"What?!"
"He used a Wind Release… to blow the Uchiha's Great Fireball off course?"
"What precise chakra control and impeccable timing!"
The audience stands and the edges of the arena instantly erupted with barely contained gasps of disbelief.
As the saying goes: laymen watch the spectacle, experts watch the technique.
Aside from shinobi, most people in the audience were the examinees' relatives, friends, or simply villagers who came to watch the exam.
To them, it looked ingenious—Kiyohara merely exhaled, and the terrifying, scorching Great Fireball released by Uchiha Tekka was deflected off its path.
But the genin standing on the stage, those who were of the same age and rank, all frowned deeply.
Everyone knew there were only two factors that determined the power of a ninjutsu:
First—chakra.
Second—understanding of the jutsu.
The more mastery one had over a jutsu, the deeper one's insight; and the deeper the insight, the greater the power it could unleash.
To use a C-rank Wind Release technique in such a clever way—perfectly neutralizing the signature Fire Release of the Uchiha, required an incredibly high level of jutsu comprehension.
Even the chief examiner, the stern-faced jonin with a scar at the corner of his eye, showed a rare flicker of surprise.
By normal standards, someone with Kiyohara's talent should already have been directly promoted to chunin.
Perhaps the Hokage wished to measure his potential more thoroughly, which was why he was made to go through the examination procedure again.
Just with his current performance alone, the chief examiner believed that even if Kiyohara were to lose in the end, he would still qualify for a promotion.
"Judging from the application I received from Lord Hokage, his recommender was Jonin Minato… No wonder the letter was full of praise."
The chief examiner nodded to himself, now even more interested in observing the boy's next moves.
Meanwhile, on the audience bench, Yuhi and Genma finally let out a breath of relief, though their relief was mixed with pleasant surprise.
Tekka's expression flickered with shock. Clearly, he had not expected his ninjutsu to be countered in such a manner.
But his combat instincts were sharp. His moment of confusion lasted only for an instant—his hands immediately reached into his pouch.
"You have some skill… To so easily neutralize my Great Fireball Technique."
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several shuriken were already clamped between Tekka's fingers. With a flick, they shot out with piercing whistles, slicing through the air toward Kiyohara.
"Among these civilians, you're considered one of the better ones."
Tekka's fingers twitched ever so slightly. The steel wires attached to the shuriken glinted faintly under the sunlight.
It was the Uchiha Style: Manipulated Shuriken Technique!
Kiyohara had been expecting this.
The Uchiha excelled in Fire Release techniques and the Manipulated Shuriken technique. Even though he'd never fought Tekka before, it was safe to assume he would use these.
"Steel wires, huh?"
Kiyohara could faintly spot the nearly invisible threads of metal in the air. Without careful focus, they would be overlooked.
Thus, in shinobi combat, vigilance was never optional.
"Lightning Release: Earth Walk!"
Kiyohara extracted a measured amount of chakra. After forming hand seals, that chakra turned into an electric surge crawling across the ground.
A harsh crackle erupted as bright blue lightning snaked across the dry earth like living serpents, darting toward Tekka's feet!
Though Kiyohara reacted later, the speed of lightning far surpassed the thrown shuriken's flight!
Tekka's pupils contracted sharply. He was forced to break off the delicate manipulation of his shuriken, using a burst of strength to leap backward—barely avoiding the lightning that snapped up from the ground.
The shuriken, no longer receiving fine control through the wires, instantly lost momentum and veered off course.
"His Sharingan is coming next," the missing-nin Kiyohara murmured as he hovered beside Kiyohara like a shadow.
Based on his past battles with Uchiha shinobi, if Tekka possessed the Sharingan, he would likely activate it very soon.
"The moment he activates the one-tomoe Sharingan, his dynamic vision and insight will skyrocket. Your taijutsu and normal throws may not hit him anymore."
"I know."
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
Sure enough, immediately after the words left their lips, Tekka's eyes changed.
A single black tomoe emerged in his crimson irises, spinning slowly around the pupil.
A one-tomoe Sharingan.
With the Sharingan activated, Tekka instantly perceived far more of Kiyohara's movements.
Everything was as if the world had slowed down—if he concentrated, he could see each micro-motion of Kiyohara frame by frame.
Tekka drew a kunai from his pouch and slashed down at lightning speed, his movements guided by the Sharingan's piercing clarity.
Clang!
A burst of bright sparks erupted between them.
Kiyohara had drawn his own black kunai, meeting the strike head-on.
Metal scraped violently against metal, generating another shower of sparks.
Clang!
Tekka reversed his grip and made another slash.
Kiyohara blocked again.
But he was ultimately a civilian—his foundational physical abilities couldn't compare to an Uchiha's.
Before Tekka opened his Sharingan, Kiyohara could still force exchanges.
But once the Sharingan awakened, the situation instantly shifted, Kiyohara fell into complete passivity, gradually being overwhelmed.
Kiyohara frowned slightly. He needed to find an opening.
"It's over!"
With the Sharingan's dynamic vision, Tekka caught a tiny flaw in Kiyohara's movements.
He immediately swept a low roundhouse kick at Kiyohara's legs.
At the same moment, his other hand discreetly flicked out a shuriken, blocking off the best path for Kiyohara to dodge!
"Possess me in a moment, let me jump higher."
Kiyohara suddenly said internally.
He could not unleash his body's full potential alone. Only when possessed by the missing-nin could he override natural limits and force his muscles to their peak.
"What are you planning?"
The missing-nin Kiyohara sounded curious.
He had assumed Kiyohara would ask him to fight in his place.
"The Sharingan's dynamic vision is powerful, but its strength is also its weakness."
Kiyohara's thoughts raced.
The eye could read muscle movements, predict chakra flow, and anticipate attacks.
But that reliance bred inertia, a habit of assuming it could always foresee like—"If the muscle moves this way, he will do that."
Even if the opponent suddenly used a forbidden technique or secret clan technique to forcibly boost physical abilities, the Sharingan could still interpret chakra flow and react accordingly.
But… when the missing-nin Kiyohara possesses him, such details became irrelevant.
In the next instant—
Kiyohara did not dodge as Tekka predicted.
Instead, he intentionally leapt backward, as if he were about to collide head-on with the shuriken blocking his escape route.
And then he shouted in his mind:
"Boost my jump!"
Understanding dawned on the missing-nin.
He possessed Kiyohara's body, and at the moment Kiyohara left the ground, he unleashed the body's full potential. Muscles strained, waist and abdomen twisting violently, propelling him upward.
Kiyohara immediately took back control. Despite the sharp pain of strained abdominal muscles, he flicked his wrist and sent out three shuriken he had already hidden in his palm.
His left hand formed a one-handed seal as he shouted:
"Lightning Release: Guided Current Manipulated Shuriken Technique!"
Crackle!
Brilliant blue lightning surged, racing along copper wires to the shuriken. They transformed into three streaks of azure light, bolts of electricity darting through the air.
The three electric streaks did not aim directly at Tekka's body.
Instead, they sealed off his left, his right, and above—completely blocking all routes of escape.
Tekka, eyes enhanced by the Sharingan, froze.
Wait—what?!
How did Kiyohara jump that high?!
Did he step on his left foot with his right foot and ascend to heaven or something?!
(End of Chapter)