17: Huh?

"You've got guts."

Izayoi wasn't surprised at all by Uchiha Sasuke's choice.

Still, on the surface, he gave Sasuke a thumbs-up.

This choice was actually a good thing for Izayoi.

A Taijutsu-only duel wouldn't allow him to unleash his full strength. Even if he won, the drop rate (for ability rewards) would be much lower than in a no-rules duel.

He had confirmed this himself.

When Hinata didn't use her Chakra Point Strikes, and simply fought without infusing chakra into her attacks, Izayoi defeated her — but no abilities dropped at all.

The gap in strength between her and Izayoi was just too wide.

While one-sided crushes could still technically yield drops, the probability was extremely low — and Izayoi hadn't seen it happen even once in the past year.

But when Hinata fought seriously using her full potential and Chakra Point Strikes, Izayoi had received two ability drops from her over the past year — one purple, one blue.

Those two abilities were:

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Purple)

Chakra Control (Blue)

It wasn't that Izayoi looked down on Uchiha Sasuke — it was just that, familiar with the original storyline and blessed with insane talent, Izayoi had already taken shortcuts since the age of three.

As a "cheat code user," he was ahead of another "cheat code user" by three or four years.

If Sasuke hadn't already learned Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu, he wouldn't pose any threat to Izayoi.

That jutsu, however, could increase Sasuke's drop rate — so a no-rules duel was clearly the best choice.

"Then let's begin!"

Izayoi took a few steps back to open some distance between them, then raised his index and middle fingers.

Seeing this, Uchiha Sasuke also formed the Seal of Confrontation.

The two immediately charged toward each other.

As they closed in, Sasuke threw a punch.

Izayoi twisted to the side, dodging it while pivoting his body with a 180-degree spin kick, aiming straight for Sasuke's face. His flexibility was stunning.

Sasuke didn't have time to dodge — he had to raise his other arm and use his forearm to block. The force of the kick sent him staggering backwards.

By the time he stabilized, he was already on the defensive.

Izayoi rushed in, throwing alternating left and right punches toward Sasuke's face and chest.

The strikes weren't particularly powerful, but they came so fast that Sasuke couldn't react.

He had just blocked the first punch when the second one slipped through, landing squarely on his face.

After that first clean hit, Sasuke completely lost his rhythm and turned into a walking punching bag.

Even when he tried to lift his arms to defend, Izayoi would twist and grab them to break his balance and mess up his footing.

Izayoi's combos began chaotically, but gradually formed a tight rhythm.

It felt almost like the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, though without chakra being injected into the body — so the damage wasn't life-threatening — but during the combo, the opponent was completely unable to retaliate.

No one knew how many blows were landed.

Eventually, Izayoi halted his attacks, spun 360 degrees, and delivered a final charged-up kick to Sasuke's body, sending him flying.

That kick hurt even more than the earlier barrage — it left Sasuke gasping for breath.

But as he looked at Izayoi — foot retracting after the kick — Sasuke, who had spent the past few days trapped in an illusion, reliving the massacre of his clan over and over, suddenly saw a flickering image of Uchiha Itachi in Izayoi's silhouette.

His opponent's disdainful words echoed in Sasuke's mind:

"You're too weak right now. From now on, live in shame. Crawl and cling to life with all your might…"

Uchiha Sasuke's expression suddenly twisted with rage.

"Uchiha Itachi… I will definitely kill you! Fire Style… Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Taking Izayoi for Uchiha Itachi, he quickly formed hand seals, and a stream of flame shot from his mouth, rapidly swelling into a massive, high-temperature fireball that hurtled toward Izayoi.

"Perfect timing. Wind Style… Wind Cutter Jutsu!"

Izayoi was not alarmed but rather pleased. Pretending to be serious, he formed his own hand seals and exhaled a gust of air from his mouth — initially invisible, it suddenly became tangible, forming a scythe-shaped white wind blade that collided with the oncoming fireball.

In the next second, the giant fireball was sliced diagonally in half, and the diminished wind blade continued flying forward, striking Uchiha Sasuke directly.

Rip—!

With the sound of cloth tearing, blood sprayed from Sasuke's body.

Sasuke hit the ground — and immediately stopped moving.

Izayoi, however, showed no panic. He walked over at an unhurried pace.

Right now, anyone could potentially die — anyone except Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.

The fact that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been summoned from the moon would no doubt have already reached the Sage of Six Paths.

The Sage must be aware that a second pair of Rinnegan had been born.

To prevent Kaguya's resurrection before Indra and Asura had fully matured, the Sage of Six Paths would absolutely not allow the reincarnations of Indra and Asura from this generation to die so easily.

Besides, if Sasuke could be killed by a weakened C-rank Wind Cutter Jutsu, then he hardly deserved to be the story's second male lead.

Sure enough, when Izayoi reached Sasuke's side, the latter was still breathing.

The wind blade had merely torn through his clothes, leaving a shallow wound — no bones were exposed.

Izayoi crouched down and began treating him using basic medical ninjutsu.

Pop—!

At that moment, Izayoi thought he was hearing things — a crisp pop, sharper than a bursting balloon.

He looked toward the sound, his gaze sharpening.

Floating around Uchiha Sasuke were bubbles only Izayoi could see.

Just in time, he caught sight of one bubble bursting — and then, a red beam of light shot out toward him.

"Huh?"

Seeing the rapidly expanding red light in front of his eyes, Izayoi showed a rare expression of dumbfounded shock.

Red… red?

How many reds does Uchiha Sasuke even have?

Was red the highest tier? Or was it purple?

Before he could fully process it, a system notification sounded in his mind, confirming that his eyes weren't deceiving him.

He had hit the jackpot!

"Ding! You have obtained talent tag [Sage Eyes (Red)]. Fuse or Disassemble?"

"...Fuse!"

Izayoi instantly shouted in his heart, and couldn't stop himself from grinning with excitement.

Still, unsure if someone might be secretly watching, he forcefully suppressed the urge — resulting in a twitch at the corner of his mouth that looked a bit comical.

At that moment, Izayoi's mood was beyond description.

Using Hinata as an example, Izayoi had originally assumed that getting a red-tier drop from Sasuke would take a long time.

He had even mentally prepared to spend the next five years frequently challenging Sasuke whenever possible.

If he couldn't get a red-tier tag during their time at the Ninja Academy, he would deliberately slow down his own progress and keep his strength at the same level as Sasuke and Hinata.

But who would've thought—?

On the very first no-rules duel, he actually got Sage Eyes (Red) from Sasuke.

This tiny probability had somehow landed right in his lap.

At that moment, Izayoi finally understood what it felt like to be a "luck god."