Sora took a deep breath and once again assumed a fighting stance.
"How about it, still not ready to admit defeat?" Number 369 taunted. "The next attack won't be just a graze, it will be serious."
Sora did not answer. Instead, he focused all his attention on observing Number 369's every move, trying to find an opening.
Seeing Sora remain silent, Number 369 snorted coldly and launched another attack. This time he used earth release.
"Earth Release, Earth-Style Rising Spears."
Several earthen spears erupted from the ground, thrusting towards Sora. At the same time, Number 369 himself charged from the front, his kunai aimed directly at Sora's vitals.
Faced with attacks from above and below, Sora remained calm in the face of danger. He first leapt up quickly, avoiding the earthen spears from below. Then, while in mid-air, he adjusted his posture, passing by Number 369 as they crossed paths.
The instant the two passed each other, Sora suddenly struck out. A precise hand chop slashed towards the wrist of Number 369's kunai-holding hand.
With a "slap" sound, Number 369 grunted in pain, and the kunai flew from his hand.
"What?" Number 369 exclaimed in shock, hastily retreating.
After landing, Sora did not hesitate. He immediately gave chase. His movements flowed like water, each strike continuous and precise, forcing Number 369 to retreat repeatedly.
"Damn it!" Number 369 cursed silently. He could see it now. Close combat with Sora was impossible. He could only bombard from a distance with ninjutsu. So, his hands rapidly formed seals.
"Fire Release, Great Dragon Fire Technique."
A vivid fire dragon spewed from Number 369's mouth, rushing straight at Sora. This was a B-rank fire release ninjutsu, its power far surpassing the earlier Great Fireball.
Facing such a powerful ninjutsu, Sora had no choice but to temporarily avoid its edge. He chose to swiftly dodge to the side at the first moment.
But the Great Dragon Fire Technique was not a simple linear attack. A cold smile curled under Number 369's mask. His right hand maintained chakra output, while his left hand rapidly changed through three hand seals.
The fire dragon, which had been charging straight ahead, seemed to be given life. It suddenly raised its head and swung its tail in the air, its scorching dragon eyes locking firmly onto Sora's figure.
"Don't think you can dodge it!" Number 369 shouted lowly, his wrist giving a sharp twist.
As he was dodging sideways, Sora's heart tightened. As expected of the Great Dragon Fire Technique. Whether it was power, scale, or control precision, it was a huge leap above the previous fire release ninjutsu.
In that split second, Sora made a decision. Taking it head-on was unwise. Completely avoiding it carried high risk. Then...
His swiftly dodging figure suddenly halted. Both hands quickly formed seals.
"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique."
A blazing fireball of similarly considerable size spewed from Sora's mouth, meeting the menacing fire dragon head-on.
Because Sora was concerned about the Byakugan, this time he genuinely released a Great Fireball. He just didn't inject much chakra, with the vast majority of the flames still coming from Boro Breath.
Boom——!!!
The next moment, the huge fireball and the roaring fire dragon violently collided.
A deafening explosion sounded. A massive mushroom cloud of flames billowed into the air. A powerful shockwave mixed with scorching heat waves wildly spread in all directions.
At the same time, Sora used the impact from the collision of the two powerful fire techniques as cover. Using the force, his figure rapidly retreated backward, narrowly escaping the core blast area. He was only brushed by scattered sparks and heat waves, which fortunately did no real harm to him.
'He must have expended a fair amount of chakra.' Sora stabilized his posture, staring through the drifting smoke and flames at the panting Number 369 opposite, calmly analyzing.
'Using so many ninjutsu consecutively, especially a B-rank technique, must have consumed a lot of chakra.'
Just as Sora expected, after using the Great Dragon Fire Technique, Number 369's breathing became noticeably more ragged.
'An opportunity!' A sharp glint flashed in Sora's eyes.
He no longer hesitated. He exploded with full speed, instantly closing in on Number 369. This time, his attacks were even more fierce, each strike aimed directly at vital points.
Number 369 clearly hadn't expected Sora's speed to still increase after such a clash. In his haste, he could only barely parry. After a few exchanges, he had completely fallen into a disadvantage.
'How is this possible?' Number 369 thought in shock. 'Why does he still have such strength and speed?'
In the observation room, the instructors also saw the situation.
"Number 567's stamina and chakra are holding up well," the Leopard instructor said. "In comparison, Number 369's chakra consumption is too high."
The Owl instructor also exclaimed in amazement, "Number 567's taijutsu is truly superb. Speaking purely of taijutsu, with three Gates open, he already has one foot in the level of Special Jonin. I remember that kid from the Captain's family only became a Chunin last year."
In the arena, Sora had completely gained the upper hand. His attacks were like an unceasing tide, forcing Number 369 to retreat step by step.
'I can't go on like this!' The expression under Number 369's mask lost its feigned arrogance, gradually turning calm.
He faked a move, quickly retreated, and at the same time began forming hand seals. This time, the seals were more complex than any before.
"Combination Technique, Fire-Wind Vortex."
Number 369 simultaneously spat out flames and a whirlwind. The two intertwined and spun in the air, forming a massive vortex of fire that swept towards Sora.
This was a combined ninjutsu he had specially spent years of hard training to create himself, a B-rank fire release and a C-rank wind release. The wind fanned the flames, the flames empowered the wind. Its power approached that of an A-rank ninjutsu.
Facing such a powerful technique, Sora's expression turned grave.
He could feel the terrifying power contained within this ninjutsu. Taking it head-on meant one thing. Death.
However, the vortex of fire covered an extremely large area, almost sealing off all dodging routes.
'Only a full power breakthrough will work.'
Sora had already had the "Gate of Life" open for a while now. Fortunately, his physical constitution was strong enough. Resolved, he once again increased his chakra output. The green energy covering his body became even more intense.
"The Fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain, open."
The tearing sensation in his muscles returned, but it also boosted Sora's speed to its limit.
Sora charged straight at the edge of the fire vortex. The instant before he would be swept in, he forcefully kicked off the ground. His body shot past the edge of the vortex like a stone from a slingshot.
The scorching heat wave made Sora feel a sharp pain, but he successfully dodged the attack.
"What? He dodged even that?" Number 369 was dumbfounded, looking at the unscathed Sora in disbelief.
Whenever he had used this combination technique before, the enemy either died or was crippled. Sora was the first to ever dodge it.
And using this combination technique had exhausted the last of his chakra. He could only stand frozen in place, gasping for breath in large, ragged pants.
When Number 369 used the combination technique, Sora already knew this would be the outcome. After dodging the fire vortex, he directly shifted sideways and vanished from his spot.
The next moment, his figure appeared behind Number 369 like a ghost, leaping into the air. The entire process was soundless and faster than imagined.
Number 369 only felt the hairs on his back stand on end. An intense sense of crisis instantly enveloped his entire body. He barely managed to turn his head. The first thing he glimpsed from the corner of his eye was Sora's eyes.
Devoid of any emotion, calm like stagnant water, eyelids slightly lowered, as if the life-or-death struggle before him was merely dusting off some dirt.
What followed was a fist that rapidly filled his field of vision.
'This punch... how is it possible?!'
In his view, that fist seemed to fill heaven and earth. Simple and unadorned, yet carrying a terrifying, oppressive feeling of being unavoidable and indefensible, as if it wanted to crush all his pride and defenses.
'Can't dodge! Genjutsu! I can only use genjutsu to create an instant of opportunity!'
At the critical moment between life and death, Number 369's pitch-black eyes turned crimson. The left eye with a single tomoe, the right eye with two tomoe. The three tomoe spun rapidly. He stared fixedly at Sora's eyes, now so close. Forcing a few last drops of chakra from his dried-up body.
"Genjutsu, Hell Viewing Technique."
'An Uchiha?!'
The instant Number 369's eyes changed, Sora sensed something was wrong. His fist was already inches from the opponent, but genjutsu activation often happened in the instant of eye contact.
For a moment, Sora felt the scene before him was about to change. A cold, alien chakra tried to invade his mind, to make him see an illusion of his own failure.
But Sora inwardly snorted coldly. Almost at the very same moment he felt the genjutsu invasion, the power within him belonging to the top-tier Mythical Zoan, Dragon's Aura, spontaneously surged forth.
An invisible yet vast and mighty spiritual force, like a slumbering lion disturbed by an ant, carrying a trace of displeasure and an inherent oppressive aura, erupted forth.
"Hummm——!"
Number 369 only felt his genjutsu evaporate instantly, like ice and snow meeting molten lava.
What's more, an even more terrifying will, as if originating from a primordial beast, rushed back along the genjutsu connection, rough and violent.
"Ah...!"
However, Number 369's cry of pain was only half uttered when Sora's fist, carrying the immense power of the opened Fourth Gate, solidly smashed into his face.
"Thump! Crack——"
A dull thud wrapped around a clear sound of bone cracking. Number 369 couldn't even utter an extra grunt. His body fell straight down diagonally, crashing heavily onto the ground. Then, carried by the momentum, he tumbled and slid a long distance before stopping, plowing a deep furrow in the ground.
"No… impossible…" Completely drained, Number 369 lay on the ground, muttering deliriously, his consciousness fading. "I… am Uchiha… Uchiha… How… could I lose… to a… brat…"
His voice was intermittent, filled with unwillingness and disbelief, repeatedly muttering words like "Uchiha" and "cannot lose."
But his body had completely betrayed his will. Finally, his head tilted to one side, and he completely lost consciousness.
The arena fell silent.
Inside the high tower observation room, there was also a brief silence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━