Once Uya could shatter B-rank ninjutsu, he would sweep aside any chunin or even elite chunin who did not know A-rank ninjutsu.
If he could shatter A-rank ninjutsu, even jonin and elite jonin would find it extremely difficult to defeat him.
The boost provided by a kekkei genkai rarely allowed someone to challenge those of a higher rank, but it usually gave them an outstanding advantage against those of the same rank.
Why were the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan and the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan so powerful? Because possessing the Sharingan or Byakugan alone made them elites among their peers!
Yet Uya's kekkei genkai, this power that forcefully destroyed all ninjutsu outright, seemed even stronger and more overbearing than kekkei genkai like the Sharingan and Byakugan!
At the genin level, taijutsu was ineffective, ninjutsu was ineffective... defeating Uya was almost impossible!
"You win..."
Minato Namikaze's voice was somewhat bitter. Instead of attacking again, he conceded.
His stamina and chakra were nearly exhausted, after all. The outcome truly had been decided.
Minato Namikaze gave Uya a long look, still feeling a little unwilling to accept defeat. He was actually very competitive himself.
"Uya, I'm glad I got to fight you... I'll keep challenging you in the future."
"You're welcome anytime."
Uya looked at Minato Namikaze and nodded lightly.
With Minato Namikaze's concession,
the final match of the practical ranking assessment finally came to an end!
The head examiner took a deep breath, then abruptly raised his hand and announced,
"Winner... Uya!"
Whoosh!
The entire venue erupted once again.
Uya... first place in the practical ranking assessment!
In one stroke, he had surpassed Minato Namikaze and become the Ninja Academy's newest genius!
Countless students had never expected Uya to make it this far. Just a few months ago, he had been a dead last who could not even practice ninjutsu!
Awakening his kekkei genkai had brought about such an astonishing reversal.
At that moment, almost everyone remembered this kekkei genkai: Quake Release!
Some seemed to glimpse a future in which this kekkei genkai called Quake Release would shake the entire Shinobi World.
Ignoring all the envious and amazed looks, Uya lightly jumped into the stands and walked over to Kushina.
"I did what I promised you."
"First place."
Uya held up one finger and waved it in front of Kushina with a smile.
Even now, Kushina was still staring blankly at Uya.
A moment earlier, she had thought Uya was certain to lose, never expecting the outcome to turn around like this.
Uya had won, and it had been a complete victory!
Throughout the entire practical ranking assessment, not even the hem of Uya's clothes had been damaged!
Even Minato Namikaze had failed to leave a single mark on him.
Kushina pressed her little lips together, and tears suddenly glistened in her beautiful eyes.
They were tears of joy.
She was happy for Uya.
Others might never have paid attention to Uya before, but she had been watching him all along.
She knew how hard Uya worked.
After school, when no one was around, even late at night... Uya had been putting himself through those incredibly grueling exercises.
To Kushina, what Uya had gained now was not luck. It was what he deserved!
The reward he deserved for all that effort!
"Why are you crying?"
Seeing Kushina like this, Uya could not help smiling. He reached out a finger and gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Mm!!"
Only then did Kushina suddenly come to her senses, and an adorable blush immediately spread across her cheeks.
Glaring at Uya in embarrassed indignation, Kushina puffed out her cheeks and huffed. "Hmph! You only took first place. What's there to be proud of? You've still got a long way to go if you want to win me over."
Pfft!
Kushina's words nearly made Uya splutter.
Only after saying it did Kushina herself realize what had come out of her mouth, and her little face instantly turned bright red.
Everyone around them wore a dumbfounded expression.
Even she could not withstand a scene like this. The next moment, she fled in a panic.
She vanished in a flash.
Uya's face darkened with exasperation, the corner of his mouth twitching, but in the end, he could not help laughing.
"Minato... actually lost..."
Up on the platform, Jiraiya toppled headfirst off the railing and landed awkwardly on the ground like a toad flipping over, an exaggerated expression still on his face.
The other jonin's mouths twitched at the sight.
Beside him, Tsunade fought back the urge to send Jiraiya flying with a kick and ignored him.
She turned to look at Uya in the arena, her beautiful eyes immediately shining with immense appreciation.
Uya's moves, his style... they truly suited her tastes perfectly.
If Jiraiya chose Minato Namikaze, she would absolutely choose Uya without hesitation.
"Hehehe... I really did get to see a wonderful fight. A contest between geniuses is a rare sight."
Orochimaru pushed himself away from the wall with an inscrutable smile. "I just wonder how far they'll grow... oh, right. That child named Uya still seems to have a major problem left unresolved."
With that, Orochimaru turned and left with a somewhat sinister air.
The words Orochimaru left behind immediately caused a slight change in Tsunade's expression. Her brows furrowed lightly, and she looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi beside her.
Ever since Danzo had left, Hiruzen Sarutobi had worn a thoughtful expression. No one could guess what he was thinking.
He had overpowered Minato Namikaze in the Ninja Academy's practical ranking assessment and decisively claimed first place.
Within a single day, Uya's reputation as a genius spread throughout Konoha!
Everyone was stunned by the news. No one had imagined that the boy they considered arrogant and conceited, who had dared to challenge Uchiha Kan, could achieve this!
Precisely because Uya had overpowered Minato Namikaze, taken first place in the practical ranking assessment, and become a genius renowned throughout Konoha,
many people's views of his earlier challenge to Uchiha Kan changed as well.
Before, they had thought Uya was arrogant and conceited, courting death by offending the Uchiha Clan.
Now, he had become a young genius with the hotheadedness of youth.
For someone young and so talented, a little pride was perfectly normal.
Their attitudes had changed considerably.
Of course, understanding was one thing. Most people still did not think Uya could defeat Uchiha Kan.
At its very highest level, the practical ranking assessment was nothing more than a genin-level competition.
Uchiha Kan, however, was a chunin of the Uchiha Clan. He was even stronger than ordinary chunin, an elite among their ranks!
Even if the gap between an elite chunin and a child who had not yet graduated from the Ninja Academy was not as vast as heaven and earth, it was absolutely insurmountable.
Uya had just awakened his kekkei genkai and gone from dead last to genius in one leap. Although it was a huge leap, it was still within the bounds of normality.
But making another leap and jumping straight to the chunin level was simply a fantasy!