On the training ground of the Uchiha clan, surrounded by forests and rivers.
The white-haired elder, Uchiha Shisui, stood outside the field, gripping his cane and staring intently at the two combatants.
Uchiha Ruri, only ten years old, with her black hair swaying, swiftly launched shurikens like streaks of lightning at the Uchiha jonin opposite her.
This Uchiha jonin, named Uchiha Rihuo, was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a scar on his face that added a fierce aura to him.
He activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, and the shurikens, moving like lightning, had their trajectories instantly seen through. He swung his kunai, deflecting them.
However, the shurikens contained a tremendous force. After deflecting them, this force directly acted upon Rihuo's kunai, indirectly causing Rihuo's body to stiffen for a moment.
"Such great strength!" Rihuo's eyes became serious.
Rihuo sensed that the shurikens Ruri threw contained a hidden internal force technique. If blocked with a weapon, this internal force would transmit through the weapon and act on the enemy's body, causing a brief moment of stiffness.
The duration of the stiffness depended on the individual's physical fitness.
If a genin encountered this situation, they would probably be unable to move freely for several seconds, and when the next round of shurikens came flying, they would surely be shot full of holes like a porcupine.
Even he, a powerful jonin, experienced stiffness.
Although the stiffness time was negligible for him, Ruri seized this gap, quickly forming hand seals:
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
It was a gigantic, dragon-shaped entity, four to five meters long.
Composed of high-temperature flames, it possessed terrifying destructive power and could incinerate enemies to ashes.
Boom!
It exploded on the ground, creating a huge crater.
Jonin Rihuo narrowly dodged it, his hair slightly singed, his figure somewhat disheveled. His three-tomoe Sharingan spun, and he immediately turned and swung his kunai.
Clang!
Ruri, smaller in stature than Jonin Rihuo, attacked with her kunai, but it was blocked by her opponent.
At this moment, their Sharingan eyes met directly, and their ocular power was released simultaneously towards each other.
After releasing his ocular power, Jonin Rihuo felt a sharp pain in his eyes and a momentary sense of fatigue. He quickly retreated.
Gasping for breath, he looked at Ruri opposite him. Her Sharingan was still at the two-tomoe level. Although she was also panting, her breathing was much less labored than his.
The most crucial thing was that she was only ten years old and in the two-tomoe Sharingan state, yet she fearlessly competed head-on with his three-tomoe Sharingan in ocular power.
And in the end, he couldn't successfully control her with genjutsu, which was simply inconceivable.
Her speed, nerve reactions, dynamic vision, strength, ninjutsu usage, ocular power, and so on—all combined, even he, a jonin, found her incredibly challenging.
His only chance of winning was that his chakra reserves surpassed Ruri's. As long as Ruri's chakra was depleted, he would win.
Jonin Rihuo sighed slightly. Winning against a little girl using such tactics felt somewhat unfair.
But being defeated by her would be even more humiliating, wouldn't it?
So, the next step was a war of attrition, slowly depleting Ruri's chakra.
Ruri also seemed to have figured out Jonin Rihuo's plan. She immediately pulled out a specially made military ration pill from her ninja pouch, and just as she was about to take it, Uchiha Shisui, the elder who had been observing the fight, called out:
"Alright, stop, Ruri."
Ruri then put the military ration pill back into her ninja pouch and made a sign of reconciliation to Jonin Rihuo.
Jonin Rihuo also made a sign of reconciliation to Ruri.
"That was truly amazing, Ruri. Your current strength is probably something even an average jonin couldn't handle."
After making the sign of reconciliation, Jonin Rihuo approached Ruri and praised her without reservation.
The emergence of such a powerful and excellent genius within the clan was a very joyous occasion.
She truly lived up to being a genius of their Uchiha clan!
Ruri nodded. The strength she possessed at that moment was inseparable from her hard work and talent, but Shiraishi's contribution could not be overlooked.
If it weren't for him developing that new medicine using natural energy, which could enhance physical abilities, she wouldn't have grown so rapidly, would she?
Thinking of this, a hint of tenderness appeared in her indifferent eyes, and a faint smile touched her lips.
In Jonin Rihuo's eyes, the smile on her face was due to his sincere praise as a fellow clan jonin.
Elder Shisui now walked into the field.
At over sixty years old, he was already an elderly ninja. Even in retirement, he would burn his last ounce of passion for the clan, nurturing an Uchiha ninja who could claim the Hokage position from the Senju lineage.
"Elder Shisui."
Ruri bowed slightly. The elder had been her teacher in the past.
Ruri, having already determined her path, no longer needed Elder Shisui's teachings, but she still held respect and gratitude for this elder who had diligently served the clan.
"Ruri, while you work hard on your training, don't forget to relax. Training should have a balance of intensity and rest."
In Elder Shisui's eyes, Ruri's ability to fight Rihuo to an almost even match so quickly meant she must have dedicated all her time to training.
So he hoped Ruri could relax appropriately during her training. He didn't want this genius, Ruri, to exhaust her potential too early.
His regard for Ruri surpassed even that for another Uchiha heir, Uchiha Fugaku.
If anyone in the Uchiha clan could rekindle the glory of the Mangekyo Sharingan, he believed it would undoubtedly be Ruri.
"I understand. Elder Shisui, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now."
"Wait a moment. This is a scroll recording B-rank Fire Release jutsu. Take it back and study it. With your strength, you can already learn high-level Fire Release jutsu. This was left by that person."
Uchiha Shisui said meaningfully.
Ruri was startled.
'That person' referred to Uchiha Madara, the former leader of the Uchiha clan.
The ninja who had betrayed both the clan and the village.
In the current Uchiha clan, few would call Uchiha Madara by name. When speaking of him, they would use 'that person' as a substitute.
Ruri took the Fire Release scroll from Elder Shisui, thanked him again, and hurried back to her home.
"Ruri is getting stronger and stronger. Just two years ago, I could easily tease her. Her two-tomoe Sharingan's ocular power actually made my three-tomoe Sharingan feel pressure. It's incredible. What method did you use to make her so strong?"
After Ruri left, Jonin Rihuo couldn't help but praise Elder Shisui's teaching abilities.
Elder Shisui shook his head and chuckled, "Rihuo, do you still not understand? The ocular power of the Sharingan varies from person to person. The number of tomoe can only serve as a lower limit reference, but it cannot be the sole standard for measuring the strength of ocular power. Moreover, this is what Ruri achieved through her own hard work. My role was merely to add icing to the cake."
Jonin Rihuo sighed. He understood this point perfectly well.
But the thought of a ten-year-old girl completely surpassing him in a few years left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He had, after all, enjoyed his youth and been called a genius ninja of the Uchiha.
"Rihuo, you are also an elite jonin trained by the clan. Have a little more confidence in yourself."
"Elder, it's not that I lack confidence, but these young people today are too demoralizing. However, I'm very curious about who Ruri's squad leader will be when she graduates, and how the Third Hokage will arrange it?"
Rihuo didn't believe that the Third Hokage wouldn't have backup information on Ruri, this Uchiha genius. So, Rihuo was very interested in what kind of squad leader the Third Hokage would arrange for Ruri at that time.
If the squad leader was too weak, Ruri might take over the lead, and the jonin would become a laughingstock.
And as for powerful jonin, as Rihuo knew, even the Sannin were still a little lacking.
"Hatake Sakumo."
Elder Shisui uttered the name.
Rihuo's body trembled, cold sweat breaking out on his face, as he looked at Elder Shisui in disbelief.
It was as if that name held a terribly powerful magic. Even Rihuo, an experienced jonin, was filled with awe.
"Whoa, whoa, Elder, are you joking? That man is…"
"Only then can the Third Hokage and I be at ease with each other."
The Third Hokage needed the Uchiha to contribute their combat power in this war.
And the Uchiha needed a strong squad leader who could both gain Ruri's respect and escort this genius, Ruri.
Elder Shisui was expressing precisely this meaning.