Two years later.
The Ninja Academy training ground.
Another sparring match.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out across the Ninja Academy training ground, sending a great cloud of smoke billowing from the center.
Shin'un darted through it, repeatedly using the Body Flicker Technique to evade the attacks that came his way from time to time.
His pupils kept shifting, tracking every movement around him.
Suddenly, Shin'un's pupils contracted.
Although the thick smoke kept Shin'un from seeing what lay ahead, his keen senses still detected the rapidly rising temperature in front of him.
Acting without hesitation, Shin'un immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to leave his position.
Hiss!
A fireball burst out of the smoke, its wake blowing away a large swath of it as it hurtled toward Shin'un's original position.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
An unbroken succession of fireballs shot toward Shin'un at tremendous speed. Their separate trajectories tore the smoke to shreds, finally allowing the class lined up nearby to see the sparring match between Shin'un and his opponent.
"Hirakawa Shin'un, it's been two years. Is dodging still all you can do?"
Hidden in the last remnants of smoke, Uchiha Yūichi shouted at Shin'un.
Shin'un heard Uchiha Yūichi's words from within the smoke as he continued using the Body Flicker Technique to evade the flames.
The corners of his mouth lifted. Shin'un ignored Yūichi's provocation and simply watched everything around him in silence, searching for an opening to counterattack.
Whoosh!
After dodging the last Phoenix Flower Fire fireball, Shin'un had only just stopped moving when a cloud of smoke suddenly erupted behind him.
In that critical instant, Shin'un caught what was happening behind him out of the corner of his eye.
An ordinary-looking, inconspicuous pebble suddenly transformed into Uchiha Yūichi amid the erupting smoke.
Standing behind Shin'un, he raised a kunai and thrust it straight toward the center of Shin'un's back.
Before Shin'un could react to the attack that had suddenly appeared behind him.
The smoke in front of him shifted, and Uchiha Yūichi burst through it, rushing toward Shin'un at tremendous speed.
Caught between attacks from the front and rear, Shin'un appeared to be in extreme danger.
"Amazing!"
The sudden turn of events drew gasps of admiration from the watching class, and they could not help worrying about Shin'un's safety.
Standing in the distance, Mizukawa Masaru began gathering chakra once more. His muscles tensed again, ready to come to the rescue at any moment.
But to Shin'un, standing in the sparring ground, this situation was not yet a crisis.
As always, Shin'un stood where he was, keeping the slow-moving Uchiha Yūichis in front of and behind him within his field of vision.
Compared to two years ago, Shin'un's combat experience and control over his body had improved tremendously. A situation like this was not enough to make him panic.
The kunai in his right hand moved behind him, precisely blocking the edge of the kunai wielded by the Uchiha Yūichi at his back.
His eyes had already traced the attack trajectory of the Uchiha Yūichi in front of him with perfect clarity.
His free left hand moved swiftly, seizing the arm of the Uchiha Yūichi before him.
Poof!
With a hard squeeze, the Uchiha Yūichi who had rushed out of the smoke burst into a cloud of white smoke.
Just as Shin'un had expected, the Uchiha Yūichi before him was merely a clone with no ability to attack.
Only the Yūichi behind Shin'un remained, but when Shin'un turned to look, he found that this Uchiha Yūichi also burst into white smoke after flashing a toothy grin.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
At the same time, a fireball burst straight out of the lingering smoke and advanced toward Shin'un.
By the time Shin'un noticed the fireball rushing toward him, it was already upon him.
The surging heat curled Shin'un's eyebrows, and the brilliant firelight shone so brightly into his eyes that he could not keep them open.
Uchiha Yūichi's battle plan was about to succeed. At this distance, Shin'un no longer had time to use the Body Flicker Technique to escape and evade the fireball.
So Shin'un shook his head, gave up struggling, and burst into a cloud of white smoke on the spot.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
At the sight, both Uchiha Yūichi, hidden in the smoke, and Mizukawa Masaru, who was preparing to use the Body Flicker Technique to come to the rescue, froze involuntarily.
Mizukawa Masaru shook his head and slowly settled the roiling chakra within him, already having some idea of how this battle would end.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yūichi, who had been rejoicing in his imminent victory within the smoke, could not help feeling stunned.
The Shin'un he had painstakingly maneuvered into the designated position was actually a Shadow Clone!
At the same time, in the instant Uchiha Yūichi's mind went blank, something happened behind him.
Poof!
An ordinary-looking, inconspicuous pebble suddenly transformed into Hirakawa Shin'un amid the erupting smoke.
The familiar scene made Uchiha Yūichi's eyebrows rise, and he immediately twisted around to block Shin'un's attack.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Yūichi lacked Shin'un's ability to react to the situation.
The moment Uchiha Yūichi noticed Shin'un appearing behind him, the battle was already over.
Shin'un's kunai was already raised to Uchiha Yūichi's neck.
"Well? You lost again."
With a smile tugging at his lips, Shin'un bluntly announced his victory in this sparring match to Uchiha Yūichi.
Hearing Shin'un's words behind him, Uchiha Yūichi looked slightly irritated.
"I know you won again!"
"But that's only because I didn't know you'd mastered Shadow Clones too. I'll definitely win next time!"
Shin'un knew Uchiha Yūichi was not a sore loser. Without waiting for Mizukawa Masaru to announce the result, he lowered the kunai he held at Yūichi's neck.
"Didn't I also not know you'd mastered Shadow Clones before the fight started?"
Shin'un's words left Yūichi at a loss for a reply.
"Anyway, I'll definitely win next time and reclaim my Uchiha honor!"
Not knowing what to say, Yūichi simply turned his face aside and brought up his honor as an Uchiha.
Watching Uchiha Yūichi turn away, Shin'un could not help chuckling.
"Does the Uchiha Clan pass down being tsundere along with the Sharingan?"
"Shin'un, when did you learn Shadow Clones?"
After Shin'un returned to the class lineup, Minato Namikaze spoke up.
"I learned it ages ago. I just never used it in our sparring matches before."
"Really?"
After saying that, Minato Namikaze hesitated, as though he had something to say.
Seeing Minato Namikaze like this, Shin'un immediately found it strange.
"What's wrong?"
At Shin'un's question, Minato Namikaze frowned.
"Let's talk after school."
After saying this, Minato Namikaze's expression changed, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. That usually somewhat shy smile now actually looked rather gossipy.
"How have things been between you and Shiina Kō lately?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Minato Namikaze's question, Shin'un shook his head repeatedly.
"Don't go making things up. There's absolutely nothing between Shiina Kō and me."
After saying this, Shin'un hurriedly turned to glance at another class on the far side of the training ground.