On the outskirts of the Kumogakure's training ground, Samui stood with her arms crossed. Her usually cold, indifferent pupils were now fixed on the upright figure in the center of the arena, slightly frozen.
Beside her, Mabui sucked in a sharp breath, her voice kept low but unable to conceal a trace of shock within: "This talent... it's too terrifying!"
In the center of the arena, Makoto stood casually. Sunlight poured down from behind him, casting a hazy halo around his body.
Yet, more piercing than the sunlight were those slowly rotating crimson eyes… the two-tomoe Sharingan, eerie, cold, carrying a kind of heart-palpitating dominance that was utterly incongruous with his age.
Samui didn't respond, only her jawline tightened imperceptibly for a moment.
During the Third Shinobi World War, she had seen other Uchiha, but never one who, with just the two-tomoe Sharingan, could send a near-instinctive warning of danger tingling down her spine.
His contemptuous gaze, in a daze, made her see the Shinobi World's legend recorded in Kumogakure's archives… Uchiha Madara.
In the center of the training ground, Yuu's Adam's apple moved with difficulty under the small but iron-vise-like fingers of Makoto.
Humiliation, anger, and more than anything, the bewilderment after being utterly crushed by absolute strength, interwove on his face.
Hearing that light, almost flippant 'Do you want to dance too?', he thought the other was offering him another chance, and spoke in a hoarse voice: "I do!"
"We've compared swordsmanship and Taijutsu! Let's spar with Ninjutsu now!"
Yuu was unwilling to concede, 'I still had Chakra and Ninjutsu left! How old was this brat? His chakra reserves definitely couldn't be large, and it was impossible for him to have mastered any decent Ninjutsu!'
In the Kumogakure's Academy, it was rare for youths around twelve years old to have mastered Ninjutsu.
Seeing this, Makoto thought, 'This kid really is a stubborn hardhead.'
He released his grip, even considerately took two steps back, giving the other space to form hand seals.
"Alright then," He said lightly, letting out a soft laugh. "I'll give you another chance."
Makoto paused, his gaze sweeping over Yuu's face, where a spark of hope had ignited, and chuckled, "If you do not spar with me, seeing me is like a frog in a well gazing at the moon in the sky… it seems distant and unattainable, not entirely real."
"If you insist on sparring with me..." Makoto drew out the last syllable, the crimson Sharingan swirling with an indifferent light, "...you will know what it means for a single ephemera to behold the blue sky!"
Compared to Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, Makoto was even more proficient in Ninjutsu.
His innate talent for Ninjutsu was extremely good. Even without his cheat-like abilities and the Sharingan, he learned Ninjutsu very quickly.
Since the other party had asked, as a player with strength, of course he had to show off. Otherwise, half the fun of striving to improve would be lost.
If he had the Rinnegan right now...
No, even just the Mangekyo Sharingan would be enough to stop pretending and directly turn into an ancestor-level figure, one who doesn't take any nonsense!
The spark in Yuu's eyes was instantly fanned into a raging inferno by these words. He roared in a low voice, "There has to be a limit to looking down on people!"
As the words fell, his body rapidly leaped backward, his hands flying through a series of hand seals so fast they left afterimages.
Makoto didn't use his Sharingan to copy the Ninjutsu. Instead, he formed seals at an even faster speed, Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger. He started later, but finished first.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Yuu's chest swelled suddenly, a violent whirlwind gushing from his mouth, tearing through the air, roaring as it charged towards Makoto.
Makoto, who had started forming seals later, was even faster, "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
The blazing flames didn't spray out chaotically, but condensed into a ferocious, violent fire dragon, fangs bared, roaring as it slammed head-on into the whirlwind!
The moment wind and fire collided, a sudden change occurred. The whirlwind not only failed to disperse the fire dragon, but instead violently fanned the flames!
Boom…!
In the violent explosion, the Dragon Fire Technique absorbed the power of the wind, instantly swelling into an enormous, scorchingly hot, blazing fireball that rushed back towards Yuu with even more ferocious momentum!
"Don't screw with me!!"
Seeing this, Yuu's face instantly turned deathly pale, his pupils filled only with that crimson that occupied his entire field of vision. He threw himself sideways in a disheveled dodge.
The scorching heat wave brushed past his body. His clothes instantly charred, his exposed skin stung with a burning sensation. He could even smell his own hair curling and burning.
Before his body could even steady itself, the second wave of despair had already descended!
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Makoto's voice remained steady, without any sign of panting. Three even larger, nearly white-hot, terrifying fire dragons roared forth from his mouth!
The dragon's roar deafened the ears. The high temperature instantly made the skin on the faces of the distant onlookers tighten and feel hot, as if they were standing next to a furnace.
The three fire dragons formed a triangular formation, sealing off all possible escape routes for Yuu. The shadow of death fell upon him!
Yuu froze in place, his pupils reflecting the three man-eating fire dragons, leaving only utter despair and horror, 'How could this Uchiha brat, at his age, possibly have more Chakra than me?!'
'Did he start refining Chakra from inside the womb?!'
He, the publicly acknowledged top student of the Kumogakure's Academy, felt as small as a leaf in a storm at this moment.
"The match is over!"
Yondaime Raikage's voice, like muffled thunder, rang out timely, declaring the end of this one-sided match.
Before his voice had even faded, a figure wreathed in dazzling lightning had thrust itself into the arena like genuine thunder!
Yondaime Raikage used his hand like a blade. Violent highly condensed Lightning Release Chakra teared through the air with a sharp screech like a thousand birds crying out. The hand blade descended.
Sizzle…
The three ferociously roaring fire dragons were forcibly severed by this overwhelmingly domineering strike.
Scattered fragments of flame splattered like fireworks, crashing against Yondaime Raikage's dark, densely muscled, solid arms, struggling before extinguishing, leaving only a few faint red marks that vanished in an instant.
Yondaime Raikage's massive frame stood in front of the heavily panting, terrified Yuu. His gaze was extremely complex as he looked at the composed Makoto opposite him, who only had a bit of dust on the corner of his clothes.
He took a deep breath and repeated in a deep voice that carried across the silent training ground.
"You win!"
The training ground was utterly silent, save for the occasional crackle of dying embers and Yuu's uncontrollable, bellows-like heavy panting.
Among the people present, many saw the two-tomoe Sharingan in Makoto's pupils and instantly knew his identity.
He was the Uchiha brat abducted from Konoha. Many higher-ups in Kumogakure knew about this, but hadn't yet seen Makoto in person.
"Sharingan... It's an Uchiha!"
"That Uchiha kid brought from Konoha?"
"Isn't this talent too freakish?"
Whispers spread like a tide.
Those Kumogakure's Shinobi who had originally come to watch Yuu easily teach a child a lesson now had faces filled only with complete shock and disbelief.