Ah?

"You've got guts."

Izayoi was not surprised by Sasuke Uchiha's choice.

Still, he gave Sasuke Uchiha a thumbs-up on the surface.

This choice was also a good thing for Izayoi.

A taijutsu sparring match simply could not bring out their full strength. Even if he won, the drop rate would be lower than in an unrestricted match.

Izayoi had already confirmed this.

When Hinata did not use the Pressure Point Strike to send chakra into his body, Izayoi had never gotten any entries from defeating her.

The gap in strength between her and Izayoi was simply too great.

Although a one-sided battle could also drop entries, Izayoi had not encountered that minuscule chance even once over the past year.

When Hinata used the Pressure Point Strike and went all out, Izayoi had obtained two entries from her over the past year—one purple and one blue.

Those two entries were Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Purple) and Chakra Control (Blue).

It was not that Izayoi looked down on Sasuke Uchiha. Familiar with the plot and blessed with extraordinary talent, he had started taking shortcuts at the age of three.

One cheater had a three- or four-year head start over another cheater.

If Sasuke Uchiha had not already mastered Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, he would have posed no threat to Izayoi at all.

And Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique could increase Sasuke Uchiha's drop rate.

An unrestricted match was the best choice.

"Then let's begin!"

Izayoi took several steps back, widening the distance between himself and Sasuke Uchiha, then raised his index and middle fingers.

Seeing this, Sasuke Uchiha formed the Seal of Confrontation as well.

Then the two charged at each other.

Once they were close, Sasuke Uchiha threw a punch.

As Izayoi sidestepped, he raised his leg and spun one hundred and eighty degrees, kicking at Sasuke Uchiha's face with astonishing flexibility.

Sasuke Uchiha did not have time to dodge. He could only raise his other arm to block with his forearm, and the kick sent him staggering back several steps.

By the time he steadied himself, he had already fallen into an extremely passive position.

Izayoi rushed in, striking with both arms at once toward Sasuke Uchiha's face and chest.

The blows were not especially powerful, but they came so quickly that Sasuke Uchiha could barely react.

The moment he blocked the first punch, the second seized the opening and landed on his face.

After taking that first punch, Sasuke Uchiha completely lost his rhythm and became a moving punching bag.

Whenever he raised an arm, Izayoi would seize and yank it, throwing off his balance.

Izayoi, on the other hand, had begun his barrage without any apparent pattern, but gradually found a rhythm.

It was like the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Palm. Without sending chakra into the body, the damage was not severe, but during the barrage, the opponent was utterly unable to fight back.

After an unknown number of blows, Izayoi finally stopped attacking. He spun three hundred and sixty degrees, gathered force, and kicked Sasuke Uchiha, sending him flying.

That kick hurt even more than the earlier barrage, making it hard for Sasuke Uchiha to breathe.

But as he watched Izayoi lower his leg, Sasuke Uchiha—who had spent the past several days trapped in a genjutsu space, repeatedly reliving the scene of his clan's massacre—suddenly saw Itachi Uchiha's shadow in Izayoi.

The other's words of disdain at not even bothering to kill him echoed in his mind.

You're too weak now. In the future, live on in ugliness. Do everything you can just to cling to life...

Sasuke Uchiha's expression suddenly twisted.

"Uchiha Itachi, I'll definitely kill you! Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

He mistook Izayoi for Itachi Uchiha. Forming Hand Seals with both hands, he spat out a wisp of flame that rapidly swelled into a massive, blazing fireball and hurtled toward Izayoi.

"Perfect timing. Wind Style: Wind Cutter Technique!"

Rather than being alarmed, Izayoi was delighted. He pretended to form Hand Seals, then exhaled. His breath abruptly changed from invisible to tangible, becoming a transparent, scythe-shaped wind blade that collided with the incoming fireball.

The next second, the massive fireball was sliced apart diagonally. The weakened wind blade continued onward and struck Sasuke Uchiha.

Riiip—

As cloth tore, blood sprayed from Sasuke Uchiha's body.

The instant Sasuke Uchiha hit the ground, he went still.

Izayoi did not panic at all. He simply walked over at an unhurried pace.

Anyone could die now, except Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.

The news that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been summoned down from the moon must have already reached the Sage of Six Paths.

He surely knew that the Second Rinnegan had been born.

To prevent their mother from reviving before Indra and Asura had fully grown, the Sage of Six Paths would never allow this generation's reincarnations of Indra and Asura to die so easily.

Besides, if Sasuke Uchiha were killed in one move by a severely weakened C-rank Wind Cutter, he would not deserve to be the second male lead.

Arriving at Sasuke Uchiha's side, Izayoi found that he was indeed still breathing.

The wind blade had merely torn his clothes and left a gash on his body. No bone was visible.

Izayoi crouched down and used basic Medical Ninjutsu to treat him.

Snap—

Just then, as though he were hearing things, Izayoi heard a sound even crisper than a bursting balloon.

He followed the sound, his expression focused.

Bubbles visible only to Izayoi appeared around Sasuke Uchiha's body.

Izayoi happened to see a bubble that had just burst, along with a... red beam flying toward him.

"Ah?"

Watching the red beam rapidly fill his vision, Izayoi wore a dumbfounded expression for once.

Red... red?

How many red ones did Sasuke Uchiha have?

Was red the highest known grade, or was it purple?

But the notification that immediately rang out in his mind told Izayoi that he was not seeing things.

He had hit the jackpot!

"Ding! You have obtained the Talent Perk Sage Eye (Red). Fuse or decompose?"

"...Fuse!"

Izayoi hurriedly shouted in his heart, so excited that the corners of his mouth nearly rose.

But not knowing whether someone might be watching from the shadows, Izayoi forcibly suppressed the impulse. As a result, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, making him look a little comical.

Izayoi's feelings at that moment were simply beyond words.

With Hinata as an example, Izayoi had assumed that it would take a very long time to obtain Sasuke Uchiha's Red Perk.

He had already prepared himself to spar with Sasuke Uchiha whenever he had time over the next five years.

If he still failed to obtain a Red Perk during their time at the Ninja Academy, Izayoi would slow down his growth and keep his strength at the same level as Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata.

Yet he had never expected that in his very first unrestricted duel, he would obtain Sasuke Uchiha's Sage Eye (Red).

That minuscule probability had actually happened to him.

At that moment, Izayoi finally understood how those absurdly lucky people felt.