"Are you asking for a beating?"
Qingxue Uchiha spoke first, rolling up her sleeves and already showing a hint of her flair as the boss of the group.
"Qingxue, that's too violent. Yemu-kun probably wouldn't like someone violent, would he?"
Hinata Hyuga stood beside Yemu and tried to talk her down.
At her words, Qingxue Uchiha's smile froze. Her eyes narrowed, and little symbols of anger appeared above her head.
Well, well, well. Since when did this little girl learn to act like such a two-faced sweetheart?
"So, Sasuke Uchiha, let me be your opponent."
Hinata Hyuga stepped forward of her own accord.
She felt she should do more for Yemu-kun.
Even if Yemu Hyuga disliked her for it, she didn't mind.
"You? No. You're too weak to fight me."
Sasuke Uchiha shook his head. He had awakened the Uchiha Clan's exclusive Sharingan. Fighting a little girl would be far too unfair.
Still, for some reason, Sasuke Uchiha felt a sense of familiarity.
It seemed someone had said the same thing to him.
Sure enough, after thinking it over, Sasuke Uchiha recalled the scene of Uchiha Itachi humiliating him.
His expression instantly turned vicious, with none of his usual brooding pose.
"Yemu Hyuga, are you running away again?"
Watching Yemu Hyuga leave, Sasuke Uchiha looked a little anxious. Was this guy going to chicken out again?
"Running away?"
"I'm just finding an open space."
Yemu Hyuga spread his hands.
He also wanted to see just how strong Sasuke Uchiha was, having awakened only one tomoe after his clan's massacre.
Iruka walked over. "Since you two are so eager to fight, I shouldn't keep stopping you."
"But safety comes first."
After that reminder,
the students nearby gathered around Sasuke Uchiha and Yemu Hyuga.
"So these two are finally going to fight?"
With his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru Nara commented to the chubby boy beside him, Choji Akimichi.
"Shikamaru, who do you think will win?" Choji scratched his head, looking curious.
"I think it'll probably be Yemu Hyuga."
Shikamaru Nara offered his guess.
Compared to Sasuke Uchiha, Yemu Hyuga had shown a far more terrifying level of dominance.
In their previous sparring matches, no one had lasted more than a single move against him.
Sasuke Uchiha was strong too, but not so strong that people lost the will to fight him.
By Shikamaru Nara's estimation,
Sasuke Uchiha would most likely get thrashed by Yemu Hyuga.
"Sasuke-kun, you can do it!"
Hearing Shikamaru's guess beside her, Sakura Haruno took the initiative to cheer Sasuke Uchiha on.
"Hm?"
Seeing Sakura Haruno cheering so enthusiastically, Qingxue Uchiha quietly nudged Hinata beside her, putting pressure on her.
Hinata Hyuga's little face reddened for once, and white steam began rising from her head.
Witnessing this marvel again,
Qingxue Uchiha smiled and patted Hinata's head, curious about how it actually worked.
"Y-Yemu-kun, you can do it."
With Qingxue pressing down on her head, Hinata Hyuga could only helplessly cup her hands around her mouth and call out.
"Good luck."
Qingxue Uchiha also smiled softly and waved her little hand.
In the open space set aside for their match, Sasuke Uchiha slowly walked up to Yemu Hyuga.
"You're finally willing to fight me. Come on! I'm not like those other pieces of trash!"
Sasuke Uchiha no longer cared about his image, spouting one taunt after another.
He desperately needed to vent.
Otherwise, he might really snap from bottling it all up.
"Come on, Sasuke Uchiha."
Yemu Hyuga stood opposite Sasuke and formed the Seal of Confrontation.
The so-called Seal of Confrontation simply told an opponent that one was ready to fight.
Sasuke Uchiha snorted coldly. After forming the Seal of Confrontation, he threw shuriken to support his attack and charged toward Yemu Hyuga.
His expression carried a hint of cold arrogance.
He didn't believe Yemu Hyuga could have had access to shuriken at his age.
In Sasuke's mind, Yemu Hyuga was probably still throwing stones.
He, on the other hand, had already learned shuriken throwing ahead of time under that bastard Uchiha Itachi's guidance.
"Wow, Sasuke Uchiha already knows how to use shuriken?"
Ino Yamanaka sounded surprised.
Choji Akimichi nodded. "Yeah, those shuriken look really sharp."
Sakura Haruno's eyes also lit up with delight.
Shikamaru Nara alone said nothing.
He had handled shuriken too, but unfortunately, he wasn't as proficient as Sasuke Uchiha.
Hearing the startled cries around him,
Sasuke Uchiha felt no joy.
He knew just how enormous the gap between him and Uchiha Itachi was.
Seeing that Yemu Hyuga seemed unresponsive,
Sasuke Uchiha's gaze grew even colder. Today, he would begin by defeating Yemu Hyuga.
Step by step, he would embark on his path to greater strength, then personally kill that bastard Uchiha Itachi.
Just as Sasuke Uchiha was imagining his future,
reality delivered a resounding slap to his face.
He watched in bewilderment as Yemu Hyuga dodged his shuriken with two sidesteps.
Then Yemu pressed a single palm against his abdomen.
In an instant, that palm became a fist, unleashing an explosive burst of short-range power!
"Urgh!"
The terrifying force made Sasuke Uchiha's eyes bulge as he was sent flying backward.
Spit flew from his mouth, tracing a graceful arc through the air.
"What the hell?"
Choji Akimichi was dumbfounded.
He hadn't even seen how Sasuke Uchiha had been sent flying.
"Uh... Shikamaru, what just happened?"
Ino Yamanaka was curious.
Looking at Yemu Hyuga standing expressionlessly in the clearing, she felt a growing sense of admiration.
For some reason, Ino felt that Yemu had become even more handsome, especially with those white eyes of his. Blue light seemed to flicker through them occasionally, utterly mesmerizing her.
Her clan was one of Konoha's major intelligence clans.
Unfortunately, there were no truly top-tier fighters within it.
As a result, the clan didn't have much say in the village.
Only after joining forces with Choji's and Shikamaru's clans had things improved somewhat.
"This... this is probably a new way of generating force."
Shikamaru Nara offered his guess.
From such a short distance, Yemu had sent someone flying so far, without even making any obvious movement.
That undoubtedly sparked intense curiosity in Shikamaru Nara.
"You... bastard!"
Amid the swirling dust, there was a glint of blood.
Furious, Sasuke Uchiha activated his one-tomoe Sharingan and charged toward Yemu Hyuga again.
For some reason, he actually saw a hint of Uchiha Itachi in Yemu Hyuga.
Sasuke absolutely refused to accept an outcome like this.
Yemu Hyuga, what right did he have to make me feel this way?
Could he really crush me and toy with me almost effortlessly, just like Uchiha Itachi?
Damn it! I'm Sasuke Uchiha, the last standard-bearer of the Uchiha Clan. I will never accept this!
Before you continue