The Battle Against Nawaki

The Senju Clan's Last Stand—Nawaki in the Second Shinobi World War

Puppet Master—Elderly Chiyo

Rebellious Youth—Young Asuma

The Beautiful Deadweight—Sakura Haruno During the Chunin Ninja Exams

A smile tugged at Uchiha Yi's lips when he saw the four choices.

At last, a few opponents he could actually beat had appeared.

Sakura Haruno during the Chunin Ninja Exams was deadweight. As long as she hadn't brought her strongest Summoning Beast, Naruto Uzumaki, Uchiha Yi was confident he could cut loose.

At that point, Sakura Haruno had yet to become Tsunade's student. At most, she had excellent Chakra control and a little talent for Genjutsu.

As for Sakura Haruno's Genjutsu, the only illusion she had ever cast was on herself: that she had caught up with Sasuke and Naruto.

She had never demonstrated any other Genjutsu.

Uchiha Yi would have been no match for Sakura Haruno during the Fourth Shinobi World War, but during the Chunin Ninja Exams...

Calling Sakura Haruno beautiful deadweight was fair enough. When he watched Naruto in his previous life, nobody seemed to like her. But Sakura had originally been designed as a beauty, and Rock Lee had fallen for her at first sight.

As for Nawaki during the Second Shinobi World War, Uchiha Yi honestly wasn't certain he could win. Nawaki was Hashirama Senju's grandson and a student of both Tsunade and Orochimaru. His training and inheritance surpassed Uchiha Yi's.

If that bizarre Explosive Tag hadn't killed him, Nawaki could have reached Elite Jōnin without much trouble. Going even further might have been possible.

Against the Nawaki of the present, though, Uchiha Yi had a real chance of winning. Nawaki and Uchiha Mikoto were in the same year, and their strength was roughly equal. Beating him shouldn't be too difficult.

He wondered how much Nawaki would grow over the next few years.

Uchiha Yi dismissed elderly Chiyo without a second thought. She was a Kage Level fighter. However old she was, he was in no position to challenge her.

Young Asuma, on the other hand, might be worth a fight.

He should be able to get something good this time.

After a moment's hesitation, Uchiha Yi chose Sakura Haruno first and entered the Battle Space.

He saw the pink-haired girl not far away and immediately hurled three Kunai at her. Sakura Haruno panicked and drew a Kunai to defend herself, but she was facing the Uchiha Clan's distinctive Kunai-throwing technique.

She blocked one Kunai. The other two struck her shoulder and abdomen.

Before Sakura Haruno could act, Uchiha Yi closed in, drew the Short Sword from his back, and slashed her throat.

The next moment, Uchiha Yi's consciousness left the Battle Space.

"Ding! Congratulations to Uchiha Yi for defeating Sakura Haruno. You have obtained Sakura Haruno's Chakra Control Talent. Would you like to fuse with it?"

Fuse!

A faint smile appeared on Uchiha Yi's face after he fused with Sakura Haruno's Chakra Control Talent. He admitted he had underestimated her.

Sakura Haruno had enough talent for Tsunade to take her as a student and devote herself to training her.

Uchiha Yi had thought his Chakra control was already excellent, but Sakura Haruno's talent improved it further—by at least a third.

That was an enormous improvement.

Next, Uchiha Yi turned his attention to Nawaki. After a brief hesitation, he chose to begin the battle.

When he entered the Battle Space and saw Nawaki across from him, clearly not yet twelve, Uchiha Yi had mixed feelings. This had to be Nawaki shortly before his death, two years older than the Nawaki of the present.

The Chakra he sensed from Nawaki was greater than his own, even about a third greater than Kushina Uzumaki's.

It showed just how gifted Nawaki was.

No wonder some people suspected Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō had been involved in Nawaki's death. His other talents were impressive too. He really might have reached Kage Level someday.

But an opponent like that made things interesting.

A smile tugged at Uchiha Yi's lips. He activated his One-Tomoe Sharingan and swiftly formed Hand Seals. Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique! In an instant, he spat out a huge fireball that hurtled toward Nawaki.

Nawaki calmly formed Hand Seals. Just as the fireball was about to strike him, he gathered a large amount of Chakra in his mouth and expelled it. The Chakra rapidly formed a rotating wall of water that blocked Uchiha Yi's fireball.

The scorching flames struck the water wall, producing clouds of steam.

That's Tobirama Senju's Water Release: Water Formation Wall!

Surprise flashed through Uchiha Yi's eyes. He hadn't expected Nawaki to have learned that technique.

Other people formed a Water Formation Wall by channeling Chakra into the ground. Tobirama Senju's version, however, provided protection from every direction.

No doubt he had modified it specifically to counter the Uchiha's Fire Release.

It seemed most of Tobirama Senju's Ninjutsu really had been designed to counter the Uchiha!

With that thought, Uchiha Yi rushed toward Nawaki and formed Hand Seals again. "Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"

A fearsome current gathered in Uchiha Yi's hand and touched the Water Formation Wall surrounding Nawaki.

Water conducted electricity. The current raced through the Water Formation Wall, forcing Nawaki to drop the technique and retreat.

Once he had put some distance between them, Nawaki looked at Uchiha Yi with lingering fear. If he hadn't reacted quickly enough, the Lightning Release would have hit him.

Since when did Uchiha youths study Lightning Release instead of focusing on Fire Release?

Uchiha Yi showed no impatience. He bit his finger and slid it across the Sealing mark on his arm. A giant Shuriken as tall as a person appeared in his right hand, and he hurled it at Nawaki.

"Damn it!" Nawaki cursed. He pulled out a Kunai with his right hand and braced it against the spinning Shuriken.

"Explode!" Before Nawaki could do anything else, Uchiha Yi barked the command. Only then did Nawaki realize that numerous Explosive Tags were tied to the giant Shuriken.

Were the Uchiha always this sneaky?

Boom! The violent explosion swallowed Nawaki.

Did he escape with the Substitution Technique? Uchiha Yi quickly located him.

The explosion had caught Nawaki. Even though he had used the Substitution Technique in time, the Explosive Tags had still injured him.

He had no time to tend to his wounds. Uchiha Yi was already upon him, bringing his blade down.