"Sss—"
Sora inhaled sharply.
Even with the Azure Dragon Fruit's flame resistance, the temperature still caused a burning pain on his back.
Uchiha Takumi's eyes flickered with surprise.
He hadn't expected this six-year-old brat to continuously dodge two of his attacks.
The tomoe in Uchiha Takumi's Sharingan spun faster, clearly indicating he was getting serious.
"That was the second move."
Sora stood up, brushing off sparks from his clothes. "There's one last move."
"Huh?" After waiting a few moments, Sora realized something was wrong. Uchiha Takumi in the distance still hadn't used his third move.
"Father, why isn't Sora moving?"
Might Duy and Guy, watching from the side, saw Sora dodge the Great Fireball and then just stand there motionless. They quickly looked at Uchiha Takumi.
They saw him weave a series of complex hand seals. "Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"
Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique: A Sharingan genjutsu unique to the Uchiha clan. The victim feels as if wedges are being driven into their entire body, rendering them completely immobile and helpless.
"Something's wrong! A genjutsu!"
Sora's vision blurred, the surroundings suddenly distorting.
The next second, he found himself nailed to a cross, searing pain shooting through his limbs as if real wedges were being hammered into his joints.
"Move! Move!" Sora struggled desperately, but his body wouldn't obey at all.
This was the terror of the Sharingan genjutsu—knowing it was an illusion but being unable to break free.
On the sidelines, Might Duy's body erupted with green chakra, his legs slightly bent, clearly ready to intervene at any moment. "This is bad! It's the Uchiha's signature genjutsu!"
Guy shouted nervously, "Sora! Wake up!"
Uchiha Takumi, his eyes closed, sneered coldly. "It's over. You do have some skill, but before the Sharingan..."
Buzz!!!
Suddenly, he froze.
Within the genjutsu space, Sora's tightly shut eyes snapped open, his pupils actually becoming slitted! An aura like that of a primordial beast erupted from this child.
"What... is this?!"
Before Uchiha Takumi could react, he felt his genjutsu space begin to crumble.
Sora, who had been nailed to the cross, was now wreathed in a blue aura, and a massive, hazy figure loomed behind him. The illusionary wedges were shattering into pieces under its pressure!
"Break!"
With Sora's low shout, the genjutsa space completely shattered.
Even more terrifying, Uchiha Takumi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his Sharingan—a genjutsu backlash!
"Ah!" Uchiha Takumi staggered back, clutching his eyes.
Might Duy, watching from the side, was dumbfounded, muttering, "He actually broke a Sharingan genjutsu just with his presence?!"
Guy jumped up excitedly. "So cool! Sora!"
Sora himself was somewhat surprised.
He had originally planned to use his breathing technique to disrupt his chakra flow to break Uchiha Takumi's genjutsu. He hadn't expected that, facing a genjutsu for the first time and in a moment of urgency, the Dragon's Might automatically unleashed by his body would directly crush the genjutsu space.
That's right, what just broke Uchiha Takumi's genjutsu was the Dragon's Might! The innate mental pressure of a high-level beast!
It seemed the Azure Dragon Fruit also provided resistance to mental attacks.
"The three moves are over." Sora slowly calmed his breathing and looked at Uchiha Takumi. "According to our agreement..."
Uchiha Takumi barely steadied himself, his bleeding Sharingan full of shock. "Wha... what was that just now?"
"Willpower!" Sora said flatly. "We taijutsu ninja may not know ninjutsu or genjutsu, but we possess a willpower that surpasses ordinary people. These kinds of genjutsu that deceive the body and senses are useless against us!"
Nonsense, would I tell you it was the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit?
Uchiha Takumi's face shifted between shades, clearly not fully believing this explanation, but he couldn't find another reason.
After all, just because you can't do it doesn't mean others can't.
Like that taijutsu ninja over there with the green chakra aura, Uchiha Takumi wasn't confident he could control him with genjutsu either.
If he had seen a tailed beast or the sages of the Three Great Sage Regions, he might have connected the hazy figure behind Sora to something, but at twelve years old, he hadn't.
"Hey! According to the agreement!" Sora looked at the slightly dazed Uchiha Takumi and reminded him again.
"Hmph! The Uchiha keep their word." Uchiha Takumi finally gritted his teeth and conceded. "Follow me. You have one hour!"
With that, he turned and walked away, his retreating figure looking somewhat disheveled.
To think he, a proud Uchiha Chunin, had been embarrassed by a six-year-old brat. If this got out...
Might Duy, seeing this, gradually deactivated the Eight Gates. Glancing at the departing Uchiha Takumi, he couldn't help but advise, "Sora, will you be alright going alone?"
Although the Great Fireball Technique wasn't a ninjutsu exclusive to the Uchiha clan, from their conversation, it clearly referred to the Uchiha clan's unique expertise with the technique.
Uchiha Takumi, bound by the agreement, teaching Sora was the limit. Guy and his father certainly couldn't be present, even though they wouldn't be able to learn it anyway.
"It's fine. This is still inside the village, after all. He wouldn't dare do anything to me."
"Besides, those guys should have arrived nearby already!"
Sora scanned the surroundings, carefully probing for the "guys" he mentioned—the Anbu!
Anbu, short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Assassination Tactics Special Force), is a special force directly under the Hokage. No one else has any authority to mobilize them.
They not only undertake various assassination missions externally but are also responsible for safeguarding the internal security of Konoha.
With such significant chakra fluctuations coming from this quiet, deep-forest riverbank, they would definitely come to investigate.
Sure enough, Sora detected a few fresh footprints on a large tree not far away. Clearly, someone else had been on that tree just moments ago.
"Senior Duy, I'll go for a while. I'll come find you this afternoon to train together."
Sora took a look at the nearly vanished figure of Uchiha Takumi and spoke to Might Duy.
"Alright, go ahead, Sora." As a ninja of many years, Might Duy was obviously aware of the Anbu. Seeing that Sora understood the situation, he agreed.
Although the Great Fireball Technique was only a C-rank ninjutsu, it was the unique experience of the Uchiha family! An ordinary person wouldn't even get the chance to learn it!
Watching Sora's receding figure, Might Duy quietly calculated in his heart: "Sora's physical condition has already reached the standard for learning the Eight Gates. It seems it's time to find an opportunity to teach him."
Sora had only been training with Might Duy for a little over two weeks—not a long time at all. Yet, in this short period, Might Duy had genuinely come to respect this young man.
Recalling the intensity with which Sora trained, even more relentless than Guy's, Might Duy couldn't help but crack a smile.
If Guy was a "hardworking genius," then Sora was a "genius of hard work"!