Tsukimi immediately stood at those words, her Three-Tomoe Sharingan appearing again, anger in her voice. "Grandfather! Can't you see Yūto has already reached his limit?"
The Elder snorted, his gaze sharp as a blade. "His limit? Will enemies on the battlefield give him time to rest?"
"I've already heard that Kumogakure has started provoking clashes at the border."
"If you truly care about this boy, you shouldn't stop me!"
"Or do you want to watch him die on the battlefield?"
The Elder's words immediately left Tsukimi speechless.
Seeing the two at daggers drawn, Yūto braced his hands on his knees and struggled to stand, stepping between them with a wry smile.
"Stop arguing... I'll train."
He rubbed his aching arm and turned to the Elder. "But we'll have to change the training method. If I take any more kicks, I'm afraid I won't be able to get up tomorrow."
The Elder nodded slightly. He hadn't intended to continue training Yūto in taijutsu anyway. Ultimately, the Uchiha Clan's strength lay in the Sharingan.
Now that Yūto had awakened his Sharingan, the dynamic vision it provided would keep his taijutsu from being too poor.
Besides, Yūto had already learned to deliver fiercer attacks with less chakra. That alone would serve him well enough on the battlefield.
If Yūto had a cheat that gave him a status panel, he would certainly have seen an ability called [Advanced Chakra Conservation].
In terms of chakra control alone, Yūto could now rival a medical ninja.
In truth, the Elder hadn't expected Yūto to learn this chakra-control technique so quickly either.
Amid the constant warfare of the Warring States Period, only one percent of the Uchiha population had managed to learn it.
Yet Yūto had actually learned the technique in a single morning. Could this boy actually be a genius?
The Elder couldn't quite figure it out. He said in a low voice:
"I hear you only know the Great Fireball Technique, correct...?"
The Elder waved a hand, telling Tsukimi to leave.
Reluctantly, Tsukimi walked away from the shrine, looking back repeatedly, but continued watching the two from a distance.
"Boy, watch the order of my hand seals carefully!"
Rat-Tiger-Dog-Ox-Hare-Tiger.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson Technique!"
Holding the Tiger seal before his mouth, the Elder quickly spat out a fireball, then threw several shuriken into it.
Several blazing fireballs came whistling toward Yūto with shuriken inside them. His Two-Tomoe Sharingan abruptly contracted, and the paths of the flames instantly became clear in his vision.
He rolled awkwardly to one side. Fireballs skimmed past his hair, and the shuriken struck the tree trunk behind him with a series of thunks. Scorched leaves fluttered down.
"You old bastard, a sneak attack?!" Yūto jumped up and cursed, slapping at the sparks on his sleeves.
Stroking his beard, the Elder laughed heartily at Yūto's disheveled state. "In the Warring States Period, nobody told you where their attacks would go beforehand."
"Besides, didn't you sneak up on me earlier, boy?"
The Elder stopped smiling and continued:
"Yūto, now follow my sequence of hand seals and use the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. I'm still your target."
Yūto took a deep breath, his hands swiftly forming seals.
Rat-Tiger-Dog-Ox-Hare-Tiger!
Chakra circulated precisely through his body. He opened his mouth sharply, sending several scorching fireballs roaring straight toward the Elder.
The fireballs scattered through the air, cutting off the Elder's retreat. Each held astonishing power, no less than that of a standard Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
The Elder's pupils contracted slightly, and shock surged through him.
This boy perfectly reproduced the sequence of hand seals after seeing it just once. Even his chakra distribution was exactly right!
Moreover, Yūto hadn't used his Sharingan while the Elder performed the seals earlier. That meant the boy had learned through his own memory.
Damn it, the Uchiha Clan actually let a genius like this go unnoticed!
Just a little while ago, Yūto was still a genin.
It looks like I'll have to put the clan's young genin through the same special training when I return!
Though inwardly surprised, the Elder still easily dodged most of the fireballs. Yūto's Phoenix Flower Jutsu was rather unpolished.
As for the most dangerous fireball, the Elder cut it apart with nothing more than the kunai in his hand.
"Hmph. Mediocre." The Elder stood with his hands behind his back, suppressing his shock and feigning indifference. "Your fireballs follow overly rigid paths. You couldn't even hit a dog on the battlefield."
Yūto inwardly grumbled furiously. Did the Senju Clan beat this old man senseless during the Warring States Period? His standards are absurd!
I got results like this on my first damn attempt at Phoenix Flower Fire! They could use me as teaching material at the Ninja Academy!
And 'couldn't even hit a dog'... Why don't you bring a dog here and let me try, old man!
After his inward complaints, Yūto thought about how easily he had learned the Phoenix Flower Jutsu, on top of awakening the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and grew even more dejected.
I'm screwed. I've gotten stronger again. Now it'll be even harder to get myself killed plausibly on the battlefield...
While his thoughts wandered, the Elder suddenly barked beside his ear:
"What are you spacing out for! Do you think using the Phoenix Flower Jutsu on your first try at the seals makes you talented?!"
"I'm telling you, more than half our clansmen could do that during the Warring States Period!"
With that, the Elder tossed several shuriken into Yūto's arms.
"Next comes combat training."
"Incorporate the shuriken into your Phoenix Flower Fire, then attack me with the Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson Technique combined with taijutsu."
"You'll pass once you can land consecutive hits on me."
Yūto took a deep breath and swiftly formed hand seals, chakra flowing through his body.
He sharply opened his mouth and spat out several fireballs while throwing the shuriken... But the fireballs and shuriken followed completely different paths. The Elder easily avoided them with a slight turn.
"Too slow!" the Elder snapped.
On his second attempt, Yūto deliberately slowed the fireballs to wait for the shuriken.
The Elder went straight through a gap between the fireballs and struck the back of his neck with a knife-hand blow. "Will enemies on the battlefield wait for you to adjust your timing?"
On his third attempt, inspiration struck Yūto, and he first used his Sharingan to lock onto the Elder's escape route.
The fireballs and shuriken finally moved in sync, but just before they hit, the Elder abruptly changed direction with the Body Flicker Technique and dodged them. The flaming shuriken struck an empty spot, humming.
"All flash!" The Elder pressed his kunai against Yūto's throat. "Keep your true killing move hidden until the very last moment!"
The sun had already sunk toward the west, and the light inside the shrine had grown dim.
Yūto's arms trembled from chakra depletion, and exhaustion blurred his vision.
But he kept his eyes fixed on the Elder's movements, suddenly noticing that every time the Elder turned sideways to dodge, his right shoulder unconsciously dipped.
Was there something on his right side?
Yūto's thoughts raced. A ninja blade hung at his right side!
This was a habitual opening Warring States Period ninja developed from carrying blades for years!
"One last strike..."
Gritting his teeth, Yūto poured all his remaining chakra into his hands and deliberately stumbled half a step the instant he finished his seals.
When the Elder turned to his right to dodge, just as expected, Yūto sharply flung the last shuriken hidden in his left sleeve while spitting out a weak Phoenix Flower Fire.
The instant the flames enveloped the shuriken, the Elder's pupils abruptly contracted. At this angle, he couldn't evade it completely!
The flaming shuriken grazed the Elder's cuff, leaving a scorch mark on the fabric.
Yūto gave a triumphant smile, then his vision went black and he toppled forward.
In the final moment before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear Tsukimi cry out in alarm.
The Elder looked at Yūto in Tsukimi's arms and sighed softly. "This boy actually saw through the combat habits I've had for decades..."
Before you continue