Rasengan

"The Will of Fire, heh. I really can't wait to see how Sasuke reacts once he knows everything!" The corners of Neji's mouth rose, anticipation spreading across his face.

"Konoha, just you wait. Let me raise a little surprise for you." Under Neji's deliberate influence, Sasuke was no longer the naive boy he had once been.

Neji had Sasuke repeatedly recall the scenes from the night of the massacre to stimulate his Sharingan's evolution.

After confronting the night of the massacre for two months, Sasuke had changed. He could withstand much more pressure now.

Neji could only marvel at how effective facing one's fears really was.

Sasuke's emotions had become far more stable. Even when facing Naruto, he no longer called him a "dead last."

Even if someone mentioned Uchiha Itachi in front of him, Sasuke would show little outward emotional fluctuation.

Even if Uchiha Itachi himself appeared before him, he would not lose his reason.

Under Neji's guidance, Sasuke had taken on a different hue from his original counterpart. This Sasuke had become a little smarter.

"All right, let this lesson on the Will of Fire be our last class before graduation. Tomorrow, we'll go straight into the graduation exam." Omori Kyohei's face was solemn.

"Tomorrow's exam will cover the Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, and Clone Technique, commonly known as the Three-Body Technique. These should all be very easy for you, so let me congratulate you in advance on becoming proud Konoha ninja." Omori Kyohei led the applause as he finished speaking.

Rock Lee had been admitted to his class for his talent in taijutsu, and his assessment differed from that of ordinary students. Omori Kyohei had no need to worry about him.

Seeing their homeroom teacher applaud, the others in the classroom also began clapping in celebration.

School ended early that day. Neji did not return to the Hyuga Clan, but instead entered the Uchiha Clan's compound.

Everything he needed was ready. Cat Granny had completed all the preliminary procedures, including human experimentation.

The experiment had been conducted last month. After a month of observation, the test subject's condition had remained good.

The test subject had shown no abnormalities right up until being disposed of yesterday.

"You're here." At the home of the Uchiha Clan Head, Sasuke leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets. He had not gone to school at all that day.

"I'm here." Neji nodded.

As Sasuke walked into the house, he reminded him, "You've decided to do it today? Your graduation exam is tomorrow."

"Something like the Three-Body Technique? I could perform it with hand seals made using my feet!" Neji said dismissively. "Besides, the sooner we do this, the better."

"You can make hand seals with your feet?" A hint of surprise appeared on Sasuke's face.

Neji nodded. "It isn't hard. Once your understanding of seals and ninjutsu reaches a certain level, you can make seals with your feet too, or simplify a technique's seals. You can even perform seals one-handed, or use ninjutsu without any seals at all."

Sasuke paused midstep. "You can do that?"

Neji could hear the frustration in his voice. He replied, "You're giving me too much credit. I can only do that with the most basic, simplest Three-Body Technique. I can't even perform C-Rank ninjutsu one-handed."

Hearing Neji's answer, Sasuke secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Neji really had reached that level, he would have been truly terrifying.

Sasuke wrestled with himself for a while. In the end, his pursuit of power overcame his pride as a genius and his Uchiha honor. He asked, "Can you teach me how?"

"Of course. You've helped me so much. What's a little trick like this?" Neji thought nothing of such minor techniques.

"Oh, right. I have an ultimate ninjutsu. Want to learn it?" As Neji spoke, a somewhat peculiar smile appeared on his face.

The sight of Sasuke using that technique in front of Naruto someday would surely make people laugh. That scene would definitely be entertaining.

Sasuke abruptly stopped, turned around, and stared straight at Neji. "What ultimate ninjutsu? You even have something like that?"

Any ultimate ninjutsu could produce a ninja of at least elite jonin caliber. Constantly mocked by Neji for his poor academic knowledge, Sasuke had been studying furiously lately, so he now knew a little about ninjutsu.

Generally speaking, ultimate ninjutsu were mostly S-rank in difficulty. Techniques of that caliber were not only incredibly difficult to learn, but their power was usually proportional to that difficulty.

In short, not a single ultimate ninjutsu was simple.

Konoha did not have many techniques at that level, and most were recorded in the Scroll of Seals.

As far as Sasuke knew, the Hokage kept the Scroll of Seals, and only those who made exceptional contributions could earn the right to learn one of its techniques.

Legend had it that the Fourth Hokage had earned the name "Yellow Flash" on the battlefield by learning a Space-Time Ninjutsu from it called the Flying Thunder God Technique.

If Sasuke claimed he did not want to learn it, he would not even believe himself.

"Just tell me whether you want to learn it." Neji looked at him with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"How did you get this technique?" Sasuke ignored Neji's infuriating smile. He desperately wanted an answer.

Sasuke ventured a guess. "Did you use your Byakugan to peek at the Scroll of Seals?"

"Would you believe me if I said I developed it myself?" Neji deliberately put on a smug expression.

"Do you think I would?" Having studied the relevant material so thoroughly, Sasuke naturally did not believe him.

Neji smiled. "Actually, this is a technique the Fourth Hokage envisioned. Back then, the Yellow Flash encountered the Nine-Tails before he had the chance to complete it."

"A technique the Fourth Hokage envisioned? So it's still incomplete? How did you get his ideas?" Sasuke suspected Neji was trying to fool him into taking on the task of completing the technique.

Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. "They say the Fourth Hokage was skilled in Wind Release Ninjutsu as well as Space-Time Ninjutsu. Don't tell me you're talking about an S-rank Wind Release technique?"

"Not bad, Sasuke. You're getting smarter. As for how I got it, don't ask so many questions. Just tell me whether you want to learn it." Neji patted his shoulder with a gratified smile.

"Cut it out with that disgusting smile." Sasuke knocked Neji's hand away in distaste, then said seriously, "That's a technique even a genius like the Fourth Hokage couldn't complete. Why do you think the two of us can?"

Neji said nothing. He simply beckoned, signaling for them to head to the basement.

Sasuke followed without the slightest hesitation. He wanted to see just what Neji could pull off.

Once they reached the basement, Neji opened his hand. In an instant, a large amount of chakra gathered above his palm, forming a round ball.

"What is that?!" Looking at the ball of chakra in Neji's palm, Sasuke could not help breaking into a cold sweat.

With such densely concentrated chakra, Neji's hand would be ruined if it exploded.

Instinctively, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, which had already developed two tomoe, and stared intently at Neji's palm.

Through his Sharingan, he saw the chakra within that extremely dense ball spinning chaotically in different directions under Neji's control.

Sasuke said hoarsely, "That's Hand Seal-less Ninjutsu! You've already mastered it?"

His face was filled with shock. Hand Seal-less Ninjutsu existed only in legends. He had never imagined that his friend had actually mastered such a technique.