A Test I Arranged for Myself

Thud, thud—

Like a watermelon, the head sprayed vivid crimson juice as it slammed heavily onto the ground with a dull sound.

Having lost its head, the Uchiha Chunin's body continued running forward from the inertia of its rapid movement.

Its nerves had not even realized it was dead, and its muscles were still exerting force.

But after only a few steps, the body's nerves seemed to finally realize that the brain giving it commands had been severed. Its movements gradually slowed, and it eventually collapsed to the ground.

Thump—

The unsupported corpse crashed heavily onto the ground.

The entire process happened so abruptly that neither the dead Uchiha Chunin nor Souji Hyuga and Seisai, who were pursuing him from behind, realized what had happened.

In confusion, they all "passed by" the fallen corpse and continued chasing the fleeing Uchiha Jonin.

This time, even the Uchiha Jonin, who had always been able to react immediately to any unexpected situation in battle, froze.

His limbs continued fleeing instinctively, but behind his mask, his expression was filled with undisguised terror.

He had not seen what had just happened at all.

Although he only possessed a Two Tomoe Sharingan, and its insight was inferior to a Three Tomoe Sharingan—

The battle experience that had allowed him to become a Jonin over the years was already beyond what a single evolution of the Sharingan could compare to. Yet even so, he had not sensed anything unusual just now.

There had been no sound of wind, no trace of chakra, not even the slightest killing intent!

With nothing at all to warn him, his companion had abruptly lost his life and been beheaded right before his eyes. What the hell had happened?!

From the moment the ambush began, one unexpected event after another had already shattered the Jonin's composed, calm mind.

That Hyūga Main Family member was not right!

He quickly realized this. He had seen the confusion on the faces of the two Hyūga Chunin chasing behind him.

They did not know what was going on either.

The only person who could have caused all this was that Hyūga Main Family member!

The Uchiha Jonin felt as though he had grasped something important, but there was only one thought left in his mind.

Run. Run now!

Since his companion was already dead, there was no need for him to remain behind to cover their retreat. He had to return to Konoha as quickly as possible and report this to the clan head.

But unfortunately, before he could take more than a few steps, his body's instincts sensed danger. He abruptly halted, then flung a kunai at the empty air in front of him.

Clang—

The sound of metal colliding rang out clearly amid the roaring blaze.

A figure abruptly appeared in the previously empty air.

The kunai thrown by the Uchiha Jonin was knocked aside by the kunai in Ryosuke's hand.

"You?!"

The moment he saw Ryosuke, the Uchiha Jonin could no longer restrain his emotions and cried out, "Genjutsu?!"

Behind his mask, the Sharingan that had remained active since the battle began spun to its limit.

The Two Tomoe in his pupils rotated rapidly like wheels until, at last, a third tomoe appeared!

The Sharingan, already possessing powerful insight, made everything before him even clearer after this evolution.

The surrounding scene changed subtly. The current scenery was familiar. The reason they had never escaped the dense forest after running for so long was that the two of them had been circling within this forest the entire time!

Not far away, that Hyūga Main Family member stood calmly with a kunai in hand.

On that young, immature face, those white eyes seemed different from those of ordinary Hyūga. They appeared somewhat brighter than the eyes of a typical Hyūga.

"So that's it. So that's it!"

The Uchiha Jonin clenched his fists and roared hoarsely.

The two Hyūga had easily dispelled the genjutsu enhanced by the Hypnosis Eye. His companion had died mysteriously before his eyes. The danger he had sensed just now...

Everything, everything—upon seeing those eyes, he understood what had happened!

The pressure of life and death, the death of his companion, and those eyes before him sent the Uchiha Jonin's heart churning like a raging sea.

"Hyūga... Hyūga! What a Hyūga Clan!"

As he roared, he charged toward the calm figure ahead.

At that moment, he discarded the rule of never engaging a Hyūga in close combat.

Years of experience told him that he could no longer escape.

The moment he saw those eyes, he had lost any chance of leaving this dense forest.

Because the eyes he had seen might be the greatest secret of the Hyuga Clan for centuries.

This is the moment I've been waiting for.

Facing the Uchiha Jonin rushing toward him, Ryosuke felt no fear at all. Instead, he was eager to try.

But that did not mean he had become arrogant enough to think he could face a Jonin head-on.

The moment the Uchiha Jonin charged at him, Souji and Seisai, who had been vigilant of him from the start, caught up as well.

Rather than charging at Ryosuke, the Uchiha Jonin had instead placed himself within the encirclement of the three of them.

However, Souji and Seisai did not attack immediately. They remained on guard at the side.

As they faced the figure who had remained calm throughout the battle, they suddenly recalled Ryosuke's words before the fight began.

"This is... a test I arranged for myself."

His words echoed in their minds. Seeing the Uchiha Jonin's bedraggled state, they seemed to understand why Ryosuke had appeared so composed and so confident earlier.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

A gritted voice rang out. After such a prolonged, intense battle, the Uchiha Jonin had very little chakra left.

He could no longer use those powerful B-rank ninjutsu.

"Rotation!"

Chakra burst forth simultaneously from tenketsu all over Ryosuke's body, forming a spiraling chakra shield around him.

While blocking the incoming flames, it also redirected them, sending them flying back toward the Uchiha Jonin.

Nimbly dodging his own ninjutsu, the Uchiha Jonin had not expected it to work. He had only expended chakra in this situation to prevent Ryosuke from having a chance to evade or move.

He could no longer escape. All he wanted was to leave something behind on Ryosuke with his life.

Ignoring Ryosuke, who was wrapped in the chakra shield, the Uchiha Jonin repeatedly infused the kunai in his hand with chakra, making it sharper and more penetrating.

As a Jonin, he naturally did not possess only one type of chakra nature transformation. Aside from the Fire Release unique to the Uchiha, his study of wind-nature chakra was equally profound.

Although Rotation claimed to be absolute defense, nothing in this world was truly absolute.

Chakra quantity, chakra control, and various other factors would all affect Rotation's actual effectiveness.

Therefore...

"Die!"

Under Ryosuke's calm gaze, the Uchiha Jonin rushing toward him roared hoarsely and hurled the sharp kunai condensed with powerful wind-nature chakra.

Whoosh—

The piercing sound of it tearing through the air was painfully shrill.

An ordinary kunai, in the hands of this Jonin, had been given immense penetrating power and destructive force.

It was like an ordinary toy gun bullet transformed into a specialized sniper rifle round, directly piercing through Ryosuke's Rotation and penetrating the chakra shield.

But unfortunately, Ryosuke had anticipated it. He had not blindly trusted the defensive power of his Rotation and had moved aside in advance, avoiding the kunai whose momentum had not diminished.

"Eight Trigrams."

Ryosuke's expression did not change in the slightest due to the battle.

At this moment, he was like a precision machine, calculating every possible development before launching his counterattack. "Sixty-Four Palms!"