Sasuke Uchiha's Provocation? One Branch Teaches Him a Lesson

Ever since that filling meal at the barbecue restaurant.

Naruto had become like a piece of gum Sen just couldn't shake off, completely sticking to him.

The kid had not only become Sen's personal errand-running lackey.

He had even turned the phrase "My big brother is Sen Senju" into his catchphrase at school.

"I'm telling you, my big brother was on the playground that day, and with just a little wave of his hand!"

During recess, Naruto stood on top of a desk, wildly gesturing as he bragged to several boys in the class.

"That fat sixth-year kid flew more than ten meters and got embedded in the wall so deep they couldn't even pull him out!"

"You're full of it. There's no way it was that exaggerated."

Kiba rolled his eyes, while Akamaru beside him barked in agreement, clearly skeptical.

"Exactly. Sen Senju can't even hit a target with a shuriken. How could he possibly beat a sixth-year?"

Shikamaru lay sprawled across his desk and lazily yawned.

"I'm not lying! I saw it with my own eyes! My big brother is the strongest!"

Naruto argued loudly, his face and neck flushed red with agitation.

Sasuke Uchiha, seated on the other side of the classroom, frowned deeply.

He coldly glanced at Sen, who was sound asleep by the window in the back row.

The strongest?

Who dared call themselves the strongest before the Uchiha Clan?

That trash who couldn't even control his chakra was good for nothing except having a bit more strength than others!

Sasuke snorted coldly, the disdain and pride in his eyes practically overflowing.

The school bell rang.

Yawning, Sen slowly made his way out through the school gates.

Naruto had been kept behind by Iruka to clean the toilets as punishment today, so Sen finally got some peace and quiet.

He was just about to find an empty patch of woods and continue testing the Divine Tree Origin's new abilities.

He had barely gone any distance from the school gates.

When a figure in a dark blue short-sleeved turtleneck suddenly blocked his path.

"Hey, Sen Senju."

Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets, chin slightly raised, looking at him with cold arrogance.

"That dead-last Naruto brags every day in class about how amazing you are."

"Today, I'm going to expose you for the fraud you really are."

Sen stopped and helplessly rolled his eyes.

Did this Uchiha kid have nothing in his head besides duels and acting cool?

"Oh."

Sen gave a perfunctory response without even properly looking at him.

"And?"

"And?" Sasuke was angered by his indifferent attitude.

"Draw your kunai! I'll show you that the Uchiha Clan are the true geniuses!"

He took up an attacking stance, a fierce competitive fire burning in his eyes.

Sen sighed and slipped both hands into his pockets.

"No time. I need to get home and bring in the laundry."

With that, he walked right around Sasuke and continued on without looking back.

Fight a kid suffering from middle-school syndrome?

Winning would earn him no experience, and losing... well, he couldn't lose.

Either way, it was a waste of time. He might as well spend that time basking in the sun.

"Stop right there!"

Sasuke finally snapped.

The humiliation of being ignored was worse than death!

"Since you won't fight, I'll force you to make a move!"

A vicious glint flashed through Sasuke's eyes.

His hands flew through seals before his chest, so quickly they were a blur.

"Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

He suddenly inhaled, his chest swelling high as an incredibly scorching blaze burst from his mouth!

The flames rapidly expanded through the air, forming a massive fireball over two meters wide.

Carrying blazing heat and terrifying pressure, it roared toward Sen's back!

This was a C-rank ninjutsu!

For a first-year student who had only just enrolled, being able to unleash a Great Fireball of this power made him an absolute genius among geniuses!

The passing students and villagers all screamed and scattered in fright.

"Has that kid gone crazy?! Using a ninjutsu like that in the street!"

"Run!"

The scorching waves of heat even baked the leaves by the roadside until they curled and yellowed.

The fireball was less than five meters from Sen's back!

In another second, it would swallow him whole!

Yet.

Faced with this deadly sneak attack.

Sen's steps did not pause in the slightest.

He strolled along as leisurely as though he were walking through his own backyard.

"What a nuisance."

Sen muttered under his breath.

He did not even turn to glance at the fireball right behind him.

He merely casually stretched out his right hand.

As he passed a row of low shrubs, he snapped off a dead branch thinner than a chopstick.

The branch was dry and brittle, as though it would snap at the slightest touch.

But at the instant Sen grasped it.

A thread of incredibly concealed, incredibly condensed Divine Tree Origin chakra surged into the branch like lightning.

The withered yellow branch instantly glowed with a faint green light.

It became harder and deadlier than the sharpest katana in the world!

The fireball had closed in on Sen's back, and the smell of burning hair was already in the air.

A smug, cold smile curled across Sasuke's lips.

It was over. This worthless fraud.

At that moment.

Holding that tiny branch, Sen swung his arm backward at the enormous fireball behind him.

With utter casualness.

He gave it a light flick.

There was no flashy movement, no earth-shaking sound.

It was like swatting away an annoying fly.

Whoosh—!

An incredibly faint sound of something slicing through the air rang out, nearly imperceptible.

The next second.

The cold smile in Sasuke's eyes froze.

It was replaced by utter shock and disbelief!

That gigantic Great Fireball, burning with terrifying heat as if it could incinerate everything.

The moment it touched the path carved by that dead branch.

Was sliced down the middle.

As smoothly and cleanly as cutting tofu!

The instant the fireball was split, its violent fire-nature chakra lost balance.

Boom!

The fireball, cleaved in two, shot past either side of Sen's body.

More than ten meters ahead of him, it exploded with a thunderous blast, turning into a rain of fire.

Heat waves surged outward, shattering the glass on both sides of the street.

And Sen.

Walked through the blazing fire without a scratch, not even the corner of his clothes singed.

But it was not over yet.

The lingering sword energy drawn out by that dead branch—or rather, a storm of highly compressed Wood Release chakra.

Did not dissipate just because the fireball had shattered.

With terrifying sharpness, it crossed more than ten meters.

And shot straight toward Sasuke, who was still frozen in the hand-seal stance!

"What?!"

Sasuke's scalp went numb as an unprecedented sense of mortal danger engulfed his entire body.

He wanted to dodge, but his body seemed nailed in place. He had no time to react at all!

Ssh!

The invisible sword energy grazed past Sasuke's cheek.

A chill brushed his ear.

He stood there blankly, rigid as stone.

Several strands of black hair drifted down beside his ear and fell to the ground.

And on the solid stone wall behind him.

There was now a horrifying slash several inches deep and several meters long!

The cut was as smooth as a mirror.

If that sword energy had been off by even one more centimeter.

His head would have been sliced apart just like that stone wall!

Cold sweat instantly soaked Sasuke's back.

He gasped for breath, his legs so weak he could barely remain standing.

It was a tremor born from the depths of his soul when faced with absolute power.

One dead branch...

Had split apart a Great Fireball and nearly taken his life?

What kind of monster was this?!

Sen stopped and casually tossed away the branch, which had already crumbled into dust.

He turned to look at Sasuke, whose face had gone completely pale with terror.

There was no mockery in those lazy eyes, only detached indifference from above.

"Let your senior teach you a lesson."

Sen's voice was soft, yet it reached Sasuke's ears with perfect clarity.

"Before you figure out what your opponent is capable of, don't go biting everyone like an idiot."

He turned around and continued walking forward at an unhurried pace.

"You actually dared to use that pathetic ninjutsu and make a fool of yourself."

"Don't call yourself an Uchiha genius again. I'm embarrassed for you."