Sunlight filtered through scattered clouds over the Ninja Academy's training ground, dividing the field into patches of light and shade. A breeze swept up dust and a few stray fallen leaves, tracing wavering paths through the air. Most of the students watching from the sidelines were still reeling from Minato's almost miraculous dodging in the previous match when the referee's voice brought them back to reality.
"Next match, Shikaku Nara versus Torayoshi Uchiha!"
An irrepressible wave of whispers instantly rose from the stands, brimming with anticipation.
"Uchiha against Nara, brains against a kekkei genkai. This is going to be good!"
"Torai got personal pointers from Boss Shinji himself. His Shurikenjutsu is fast and tricky. Shikaku's in for a rough time."
"Hard to say. Shikaku always looks half asleep, but have you ever seen him actually lose a practical exam? The Nara Clan's brains aren't built like ours."
Torayoshi Uchiha already stood poised in the field. His dark blue, high-collared short-sleeved shirt fit neatly, and the red-and-white fan crest on his back stood out vividly in the sunlight.
He stood tall, his chin slightly raised and his short black hair immaculately groomed. His dark, bright eyes, inherited from his clan, burned with fierce confidence and the pride of the Uchiha.
His right hand hung naturally at his side, but his fingertips were only an inch from the bulging Ninja Tool Pouch at the back of his waist. He was like a bow drawn taut, elegant and dangerous, ready to unleash a fierce attack at any moment.
Shikaku Nara, standing opposite him, presented a stark contrast.
He seemed not to have fully shaken off his afternoon drowsiness. His hands rested loosely in his trouser pockets, and his slightly long black hair drooped carelessly over part of his eyes. Everything about him radiated a languid Can we get this over with? I want to go back to sleep.
Only an exceptionally attentive observer could catch the sharp glint between his half-closed eyelids as he scanned and analyzed his opponent like a precision instrument.
"Begin!"
The instant the referee's arm dropped, Torai's hands became two blurred afterimages! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Six black shuriken sliced through the air with piercing whistles, as though guided by invisible threads, targeting Shikaku's shoulders, elbow joints, knees, and ankles. Precise and swift, they stayed perfectly within the school exam's prohibition against inflicting fatal injuries, demonstrating solid fundamentals and excellent control.
Shikaku moved almost the instant Torai's knuckles twitched. His reaction was neither delayed nor wasteful. He merely took a seemingly casual step diagonally backward, turned his body slightly, and lowered his head. The six deadly shuriken brushed past the hem of his clothes and thudded deep into the ground where he had stood, forming a neat, dangerous fan.
His movements were so simple they almost looked perfunctory, yet their efficiency was striking.
"Is scurrying around like a rat all you can do, Nara?" Torai's lips curved with unmistakable Uchiha arrogance as both hands darted into his Ninja Tool Pouch again. "Let's see how long you can dodge the Uchiha's waves of attacks!"
This time, there were twelve shuriken! Rather than a simple volley, they spread in an intricate fan like unfurled wings, deftly cutting off Shikaku's best escape routes to either side. At the same time, Torai formed hand seals before his chest at a dizzying speed. He drew a deep breath, his chest swelling slightly-
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
Several fist-sized, orange-red fireballs burst from his mouth in succession, mingling with the dense rain of shuriken like blazing jewels set into a net of death. They swept toward Shikaku with a roar. Their size and heat had clearly been precisely controlled to avoid serious injury, but their coordination with the shuriken's trajectories still formed a suffocating web of combined physical strikes and searing energy.
Quiet gasps rippled through the stands. To execute Fire Release Ninjutsu so smoothly in just the third year at the Ninja Academy, and coordinate it with Shurikenjutsu-the Uchiha's kekkei genkai and clan training certainly lived up to their reputation.
Shikaku, who had seemed indifferent all this time, finally grew a little more serious. Just before the storm of flame and metal reached him, he pulled his hands from his pockets and swiftly formed hand seals. His speed was less dazzling than Torai's, but steady and precise. Then he slammed both palms against the ground:
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Rumble!
A thick earthen wall of moderate height burst from the ground, standing firmly before Shikaku like a loyal shield. The Phoenix Flower fireballs struck it, erupting into brilliant bursts of sparks and black smoke, while the shuriken clattered into the earth and lodged deep within it.
Yet in the split second when the wall rose and blocked their view of each other, Torai had already acted on his excellent combat instincts and speed. He pushed off hard and swept around the side like the wind, intending to launch a decisive strike from Shikaku's blind spot. At some point, a gleaming kunai had appeared in his hand, held in a reverse grip. His target was the gap beneath Shikaku's right shoulder blade, which might have been exposed by his use of Earth Release!
"It's over!" Certainty of victory flashed in Torai's eyes as his kunai stabbed forward with a sharp rush of air!
Shhk-
The kunai's tip struck something solid, but the resistance was nothing like flesh. In a puff of white smoke, the "Shikaku" he had stabbed turned into a substitution log riddled with holes and slowly toppled to the ground.
"Substitution Technique?! When did he form the seals?" Torai's pupils contracted sharply. Alarm bells rang in his mind, and he immediately swept his gaze around, searching for his opponent's real body.
Shikaku strolled leisurely out of the shade beneath a large tree at the edge of the training ground. His face still wore that trademark expression, as though he could never quite wake up. He even raised a hand to cover a small yawn. "Your attacks are sharp, and your rhythm's pretty good... but your intentions are too obvious. Is everyone in the Uchiha Clan this straightforward?"
Torai's expression darkened, and he snorted. "Hiding in the shadows and playing little tricks-is that the Nara Clan's philosophy of combat?"
"It works and saves effort. Why not?" Shikaku shrugged indifferently. His right hand hung seemingly casually at his side, but anyone with keen perception watching closely would have noticed his fingertips trembling rapidly through the tiniest motions, as though silently plucking at something.
Torai said no more. His gaze sharpened, and he formed hand seals again. This time, the Phoenix Flower fireballs he spat out came in even greater numbers, sweeping toward Shikaku like a torrential storm.
Shikaku wove through the rain of fire. His footwork still did not seem particularly fast, yet at every last possible instant, he avoided the fireballs' direct impact with the smallest of movements.
Still, he could not entirely evade the sparks and scorching gusts thrown off by the exploding fireballs. A few sparks grazed the outside of his left arm, instantly charring his training clothes and leaving a clear red mark on his skin.
Shikaku frowned slightly and glanced at the burn on his left arm, but neither his footwork nor the rhythm of his evasions faltered. He maintained that same maddeningly unhurried pace.
"You control the power of your Fire Release very precisely," Shikaku suddenly said, his voice as steady as if he were giving a classroom analysis rather than fighting an intense battle. "That's to make sure you don't break the exam rules, and to conserve chakra for sustained follow-up attacks, right? But precisely because you're controlling it so deliberately, for roughly half a second after each exhalation, your center of gravity shifts backward almost imperceptibly, and your right shoulder unconsciously relaxes. That's the slight stiffness your body experiences when you abruptly cut off your chakra output."
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