He felt ocular power flow into his eyes~
Uchiha Lei saw his surroundings more clearly. He turned, shielding Uchiha Mikoto behind him, and glared at the interloper, Uchiha Fugaku:
"Uchiha Fugaku, right? If you want to fight, let's go to the school training ground! There's no room to fight here."
"Hmph~
You'd better not cry later!"
Uchiha Fugaku snorted coldly, walked over to his follower Uchiha Tian, bent down to hoist him onto his back, and left using the Body Flicker Technique!
Just as Uchiha Lei raised his hands to form hand seals-
Uchiha Mikoto clasped Uchiha Lei's right upper arm and said softly:
"Lei, take me with you! I want to cheer you on."
"Mm~"
After answering Uchiha Mikoto softly, Uchiha Lei used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the rooftop!
Five minutes later~
At the Ninja Academy training ground~
Word had spread quickly!
By now, the stands beside the field were packed with people: teachers, students, and, hidden in the shadows, Anbu, Root, Uchiha, and ninja from other clans!
Because this was a match involving the Uchiha's young clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, it drew more people's attention. They all wanted to know just how far this young clan leader's strength had developed!
At that moment~
Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Lei stood on the left and right sides of the red-circled training area, respectively!
Following the age-old principle that the left side lost in clashes of blasts, Uchiha Lei deliberately stood on the right, his gaze drifting from time to time toward Uchiha Mikoto at the edge of the field!
Uchiha Mikoto noticed Uchiha Lei's gaze, raised both hands to her mouth like a megaphone, and shouted:
"Lei, you've got this! I believe you'll win!"
Beside her, Kushina Uzumaki heard Uchiha Mikoto cheering, and her competitive spirit surged. Copying Mikoto, she shouted at the top of her lungs:
"Lei, you've got this! Beat that ugly guy across from you."
Hearing himself called ugly, Uchiha Fugaku whipped his head toward the voice. When he saw it was Kushina Uzumaki, he could only clench his fists and glare at her!
Damn it, she's the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! I'll just have to put up with it!
When the people near Kushina Uzumaki saw Uchiha Fugaku's cold glare, everyone except Minato Namikaze, who stood beside her, immediately moved far away, afraid of being caught up in it!
Kushina Uzumaki disliked having so many people around her anyway. With them gone, it was quieter. Kushina wasn't afraid of Uchiha Fugaku; she immediately put both hands on her hips and glared back!
"What are you looking at? You're ugly, and now you won't even let people say it?"
Hearing Kushina Uzumaki's insults, Uchiha Fugaku gritted his teeth, turned, and directed his anger at Uchiha Lei:
"You're a disgrace! You shouldn't have provoked me! I'll beat your teeth out. Let's begin."
As soon as Uchiha Fugaku finished speaking, his left hand darted into his ninja tool pouch, gripped three shuriken, and flung them hard at Uchiha Lei!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
The shuriken flew straight ahead like black lines~
Uchiha Lei saw that Uchiha Fugaku was actually underestimating him, deliberately throwing only three shuriken!
So his left hand swiftly gripped five shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, and he hurled them hard at Uchiha Fugaku ahead!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Like black bullets, his shuriken overtook the others despite being thrown later and struck the opposing shuriken!
Clang, clang, clang~
Three sounds of impact rang out~
Yellow sparks burst from the collisions in midair!
It wasn't over yet-
Uchiha Fugaku watched two shuriken fly toward his face~
His eyes narrowed slightly, and his right hand swiftly drew a kunai to knock the airborne shuriken away.
When he looked ahead again, he found no one there and immediately grew alert!
Uchiha Lei's laughter rang out behind him~
"Haha~
You're so slow!"
Uchiha Fugaku had just twisted his waist sharply to turn when a tremendous force struck his lower back!
Uchiha Lei drove a front kick hard into Uchiha Fugaku's lower back, then swiftly vanished with the Body Flicker Technique!
There was a single thud~
Uchiha Fugaku was kicked three meters forward!
Uchiha Fugaku braced both hands against the ground and swiftly performed a forward flip to regain his footing. Uchiha Lei was already nowhere to be seen ahead of him!
Uchiha Fugaku's gaze grew serious as he carefully searched left and right for Uchiha Lei!
Smack~
Someone tapped his left shoulder. Uchiha Fugaku spun sharply and slashed with his kunai, only to cut through empty air again!
By then, Uchiha Lei had already crouched down. Twisting his waist and hips, he whipped a kick hard into Uchiha Fugaku's shin, then vanished again with the Body Flicker Technique!
A tremendous force struck his shin. Uchiha Fugaku swiftly planted his left hand on the ground and immediately flipped sideways to get away, roaring angrily:
"What skill is there in hiding and sneaking around? If you've got the guts, fight me head-on like a man!"
"All you can do is bark helplessly! Then I'll teach you a lesson!
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique~"
Uchiha Lei appeared in front of Uchiha Fugaku in a left-forward stance. His hands formed seals so fast they left afterimages, then he raised his loosely curled right hand to his mouth. His cheeks bulged as he forcefully spat out a great fireball!
The great fireball spun as it traveled, growing into a four-meter fireball that hurtled toward Uchiha Fugaku like a meteor!
Fear appeared on Uchiha Fugaku's face as he watched the great fireball race toward him. He pushed hard sideways off the ground with both feet to dodge, swiftly forming hand seals and using the Body Flicker Technique to escape to the edge of the red line!
A deafening boom rang out behind him~
A huge burning crater with a five-meter radius blasted open behind him. The soil around its edges caught fire and gave off a scorched smell!
Uchiha Fugaku broke out in a cold sweat all over, the back of his police uniform soaked through. Slightly hunched, he watched his opponent warily, just thinking that his opponent must be low on chakra and that he could catch his breath for a moment!
But he was wrong!
Uchiha Lei had no intention of giving him a moment to recover. His left hand pulled out five shuriken and hurled them hard at Uchiha Fugaku!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Five shuriken shot toward his opponent like black bullets!
It wasn't over yet~
Uchiha Lei swiftly formed hand seals, kicked hard off the ground with both feet to leap up, and quickly spat a bloom of Phoenix Flower Fire from his mouth, calling in a low voice:
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson~"
The five shuriken were instantly ignited by the Phoenix Flower Fire. Deviating from their original straight paths, they raced along curved trajectories toward Uchiha Fugaku from all around!
Uchiha Fugaku's mouth fell open in surprise. Knowing that dodging left or right would be useless, he swiftly formed hand seals and used the Body Flicker Technique to move five meters behind his previous position!
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang~
Five sounds of impact rang out~
A deep crater with an eight-meter radius had been blasted open in front of the red line where Uchiha Fugaku had just stood. Inside it were five black, scorched shuriken marks, each a meter long!
Uchiha Fugaku kept panting heavily, staring fixedly at Uchiha Lei across from him, afraid that Lei would hit him with another lethal ninjutsu!
But Uchiha Fugaku never saw another ninjutsu. Instead, he saw Uchiha Lei raise his hand in the Seal of Reconciliation and shout with a serious expression:
"This is just a match. I don't want to become your enemy! You lost, so stop bothering my Mikoto."
"I lost..."
Only then did Uchiha Fugaku notice the red line in front of him, and he raised his hand to form the Seal of Reconciliation!
Seeing that the match was over, Uchiha Mikoto excitedly ran up to Uchiha Lei and threw herself into his arms. Wrapping her arms around his lower back, she looked up and congratulated him:
"Lei, congratulations! You won the match."
After seeing Uchiha Lei win, Kushina Uzumaki jumped up excitedly, then ran over with her little face flushed to celebrate Lei's victory!
But halfway there, when she saw Uchiha Mikoto throw herself into Uchiha Lei's arms first, a pang struck her heart. Still, with determination in her eyes, she walked to Lei's side and congratulated him with a smile:
"Lei, congratulations on winning the match! You're amazing."
"Thank you both for congratulating me!
Let's go back and rest."
Uchiha Lei wrapped an arm around Uchiha Mikoto's waist, and with Kushina Uzumaki accompanying him at his side, the three left the field!
Uchiha Fugaku gave the departing Uchiha Lei a long look, lightly clenching his fists before relaxing them!
A loss was a loss. He, Uchiha Fugaku, could still accept defeat!
Uchiha Fugaku appeared beside Uchiha Tian with the Body Flicker Technique, hoisted him onto his back, and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the training ground!
Minato Namikaze also walked over from the edge of the field to Uchiha Lei's side and congratulated him with a smile:
"Lei, you're amazing! You actually beat Uchiha Fugaku."
Uchiha Lei still had to leave the young clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, some dignity. After all, he was also a member of the Uchiha Clan, and they were bound to keep running into each other, so he replied politely:
"Uchiha Fugaku underestimated me. I only barely won by seizing the opportunity!
If he used his full strength, there's still no telling who would win."
Before you continue