Dragon Might!

"Hiss-"

Lin Ze sucked in a sharp breath.

Even with the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon's fire resistance, the heat still left his back burning with pain.

A flicker of surprise crossed Uchiha Onibi's eyes.

He had not expected this six-year-old brat to dodge two of his moves in a row.

The tomoe in Uchiha Onibi's Sharingan spun faster. Clearly, he was getting serious.

"That's the second move."

Lin Ze stood and brushed the sparks off himself. "One last move to go."

"Hmm?" After waiting a few moments, Lin Ze noticed something was wrong. Uchiha Onibi still had not used his third move.

"Father, why isn't Lin Ze moving?"

From the sidelines, Might Duy and Might Guy saw Lin Ze stand motionless after dodging the Great Fireball Technique. They hurriedly looked toward Uchiha Onibi.

His hands formed a complex series of seals. "Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique: a Sharingan Genjutsu unique to the Uchiha Clan. Those caught in it would feel stakes driven throughout their bodies, leaving them completely immobilized and at their opponent's mercy.

"Something's wrong! Genjutsu!"

Lin Ze's vision blurred, and his surroundings suddenly warped.

The next second, he found himself pinned to a cross. Agonizing pain shot through his limbs, as though stakes had truly been driven into his joints.

"Move! Come on, move!" Lin Ze struggled desperately, but his body refused to obey.

This was what made Sharingan Genjutsu so terrifying-even knowing it was false, he could not break free.

Green currents steamed from Might Duy's body at the sidelines. His knees bent slightly, clearly ready to intervene at any moment. "This is bad! That's the Uchiha's signature Genjutsu!"

Might Guy shouted anxiously, "Lin Ze! Wake up!"

With both eyes closed, Uchiha Onibi sneered. "It's over. You do have some skill, but before the Sharingan..."

Buzzz!!!

Suddenly, he froze.

Within the Genjutsu space, Lin Ze's tightly closed eyes snapped open, his pupils turning into Vertical Pupils! An aura like that of a primeval beast erupted from the boy.

"What... is this?!"

Before Uchiha Onibi could react, he felt his Genjutsu space begin to collapse.

Lin Ze, who had been pinned to the cross, was now wreathed in azure currents. An enormous phantom appeared behind him, and the stakes formed by the Genjutsu shattered inch by inch under its pressure!

"Break!"

With Lin Ze's low shout, the Genjutsu space shattered completely.

More terrifying still, Uchiha Onibi suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his Sharingan-Genjutsu backlash!

"Ah!" Uchiha Onibi covered his eyes and staggered backward.

Watching from the sidelines, Might Duy gaped and murmured, "He broke Sharingan Genjutsu with his presence alone?!"

Might Guy jumped up excitedly. "That was so cool, Lin Ze!"

Lin Ze himself was somewhat surprised.

He had originally planned to use his breathing method to disrupt his chakra and thereby break Uchiha Onibi's Genjutsu. He had never expected that, when facing Genjutsu for the first time, the Dragon Might his body automatically unleashed in desperation would crush the Genjutsu space outright.

That was right. What had just broken Uchiha Onibi's Genjutsu was Dragon Might-the innate power of mental oppression possessed by high-level beasts!

It seemed the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon also provided resistance to mental attacks.

"Three moves are up." Slowly steadying his breathing, Lin Ze looked at Uchiha Onibi. "As agreed..."

Uchiha Onibi barely managed to steady himself, his bleeding Sharingan filled with shock. "Wh-what was that just now?"

"Willpower!" Lin Ze said evenly. "We Taijutsu ninja may not know Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, but we have willpower beyond that of ordinary people. Genjutsu like this, which tricks the body and mental perception, doesn't work on us!"

Obviously, I can't tell you that was the power of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, can I?

Uchiha Onibi's expression shifted uncertainly. He clearly did not quite believe that explanation, but he could find no other reason.

After all, just because you could not do something did not mean someone else could not.

Take that Taijutsu ninja nearby, whose body was wreathed in green currents. Uchiha Onibi had no confidence that he could control him with Genjutsu.

Had he seen a tailed beast or a sage from the Three Great Sage Lands, he might perhaps have associated the phantom behind Lin Ze with something. But at twelve years old, he had seen neither.

"Hey! Our agreement!" Lin Ze reminded the slightly dazed Uchiha Onibi again.

"Hmph! The Uchiha keep their word." In the end, Uchiha Onibi gritted his teeth and conceded. "Come with me. You have one hour!"

With that, he turned and walked away, looking somewhat bedraggled from behind.

To think that he, a full-fledged Uchiha Chunin, had been humiliated by a six-year-old brat. If word got out...

Seeing this, Might Duy slowly released his Eight Gates Released Formation. He glanced at the departing Uchiha Onibi and could not help asking, "Lin Ze, will you be all right going alone?"

Although the Great Fireball Technique was not exclusive to the Uchiha Clan, Lin Ze and Uchiha Onibi had clearly been referring to the clan's exclusive techniques for using it.

Teaching Lin Ze because of their agreement was already the limit of what Uchiha Onibi could reluctantly accept. Might Guy and his father certainly could not be present, even though they would not be able to learn it by watching anyway.

"It's fine. We're inside the village, after all. He wouldn't dare do anything to me."

"Besides, those guys should have been nearby for a while now!"

Lin Ze scanned his surroundings, carefully searching for the people he had mentioned-the ANBU!

The ANBU, formally known as the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, was a special force directly under the Hokage. No one else had any authority to mobilize its members.

They not only undertook all manner of assassination missions outside the village, but also bore the heavy responsibility of protecting Konoha's internal security.

With such powerful chakra fluctuations coming from this riverside deep in a secluded forest, they would certainly come to investigate.

Sure enough, Lin Ze noticed several fresh footprints on a nearby tree. Clearly, someone else had been in that tree just now.

"Duy, I'll head over there for a while. I'll come train with you both this afternoon."

Lin Ze glanced at Uchiha Onibi, who was nearly out of sight, as he spoke to Might Duy.

"All right, go ahead, Lin Ze." As a longtime ninja, Might Duy clearly knew about the ANBU too. Seeing that Lin Ze knew his limits, he agreed.

Although the Great Fireball Technique was only a C-rank Ninjutsu, this was the Uchiha Clan's exclusive expertise. Most people never even had a chance to learn it!

Watching Lin Ze walk away, Might Duy silently considered, Lin Ze's physical condition already meets the requirements for training in the Eight Gates Released Formation. It looks like it's time to find an opportunity to teach him.

Lin Ze had only been training with Might Duy for a little over two weeks. It really had not been long, yet in that short time, Might Duy had already come to acknowledge the boy from the bottom of his heart.

Recalling how Lin Ze pushed himself even harder than Might Guy during training, Might Duy's lips unconsciously curved into a smile.

If Might Guy was a "genius of hard work," then Lin Ze was a "hardworking genius"!