Sasuke's Challenge: An Anything-Goes Duel

The higher-ups of the Great Shinobi Villages were no fools.

The Uchiha Clan was a prestigious ninja clan with a thousand-year legacy, and after Wood Release had been lost, the Sharingan was the Ninja World's strongest Kekkei Genkai.

Countless people coveted a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. After all, Kakashi Hatake had been dubbed the "Copy Ninja" and "Konoha Technician," said to have copied over a thousand ninjutsu, all thanks to a single Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

And copying ninjutsu was merely an ability of the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

A Three-Tomoe Sharingan was known as an eye of genjutsu.

Outsiders simply could not bring out the Sharingan's true power.

Any Uchiha capable of unleashing the true power of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan was an Elite Jonin invincible in one-on-one combat.

The Uchiha Clan definitely had more than ten such powerhouses.

With so many powerful fighters, along with other Uchiha who had awakened One-Tomoe and Two-Tomoe Sharingan, as well as a large number of ordinary clan members who had not awakened the Sharingan, killing them all in a single night would have been impossible even if Itachi Uchiha possessed the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan.

And even if he could have done it, there was no way he could have left no trace of disturbance.

Yet the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out overnight, while Itachi Uchiha, the culprit, had successfully escaped from Konoha.

The waters ran far too deep.

There was no doubt that Konoha's higher-ups had been involved.

The strength and methods required to erase the foremost ninja clan in a single night, along with the ruthlessness and cold-bloodedness to disregard the consequences, had intimidated all the Great Shinobi Villages.

Regarding this incident, the Great Shinobi Villages merely sent batches of spies to infiltrate Konoha and gather intelligence. Once they failed, they let the matter go.

All the Great Shinobi Villages had suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi World War and had yet to recover.

Even Cloud Village did not kick them while they were down this time.

They were all maintaining the existing balance and preparing for the next Shinobi World War.

Izayoi did not know about any of this, but he could guess some of it.

Having read the original story, he knew that the next few years would be peaceful.

This was the best opportunity to grow stronger.

Sasuke Uchiha, who had fallen under the Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu, remained unconscious for a full week before finally waking up.

By the time he appeared in the classroom, he had changed drastically.

In the past, when Sasuke Uchiha was surrounded by girls, he would merely look troubled. He would not say anything hurtful, much less hit anyone.

That attitude only made the girls more persistent.

But now, although the girls were delighted to see Sasuke Uchiha again, none of them dared to crowd around him.

Sasuke Uchiha's gaze and presence were simply too frightening now. No one his age dared approach him, much less meet his eyes.

Only Izayoi could see that Sasuke Uchiha was both fragile and stubborn.

Covered in wounds, he was in the greatest need of love's warmth and healing.

Yet his personality made him unwilling to accept anyone's pity.

Only Naruto Uzumaki, who had reincarnated for a thousand years and shared a similar fate in this life, could break into Sasuke Uchiha's heart and earn his recognition.

After school that afternoon, Izayoi finally saw the scene he had been waiting for.

After the Taijutsu Sparring ended, the students formed their usual Small Groups. Some remained at the academy, some left together, while others joined no group at all and went home alone.

The old Sasuke Uchiha had belonged to the last category.

But today, Sasuke Uchiha did not go home alone. Instead, he approached Izayoi and said the same words Izayoi had once said to him: "Izayoi, want to have a match?"

Hearing that, Izayoi—who had specifically come to the ninja academy in his Main Body today and had not gone home with Hinata, all so he could lie in wait—secretly smiled to himself.

On the surface, however, he pretended to be stunned. Looking at Sasuke Uchiha, whose eyes still carried a hint of gloom, perhaps because he had not fully recovered, Izayoi could not help teasing him. "You had no interest when I challenged you back then. Why are you interested now?"

"Enough nonsense. Don't tell me you're scared?"

Sasuke Uchiha did not answer, instead responding with a provocation.

Before, all he had wanted was to train with Itachi Uchiha, so naturally, he had not wanted to waste time on anyone else.

Now that his clan had been destroyed, the meaning of his life was to kill Itachi Uchiha and then revive the Uchiha Clan.

To kill Itachi Uchiha, he had to gain great power.

To revive the Uchiha Clan, he first had to make people remember its strength and glory. He could not lose to anyone else.

Thus, Izayoi became Sasuke Uchiha's target.

As long as he defeated Izayoi, he could prove that he was stronger than everyone else his age.

Naturally, Izayoi did not know what Sasuke Uchiha was thinking.

Seeing the other boy use provocation to hide his tsundere nature, Izayoi stopped while he was ahead and nodded with a smile. "Sure. Then let's have a match."

"Good. Then let's go to the training grounds." Sasuke Uchiha said, his face filled with fighting spirit.

"We don't need to go to the field. Let's change locations."

Izayoi shook his head and smiled. "I'll take you somewhere."

After saying that, Izayoi headed toward the abandoned Training Grounds.

Sasuke Uchiha followed close behind.

The Uchiha Clan had been wiped out for a week. Other than on Rin Nohara's death anniversary, Obito Uchiha probably would not come wandering around the Hidden Leaf Village anymore.

Izayoi had also made a point of noting down Rin Nohara's death anniversary at the cemetery. From now on, he just needed to avoid going out into the wild around that time every year.

So, a few days ago, Izayoi had resumed training in the wilderness.

Before long, the two arrived at the Training Grounds where Izayoi and Hinata usually trained.

The ground and trees there were covered everywhere with marks from strikes and ninjutsu.

Seeing those marks, Sasuke Uchiha's pupils contracted slightly, and a considerable storm rose in his heart.

If those marks had all been left by Izayoi...

Did that not mean this guy, like himself, had mastered the Five Elements Release?

If he remembered correctly, Izayoi seemed to be an orphan.

He had Father's guidance, while Izayoi had taught himself alone.

Sasuke Uchiha suddenly understood, finally realizing why this guy had always been one step ahead of him.

It was not luck. The other party simply worked harder than he did.

Thinking of this, Sasuke Uchiha's fighting spirit burned even hotter.

Only fighting an opponent like this could make him stronger.

Only defeating an opponent like this could prove his own strength.

"How do you want to fight?"

Looking at Sasuke Uchiha across from him, Izayoi asked, "Taijutsu Sparring, or a no-rules match?"

A so-called no-rules match meant using every means available.

The Three Body Technique, Invisibility Technique, Body Flicker Technique, tools, and even the Five Elements Release that the Ninja Academy did not teach could all be used freely.

No-rules matches were also extremely dangerous.

The Ninja Academy had no-rules matches as well, but they were only part of the sixth-year curriculum.

Moreover, during a no-rules match, aside from the teacher acting as referee, there also had to be a medical ninja nearby.

After all, accidents could easily happen in battles like this.

With even a moment of carelessness, students could face mortal danger.

If Iruka Umino had been here and heard Izayoi's words, his expression would definitely have changed drastically as he hurried to stop them and scold them.

However, Sasuke Uchiha answered without the slightest hesitation, "A no-rules match!"