Things were going smoothly.
The Uchiha Style's Nintaijutsu was a high-speed fighting style.
So was the Flying Thunder God!
All he needed to do to incorporate it was get used to the slight change in how he moved.
Before, he had used the Uchiha's unique Body Flicker Technique to move at high speed.
Now, he used the Flying Thunder God's spatial movement to move at high speed.
At first, Uchiha Yuzhen had thought it would be difficult.
But once he actually tried it, it turned out to be surprisingly simple.
On that front...
The neural reaction speed granted by the [Child of Time and Space (Gold)] Affix...
And the Uchiha's distinctive ninja tool-throwing technique, which was embedded in the Uchiha Style.
When Yuzhen used the Uchiha's throwing technique to throw Kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God Mark,
his extraordinary neural reactions produced a subtle chemical reaction with it.
And so, his combined training in Nintaijutsu and the Flying Thunder God
had been completed with remarkable success!
Just as Uchiha Yuzhen was lost in thought,
applause rang out from the sidelines.
"Yuzhen, that was an amazing use of the Flying Thunder God!"
The speaker was Namikaze Minato.
At some point, he had brought the three members of Team Minato
to this Training Ground.
He was sincerely full of praise for Uchiha Yuzhen's training just now!
His flickering movements were only a little slower in terms of speed.
But he knew all too well how fast this kind of spatial movement was,
as the one who had refined the Flying Thunder God Technique Formula.
It was already enough to make a name for himself in the Ninja World!
He couldn't help but marvel at it all.
This boy had originally been a mere afterthought when Kakashi joined Team Minato.
But after showing the makings of a "monster," he had caught up and overtaken the others.
Little by little, he had become the focus of Lord Third's and his own efforts.
This change really had been unexpected.
But there was nothing to be done about it.
His student was just
so astonishing.
While Minato's mind was in turmoil,
the members of Team Minato were equally stunned.
"Did I see that right?! Was that Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God?" Rin Nohara was a medical ninja, and her combat skills were limited.
She couldn't tell whether Uchiha Yuzhen's darting figure was using...
the Body Flicker Technique or the Flying Thunder God's spatial movement.
All she could think was, So strong, so fast, so amazing!
But the flashes trailing sparks seemed so familiar to her.
So she voiced the stunned question.
"You saw right, Rin! That was Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God!" Uchiha Obito replied to Rin solemnly.
He couldn't help but be serious!
As an Uchiha, he had trained in the Uchiha Style too.
He didn't have the talent for Nintaijutsu,
but he could still use the throwing technique.
Though he didn't have the Sharingan yet, thanks to Tenten's eye-care routine,
his eyesight was still exceptional.
He had noticed long ago that beneath Uchiha Yuzhen's flickering figure,
a specially made Kunai appeared at every spot where he emerged.
The way those Kunai were positioned
matched the Uchiha throwing technique's habits far too closely!
Yuzhen had only been gone for a few days, and already he had incorporated Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God into the Uchiha's Nintaijutsu fighting style.
Uchiha Obito was happy for Yuzhen, but at the same time, he felt conflicted.
All in all, his feelings were
a complete mess!
Unlike his two still-stunned teammates,
when he saw Uchiha Yuzhen, the teammate who had joined Team Minato alongside him,
had grown to such a level,
he could no longer hold back his urge to compare himself.
He stepped forward and came to stand before Yuzhen, who was about to greet them.
He said solemnly:
"Yuzhen... Let's have that match we talked about last time. We'll do it here, today!"
He didn't want to wait any longer.
He wanted to see whether Uchiha Yuzhen, who had been a rookie just a few months ago,
had really become this strong because of his resolve to awaken the Sharingan!
He found it hard to believe.
He had been a genius since childhood.
He had graduated at five, become a Chunin at six, and recently met the requirements in terms of mission experience.
He was preparing for promotion to Jonin.
It wasn't as though he had never seen Uchiha elites with the Three Tomoe.
But in terms of how much they had grown,
they were nothing compared to the teammate standing before him.
He really wanted to find out
just how strong Uchiha Yuzhen was now...
Yuzhen had just come out of his thoughts and was about to greet his teammates.
He stopped before he could raise his right hand.
Kakashi's serious expression made Yuzhen take him seriously.
His original self had spent quite some time as Kakashi's teammate.
Those memories, combined with the Past Life Wisdom he had awakened, told him
just how unusual Kakashi was at this moment.
After all, since his father, White Fang, had died by suicide,
Kakashi had cared only about missions. As for his teammates...
His kind nature meant he still cared, but not much.
At this very moment,
when he saw the expression on Kakashi Hatake's face, so unlike the coldness in his original self's memories,
he knew that he had truly become a friend Kakashi accepted!
Yuzhen was straightforward with his friends.
He formed the Seal of Confrontation with his hands.
"Sure, Kakashi!"
Kakashi formed the Seal of Confrontation too, and chakra began to ripple around him.
Seeing this, Namikaze Minato hurriedly pulled Obito and Rin back.
Obito and Rin were sensible enough to move obediently to the edge of the Training Ground.
After all—
this was the first time Kakashi had shown such a serious expression since joining Team Minato.
As his close friends, they knew this was one of the few times he had shown emotion since the death of the "White Fang of Konoha."
So even someone with Obito's personality stayed quiet at that moment.
A murderous atmosphere hung over the Training Ground.
As if the sky had sensed the change, a breeze drifted down.
The breeze stirred the leaves of a nearby tree, and one fell.
The moment the leaf hit the ground,
Uchiha Yuzhen and Kakashi moved.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ninjutsu clashed with Taijutsu.
Fire Style tangled with Lightning Style, colliding dozens of times
in a short span.
Uchiha Yuzhen could feel that his fundamentals had finally caught up.
He hadn't even used his Nintaijutsu combined with the Flying Thunder God.
Just relying on his previous tactics, he had fought Kakashi to a standstill!
He was satisfied!
But while he was satisfied, Kakashi wasn't.
After dodging a Phoenix Sage Fire,
he said coldly to Yuzhen:
"Yuzhen, are you looking down on me? Use the Flying Thunder God!"
Kakashi was furious!
He felt that Yuzhen was underestimating him!
It wasn't as if he hadn't seen the training just now.
Thinking of that, he began forming Hand Seals.
Ox—Rabbit—Monkey.
He raised his right hand, about to change the nature of his chakra...
Suddenly, a sharp Ninja Blade pressed against his neck.
"Kakashi... stop your jutsu."
"I'll take this victory for now!"
Kakashi's pupils contracted.
The icy blade told him he had lost.
If Yuzhen had really been an enemy and had sliced his throat, then...
Thinking of that, he stopped forming the jutsu.
He turned around and asked, somewhat unwillingly:
"What happened?"
"Look at your arm." Yuzhen put away the Ninja Blade and pointed to Kakashi's right arm.
"What's this?" Kakashi looked down at his arm. A Three Tomoe Seal
had appeared there without him noticing.
"This is a Flying Thunder God Mark, Kakashi." Namikaze Minato walked over with a smile. "Once you're marked with this, you become a Flying Thunder God coordinate."
He explained it to Kakashi.
As for the outcome of the spar, the moment Kakashi had boldly made physical contact with Yuzhen,
Minato had known the match was decided!
After explaining, he saw Kakashi's thoughtful expression and nodded approvingly.
He knew that Kakashi, being a genius, would understand.
Then he took a scroll out of his ninja tool pouch.
His expression turned serious as he faced Yuzhen.
"There's a reason we came to find you."
"I accepted a mission for you all... Our next destination is..."
"The Land of Wind!"
Before you continue