Crushing Them Again

"You brat, it seems you have quite an issue with me?"

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Shu with a smile that did not reach her eyes. "If you have any problems, why not clear them up now?"

She had already decided that she would make Uchiha Shu bow his head through her own strength!

For a ninja squad, there could only be one voice within a team. As the squad leader, she had to establish absolute authority.

The Third Hokage had assigned her to lead Shu's team, yet she had unexpectedly stumbled over Shu and lost all her prestige. For someone as proud as her, that was simply intolerable.

Although Shu had controlled her in their very first exchange, Kurenai firmly believed she had merely suffered from a lack of information. She desperately wanted to win back some face.

Thus, Shu's attitude suited her perfectly.

But she had not expected his first words to make the veins on her forehead throb.

"You misunderstand. Your existence is neither here nor there to me. I had no expectations of you, so naturally, I have no issue with you," Shu said calmly.

Would this kid really not get poisoned to death from licking his own lips?

Kurenai could not help but complain inwardly.

Shu's way of speaking was simply outrageous. Even when she went looking for trouble, she could not say something like that!

"However, there is indeed a problem... I am a man of principles. Since the Third Hokage said that four-man squads are the village's rule, I will naturally abide by it. At least, before someone else breaks the rules, I will not take the initiative to do so. That would be beneath me."

Shu continued, "And that is precisely where the problem lies. With Aunt Hazuki and Izumi on the team, I hold the leadership. I do not care why the Third Hokage suddenly dropped you into the squad, but..."

Shu did not continue, but his attitude was already perfectly clear.

"I see. You want to fight for leadership of the team?"

Kurenai immediately laughed. Shu's words were exactly what she wanted to hear. She had been wondering how to win back some face, after all.

"The Sharingan is naturally gifted in Genjutsu. I admit that I was careless just now, but you do not think ninja battles consist of Genjutsu alone, do you?"

Kurenai sneered. "At your age, it is indeed impressive to possess such skill in Genjutsu, but that is no reason for you to look down on your seniors!"

Shu could not help but smile. He lightly waved a hand, signaling Izumi, who wanted to smooth things over, to step back.

"Come to think of it, I passed your test, but you have not passed mine yet. Forming a team should be a two-way street, shouldn't it?"

As Shu spoke, he leisurely raised his hand as before and crooked a finger at Kurenai.

"How about this? I will not use Genjutsu. As for you... use whatever means you like. If you win, you are the captain. If you lose, hand over the leadership and quietly be a vase. How does that sound?"

By the time Shu finished speaking, Kurenai's face was already filled with coldness.

"Training Ground Three. I will wait for you there."

She practically gritted out those words, then vanished from the spot with a Body Flicker.

"Shu, wasn't that a little too much?" Izumi walked over, a hint of concern in her voice. "I think Teacher Kurenai is actually a very nice person."

Shu merely gave a disdainful laugh and said nothing.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had shamelessly insisted on stuffing Kurenai Yuhi into the team, so it was practically certain that she had been sent to monitor him. Naturally, he had no reason to show her a pleasant face.

Even if he spat in her face, she would have to take it!

Shu placed a hand on Izumi's shoulder. With a thought, a spatial vortex centered on his right eye instantly swallowed them both.

In the blink of an eye, they had appeared inside Training Ground Three.

"So this is Kamui? It is amazing..."

The sudden space-time transfer felt incredibly novel to Izumi.

Thinking that this technique was still sealed within her own eyes, warmth welled up in her heart. As expected, Shu still cared greatly about his big sister!

When Kurenai Yuhi arrived at Training Ground Three and saw the two of them waiting there ahead of her, she froze.

Before she could think further, Shu crooked a finger at her again.

The sight made her explode on the spot! Without another word, she raised her hand and hurled three shuriken at Shu!

Clang, clang, clang...

Shu could not even be bothered to dodge. He simply flicked the shuriken aside with his fingers.

That casual manner made Kurenai's pupils contract slightly.

He had knocked aside shuriken with nothing but his fingers? How had this kid done that?

No wonder he dared to act so arrogantly...

Kurenai frowned tightly, and her anger instantly faded.

Ninja combat was a battle of intelligence. In this situation, she first had to determine whether Shu's ability to deflect shuriken relied on some kind of Ninjutsu or another method.

With that thought, she did not hesitate. She used a Body Flicker and appeared before Shu in an instant, driving a kunai heavily toward his arm!

Clang!

With a crisp sound, black fragments of the kunai flew high into the air before Kurenai's stunned eyes.

In her view, Shu remained in a horse stance, his left fist tucked at his waist and his right hand raised in a dragon claw. He was completely unharmed. Only a faint red mark remained on the palm that had just collided head-on with her kunai.

One palm strike... shattered a kunai?

What kind of joke was this!

Was this little brat even human?

Could it be Steel Release?

The utterly unreasonable scene made Kurenai's hair stand on end. She abruptly retreated, opening the distance as she watched Shu with full vigilance.

"What was that? Steel Release?"

"What kind of trash is that?"

Shu sneered and formed a Tiger Seal with one hand.

One-handed hand seals?

And he had simplified them down to a single seal?

But... a Tiger Seal? Fire Release?

Seeing Shu's unhurried expression, Kurenai rapidly formed hand seals with both hands. "Water Release..."

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Boom—

A terrifying fireball over thirty meters wide came rolling forward, gouging a deep trench into the earth. Kurenai immediately abandoned her hand seals, her face turning ashen as she fled in panic.

What the hell? Could a Great Fireball really be that huge?

With Fire Release at this level, this little brat had apparently completely mastered fire-nature transformation.

No weaknesses in Ninjutsu, taijutsu, or Genjutsu... was this child really only six years old?

The enormous fireball burned fiercely for quite a while. After the flames dispersed, a massive crater dozens of meters wide had appeared where Kurenai had been standing!

Kurenai hid behind a large tree and suppressed her presence. Only after seeing that Shu did not seem to have noticed her did she quietly let out a breath.

Then she could not help shaking her head with a bitter smile.

Before today, even if someone beat her to death, she would never have believed that she would be crushed in a direct fight by a little brat who had just graduated early from the Ninja Academy.

Fortunately, the other side had no real combat experience, and his tracking ability was practically nonexistent. That confused look did not seem fake, which was why she had been given a chance to catch her breath.

In the clearing of the training ground, Shu scratched his head.

Kurenai's judgment was correct. With the trees blocking his view, he had lost track of her.

As for the tracking techniques taught at school, he had not even heard of them!

Tracking was such a hassle.

Look at the Inuzuka clan, sniffing around like dogs. What if someone farted? How disgusting would that be?

So compared with tracking, Shu preferred another solution.

A method that he considered more reliable, and one that gave him a greater sense of security.

As the saying went, when weak, rely on tactical maneuvering; when strong... saturate the area with firepower!