Ch.271 Confrontation

Bang. 

Bang.

Bang. 

With every muffled thud, a figure was sent flying out of the combat circle. 

As the thuds continued, the number of people in the circle dwindled, and the fight grew increasingly intense. 

At the center of the circle stood Sasuke, his face brimming with pride and excitement. 

His scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan swayed left and right in his sockets, piercing through the movements of every opponent around him. His body responded swiftly to their actions. 

"Shino, cover me!" 

Kiba shouted, charging in from the side. 

Shino didn't hesitate, urging his parasitic insects to swarm toward Sasuke from all directions, aiming to disrupt his judgment. 

Seeing this, Shikamaru recognized an opportunity. He shot a glance at Choji beside him, then formed hand seals: "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!" 

In an instant. 

A dark shadow stretched out from beneath his feet, rapidly extending toward Sasuke. 

Choji activated his "Expansion Jutsu," his body swelling several times its size. He lumbered toward Sasuke with slow, heavy steps. 

On the outer edge. 

Ino completed her seals, striking the pose for the "Mind Body Switch Jutsu" and aiming it at Sasuke from afar. 

Among the other girls beside her, Sakura looked conflicted, Hinata hesitated, Shion stood bewildered, and Yakumo appeared both eager to jump in and weighed down by concerns. 

Facing the onslaught from his classmates, Sasuke's lips curled upward. 

With a deft leap, he dodged Kiba's attack and countered with a kick, sending Kiba crashing onto the shadow Shikamaru was controlling, locking the "Shadow Imitation Jutsu" onto Kiba instead. 

Then, ducking low, he evaded a punch from the enlarged Choji. With a quick sweep of his leg, he tripped Choji, using his massive frame to crush Shino's insects beneath him. 

Whoosh! 

Next, he used the "Body Flicker Jutsu" to appear behind Shikamaru. Before Shikamaru could react, Sasuke knocked him out with a single chop to the neck. 

By now, Ino, whose formation had fallen apart, could no longer hold back. She unleashed her "Mind Body Switch Jutsu" toward Sasuke. 

But Sasuke's Sharingan had already caught her move. 

His attack on Shikamaru had been bait to lure Ino into acting. The moment she did, he sidestepped, letting her "Mind Body Switch Jutsu" hit Kiba—who had just broken free of the "Shadow Imitation Jutsu"—squarely instead. 

Taking advantage of the moment Ino's technique missed and her body lost control, Sasuke dashed forward, striking her down in one move. His scarlet gaze then drifted to the classmates on either side of her. 

Boom, boom, boom. 

Sakura couldn't block a single hit. Shion barely managed two. Hinata resisted with her Gentle Fist, but after three moves, her defenses crumbled. 

In six strikes—within a breath or two—Sasuke took down Sakura, Shion, and Hinata! 

This unconventional sparring match from Sasuke's class drew the attention of everyone on the training field. 

Neji watched from afar, his expression grave. 

Shiro's mouth hung slightly open, astonished by Sasuke's growth. 

Tenten and Lee were completely dumbfounded. 

Shinji observed too, his face showing unease—not because Sasuke's display shocked him, but because he was worried about Yakumo. 

In some ways, Yakumo and Sasuke were strikingly similar. 

Both hailed from prestigious clans that had fallen into decline for various reasons. As a result, they craved power, yearning to restore their families' glory! 

So, seeing Sasuke shine so brightly, Yakumo likely wanted to do the same for the Kurama clan. 

What Shinji feared was that Yakumo might go all out against Sasuke and accidentally expose her newly transplanted Koryugan. 

Though the Koryugan had never appeared in the shinobi world before, even if Yakumo slipped up and the village noticed, they wouldn't link her to the Uchiha or the Akatsuki. 

But it would inevitably stir up trouble. 

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke had taken down most of his classmates.

The only ones left standing were Kimimaro, who hadn't made a move yet, and Yakumo, who had retreated early when Sasuke ambushed Ino, Shion, and the others. 

Sasuke panted lightly, glancing at Kimimaro with a sharp look. 

He'd been keeping an eye on Kimimaro all along, and from start to finish, Kimimaro's expression hadn't shifted in the slightest. 

"That guy's tricky. I'll deal with him last!" 

Making up his mind, Sasuke's gaze shifted to Yakumo. 

Truth be told, he was a bit surprised. According to his original plan, he should've taken Yakumo down alongside Shion and Hinata during his earlier rush. 

He wasn't sure what went wrong, but by the time he turned to strike Yakumo, she was no longer in her original spot. 

"She's frail and sickly. Beating her with taijutsu would be too dull! The Kurama clan, huh… I'll take her down with genjutsu instead!" 

With that thought, Sasuke activated the "Body Flicker Jutsu" and vanished from sight. 

"Huh?!" 

"Where'd he go?" 

"What happened?" 

The downed classmates looked around, searching for Sasuke. 

Yakumo, however, didn't hesitate. The instant Sasuke disappeared, she spun around. 

Swoosh! 

Sasuke, appearing behind Yakumo with the "Body Flicker Jutsu," had expected to see her panic upon noticing him. 

But the moment he emerged, he found Yakumo already facing him, staring right back! 

"What!?" 

He didn't scare Yakumo—instead, she startled him. 

Just as he grew flustered and prepared to reclaim his pride with genjutsu, his peripheral vision caught something else: not only had Yakumo turned around preemptively, but she'd already finished her hand seals. 

Too stunned to dwell on it, he hurriedly activated his Sharingan, casting genjutsu on Yakumo. 

And so, Yakumo and Sasuke unleashed their genjutsu simultaneously! 

In an instant, Yakumo felt a wave of dizziness. 

But just as her consciousness blurred and she teetered on the edge of fainting, her blood flow suddenly accelerated. The spike in blood pressure snapped her awake. 

Meanwhile, Sasuke saw Yakumo in front of him suddenly enveloped by a massive tree. Then her figure vanished from atop it, and countless vines shot out from the tree, whipping toward him like lashes. 

"What's going on!?" 

Sasuke yelped in shock, leaping back and rolling to dodge the vines' strikes! 

At that moment, the once-noisy field fell silent. 

To everyone watching, Yakumo and Sasuke had merely locked eyes. 

In a split second, Yakumo dropped to the ground, gasping heavily as if she'd just endured intense exertion. 

Sasuke, meanwhile, rolled and dodged with a serious expression, seemingly evading attacks that didn't exist. 

The onlookers' faces gradually twisted into odd expressions. 

After a moment, someone timidly asked, "Hey, did Sasuke just get caught in a genjutsu?"