Hua Jingfeng, who had left the outskirts of the Hyuga Clan training ground, was absent-minded, and even after returning home, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
At midnight, a small figure, like a nimble ape, rapidly leaped and flickered through the Death Forest. Upon reaching a certain spot, she finally stopped and landed on the ground, fixing her gaze on a figure just ten meters away from her.
"I didn't expect you to come so early. It seems you don't say it, but in reality, you care a lot about the promised battle between us, don't you?"
The little loli with long, straight black eyes spoke, surprised, but also had a guess about Ketsuna's presence there. She assumed he must have arrived early in the Death Forest to survey the area, hoping to gain a topographical advantage in the upcoming battle… Wasn't this clearly a sign of him being wary of her, Uchiha Mingxi?
"…"
Ketsuna remained silent. He didn't know where Mingxi, this little girl from the Uchiha family, got her sense of superiority to come up with such a thought. Didn't she remember that disastrous defeat a year ago?
Around the age of five, Mingxi, having heard of Ketsuna's reputation as the Hyuga Clan's strongest genius, had secretly challenged him. Unfortunately, she was easily defeated in less than a single round, and she lost very miserably… This led to Mingxi's goal and dream ever since that day being to defeat Ketsuna and reclaim the glory and dignity of her Uchiha Clan!
"Alright, then let me show you my year of arduous training! It will definitely surprise you!"
Mingxi looked at the silent Ketsuna, becoming even more certain of her guess, and then, with her fighting spirit soaring, she spoke to Ketsuna.
"Good, let me see what growth this generation's Uchiha genius has achieved."
Ketsuna spoke, his tone very calm.
"Take this!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Mingxi let out a delicate shout, then formed hand seals, refined Chakra in her mouth, her chest slightly puffed out, and the next second, as her chest compressed, a huge fireball spewed from her mouth, heading straight for Ketsuna in front of her.
Upon seeing this, Ketsuna's expression did not change, nor did his body show any intention of dodging, as if he had been stunned by Mingxi's Ninjutsu.
Most students in the Ninja Academy were still in the process of learning Chakra refinement, but Mingxi had already reached the level of being able to release C-rank Ninjutsu, showing how monstrous her Ninjutsu talent was.
The huge fireball landed in front of Ketsuna, then exploded with a roar, like fireworks erupting in the night. A surging heat wave spread in all directions, causing Mingxi to immediately cover her face with her hand, shielding herself from the incoming heat and dust.
"Did it hit?"
After the heat wave dissipated, Mingxi jogged to the spot where Ketsuna had been standing earlier. Apart from a scorched black area, there was no sign of Ketsuna.
"Good Ninjutsu, but unfortunately, too slow."
At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded behind Mingxi, giving her a cold sweat. When she turned to look behind her, she still couldn't see Ketsuna.
"No matter how strong Ninjutsu is, if it can't hit anyone, it's undoubtedly a waste of Chakra…"
Ketsuna's voice sounded behind Mingxi again, followed by a kick to Mingxi's backside, sending her into intimate contact with the ground, where she lay sprawled like a toad.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Mingxi spat out the dirt and weeds from her mouth, then turned her head, looking at Ketsuna with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, and asked, very unwillingly, "How can your Body Flicker Technique be so fast?!"
A year ago, Mingxi could still vaguely see the afterimage of Ketsuna's Body Flicker Technique, but she hadn't expected that after a year of arduous training, she couldn't even see the afterimage of Ketsuna's Body Flicker Technique anymore.
"Don't think that a year of arduous training can allow you to catch up to me. Even if you are an Uchiha genius, to catch up to me… you are still thousands of years too early!"
Ketsuna slowly walked towards Mingxi, verbally crushing Mingxi's arrogance, while simultaneously establishing his mysterious, powerful, and unbeatable persona.
"Damn it!"
Mingxi clenched her fists and then slammed them heavily on the ground. Ketsuna's words undoubtedly touched her heart, causing her proud heart to suddenly crack. Thoughts like 'So I'm actually this weak,' 'Ketsuna is the true unparalleled genius,' and 'Why am I in the same period as Ketsuna' arose in her mind.
"Is this the Uchiha genius? Just one or two setbacks, and you're going to give up on your dreams and goals? Didn't you say you wanted to defeat me? Why are you still lying there like a toad?"
Ketsuna looked at Mingxi, whose emotions were already starting to become somewhat dejected, and immediately began to provoke her.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Upon hearing Ketsuna's words, Mingxi immediately roared at him in exasperation, then quickly scrambled to her feet, rapidly formed hand seals, and all the remaining Chakra in her body surged into her mouth again, then transformed into a huge fireball that rushed towards Ketsuna.
Upon seeing this, Ketsuna did not immediately dodge. He merely used the residual light from the fireball to observe the changes in Mingxi's eyes. A smile appeared on his lips, and at the instant the huge fireball approached, he directly dodged it with the Body Flicker Technique, appearing again right in front of Mingxi.
"As expected of an Uchiha genius, you've awakened your eyes."
Ketsuna leaned close to Mingxi's face, his Byakugan, with a glimmer of sapphire blue light in his eyes, was activated. While intently observing Mingxi's Two-Tomoe Sharingan, he praised Mingxi in an irritating tone.
"Wh… What?"
Mingxi looked at Ketsuna, who was almost touching her face. The anger and indignation on her face instantly vanished, replaced by an indescribable expression of shyness. She stood there stiff and dazed like a puppet, not daring to move a muscle.
A moment later, Ketsuna slowly backed away from Mingxi's eyes, then noticed the unusual expression on Mingxi's face, but he didn't say anything further. Instead, he pulled out a mirror from somewhere and handed it to her.
Mingxi blankly took the mirror, then looked at Ketsuna, perplexed.
"Look at your eyes."
Ketsuna pointed to Mingxi's eyes and said.
Mingxi picked up the mirror and saw the striking crimson color in her eye sockets…
"…I've awakened my eyes!"
Mingxi immediately shouted excitedly. At only six years old, she had not only awakened the Sharingan but had also bypassed the One-Tomoe initial form, appearing in her eye sockets in the Two-Tomoe form. In the past history of the Uchiha Clan, no one had ever awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan at her age. This was enough to show the terrifying nature of her talent, belonging to that kind of one-in-a-hundred… or even one-in-a-thousand monster among geniuses!
"Indeed, they are good eyes."
Ketsuna suddenly spoke from the side, causing Mingxi's excited voice to abruptly cease. Her crimson eyes glowed with a chilling light in the night. She looked at Ketsuna, who had his Byakugan activated, and with her confidence restored and overflowing, she immediately spoke arrogantly, "I have awakened the Sharingan! Any Body Flicker Technique will be exposed before these Sharingan!"
"Idiot."
Ketsuna looked at Mingxi, who had regained her confidence after awakening the Sharingan. He merely shook his head slightly and said just that, immediately infuriating Mingxi and causing her to lose the calmness a ninja should possess.
"Damn it, I'll make you pay for underestimating these eyes of mine!"
Mingxi angrily said to Ketsuna, then charged towards Ketsuna again…