7 - Fire Release! Nested Great Fireball!

The summer sun blazed, and time flew by.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

In Konoha, beside a small river, two boys faced off against each other.

"Souta… your chakra's almost gone, isn't it?" Obito Uchiha said coolly, a shuriken gripped in his hand.

His words carried a hint of confidence… In just one week, he'd made tremendous progress.

With the Fire Release: Grand Fire Dragon Technique in his arsenal, he'd finally figured out his Great Fireball.

Not only that, but he'd even improved a bit with the Three Basic Techniques—though the clones they used for class still relied on Yuto Souta…

"Pretty much," Yuto Souta replied without hesitation.

"Let's settle it with one strike."

"No problem!" Obito roared, his hands moving slowly but… carefully into seals!

Having just grasped how chakra flows, his sealing speed was honestly sluggish—almost matching the pace of a teacher's demonstration…

But his opponent was even slower…

Yuto Souta's hand speed wasn't the issue.

As a man forged by Kyushu's exam-driven education, with over twenty years of disciplined restraint, his dexterity was reliable.

The problem was the sheer number of seals!

He started with half the seals for Great Fireball, then switched to Grand Fire Dragon, only to pivot back to Great Fireball after a few…

This cycle mashed the two techniques' seals together, even tossing in a few extras!

In total, it exceeded twenty seals!

By comparison, Obito, with his one-seal-per-second pace, finished his eight-seal Great Fireball first…

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!"

Muttering inwardly about Yuto Souta's convoluted seals, Obito showed no mercy.

His chest puffed out, and a massive fireball erupted, barreling straight toward Yuto Souta!

At that moment, Yuto Souta's sealing finally stopped…

"Fire Release!"

"Nested Great Fireball Technique!"

With the same motion and deep breath, the fireball Yuto Souta spat out was a size smaller than Obito's.

This was the fruit of last night's labor, distilled from days of training.

Fire Release: an energy reaction fueled by chakra.

Different techniques and chakra flow patterns unleashed flames, generating high-temperature effects.

Yuto Souta couldn't tackle the essence of fire itself, but he could refine the process of its creation…

A Great Fireball with a Grand Fire Dragon stuffed inside!

The chakra cost wasn't just the sum of the two techniques, but his Ninjutsu Master's "half-off" perk helped!

The only snag was the sealing… Yuto Souta had spent all day trying to streamline it, to no avail.

Obito's lips curled slightly.

He could almost taste victory…

He knew Yuto Souta was juggling training while maintaining clones for class.

But…

He wanted to win fair and square just once!

He couldn't beat Kakashi Hatake—sure, it stung, but with Kakashi's family background, what could he do?

Work hard, that's what.

But Souta, starting from the same scratch line as him, was different!

Over the past week, they'd sparred dozens of times, and he hadn't won once!

Same clan, both orphans with no backing—why should Souta outshine him?

He even had a grandma to cook for him at home!

Eyeing that fireball, barely a third the size of his own, Obito's anticipation grew…

Finally… victory was in sight!

Hope it doesn't hit you too hard, Souta.

Turns out your Lord Obito's got some hidden training talent I didn't even know about!

But… why does this guy take so long with his seals every time?

Isn't Great Fireball just eight seals?

And… what the heck's a Nested Great Fireball?

Just before victory, doubts crept into Obito's mind.

The answers came swiftly…

As his massive fireball engulfed Souta's smaller one, Yuto Souta's hands shifted into a new seal!

In the next instant, a fire dragon burst from within Souta's fireball!

It wasn't large—downright mini, even—but its heat was clearly greater, shattering Obito's Great Fireball on impact!

In a flash, the winner was clear.

Yuto Souta's new technique trumped Obito's Great Fireball.

"It still comes down to chakra, huh."

Instead of celebrating, the victorious Yuto Souta pulled out his trusty notebook and began jotting down notes.

[Fire Release: Nested Great Fireball Power Test Record]

[Chakra Consumption: 2.5x Great Fireball, 2.3x Grand Fire Dragon]

[Parent Ball Power: 0.7x Great Fireball, Child Ball Power: 2.6x Great Fireball]

[Preliminary Conclusion: Sealing needs reduction, but chakra-to-power ratio is promising. Recommend increasing proficiency.]