The next day, at a training ground in Sunagakure.
Yubi and the Third Kazekage stood facing each other.
Many of the village's shinobi stood at the edge of the grounds... along with Chiyo and other senior officials.
Sasori and Arai were among them.
Sasori stood with his arms crossed, staring coldly at the two people in the field.
Arai was nervous too.
The atmosphere was unusual, and so many people had come to watch... because today was Yubi's assessment for promotion to Chunin.
Moreover, Lord Third Kazekage himself would be his opponent.
Not everyone received such treatment.
They all wanted to see how far Yubi's Kekkei Genkai abilities had progressed...
"Yubi... don't hold back. Come at me with everything you have. There's no need to worry about hurting me," the Kazekage said calmly.
"All right."
Yubi smiled broadly.
As the referee beside them made a hand signal, his expression turned serious.
He had never experienced the pressure of facing a Kage Level powerhouse in combat before.
In the distance, Sasori focused intently too... afraid of missing even the slightest detail.
This was a good opportunity to learn about the Third Kazekage's methods and strength up close... and it would also help him and Yubi carry out their plans in the future.
Whoosh!
Under everyone's gaze, Yubi struck first.
He dashed forward, quickly charging right up to the Third Kazekage.
"Such powerful Taijutsu..."
"This is..."
The Sunagakure shinobi at the sidelines cried out in surprise.
As Yubi closed in on the Kazekage, he did not charge in a straight line, but zigzagged instead, his body leaving an afterimage that made it difficult to judge the angle of his attack or his position.
Yubi was only ten. Ordinary shinobi, even after graduating from the Ninja Academy and gaining some experience, could not possibly have such an absurdly strong body.
One could imagine how terrifying the intensity of Yubi's training had been for him to acquire this physique.
To think his body could withstand it...
Bam, bam, bam!
From his very first move, Yubi launched into close-quarters combat.
He attacked with fists and feet, wildly assaulting the Kazekage, who stood motionless before him. Yet... no matter how fast he moved or how many afterimages he produced, even when he circled behind Lord Kazekage for a sneak attack before his previous Taijutsu move seemed finished to the spectators... none of it succeeded.
Every attack was blocked by iron sand gathering in midair.
Yubi's powerful punches and kicks struck the blocks of metal, producing resounding impacts.
"There are absolutely no blind spots..."
The thought flashed through Yubi's mind as he attacked.
Close combat... really wouldn't work!
The Third Kazekage had not even moved. Simply controlling the iron sand was enough for a perfect defense.
That showed how frightening his sensory abilities were.
Yubi leaped up. Just as the floating black sand blocking his Taijutsu broke apart and fell, he hurled a large number of throwing knives at the opening the Kazekage exposed.
But... they had no effect.
The Kazekage did not even turn his head. The iron sand surrounding him seemed capable of automatically defending him and sensing danger. The scattered iron sand shifted from solid plates into individual black clumps, appearing precisely in the paths of the throwing knives and deflecting Yubi's hidden weapons.
This feels... just like Gaara, except the material they control is different. Gaara only uses sand, while he uses iron sand... that's different too. Yubi took a deep breath. I'd have to do what Rock Lee did and use exceptional Taijutsu to burst out with speed that completely overwhelms his perception and control... unfortunately, Rock Lee could do that because of the Eight Gates Released Formation. I'm not at that level yet...
The throwing knives appeared to have been deflected by the iron sand and fallen.
But the instant Yubi landed, he swung his arms.
The "disabled" throwing knives immediately curved upward through the air, trailing threads that instantly wound around and enveloped the space where the Third Kazekage stood.
Then Yubi yanked hard with both hands, tightening the threads.
He intended to strangle and cut his target to death.
Yet... the iron sand drifting around the Kazekage suddenly transformed into a cloud of floating particles. Like black ash stirred into the air, it revolved around him. Even though Yubi pulled the threads taut and they squealed against the iron sand, they could not cut through that "flowing," liquid-like sand cloud.
His chain of attacks-Taijutsu, hidden weapons, and even his self-created ninja arts-had failed to shake the Third Kazekage in the slightest.
At that moment, Yubi finally began to understand why this man was hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history.
This Kekkei Genkai... really was absurd.
Then the Kazekage finally shifted his feet, turning to look at the boy who was still pulling on the threads.
"When the gap between you and your opponent is too great, probing attacks are completely useless. You must commit yourself to killing with a single strike. Otherwise... once you give your opponent a chance to breathe, the one in danger... will be you," the Kazekage said slowly.
As his words fell, Yubi suddenly felt a strain on his hands, and both arms involuntarily sagged.
Looking closely, he discovered... all the iron sand particles floating in the air had attached themselves to his threads, greatly increasing their weight. This effortlessly broke his ninja art and made them difficult to control.
Clang, clang, clang...
The scalpels fell one after another, each wrapped in iron sand and rendered useless.
"It wasn't a probing attack..."
Faced with the Kazekage's warning, Yubi suddenly smiled.
"Hmm?"
The next second, the Kazekage abruptly noticed something.
But it seemed... too late.
A streak of blood-red light flashed up from beneath his feet.
The drifting black sand tried to gather and "chase" the blood-red light's trajectory.
But it was a fraction too slow...
A crimson streak slipped through a gap in the iron sand first, striking the Third Kazekage squarely between the brows.
There was a bang!
The sound of this impact was far more piercing than Yubi's earlier punches and kicks against the iron plates, startling many of those at the sidelines.
The sound alone was enough to imagine... the terrifying force the "thing" attacking Lord Kazekage carried with its tremendous momentum.
An ordinary person's head might have burst apart.
But the Kazekage merely tilted backward slightly. A fine layer of iron sand covered his forehead, with a drop of bright red "crystal" embedded at its center.
It was blood... a solidified blood droplet.
"So you hid your ability within your ninja art to disguise it..."
"You certainly fooled me."
The Kazekage slowly straightened his head, having seen through Yubi's method.
Although Arai had been reporting the development of Yubi's Kekkei Genkai abilities to him over the past six months, he had not witnessed them himself... even with a general understanding, it was difficult to judge.
During their exchange... a tiny droplet of blood, deliberately concealed, really was not that easy to "notice."
Yubi had not attacked openly with blood... instead, he had "hitched" that droplet to a throwing knife, using his ninja art to deceive the Kazekage's senses and bring it closer.
If... Yubi had used this ability openly and he had noticed it beforehand, it could never have penetrated the iron sand's defenses.
"Interesting... such a tiny drop of blood, and at such close range, yet it possessed that kind of speed and power," the Third Kazekage marveled, somewhat astonished.
In the distance, Chiyo and the other senior officials felt their hearts tighten when they saw the Kazekage get hit.
Although they knew he would be fine... Yubi's attack had still been rather unexpected.
"Your control over your ability is clearly more versatile than it was six months ago... you can use objects to control it remotely instead of simply propelling it from your own body, and its range has increased too... very good." The Third Kazekage sounded somewhat gratified.
Opposite him, Yubi formed a pistol with his hand and aimed his fingertip at the Kazekage, smiling. "Thank you for the praise, Lord Kazekage, but I've really been looking forward to fighting you... I'm not satisfied with achieving only this much."
"Good... that competitive spirit is worthy of your name as Sunagakure's genius."
The Kazekage nodded.
"In that case... I'll get a little more serious."
With that, the Third Kazekage's previously calm gaze suddenly sharpened.
An indescribable oppressive force erupted from his body.
Yubi instantly sensed tremendous danger.
The heart-pounding sensation he had felt that day while fighting the Konoha Jonin returned.
And... it was even stronger.
"Ha ha..."
"The show... begins!"
As that imposing aura swept over him, the pressure on Yubi multiplied, but excitement spread across his face.
His upturned lips revealed a little of his white teeth.
A trace of madness flickered in his eyes as he murmured softly.
"There it is again..."
Outside the field, Sasori took in every detail of Yubi's expression.
Just like when he fought the Konoha Jonin back then, this was his true nature.
The faintest smile touched Sasori's lips.
Boom!
A ball of blood emerged from Yubi's fingertip. At first... it was palm-sized, but as it spun, the blood began compressing continuously.
Eventually, it condensed to the size of a fingernail.
A small shock wave burst outward. The powerful recoil lifted Yubi's feet off the ground, and the rushing air even blew his hair upward.
That glistening mass of blood instantly blasted toward his opponent like a cannonball.
"Blood Release: Deliberate Bombardment Ball!"