Might Guy hurriedly dodged, but he was still a beat too slow.
Hiss—!
The sword aura grazed his shoulder. The flesh was torn open instantly, but before the blood could drip, it was vaporized by the intense heat, leaving behind a scorched burn mark.
"What is that?! That's not Uchiha-style swordsmanship!"
Might Guy was shaken and immediately widened the distance between himself and Uchiha Yusuke.
Yusuke's attack was simply too strange.
In truth, Yusuke's flying slash was fierce, but with Guy's speed, dodging it should have been possible. The problem was that Guy had never seen such a technique before, and that moment of unfamiliarity cost him.
He was certain of one thing—
That strike was absolutely not ordinary Uchiha swordsmanship.
With that realization, Might Guy raised the level of the Eight Gates even further.
"Eight Gates — Sixth Gate, Gate of View, open!"
With a furious roar, the green aura around his body exploded outward.
"Yusuke! I'll show you the ultimate technique of the Gate of View!"
"Morning Peacock!"
Might Guy charged forward, fists moving at extreme speed. The violent friction with the air produced blazing flames, forming something like a peacock of fire soaring through the sky.
Uchiha Yusuke chuckled softly and swung his sword again and again.
"Just what I wanted. Let's end this quickly."
"Uchiha Style — Flame Demon."
Might Guy looked almost berserk, fists hammering forward at terrifying speed.
"Ah—! Shh! Shh! Shh!"
Uchiha Yusuke, however, transformed directly into a towering flame demon, standing immovable as Guy's attacks struck him head-on.
Yusuke suddenly assumed a sword-drawing stance. The flame demon mirrored the same motion.
"Slash."
With a single downward strike, flames flooded the entire area.
A true sword master did not rely solely on flying slashes. By sensing the "breath of all things," destructive power could be raised to an entirely new level.
When the flames finally dispersed, Might Guy was kneeling on one knee, while Uchiha Yusuke stood calmly with his hands behind his back.
The outcome was obvious at a glance.
Even with the Sixth Gate open, Guy was still no match for Yusuke.
"Cough… cough… what kind of sword technique was that?"
Might Guy coughed twice, curiosity written all over his face.
He knew very well that if Yusuke had not held back, he would likely already be seriously injured.
Uchiha Yusuke sheathed his sword and smiled faintly.
"A newly developed move."
"Just an ordinary sword technique."
...
Might Guy shot him an aggrieved look.
Ordinary?
You call this ordinary?!
Asuma, Genma Shiranui, and Hayate Gekkō all swallowed hard.
Uchiha Yusuke was simply terrifying.
As for Kurenai Yūhi, Anko Mitarashi, and Yugao Uzuki, they had already completely abandoned all restraint.
"Ahhh! Yusuke-kun is amazing!"
"Yusuke-kun, you're the best!"
"Yusuke-kun is mine! Waaah!"
Uchiha Yusuke remained as aloof as ever.
Women only slow down my sword.
The next day.
The pre-war conference was held as scheduled.
Konoha's upper leadership, the heads of the major clans, and numerous elite jōnin once again gathered inside the Hokage Tower.
"Yusuke, you're here."
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, greeted him with a warm smile as soon as he entered.
He had already received the report about Yusuke's fight with Might Guy the night before.
A completely new sword technique, defeating a Sixth-Gate Might Guy with ease.
From this alone, it could be inferred that Uchiha Yusuke's strength had likely already crossed into Kage-level.
Even Hiruzen, who had seen countless geniuses in his lifetime, had to admit that Yusuke's talent was extraordinary.
This kind of ability—to casually create entirely new techniques—he had only ever seen in his teacher, Tobirama Senju.
Hiruzen had tried all night, no matter how he controlled his chakra, he simply could not reproduce Yusuke's flying slash.
Based on the current intelligence, the power of that attack was no less than an A-rank ninjutsu.
Combined with its speed advantage, it was already approaching the realm of S-rank techniques.
And Uchiha Yusuke was only sixteen years old.
If this continued, surpassing the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju would not be impossible.
This left Hiruzen feeling both pleased and uneasy.
Konoha producing such a dazzling genius should have been a blessing.
But that genius was an Uchiha.
Suppress him? Or draw him in?
Even Hiruzen found himself wavering.
He had never truly intended to abandon the Uchiha.
If handled correctly, they could still be Konoha's sharpest blade.
Especially now, with war against Kumogakure imminent.
The Uchiha entering the battlefield alone was already a powerful deterrent.
The title of "strongest clan in the shinobi world" had never been empty talk.
"Mm."
Yusuke simply nodded calmly in response to the Hokage's friendliness.
Though he had little fondness for Konoha's higher-ups, he would still give the Third Hokage his due respect.
The meeting began.
Hiruzen first analyzed the current state of the shinobi world.
After the Third Great Ninja War, Sunagakure and Kirigakure had yet to recover.
Suna's puppet corps had suffered massive losses, and even the Third Kazekage was missing.
Kiri's Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been crippled, and the village had fallen into the Bloody Mist policy.
These two villages were mired in their own problems and were unlikely to interfere in the coming conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure.
The real concern was Iwagakure.
In the previous war, Iwa had gambled everything on a massive surprise assault on Konoha, only to be utterly defeated by the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
Later, they had fought a brutal war with Kumogakure, during which even the Third Raikage lost his life.
Iwa bore grudges against both Konoha and Kumo.
With the shrewdness of the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, it was very possible that Iwa would try to take advantage of the chaos and profit as a third party.
After the strategic overview, it was time to assign forces.
Uchiha Yusuke stood first.
"The Uchiha clan is willing to deploy fifty jōnin and two hundred chūnin."
The Uchiha were sending out their elites in full force.
Naturally, the Third Hokage had nothing to say.
Regardless of how Yusuke had provoked matters earlier, the Uchiha were not holding back when it came to war.
After Yusuke sat down, Hyuga Hiashi immediately followed.
"The Hyuga clan will deploy forty jōnin and one hundred and fifty chūnin."
The conflict had begun because of them. With the Uchiha stepping forward, the Hyuga had no room to retreat.
The outcome of this war would be critical to the village.
With Konoha's two greatest clans taking the lead, the remaining clans could no longer stay on the sidelines.
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