Chapter 70: Wood Style and Mangekyo Sharingan
Chapter 70: Wood Style and Mangekyo Sharingan
The Chunin Exam combat assessment was still ongoing, but the pace was getting faster and faster, until the ninja squad sent by Danzo Shimura finally met Uchiha Itachi.
It was still the unremarkable Uchiha style taijutsu. Itachi's palm never left his opponent's fingers, pinning them down and not allowing him to release any ninjutsu, not even the Substitution Jutsu that could be formed with a single seal…
Ordinary people couldn't tell what was happening, only whispering about this strange match. Whenever it was Uchiha Itachi's fight, there was almost nothing to see; he always won inexplicably…
But those Jonin or taijutsu masters could mostly see that the opponent was being completely toyed with by Itachi's taijutsu, having no opportunity to release any ninjutsu.
"Winner, Uchiha Itachi."
The two young ninjas sent by Root were both down. Kakashi Hatake didn't explain Itachi's victory in detail, calmly announcing the result and turning to look at Yamato, "Next match, Squad 272 Genin Yamato… versus Uchiha Itachi."
"That ninja named Yamato seems to have never appeared on stage before, has he?"
"Is he their squad's secret weapon?"
"I feel like he'll still be inexplicably defeated by Uchiha Itachi!"
A flurry of discussion arose from the audience. The leader of the Hidden Grass Village had originally wanted to get some information from Hiruzen Sarutobi, but seeing the old man's unpleasant expression, he could only give up.
No matter who won this assessment, it would cause a huge uproar. The last time Wood Style faced the Sharingan was at the Valley of the End…
If Uchiha Itachi won, who knew what kind of unpleasant rumors that clan would spread; if Yamato won, the Uchiha would probably be dejected for a while, but would inevitably become more guarded against the village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi also didn't really believe Yamato could win. Even though Yamato was a few years older than Uchiha Itachi, his awakened Wood Style was too weak, far inferior to the First Hokage's.
On the other hand, Uchiha Itachi's strength was too formidable; historical records had never shown a genius of Itachi's caliber… The Third Hokage was already somewhat regretting agreeing to Danzo Shimura's decision. This fellow's desire to suppress the Uchiha was too strong, and he had overlooked Uchiha Itachi's strength.
Danzo had never been able to understand Uchiha Itachi. After all, the brat was only six years old; no matter how high his talent, he was bound to be limited by his physical condition and chakra amount. The problem was, right now, his taijutsu alone was not something an ordinary ninja could defeat.
Moreover, Danzo was overly confident in the power of Wood Style. With the strength of the Wood Style Yamato had awakened, he was probably just barely qualified to be Konoha's greening contractor…
Regardless of what the people outside the ring thought, the battle within was ultimately about to begin.
"Senior, I'm coming!"
The moment his voice fell, Itachi's toes suddenly lifted, and he rushed towards his opponent!
"Wood Style: Tree…"
Thump!
The moment Yamato tried to form hand seals, his clasped hands were kicked apart by Itachi! Almost all of his Wood Style ninjutsu required hand seals, and some even required a long time to prepare chakra.
While in the stands, Yamato had already understood Uchiha Itachi's taijutsu, but the speed he actually experienced… was completely different from the speed1 he had seen!
This could only mean one thing: this little fellow had been holding back in his previous fights…
Kakashi Hatake watched Yamato get entangled by Uchiha Itachi, chased and beaten relentlessly, and couldn't help but facepalm, "...I have a feeling this guy is going to be utterly disgraced today…"
Yamato's talent was not bad. Although he hadn't participated in the Chunin Exams, he had likewise been promoted to Chunin by Danzo Shimura under the name "Kinoe" at the age of six, and ordinary Jonin were not necessarily a match for Yamato.
But that was based on squad combat. In a one-on-one battle, Yamato needed to find his own offensive opportunities. The only thing that could guarantee he could last longer was the constitution and life force derived from the Wood Style Kekkei Genkai.
Kitahara watched Itachi's performance from the air. If this continued, Yamato might even be taken out in a shorter time… It never expected that the little boy, who was usually not very keen on taijutsu, had actually been practicing seriously in private.
The crow's eyes swept slightly over the spectator stands. Uchiha Shisui was smiling very happily; it must have been him who taught the taijutsu!
"Wood Style: Great Forest Technique!"
Yamato's fierce shout instantly brought the crow back to its senses. It only saw two shattered wood substitution logs where Itachi's feet had been. The Wood Style ninja had finally found an opportunity to avoid the brunt of the attack and revealed his offensive fangs!
A dense mass of tree trunks and branches extended from Yamato's sleeves, rapidly spreading towards Uchiha Itachi. The tips of the foremost branches even looked alarmingly sharp!
"Is that Lord First Hokage's Wood Style?"
"It's actually the Wood Style Kekkei Genkai?"
"No wonder he never appeared on stage before... He actually possesses Lord First's Wood Style!"
The people in the spectator stands all leaned forward, looking at Yamato on the field in surprise. This Chunin Exam finally had something interesting. No, for the villagers of Konoha, it was simply an unexpected delight.
Amidst the people's exclamations, the few like Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui were all muttering, "He can't dodge…"
He couldn't dodge.
Facing the branches constantly growing from Yamato's body, if one were to blindly dodge, they would eventually face the desperate situation of being pursued and surrounded by the branches.
Uchiha Itachi's hands quickly formed seals, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
The giant fireball quickly burned the incoming branches, but only for an instant. More branches spread out at an accelerated rate... The Wood Style ninja didn't care at all. After all, the speed of the flames burning was too slow compared to the speed at which he used chakra to create branches!
"!"
Let alone Uchiha Itachi, even in the entire Konoha, not many people had experience fighting a Wood Style ninja. People could only see that little brat, who had effortlessly dealt with his opponents, now moving about the field, dodging the encirclement of branches.
Uchiha Itachi's weakness was exposed once again... He lacked that kind of decisive, offensive ninjutsu, like Kakashi's Chidori, a ninjutsu that could decide the victory in one blow. This was because he had no opportunity to enter Sage Mode now.
Among the ninjutsu the little boy had learned, the only one that could barely be called immensely powerful was: "Ninja Art: Clone Great Explosion!"
"Wood Style: Thorn Killing Technique!"
The shadow clone carrying a massive amount of fire-natured chakra was ultimately stopped by the branches derived from Yamato's body. The sound of the explosion shook the earth, wood chips flying everywhere... The shadow clone used to break open a situation couldn't get close to Yamato at all.
And Yamato had almost rendered Itachi helpless with just two techniques...
Kitahara watched with great anxiety. This was clearly something that could be solved with one Tailed Beast Bomb. It was about to jump into the ring itself, but the problem was, if it appeared, Uchiha Itachi would definitely be disqualified for violating the rules... Guess I'll have to go find trouble with Obito again!
"Itachi, go for it!"
Uchiha Fugaku suddenly stood up and shouted loudly. Given his status and style, this was unprecedented. His action once drew the attention of the crowd.
Uchiha Itachi was stunned for a moment, his expression gradually firming. The red three-tomoe Sharingan lit up in his eyes. Whether it was dodging Yamato's attacks or finding an opening…
Blood suddenly trickled from his right eye. The three tomoe spun wildly. The Mangekyo Sharingan that had awakened on the night of the father-son argument was perceived by Itachi for the first time. How did I obtain this power without realizing it?
A sheet of black flames suddenly fell from the sky and began to burn. Whether it was the ground or the branches extending from Yamato, all were covered by the black flames and subsequently burned to nothing…
Inuzuka Hana stared blankly at the pitch-black flames, "What is that?"
"Caw…"
That's Amaterasu!
Kitahara's feelings were extremely complicated. It didn't know whether to be happy about discovering the little boy had the Mangekyo, or to start running around and fussing to prevent the little cub from going blind in the future... Why is raising a cub so much trouble!
(End of this chapter)