Sasuke's Strength

Before Sasuke could enter the Shrine, a Root Ninja wearing a dog mask rushed out. He looked at Sasuke and Neji and said coldly, "Anbu investigation. Unauthorized personnel, stay back."

Sasuke stared at him coldly. "Anbu? This Shrine is forbidden ground for the Uchiha Clan. Why wasn't I, the Uchiha Clan Head, notified by the Hokage?"

"And just because you say you're Anbu doesn't make it true. Where's the Hokage's written search order?" Sasuke drew a kunai. "I suspect you're an enemy spy who infiltrated the Uchiha Clan to steal our secrets!"

"You in the mask, you'd better show us proof you're Anbu and Lord Hokage's written order." Neji grinned without a hint of goodwill.

"One Genin and one kid who hasn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy. Where do you get this confidence? You're not worthy of seeing Lord Hokage's order. As for proof I'm Anbu, can't you see what I'm wearing?" the dog-masked Root Ninja said coldly.

"So you have neither Lord Hokage's order nor anything to prove who you are?" The corners of Sasuke's mouth lifted in an icy smile.

"Sasuke, why waste your breath on him? If he can't show them, he's trespassing on the Uchiha Clan's forbidden ground." Neji urged Sasuke to act. "If you won't take him, I will."

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted. "He's mine. Just stay there and watch."

"Try not to make a fool of yourself." Neji shrugged and leaned against a torii pillar in front of the Shrine as though no one else were there.

"You two brats have a death wish!" Even someone from Root, an organization said to have stamped out emotion, felt his blood boil at their words.

"Heh." Sasuke drew his kunai, activated his Sharingan, and charged.

"So you've awakened the Sharingan. No wonder you're so arrogant. But I'll show you that even with those eyes, you're nothing against me. You need to learn a hard lesson!" The dog-masked Root Ninja drew the short sword from his back and met the charge.

Steel rang against steel. Sasuke's ability had clearly caught the Root Ninja off guard. That polished Taijutsu was far beyond anything he expected from a Ninja Academy student.

Realizing Sasuke was no ordinary opponent, the Root Ninja dared not look him in the eye. Meeting the Sharingan's gaze would be as good as suicide.

Clang! The kunai struck the short sword, sending sparks flying. Sasuke's Sharingan spun as he stamped hard on the man's toes.

"Urgh!" The man grunted. Before he could pull away, Sasuke drove his other knee into the man's lower abdomen.

Rip! The kunai sliced through the Root Ninja's clothes, leaving a long gash across his body.

"What's wrong? Why won't you look up? Don't feel like it? Look me in the eye!" After sparring with Neji for so long, Sasuke had learned to taunt his opponents.

"Damn it!" The dog-masked Root Ninja endured the searing pain and kept his head down, refusing to meet Sasuke's gaze.

At that moment, the two people in the Basement heard the commotion and came out.

The sight startled them. They had never expected Hound, one of Root's elites, to suffer so badly against a Ninja Academy student who had yet to graduate.

Sasuke held his bloodied kunai and stared coldly at the three Root Ninjas. There was no fear on his face, only eagerness for the fight.

The Root Ninja in the fox mask, Fox, sensed trouble. The three of them had been caught red-handed.

"What about you two? Are you Anbu as well? Then show me Lord Hokage's written order," Sasuke said coldly.

"Lord Hokage's mission orders are Konoha secrets. Unauthorized people have no right to see them!" Fox replied grimly.

"Then there's nothing more to say!" Fine threads of lightning began to dance across Sasuke's body.

Fox's heart sank at the sight. He recognized the secret method: using Lightning Release to stimulate the body and greatly increase speed.

"Then I'll teach you a lesson!" As soon as Sasuke spoke, he vanished from in front of Fox and Tanuki.

He's fast! Fox was a ninja of the Aburame Clan, and most of his strength lay in his insects. Taijutsu was not his forte.

Even with Fox and Tanuki fighting together, they gained no advantage against Sasuke, who moved like a bolt of lightning.

As Fox struggled to defend himself, swarms of insects poured from his body, trying to latch onto Sasuke.

But Sasuke was too fast. Fox's insects could not keep up.

The injured Hound wanted to help, but Neji, who appeared casual while following every shift in the fight, fixed his attention on him.

Neji's faint, knowing smile and readiness to strike, together with the pressure Hound felt from him, left Hound sweating as he could only watch.

What the hell? Does the Ninja Academy have geniuses like this now? Sweat drenched the face beneath Tanuki's mask.

The pressure of the Sharingan was overwhelming. No wonder Sunagakure had a saying that anyone facing the Sharingan one-on-one had to flee. Tanuki could truly feel that pressure now.

Now they understood the pain Sunagakure had once suffered.

Sasuke Uchiha might have been young, but his Taijutsu was remarkably polished, as though he had fought a thousand battles.

Every time Tanuki tried to circle behind him, Sasuke saw through her intention and intercepted her at incredible speed.

Fox was not a Taijutsu specialist. He struggled badly in this fight and had become a burden.

With Lightning Release stimulating his body, Sasuke had reached speeds too fast for the naked eye to follow. If Root had not prepared plans for fighting all kinds of ninja, the two of them would probably have been down already.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

While moving at high speed, Sasuke seized a chance to form hand seals. He drew in a sharp breath, then exhaled.

He compressed his wind-nature chakra into bullet-like pellets and fired them at Fox and Tanuki in a nonstop barrage, like a machine gun.

This was one of the things Sasuke had gained at a training ground in Konoha: a B-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu.

Bang! Bang! Fox, whose Taijutsu was lacking, dodged a few shots before several wind bullets struck him in succession. He collapsed to the ground.

Tanuki tried to rush out of the shrine, but Neji appeared in front of her with a Body Flicker Technique.

Neji timed it perfectly. He struck just as her momentum ran out, before she could gather strength again, reaching out to press his palm toward her.

Tanuki's pupils contracted. She had no time to react and could only watch Neji's palm strike her lower abdomen.

"Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!"

Bang! Neji's palm strike made Tanuki cough up blood on the spot and sent her flying toward Sasuke.

"What a disappointment." Without even looking, Sasuke kicked her as she came toward him, sending her flying in another direction.

Sasuke then came to a stop, lightning still flickering across his body.