had also passed the Third Hokage's trial and earned the qualifications to go to war.
The following week, they would head to the Land of Rain to fight for Konoha.
This was proof of their strength. They were not ordinary genin, but great warriors!
Pumpkin Head believed in the academy teachers, and he believed even more in the Third Hokage's judgment. The Third Hokage could not possibly be wrong!
Three warriors against one student—their advantage was overwhelming!
With such a huge advantage, how could they chicken out?!
After quickly analyzing the situation, Pumpkin Head said calmly.
"Don't panic. He broke our Shuriken Hell because he has the Sharingan and can see the shuriken trajectories in advance. Our shuriken have been countered."
"But besides shuriken, we also have kunai. Surround him in a triangular formation and fight him in close combat!"
Watermelon Head agreed.
"That makes sense. No one can break a triangular formation alone. Even if his Sharingan can see through our attacks, he still won't be able to dodge."
"Fine, then let's go together!"
Watermelon Head and Winter Melon Head ran behind Uchiha Kurohane from both sides in the Naruto run, forming an equilateral triangle with Pumpkin Head. With kunai in hand, they charged at Uchiha Kurohane at the same time.
Uchiha Kurohane had also learned this three-against-one formation at the Ninja Academy.
He knew it made use of geometric principles.
When an enemy was surrounded by a triangular formation, he could deal with attacks from at most two people at once.
No matter how he positioned himself, his back would always be exposed to the third person.
It was the legendary guaranteed-victory three-against-one tactic.
However, Uchiha Kurohane thought the Ninja Academy teachers were also too young, too naïve.
The flaw in this formation was extremely obvious.
Uchiha Kurohane did not even need to use Yatagarasu's ability to break it.
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