Chapter 5: Fighting Uchiha Itachi

"Reiji actually got second place!"

"Reiji’s strength has improved this much?!"

"So Itachi is still first place, huh? That really isn’t surprising at all."

"First and second place are both from the Uchiha clan. I’m so jealous."

Whispers spread through the students watching the match.

As for first place, basically no one had any objections.

Ever since Uchiha Itachi had taken first place with overwhelming strength in last semester’s practical combat assessment, his position as the top student of this class had never been in question again.

Everyone was simply curious about who could compete for second place and how long they could last against Itachi.

However.

No matter how much they guessed, none of them had expected that the person who would make it all the way to the final match would not be one of the students who usually ranked near the top, but the normally inconspicuous Uchiha Reiji.

Seeing the students discussing among themselves, Tamura-sensei wore a satisfied smile.

"I told you all long ago that hard work would never let you down."

"As long as you train as seriously as Reiji does, your strength will definitely improve as well."

However.

The students did not take his words to heart.

"Even if Reiji has improved a lot, there’s no way he can beat Itachi, right?"

"I wonder how long Reiji can last against Itachi? Three minutes? Or five?"

"You’re giving Reiji too much credit. Last semester’s second-place student was defeated by Itachi in less than two minutes."

"I bet Reiji will be defeated by Itachi in one minute!"

Ignoring the discussions among his classmates, Reiji quietly walked onto the stage.

As Uchiha Itachi stepped onto the stage, a group of little fangirls below erupted into cheers and encouragement.

As for Reiji, the only person cheering for him was Izumi, along with a few boys who had never particularly liked Itachi.

"Your strength seems to have improved very quickly recently."

Uchiha Itachi spoke.

He had only learned about Reiji’s performance from the discussions of the other students.

"...I have you to thank for that."

Reiji’s expression became slightly strange as he said something that left Uchiha Itachi puzzled.

If he had not known that this filial son would massacre the clan in the future, would he have been in such a hurry to improve his strength?

When the night of the clan massacre came, if he was not strong enough, he, Izumi, and Izumi’s parents would all be cut down with a single slash, and their Sharingan would then be dug out by Obito or Danzo.

With serious expressions, the two formed the Confrontation Seal, and the battle quickly began.

Their figures disappeared from their original positions in a blur before colliding and rapidly separating again.

For a time, the training ground was filled with the sounds of fists and feet colliding.

Beside the field, Tamura-sensei’s initially calm expression gradually became serious, and then increasingly solemn.

The high-speed taijutsu battle on the field had already continued for more than five minutes, yet neither of them showed the slightest intention of stopping.

So Uchiha Itachi was actually this strong when he fought seriously?

And then there was Reiji.

Tamura-sensei recalled his earlier judgment and could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.

Just how much had this child’s strength improved recently?!

If he had not seen that Reiji’s eyes were still black, he would almost have thought that his sudden increase in strength was because he had awakened the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan!

To be fair.

Tamura-sensei considered himself a Chunin, but if he faced the taijutsu attacks of either of these two right now, he could only struggle to defend himself, relying on the advantages of an adult’s physical strength and stamina to cope.

These two children... had only been attending the Ninja Academy for a year and were just over seven years old?

Monsters. They really were monsters.

Seeing the Uchiha clan’s fan-shaped crest on their clothes, Tamura-sensei could not help sighing once again at how worthy they were of being members of the Uchiha clan.

On the field.

After maintaining their high-speed taijutsu battle for some time, the two finally retreated from each other.

Uchiha Itachi was breathing heavily.

At this point, he had become completely serious, his heart solemn.

His opponent’s strength could actually match his own!

Fortunately, he had come with his real body. If he had used a Shadow Clone, it probably would have been beaten to pieces by Reiji long ago, right?

Looking toward his opponent, Uchiha Itachi’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

Reiji was also breathing heavily, but compared with Itachi, his breathing was noticeably less labored.

"Am I... seeing this right? Reiji has actually been able to fight Itachi for this long?"

"Their movements are both so fast. I can barely keep up with my eyes."

"Damn it! Having just one Itachi was already enough, and now there’s another Reiji who can fight Itachi evenly!"

"I’m afraid... they’re not actually evenly matched. Look, Itachi is clearly breathing more heavily."

The group of students was suddenly startled, and they hurriedly looked toward the two.

Sure enough, although both of them were temporarily catching their breath, Reiji was clearly in better condition!

How was that possible?

Could Reiji’s strength actually be greater than Itachi’s?

The group looked at one another, unable to believe the conclusion they had reached.

They had thought Reiji’s "comeback" to second place in the class was already shocking enough, but they had never expected him to reach this level!

On the field, Uchiha Itachi barely steadied his breathing and spoke seriously.

"You’re very impressive."

"In terms of taijutsu alone, if I didn’t have more combat experience, I probably would have already lost."

Despite saying that, Itachi became even more solemn inwardly.

His combat experience came from the guidance of his father, the clan leader, as well as the daily instruction of the genius Shisui.

His opponent, however, did not have access to these resources!

Yet under such circumstances, Reiji had still managed to train his taijutsu to this level.

However.

Uchiha Itachi was not particularly discouraged.

Everyone had areas in which they excelled. He did not need to be first in everything.

Analyzing an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and determining the most suitable way to fight them was also a form of strength!

His strength was not limited to taijutsu!

Calming himself, he took out several shuriken and threw them in seemingly random directions.

The shuriken collided with one another in midair, producing a series of crisp sounds. Accompanied by the students’ startled cries, their trajectories rapidly changed as they attacked Reiji from all directions.

Tamura-sensei’s eyes shifted. Though surprised, he immediately prepared himself to rush onto the field and rescue him.

However, in the next moment, he saw Reiji throw several shuriken as well, controlling their trajectories in exactly the same way and knocking all the airborne shuriken out of the sky one after another.

"This..."

Tamura-sensei was completely stunned.

These two children... had actually both mastered this method of throwing shuriken?

Even he, a Chunin instructor, could not do this!