Overwhelming Naruto, Uzumaki Bloodline

Not bad—this was Izayoi's first time being matched against Naruto Uzumaki.

It seemed as though some force of fate was at work between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.

Out of ten taijutsu sparring matches, the two of them were matched against each other nearly half the time.

Izayoi simply could not get matched against Naruto Uzumaki.

Fortunately, the Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red), like the Sage Body, possessed an enormous amount of Chakra. Otherwise, Izayoi had no idea what method he could use to make Naruto Uzumaki's Sage Body drop.

Now that he had finally been matched against Naruto Uzumaki, Izayoi was immensely excited.

This meant his luck was exceptionally good today.

Since his luck was so good, could he perhaps get a precious trait to drop?

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Izayoi rose and walked to Iruka Umino's right.

Watching Naruto Uzumaki walk to the opposite side, gritting his teeth and refusing to give up, Izayoi raised his right hand, holding up his index and middle fingers as he smiled. "Naruto, please go easy on me."

Naruto Uzumaki froze slightly at those words.

His originally tense mood suddenly relaxed.

As he looked at Izayoi across from him, a warm current welled up in his heart.

Different!

This guy's eyes were different from everyone else's.

There was none of the adults' disgust, nor the rejection of children his age—only equal and impartial kindness.

Other than Iruka Umino, who had acknowledged him last semester, Izayoi was the second special person.

At that thought, Naruto Uzumaki suddenly felt the urge to cry.

But he suppressed the emotion, nodded vigorously, and grinned. "Mm, please go easy on me!"

After saying that, Naruto Uzumaki raised his index and middle fingers as well.

In his blue eyes, the same color as Izayoi's, his gaze had become resolute.

Seeing this, Iruka Umino could not help but smile with gratification.

Then he stepped back a few paces and shouted, "The seventh round begins!"

The moment his words fell, Izayoi and Naruto Uzumaki charged toward each other.

Naruto Uzumaki's attack patterns were extremely simple and repetitive. He did not understand how to adapt at all.

Once he closed in, he threw a punch at Izayoi.

Although Izayoi did not have the Sharingan, the instant Naruto Uzumaki raised his shoulder, his perceptiveness told him exactly what his opponent was about to do.

Before Naruto Uzumaki could throw his punch, Izayoi had already gathered his strength. He raised his left hand, striking Naruto Uzumaki's wrist with the back of his hand and knocking aside the straight punch, then drove out his right fist.

With a thud, his fist landed squarely on Naruto Uzumaki's left cheek.

The powerful blow knocked Naruto Uzumaki to the ground in a single hit. His face was swollen and red, and bruises had already appeared.

"Ow, that hurts..."

Naruto Uzumaki kept sucking in breaths, but Izayoi's punch had not taken him out in one hit.

He quickly got back up and continued attacking Izayoi.

Yet every punch and kick was predicted by Izayoi in advance—either blocked, dodged, or deflected before a counterattack followed.

Izayoi could easily handle even Hinata's Pressure Point Strike, which was as swift as the wind, with every blow carrying Chakra flares and tearing through the air.

Naruto Uzumaki's completely unstructured attacks not only lacked any power, but were also full of openings.

Punch after punch and kick after kick landed on Naruto Uzumaki. The Child of Destiny's clothes quickly became filthy, while his face was covered in injuries, leaving him in a miserable state.

Izayoi, on the other hand, remained completely unscathed—even spotless.

Even a three-year-old could see the gap between them.

Yet Naruto Uzumaki, who was being beaten one-sidedly, still did not choose to surrender.

At first, he would gasp whenever he was hit. Now, even when struck, he did not make a sound. His expression was utterly focused, and his attacks gradually stopped being so disorderly.

He was growing, though he would return to normal next time.

But right now, he was indeed becoming stronger through battle.

So, after spotting another opening, Izayoi decided to end the fight.

He bent his knees and dropped into a low crouch, evading Naruto Uzumaki's attack. Borrowing the momentum, he swept Naruto Uzumaki's legs out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground.

Then, without giving Naruto Uzumaki a chance to get up, he drove down a punch—only to stop it just before Naruto Uzumaki's face.

Seeing this, Iruka Umino immediately announced loudly, "Naruto Uzumaki has lost the ability to fight. The winner is Izayoi."

Pop!

Almost the instant Iruka Umino's voice faded, one of the purple bubbles surrounding Naruto Uzumaki—the bubbles only Izayoi could see—suddenly burst.

Immediately, a Purple Beam flew toward Izayoi and seeped into his body.

Right after that, a tiny bubble appeared around Naruto Uzumaki once more.

This newly formed bubble was extremely small. Rather than shifting from white to red, it was a transparent little bubble.

There was no perk inside it either; it was completely empty.

Izayoi had seen this scene more than once.

He knew that this bubble was currently on cooldown.

Once the cooldown ended, this transparent bubble would return to being a purple bubble, and the perk inside would reappear.

At the same time, Izayoi would have a chance of obtaining this perk again.

Yes, perks could be obtained repeatedly.

It was just that Izayoi had yet to obtain the same perk twice from the same person.

Having seen clearly what perk the purple bubble contained, Izayoi was feeling extremely excited.

However, he did not immediately summon his Status Panel. Instead, he extended a hand to Naruto Uzumaki and smiled. "Naruto, you're really impressive. Let's fight again next time."

Naruto Uzumaki had gone all out and still gotten thoroughly beaten, so his heart had initially been full of bitterness.

But when he saw Izayoi looking at him with complete sincerity, without the slightest hint of looking down on him—

Naruto Uzumaki, who only ever felt unwilling to concede in front of Sasuke Uchiha, instantly let it go.

He grabbed Izayoi's hand and used it to pull himself up, grinning as he said, "Izayoi, you really are amazing. But next time, I won't lose again."

"Your improvement is obvious. I'm looking forward to fighting you again next time."

Smiling, Izayoi held out his index and middle fingers toward Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki likewise extended his index and middle fingers, hooking them together with Izayoi's.

This was the Seal of Reconciliation, corresponding to the Seal of Opposition formed before a fight. It symbolized that no matter how great the divide between ninjas, they could still reconcile.

In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha ended the thousand-year fated battle between Asura and Indra through the Seal of Reconciliation.

If the reincarnations of Asura and Indra could not reconcile, then their Chakra would continue reincarnating endlessly.

That thousand-year fated battle meant that Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha would still find each other unpleasant even without any conflict between them or Sakura Haruno as a factor.

Naruto Uzumaki could naturally shake hands and make peace with Izayoi, yet he could not form the Seal of Reconciliation with Sasuke Uchiha.

But none of that had anything to do with Izayoi.

After forming the Seal of Reconciliation with Naruto Uzumaki, Izayoi returned to the group. While perfunctorily dealing with the classmates around him, he summoned the Light Screen only he could see and responded to the notification that had sounded in his mind when the beam entered his body.

"Ding! You have obtained the Talent Perk Uzumaki Bloodline (Purple). Fuse or dismantle?"

"Fuse."

The next second, a new Talent Perk appeared in the perk slot—Uzumaki Bloodline (Purple).