Chapter 416: Fight Back!

Chapter 416: Chapter 416: Fight Back!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

As the ninjutsu was unleashed, a scorching fireball erupted from Sasuke’s puffed-up mouth. With a fierce roar, it hurtled straight toward Kimimaro.

"Crap!"

Anko, who was serving as the temporary referee, immediately went pale, her heart leaping into her throat.

In her mind, Kimimaro, who was only around ten years old, had no possible way of defending against Sasuke’s Fire Release ninjutsu. Even if it had been her at ten years old, she probably wouldn’t have been capable of it either.

The surrounding villagers watching the match all opened their mouths in shock when they saw the blazing Great Fireball, staring at the scene dumbfounded.

No one had expected that Sasuke, barely seven years old and still so small, would actually be capable of unleashing such a powerful C-rank Fire Release ninjutsu.

That was already touching upon the level of a Chūnin!

After unleashing the Great Fireball Technique, Sasuke raised his brows slightly, his face practically screaming, Come on, everyone, praise me!

Among the Hyuga clan, Clan Head Hiashi Hyuga frowned slightly.

Compared to Sasuke, who could already perform a C-rank Fire Release ninjutsu at such a young age, his own daughter, who still repeatedly made mistakes even while practicing the basic Gentle Fist, appeared all the more mediocre.

Beside him, Neji activated his Byakugan, a hint of seriousness appearing on his young face.

Hizashi said, "That Uchiha boy might become your greatest rival at the Ninja Academy."

Neji nodded seriously.

"Mm. He’s strong."

Performing ninjutsu required not only sufficient chakra, but also exceptional chakra control—and that was precisely something children found extremely difficult to achieve.

As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Naruto naturally possessed an extraordinarily vast amount of chakra. The reason he had ended up as the dead last during his time at the Ninja Academy was precisely because he was unable to accurately control the chakra within his body.

And it wasn’t just the Hyuga clan. The ninjas from the Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other prominent clans gathered in the plaza were all more or less surprised after seeing Sasuke perform the Great Fireball Technique.

At the edge of the plaza.

On the ledge of a tall building, the four members of Hyuga Kagami’s ANBU Team 7 were lined up in a row, some sitting and others standing as they watched the match taking place in the center of the plaza.

After seeing Sasuke unleash the Great Fireball Technique, Kurenai curled her lips. "Kids these days aren’t any worse than we were back then!"

Hayate sighed in admiration as well. "As expected of the Uchiha clan. That kid from Otogakure is in trouble."

Hyuga Kagami merely smiled.

An ordinary child indeed wouldn’t be a match for Sasuke.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, Kimimaro was anything but ordinary.

Not to mention, Kimimaro was three years older than Sasuke and had already spent so long being trained by that freak Orochimaru. At this point in time, Kimimaro should have more than enough strength to completely thrash Sasuke.

Whoosh—

With a roaring rush of air, the scorching Great Fireball swept rapidly across the ground, leaving a trail of charred-black marks in its wake before barreling straight toward the area where Kimimaro stood.

At that moment, everyone in the plaza focused their attention on Kimimaro.

They were all extremely curious to see just how this white-haired boy would deal with the crisis before him.

Several Konoha ninjas standing at the edge of the field had already prepared themselves to intervene.

After all, Kimimaro was a ninja from Otogakure who had come to Konoha for the alliance. If he were to lose his life during the alliance ceremony itself, Konoha would lose quite a bit of face.

And yet, what everyone saw was still the same calm and composed Kimimaro.

He neither dodged nor moved aside.

"Why isn’t he dodging!?"

For a moment, the same question surfaced in everyone’s mind.

Whoosh—

Just as Sasuke’s Great Fireball was about to strike Kimimaro, Kimimaro suddenly vanished from where he stood.

"Body Flicker Technique!?"

Unlike most of the bewildered villagers, who thought their eyes had played tricks on them, many of the ninjas present immediately recognized the technique Kimimaro had used.

However, only a very small number of them were able to instantly lock onto Kimimaro’s new position after he used the Body Flicker Technique.

Seeing everyone in the plaza gradually turn their gazes toward him, the corner of Sasuke’s mouth curled upward in a victorious smile.

Because his vision had been obscured by the blazing flames of the Great Fireball Technique, he hadn’t seen Kimimaro use the Body Flicker Technique at the very last instant. He still thought Kimimaro had been struck by his Great Fireball.

Just as Sasuke waited for everyone to erupt into cheers and congratulations, a cold voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

"What are you spacing out for?"

"Who!?"

Sasuke jolted in alarm and was just about to turn around when a searing pain suddenly exploded across his back.

Before he could even process what had happened, his entire body was sent flying.

Only then did Kimimaro slowly lower his leg. With an indifferent expression, he said, "Hey, are you really an Uchiha?"

Sasuke hurriedly scrambled back to his feet.

"What happened? You were clearly hit by my—"

Whoosh—

Before Sasuke could finish speaking, Kimimaro once again used the Body Flicker Technique, instantly closing the distance between them before smashing a fist squarely into Sasuke’s face.

Sasuke immediately spun through the air like a top before crashing to the ground!

As Sasuke was knocked down for the second time, cries of shock spread outward across the plaza like waves.

Every ninja present—whether they were from Konoha’s prominent ninja clans or from Sunagakure, Kusagakure, and Takigakure—now had their eyes firmly locked on the ten-year-old Kimimaro.

Kimimaro’s two consecutive, flawlessly executed Body Flicker Techniques hadn’t just left the previously confident Sasuke completely dazed—even Anko, the temporary referee, was stunned.

Because to her astonishment, she realized that even as a Special Jōnin, she couldn’t perform the Body Flicker Technique with such speed and fluidity.

At the edge of the field, Fugaku stood with his arms crossed, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

By now, he could already tell that this white-haired boy from Otogakure, who looked to be around ten years old, was extraordinarily strong. His strength was no weaker than that of an ordinary Chūnin, and perhaps even comparable to an average Special Jōnin.

Although Fugaku knew it was perfectly normal for Sasuke to lose against such an abnormal talent, the thought of the Uchiha clan being humiliated in front of such a massive crowd still made his blood boil.

And alongside that anger came a deep sense of disappointment in Sasuke.

On the rooftop of the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage had also taken notice of the match in the plaza.

Watching Sasuke get beaten without even being able to fight back, he asked the captain of his Hokage Guard beside him with a grave expression, "Who is that child?"

The captain flipped through the information in his hands before replying, "He’s a ninja from Otogakure. His name is Kimimaro. According to our intelligence, he appears to possess the bloodline of Kirigakure’s Kaguya clan."

The Third Hokage silently repeated the name.

"Kimimaro..."

Sasuke climbed back to his feet once again, his handsome little face twisted with rage as he cursed, "You damn bastard! I’m going to kill you!"

With that, the furious Sasuke charged straight at Kimimaro and swung a fist at him.

Kimimaro shifted slightly to the side, casually dodging Sasuke’s punch. He then raised his leg and drove a knee straight into Sasuke’s abdomen.

"Ugh..."

After taking the blow to the stomach, Sasuke retched and dropped to his knees.

At that moment, on the rooftop of a tall building in the distance, a yellow-haired boy with three whisker marks on each cheek leaped high into the air and shouted:

"Sasuke! Fight back already!"