Facing a Chunin

"Bullying your little brother?"

Might Duy and Might Guy also stood up and moved to Lin Ze's side.

Lin Ze immediately felt much more at ease-with this hot-blooded father and son here, he had no need to worry about his safety.

"It was just an assessment. Hardly bullying." Lin Ze shrugged. "Besides, your brother used a Great Fireball first. He nearly burned me to death."

"Ryōta is still young. He doesn't know when to hold back." Uchiha Onibi snorted. "But you clearly could have dodged, yet you deliberately took it head-on to embarrass him in front of the whole class."

Lin Ze nearly laughed aloud. Another one obsessed with his little brother. "Your Uchiha logic is really something. Your brother can use C-rank ninjutsu against a classmate, but when I stop it, somehow I'm in the wrong?"

Uchiha Onibi's gaze darkened. "Enough talk! Fight me. If you lose, apologize to my brother!"

Might Duy suddenly interjected, "Young man! A youthful contest should be fair and square! Lin Ze is only six, while you're already a chunin. This isn't fair!"

Uchiha Onibi glanced at Might Duy and said disdainfully, "A perpetual genin has no right to tell me what to do."

Lin Ze's gaze slowly turned cold.

In the original story, Might Duy might have been only a genin, but in both strength and character, he deserved to be called a true taijutsu master!

"But so you can't say I'm bullying you, three moves."

Onibi suddenly held up three fingers. "If you can withstand three moves from me without falling, we'll leave it at that. Otherwise..." A red gleam flashed through his Sharingan. "You'll apologize to Ryōta in public."

"Fine. I'll fight you."

"But let's change the stakes-if I win, you stop coming after me, and you teach me the Uchiha's Great Fireball Technique. If you win, I'll apologize to your brother in public."

Although the Great Fireball Technique was not exclusive to the Uchiha Clan, their Great Fireballs were the most powerful among all its users. This was due both to the Uchiha bloodline and to their exclusive techniques.

And what Lin Ze wanted was precisely those exclusive techniques.

Uchiha Onibi scoffed and said mockingly, "You think you can beat me?"

"Why don't we find out?" Lin Ze flexed his wrists and turned to Might Duy. "Senior Duy, sorry for the trouble, but could you referee?"

Might Duy frowned, but seeing Lin Ze's calm gaze, he slowly said, "No problem! With me watching from the sidelines, nothing will happen."

Eight Gates Released Formation! Open!!!

Might Duy's skin slowly reddened, and an extremely powerful current of chakra suddenly surged from his body. Clearly, facing an Uchiha, Might Duy was still showing considerable respect!

Lin Ze watched the green currents rising from Might Duy's body. Judging by that color, he should already have opened the third gate, the Gate of Life!

"Senior Duy! You don't need to do this!"

Opening the Eight Gates Released Formation would severely damage the body. Although Duy had only opened the third gate, he would inevitably need some recuperation afterward.

"Don't worry, Lin Ze. Youth is all about burning bright!" Might Duy gave him a thumbs-up and loudly declared, flashing a mouthful of gleaming white teeth.

How can this genin make me feel such overwhelming pressure?

Across from him, after Duy opened the Eight Gates Released Formation, Uchiha Onibi felt that the perpetual genin who had barely registered a moment ago was now putting him under tremendous pressure. He even felt that Duy could kill him in an instant!

But he was a chunin, and a member of the noble Uchiha Clan at that!

"Hmph!"

"Let's begin! This is the first move."

Uchiha Onibi snorted, forcibly suppressing the dread in his heart.

Although he spoke that way, some of Uchiha Onibi's little schemes unconsciously began to fade under the pressure of Might Duy's powerful chakra.

Lin Ze nodded to Might Duy, then turned to face Uchiha Onibi.

"First move!"

Whoosh!!!

As Uchiha Onibi's Sharingan spun, eight shuriken whistled toward Lin Ze, instantly weaving an airtight net that sealed off every escape route.

It was exactly the same approach Ryota Uchiha had used last time!

But both the tricky angles and the speed were far superior to Ryota Uchiha's.

Lin Ze's pupils contracted slightly. He felt the eight shuriken seal off every path he could take, leaving no possibility of escaping their encirclement.

As expected of the Uchiha Clan's shurikenjutsu, and the Sharingan! Ryota Uchiha's version barely scratched the surface!

But Lin Ze was no longer who he had been two weeks ago, either. After studying proper taijutsu under Might Duy, he was no longer a brute with nothing but strength and speed, but a martial artist versed in techniques and moves!

Just as the shuriken came within three meters, Lin Ze suddenly lowered his body and sank his waist, twisting sharply left as though pulled by an invisible string.

He moved so fast he almost left an afterimage, his shoulder barely brushing past the leading shuriken. Before he could steady himself, Lin Ze drove the toes of his right foot hard against the ground, using the reaction force to spring diagonally backward.

The step took him at a tricky angle, slipping neatly through the gap between two crossing shuriken. At the same time, his left hand shot out like lightning, two fingers precisely catching another shuriken as it skimmed past his neck.

Clink!!!

The shuriken between his fingers was still vibrating as the remaining five skimmed his clothes and trouser legs, embedding themselves in the tree trunk behind him.

Lin Ze released his fingers and let the shuriken drop, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

Those two weeks of proper taijutsu training had not been wasted. Compared with his old way of charging in with brute force, these techniques of using momentum, twisting, and slipping through gaps were better suited to finding a way to survive dense attacks.

Why is he so much stronger than Ryōta described? Watching Lin Ze evade the shuriken almost perfectly, Uchiha Onibi silently compared him with his brother's description.

It hasn't even been a month. There's no way he could have improved this much!

Was he holding back during the assessment?

"Second move!" Although surprised that Lin Ze had actually dodged his shuriken, Uchiha Onibi gave him no chance to catch his breath. His hands rapidly formed hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

But, considering his sudden thought that Lin Ze had held back, he still reduced his chakra output somewhat at the last moment. The fireball before him was only a little larger than Ryota Uchiha's Great Fireball!

The shuriken in Lin Ze's hand had only just hit the ground when Uchiha Onibi's fireball came roaring toward him.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique: a C-rank ninjutsu, the Uchiha Clan's signature Fire Release.

It converted chakra into flames expelled from the mouth, forming a giant fireball to attack the enemy. Mastered to its utmost, it could even alter the battlefield's environment.

Lin Ze compared it with Ryota Uchiha's Great Fireball. Although it was not much larger, its flames were so hot that even the surrounding air began to warp. This was the real Great Fireball Technique!

I can't take this head-on!

Lin Ze instantly judged the fireball's power. His leg muscles tightened, and beneath the bandages, his legs began undergoing dragon transformation.

Bang!!!

An instant before the fireball struck, he kicked off hard and rolled sideways, springing nearly ten meters away.

The searing flames swept past his back, scorching a small patch of his clothes. Fortunately, the bandages he had spent a fortune having custom-made remained unchanged.