The roar of Sasuke's Susanoo as it dissipated echoed in everyone's ears.
The entire training ground, inside and out, fell silent in that moment, with all eyes converging on Shinji.
The title of "First Chair" seemed to gain a tangible, visible standard of strength in that instant.
"So… so strong!"
"As expected of Uchiha Shinji!"
"First Chair!"
After the profound silence, murmurs and exclamations of awe spilled from the crowd's lips.
This was an irrepressible outpouring of astonishment!
Shinji had done the impossible—using taijutsu and ninjutsu, techniques anyone could learn and master, to defeat the theoretically invincible Susanoo!
And he did so with such ease, such nonchalance!
"Is this his trump card? Or rather, is this simply his strength?"
Kakashi was momentarily lost in thought.
He had assumed Shinji was hiding some dark secret, but now he realized Shinji was simply overwhelmingly powerful!
Asuma completely shed his earlier dismissiveness. "That taijutsu secret technique and the jutsu that broke through Susanoo—could that kid have developed them himself? If I'm not mistaken, he's only twelve, right? That kind of talent is almost too shocking!"
Kurenai sighed. "He's practically a monster! Being in the same generation as a genius like that is a tragedy for other ordinary geniuses!"
Kakashi nodded lightly.
The shinobi academy had seen its share of generation-dominating prodigies—further back, the Fourth Hokage; more recently, Shisui and Itachi.
They were the kind of geniuses who left their peers unable to compare, where even mustering the courage to challenge them was near impossible.
On the other side.
Shizune placed a hand on Yakumo's shoulder, sensing her restlessness.
Yakumo glanced at Shizune.
Shizune shook her head. "Now's not the time. Uchiha Shinji's strength is far beyond what we estimated! If you act now, victory isn't guaranteed!"
Clearly, Shizune could feel the intense battle intent radiating from Yakumo!
Her instincts were correct. After witnessing Shinji decisively shatter Sasuke's Susanoo with overwhelming dominance, an irrepressible battle intent surged within Yakumo.
It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time, not since awakening her Koryugan and mastering Wood Release.
Though she hadn't said it aloud, after gaining the Koryugan and Wood Release, she no longer viewed her peers as equals deep down.
In her eyes, using Wood Release against her peers felt like bullying.
And the facts supported this. Once she unleashed Wood Release, not only her peers but even most of the village's jonin couldn't stand against her.
During the academy's final assessment, she had used Wood Release to single-handedly suppress Sasuke's Susanoo, Naruto's tailed-beast transformation, and Neji, among others.
This was why, despite losing to Shinji multiple times, she hadn't considered challenging him for so long. Subconsciously, she believed defeating Shinji with her current power would be effortless, so her past losses didn't weigh heavily on her.
But now, things were different!
Shinji, who had crushed Sasuke, displayed a strength that instinctively made her wary. This wariness excited her, igniting a long-dormant battle intent. Her past defeats became fuel for the blazing fire of her resolve.
Shaking her head at Shizune, she said, "Shinji is an opponent worthy of my full effort. I can't wait until I'm guaranteed victory to act!"
Shizune's expression froze, her grip on Yakumo's shoulder loosening slightly.
But as she hesitated over whether to let Yakumo rashly challenge Shinji, a new development unfolded on the field.
"Aaah!"
Sasuke, kneeling on the ground, suddenly let out a fierce roar.
Looking down at him, Shinji smirked, thinking, After all this waiting, is he finally going to unleash the Cursed Seal?
Undoubtedly.
Shinji had pushed Sasuke to the brink not to show off but to provoke him into activating the Cursed Seal in front of everyone. Then, Shinji could justifiably intervene and control the Cursed Seal within Sasuke.
After all, when the time came to pursue the Rinnegan, Shinji would need the high-quality Yin Release chakra of Indra within Sasuke. He couldn't afford any issues with Sasuke at that critical moment.
Sasuke raised his head, glaring fiercely at Shinji. "You're forcing me!"
Shinji replied, "Stop wasting time. If you've got any more trump cards, use them already! It's getting late, and I'm hungry!"
"Fine, I'll give you what you want!"
With a furious roar, dark, ink-like markings rapidly spread from the bite wound on Sasuke's shoulder where Orochimaru had marked him.
The markings, as if alive, quickly covered Sasuke's entire body. In an instant, not only did his skin turn black, but two massive fleshy wings sprouted from his back, unfurling like wings!
Shinji frowned, thinking, He's already used the Cursed Seal in private?
Clearly, the initial state of the Cursed Seal didn't produce wings. For Sasuke to immediately activate the complete "Cursed Seal of Heaven" meant he had not only used it before but had even mastered Gear Two on his own!
"What's going on?"
"Is that still Sasuke?"
"Is it a genjutsu?"
Seeing Sasuke's drastic transformation, the sidelines erupted in gasps.
Kakashi was the most tense, staring at Sasuke with a grave expression.
Though he didn't recognize the Cursed Seal of Heaven, he could keenly sense the sinister chakra aura emanating from Sasuke.
This kind of chakra was clearly not something a normal shinobi would possess!
Thud, thud, thud.
At that moment, Sasuke, now in Gear Two of Cursed Seal of Heaven, took the initiative, launching an attack on Shinji. The two clashed fiercely in the training ground.
In Gear Two of the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Sasuke was essentially in a pseudo-Sage Mode.
In that moment, his speed, strength, perception, and even recovery abilities were greatly enhanced. Combined with his already formidable taijutsu and the dynamic vision of his Mangekyo Sharingan, his taijutsu alone unleashed terrifying power.
If Shinji hadn't trained in the Twelve Palaces, relying solely on his previous "Water Breathing," he might not have been able to withstand Sasuke in this state.
"Shinji, now do you see my strength? What's that? Got nothing to say? Where's all that confidence from earlier?"
Sasuke attacked fiercely, taunting with smug satisfaction.