Coupled with the physical improvements from his extreme training, his explosive power was already nothing like it had been before.
Bang!
Sasuke hastily raised both arms to block, but the tremendous force sent him sliding several meters backward, leaving his arms numb.
"Damn it!"
The proud Sasuke was instantly enraged. His hands blurred as he rapidly formed hand seals.
Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke drew a deep breath, gathering chakra in his throat before blasting out a scorching fireball. Rolling waves of heat sent the surrounding students retreating with startled cries.
"My god! Sasuke even knows C-rank ninjutsu!" Iruka was shocked and was just about to intervene.
Yet Uchiha Xin neither dodged nor evaded the enormous fireball hurtling toward him.
A red gleam flickered in his eyes (his One-Tomoe Sharingan activated and deactivated in an instant), and his hands likewise became a blur.
The order of his hand seals, and even the speed at which he formed them, matched Sasuke's exactly!
Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Boom!
An equally enormous, equally scorching fireball erupted from Uchiha Xin's mouth!
The two enormous fireballs collided in the center of the field with a thunderous boom. Heat swept across the entire field, whipping clouds of dust into the air.
"This... how is this possible?!"
The entire field fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the scene in disbelief.
Uchiha Xin, that usually unremarkable boy, had actually mastered the Great Fireball Technique too?!
While everyone was still reeling in shock, a figure swiftly pierced through the lingering smoke and dust.
"What?!"
Still holding his fire-breathing posture, Sasuke saw a blur before his eyes, and Uchiha Xin had already used the Body Flicker Technique to appear right in front of him.
Without any flashy movements, Uchiha Xin carried the momentum of his charge into a vicious whipping kick that slammed into Sasuke's abdomen.
Bang!
Sasuke grunted and went flying, rolling seven or eight times across the ground before stopping. Clutching his stomach, he could not get up for a long while.
His face was filled with stupefaction and disbelief.
The entire field erupted!
After the brief, deathly silence, Naruto was the first to jump up, shouting excitedly, "Xin! You're so cool!!!"
Iruka swallowed, forcibly suppressing his shock as he announced loudly, "The winner is Uchiha Xin!"
That evening, inside the Uchiha Clan's main residence.
The clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, knelt before a low tea table, frowning as he listened to his subordinate's report.
"Sasuke lost to that orphan named Xin? And he was defeated by the very same Great Fireball?"
"Yes, Lord Clan Head," his subordinate replied respectfully.
"However, according to those present, Young Master Sasuke underestimated his opponent and let him seize the initiative."
"Although Xin's Great Fireball was fairly powerful, his chakra clearly couldn't sustain it."
Fugaku pondered for a moment, then his brow relaxed.
"Ever since Itachi joined the Anbu, Sasuke has indeed become somewhat arrogant and complacent."
"It will do him good to suffer a little."
"As for Xin... the fact that he can use the Great Fireball means his talent is passable. Just pay him a little attention from now on. There's no need to make a fuss."
In Fugaku's eyes, this was merely a spar between children. Sasuke's defeat had been purely due to carelessness.
An orphan with neither backing nor resources could not make any waves, even if he had a little cleverness.
And this was precisely the outcome Uchiha Xin wanted.
Show his strength without revealing his trump cards.
Use Sasuke as a stepping stone while making the higher-ups think it was merely luck and Sasuke's underestimation of his opponent.
Early the next morning, before daybreak.
Uchiha Xin arrived early at a small grove on the outskirts of the village.
To improve his proficiency in the Eight Gates Released Formation as quickly as possible, he had to find a more extreme training method.
As soon as he entered the grove, he heard a furious roar brimming with hot-blooded passion.
"Youth will never fade! Warm-up complete! Now the real training begins! Five hundred laps around Konoha on my hands, and if I can't do it, ten thousand punches!"
Uchiha Xin parted the bushes and saw a burly, thick-browed man with a bowl cut, dressed in a green bodysuit, racing across the ground on his hands.
At the words "warm-up," Uchiha Xin could not help his face twitching.
He had seen this man do a full thousand push-ups and three hundred frog jumps with his own eyes, yet that had only been a warm-up?!
Though he felt somewhat daunted, he only had to think of that enticing progress bar for the Eight Gates Released Formation.
Uchiha Xin gritted his teeth anyway, put on a brilliant smile, and strode out.
"Hey! Good morning, Uncle Guy!"
Hearing his voice, Might Guy pushed sharply against the ground with both hands, flipped through half a turn in midair, and landed steadily on his feet.
He brushed the dirt off his hands and flashed his signature gleaming white teeth.
"Oh! Isn't this Xin? Are you here so early to shed the sweat of youth too?"
Looking at the hot-blooded man before him with his thick brows and large eyes, the corners of Uchiha Xin's mouth twitched twice.
He quickly adjusted his expression, adopting a serious look.
"Uncle Guy, I came specifically to see you today."
Might Guy paused, put away his exaggerated smile, and walked up to Uchiha Xin.
"To see me? Did something happen?"
Uchiha Xin tilted his head up and looked Might Guy in the eyes.
"My father was on a team with you back then, and he saved your life."
"You once said I could come to you anytime if I needed anything."
"I'd like you to teach me how to train my body. I want to learn taijutsu!"
Might Guy's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, his face filled with disbelief.
The Uchiha Clan was one of Konoha's great clans, and everyone in it relied heavily on the Sharingan and Fire Release Ninjutsu.
The Uchiha had always regarded taijutsu as an inferior method.
"Xin, you're a member of the Uchiha Clan. Why do you suddenly want to learn taijutsu?"
Uchiha Xin clenched his fists, pretending to look unwilling to accept his lot.
"Although I managed to beat Sasuke by luck in yesterday's practical exercise at school, I know it was because he underestimated me."
"Sasuke is a true genius. His talent for ninjutsu far exceeds mine."
"If I follow the usual training routine, he'll leave me far behind sooner or later."
"I don't have any other advantages. I can only improve my strength through sweat and physical training. I want to surpass Sasuke completely!"
Might Guy listened quietly.
He looked at Uchiha Xin's knuckles, clenched so tightly they had turned white, and at the unyielding light in the boy's eyes.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Might Guy suddenly threw his head back and laughed, even squeezing two tears of excitement from the corners of his eyes.
He abruptly crouched down and clapped both hands heavily onto Uchiha Xin's shoulders.
"As expected of a hero's son! This determination to refuse to fall behind and dare to challenge a genius is the most dazzling proof of youth!"
"Starting today, leave your taijutsu training to me, Little Xinxin!"
Uchiha Xin's shoulders ached from the heavy pats, and hearing that name gave him goosebumps all over.
"Uncle Guy, could you not call me Little Xinxin..."