Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Six shurikens instantly flew from Ruri's palm, without the slightest delay, attacking Shiraishi from different angles.
Throwing shurikens and kunai had always been a specialty of the Uchiha clan.
Even Shiraishi, who had worked tirelessly on this skill, couldn't guarantee he surpassed Ruri in this regard.
However, having fought Ruri countless times over the years, he was well aware of many of her attack patterns.
He quickly drew a kunai to parry, sparks erupting in the dim forest.
Then, another six shurikens came flying.
Not allowing the second round of shurikens to get even an inch closer, he deflected them all. Shiraishi then charged forward, closing the distance with Ruri to engage in close-quarters combat.
The speed at which both of them wielded their kunai was as swift as lightning, tearing through the air and creating a chilling, heavy atmosphere.
Just then, Ruri suddenly began forming hand seals with one hand.
Shiraishi was slightly startled and instinctively reacted.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
One-handed hand seals!
Shiraishi couldn't help but be surprised that Ruri possessed this skill.
Shiraishi had only read about one-handed hand seals in textbooks, but very few people actually managed to do it.
However, considering the Uchiha clan's accumulated knowledge, while not everyone might master it, they certainly had training techniques for it.
After all, Ruri's talent as a ninja was the most outstanding Shiraishi had ever witnessed.
This was evident not only in combat but also in her studies.
Before this fight, Shiraishi didn't know Ruri could perform one-handed hand seals. At close range, a sudden Fire Style ninjutsu, with a massive fireball closing in, left Shiraishi flustered, barely managing to dodge it.
The trees hit by the fireball burned in the scorching flames, crackling loudly before crashing down with a thud.
"That was close, thankfully..."
Shiraishi breathed a sigh of relief, instinctively looking into Ruri's eyes. Just as he was about to speak, his body involuntarily trembled, and his vision spun, turning upside down.
Ruri's pupils rotated rapidly, changing from black to crimson. Each crimson pupil contained two black tomoe resembling tadpoles.
These mysterious and dangerous pupils spun in Ruri's eyes, releasing a mental genjutsu that Shiraishi couldn't physically defend against. It pierced through all of Shiraishi's defenses, plunging him into a powerful illusion.
Shiraishi swallowed dryly, a bitter smile on his face.
He hadn't anticipated Ruri learning one-handed hand seals for ninjutsu, but what he even less expected was that Ruri, like Ayane, had also awakened their Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai, the Sharingan.
And it was a two-tomoe Sharingan.
Seeing Ruri's incredibly proficient use of genjutsu, he knew she had already mastered her Sharingan.
There was a common understanding in Konoha Village that awakening the Sharingan was far more difficult than awakening the Byakugan.
The Byakugan focused more on assistance and strategy in combat, while the Sharingan represented power and might.
A saying circulated in the ninja world: "When encountering an Uchiha clan ninja with the Sharingan, in a one-on-one fight, always flee."
This meant that fighting an Uchiha ninja alone offered no chance of victory.
At that point, one shouldn't think about winning, but rather focus on how to escape.
The activation of the Sharingan not only meant that Uchiha clan ninjas could more easily use powerful visual genjutsu, but their dynamic vision would also greatly improve.
According to Shiraishi's scientific training methods, Ruri had already achieved significant results in dynamic vision.
Now that she had awakened her Sharingan, it was likely that even Uchiha ninjas with three tomoe might not surpass Ruri in dynamic vision.
Enhanced dynamic vision meant Ruri could see through all of an enemy's attack patterns.
As long as she strengthened her reaction speed, even a Jonin would struggle to defeat her easily.
Shiraishi, who initially felt he was at a 50/50 or 40/60 split with Ruri, now felt it was more like 10/90.
Shiraishi truly understood one thing: facing a Sharingan's genjutsu without prior preparation made it very difficult to retaliate.
"I surren..."
Before he could utter the word "render."
Ruri walked over, lifted her foot, and mercilessly stepped on Shiraishi's face.
"..."
Shiraishi felt his face hurt.
He was defeated.
He was a hidden genius, albeit not a major one.
Now he had become so vulnerable.
Reality was truly cruel.
"Ruri, next time you step on my face, please take off your shoes first? Your sole just now really hurt my face."
Hearing Shiraishi's complaint from the ground, Ruri immediately looked at him with the same disgusted gaze one would give a maggot.
He wanted her to take off her shoes before stepping on his face? Pervert!
"Honestly, you're still as annoying as ever."
The reason Shiraishi annoyed Ruri wasn't just that he diverted his excess energy to research; what annoyed her even more was that Shiraishi always hid his strength, allowing himself to be underestimated and ridiculed by the useless classmates.
Even after entering third grade, Shiraishi hadn't changed his hidden-strength approach.
He willingly let himself be defeated by those weaker than him, then accepted their ridicule and disparagement, ultimately putting on an indifferent face and laughing it off.
This was the source of Ruri's annoyance.
If Shiraishi showed his true strength, even against their homeroom teacher, Fujimura Taiga, a Chunin, he might not be without a chance of winning.
She didn't know why Shiraishi hid his strength, but his attitude towards life unconsciously angered her and made her very uncomfortable.
"Well, it's just kids playing around, no need to take it seriously. You know, adults don't bicker with children."
Shiraishi sat up from the ground, the genjutsu on him also dispelled by Ruri, and casually explained with a smile.
Ruri was speechless.
His words made it sound as if he wasn't a child himself.
"By the way, when did you awaken your Sharingan?"
Shiraishi asked with interest.
"The day the clan members returned from the battlefield, I felt a little off, and it just suddenly activated."
Ruri said expressionlessly, as if awakening the Sharingan was such an insignificant matter, without any more complex process.
"Is that so? I heard that awakening the Sharingan requires very strong emotions to stimulate it. It seems that this saying isn't baseless after all."
He must have thought of many close clan members who didn't return alive from the battlefield, or even if they did, they became disabled ninjas, causing her emotions to fluctuate violently and accidentally activate the Sharingan.
Ruri didn't deny it, retracting her Sharingan and returning to her normal black eyes.
Sustained use of the Sharingan in combat would be a certain burden for her current self.
"Um, Ruri..."
Shiraishi stood up from the ground, walked towards Ruri, and showed a fawning smile.
"Speak. What is it?"
Ruri instinctively took a step back.
To her, Shiraishi's expression never meant anything good was about to happen.
"Well... I've run out of money for my research, and now I can't even afford food. Could you support me for a while? It won't be long; I'll pay you back slowly with mission earnings after I graduate..."
Shiraishi shamelessly asked Ruri to support him.
Ruri silently pulled out a kunai from her ninja pouch.
"If you want to die, I can certainly grant your wish right now."
...Ultimately, after signing a series of "indentured servitude" contracts, Ruri reluctantly agreed to support Shiraishi.