"Rasengan!"
Itachi, who had relaxed his guard thinking Naruto had been seriously injured by the Phoenix Fire Jutsu, was caught off guard when the unscathed Naruto launched a ferocious counterattack. His reaction was just a beat too slow. By the time his thoughts caught up with reality, Naruto had already closed in to less than three meters away—a dangerously close distance!
'This technique... it's dangerous. I can't take it head-on. Evade immediately!'
As Naruto's figure grew clearer in his vision, Itachi's internal alarm blared louder at the sight of the bright blue sphere tightly gripped in Naruto's hand.
Even as his mind calculated possible counters, his body had already begun moving instinctively—crouching low and twisting sideways, his toes still enhanced with residual chakra pushing off the ground at an angle to create space. His hands quickly formed hand seals to prepare for whatever might come next.
At the same time, his narrowed eyes took on a blood-red hue, with two black tomoe patterns emerging within his pupils, locking onto Naruto's every move.
This was one of Itachi Uchiha's trump cards—the Sharingan, the iconic kekkei genkai of the Uchiha Clan. The genius had awakened it long ago.
To an ordinary ninja, Naruto's sudden burst of speed might have left no other option but to take the Rasengan head-on.
But for someone with the Sharingan, Itachi could clearly see Naruto's movements as if slowed down. A brief glance was all he needed to deduce Naruto's attack trajectory, and with the strength he had trained so diligently to build, Itachi had more than enough time to correct his earlier slip.
Knowing that a normal Rasengan couldn't be thrown and required closing the distance to strike, Naruto hadn't actually expected this counterattack to hit. In fact, it would have been abnormal if Itachi didn't manage to dodge it. But that didn't mean he'd just sit back and let Itachi regain control of the fight!
'Trying to dodge? Not that easy!'
Just as Itachi began evading, Naruto bent low to nearly a 90-degree angle with the ground and without hesitation slammed his outstretched right hand downward, driving the Rasengan into the earth.
The massive recoil force from the Rasengan's contact with the ground corrected his trajectory and simultaneously launched him forward with even more speed!
This was Naruto's real purpose for using the Rasengan—not just to counter the Phoenix Fire Jutsu or threaten Itachi with a direct hit, but to provide the propulsion for a mid-air redirection and renewed pursuit!
His battle instincts were no weaker than those of a full-fledged ninja. 'This kid—no, Naruto Uzumaki—he's not someone I can treat like a child. Underestimating him could be dangerous.' Watching Naruto shift tactics mid-attack with lightning speed, Itachi felt his initial shock give way to numb admiration—and to his surprise, the buried thrill of combat began to stir again within him.
A faint smile curved his lips as he acknowledged Naruto's skill without even realizing it. 'So… the real fight begins now? In that case, I won't hold back!'
Though airborne and unable to change direction mid-flight, Naruto had committed fully to his charge—yet Itachi realized that Naruto's momentum, like his own, locked him in. A golden opportunity for a counterattack had arrived.
"Tiger → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger... Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Just as Naruto was about to crash into him, Itachi completed a rapid sequence of hand signs. His cheeks puffed up as he inhaled sharply, and then—boom!—he exhaled with full force, releasing a massive flaming sphere that engulfed Naruto and pushed him backward.
The flames didn't just neutralize the attack—they hit Naruto hard and fast, a direct blow to his unguarded body.
Boom!
'Aaagh! Dammit, that hand seal speed is seriously overpowered! That's just unfair, Itachi-san!'
Within the fireball, a small figure flipped and tumbled, his sharp cries of pain proving Itachi's attack had landed perfectly. But strangely, Itachi didn't let his guard down.
The sense of danger wasn't gone—in fact, it had only grown stronger the moment his Fireball hit.
'He was caught in it... no way he could have any strength left for a counterattack... unless!'
Realization struck. Itachi's eyes widened, and ignoring the sharp exhaustion from his drained chakra, he leapt into the air again the moment his feet hit the ground.
Boom!
Right as he jumped, another fireball—smaller than his own but just as fierce—roared past beneath his feet, slamming into the earth and exploding with thunderous force!
'So that's what this is…' As his body soared and his view cleared, Itachi's Sharingan spun rapidly, tracking the path of the fireball back to its source. He looked down, eyes narrowing in both surprise and amusement. 'Naruto Uzumaki… you sneaky little fox.'
The source? The very spot where Naruto had first been targeted by Phoenix Fire Jutsu. With the heat haze now cleared, a second Naruto—clothes scorched and tattered—stood revealed. This was the real ambush.
'Tch… got spotted, huh?' Naruto clicked his tongue, disappointed that even this carefully plotted feint using a Shadow Clone had failed. He slumped down on the ground, exhausted. After a brief pause, he tilted his sooty face up, forced a laugh, and waved. "Heh… I guess hand seal speed really is everything. I prepped this attack forever and it still didn't hit. Ugh, no good… I'm at my limit."
'For your age, you've done incredibly well, Naruto. If I didn't have the Sharingan, your plan might've actually worked.' Watching Naruto slump in exhaustion, Itachi finally felt the tension in his nerves begin to ease. He landed lightly, smiling as he praised the boy's effort.
"Hehe, yeah, maybe without the Sharingan…" Naruto lay flat in the snow, panting heavily. But right as Itachi's feet touched the ground and his stance was still unstable, Naruto suddenly froze, twitched slightly, then grinned up with a glint in his eyes.
"...I wouldn't have needed such a long plan, would I?"
"What—?"
Before Itachi could process it, the smiling Naruto vanished in a puff of white smoke.
"A Shadow Clone? Crap!"
That sense of danger flared again. Itachi whirled to search for the real threat—too late.
A roaring gust of wind, blazing hot and merciless, slammed into him from behind.
"Ugh!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough… here you go, Itachi-san! A gift—your own Fireball Jutsu, returned!"
The Naruto who had previously taken the full brunt of the Fireball hadn't dissipated into smoke. Burnt nearly to a crisp, he painfully raised his hands, gathering chakra into his throat. As he exhaled a gale-force wind, he launched the remnant flames from Itachi's Fireball forward in a combined Wind-Fire attack, creating a fireball even larger than Itachi's own.
"Huff... huff... I told you, didn't I? Heh… rare chance to use a Shadow Clone as bait."
'So this is Naruto's strength… incredible.'
Sasuke, watching from the sidelines, had stars in his eyes. He had expected Naruto to lose in just a few exchanges against his invincible older brother—but Naruto had fought evenly, blow for blow. Admiration and awe filled his heart.
"Ah—wait, now's not the time for that! Brother!"
"Relax, Sasuke."
Just as Sasuke prepared to rush into the flames to find Itachi, Naruto—now truly spent—collapsed for real, panting as he held out a hand to stop him.
After a pause, he chuckled weakly. "Substitution Jutsu… fast hand seals really are the key, huh? And still… I couldn't beat you, Itachi-san."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Nar—AH! Brother!"
As Sasuke shouted, Itachi appeared beside Naruto, completely unharmed. The Itachi that had been consumed by the flames? A charred log, long since turned to ash.
"As you can see, Itachi-san… I'm really out of chakra this time. I couldn't win. The gap in strength... really can't be closed with clever tricks alone."
Naruto scratched his singed golden hair with one hand and formed the Seal of Reconciliation with the other, offering it to Itachi.
"This time… I lost."
"Don't worry about it. If I didn't always leave a Substitution ready, who knows what would've happened?"
Watching Naruto's incredible choice to endure the fireball and wait for the right moment to strike, Itachi finally regarded Naruto as his equal. With a glance at the burning log, he knelt and completed the Seal of Reconciliation.
"You're only three… and already this strong. I'm starting to wonder—how far will you go?"
"Then I declare—Naruto Uzumaki vs. Itachi Uchiha, sparring match result: Big Brother wins!"
"Hey hey, Sasuke, why do you sound so excited? Were you rooting for me to lose?!"
"Hmph, I wasn't hoping... I always knew Big Brother would never lose!"
"...Tch, you terminal bro-con... completely hopeless."
"Ha?! Who're you calling a bro-con, you idiot Naruto?! I'm not—wait, what does bro-con even mean?! Hey! Don't laugh! What does it mean?!"
'Sasuke really did make one heck of a friend.'
Watching Naruto and Sasuke play and argue without a hint of awkwardness, Itachi smiled warmly. He gently placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"I'll be counting on you to look after Sasuke, Naruto."
"Hehe, of course! Sasuke's my best friend—I got this, believe it!"