Watching the ongoing chase between Uchiha Shinji and Kurama Yakumo, the leaders of the various villages had expressions that were full of intrigue.
They had never expected that the interceptions by Kirigakure's Suigetsu and Chojuro, and the ambush by Iwagakure's Kurotsuchi, not only failed to defeat Shinji and Yakumo but couldn't even disrupt or slow them down.
It was clear they were operating on completely different levels!
The leader of Iwagakure's squad muttered to himself, "How... how is this possible?!"
Chiyo from Sunagakure furrowed her brows. "The difference is this big? No, this can't be true!"
Shinji and Yakumo had already been through a grueling battle. Both their physical strength and chakra reserves had been severely depleted.
The two, barely eight or nine years old, should have been nearly exhausted.
Yet despite this, the geniuses from Kirigakure and Iwagakure were defeated in a single encounter. It was as easy as swatting flies—hardly believable.
"This is insane!"
Terumi Mei's face turned darker, her expression more complicated than ever.
Chojuro and Suigetsu were talented shinobi, and Mei, the leader of Kirigakure, was fully aware of their abilities.
Kirigakure had planned to groom Chojuro as the next member of the "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," and Suigetsu had mastered the secret techniques of the Hozuki clan, far surpassing his peers.
For such skilled geniuses to be easily overwhelmed by Shinji, who supposedly hadn't even awakened his Sharingan, was utterly confounding. Who could explain this?
If it were the past, the leader of Kumogakure would have mocked them.
But now, even he couldn't say a word in frustration.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Kumogakure's trio had been completely overwhelmed by Kimimaro alone.
"Darui and Omoi couldn't even subdue one little brat from the Hidden Leaf Academy? This is... humiliating!"
He cursed inwardly.
Before this, he had boasted in front of the other village leaders that the Hidden Leaf was no match for them.
Back at the Hidden Leaf—
As they watched Kirigakure and Iwagakure's ambushes easily neutralized by Shinji and Yakumo, they were smug.
No.
To be more precise, both Shinji and Yakumo had effortlessly dealt with the ambushes from Kirigakure and Iwagakure, almost as if they hadn't even been a concern.
This left everyone in the Hidden Leaf with smug smiles.
"Hmph!" Tsunade chuckled, then said, "They think they can ambush Yakumo like this? Do they really think her Koryugan are fake?"
Shizune clicked her tongue in surprise. "I heard the young girl from Iwagakure is the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage. Who would have thought she'd be so reckless?"
Tsunade laughed a little, pleased.
Watching her disciple effortlessly defeat the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage was small fun for Tsunade, though it wasn't much in her eyes.
But soon, her attention shifted back to the battlefield, her expression becoming serious. "Why is Uchiha Shinji so hard to deal with?"
While Yakumo had easily dealt with Kurotsuchi, Shinji's handling of Chojuro and Suigetsu was truly impressive.
Even though he only used basic taijutsu, his timing and choice of techniques were flawless.
Tsunade had a keen eye, and she could tell that Chojuro and Suigetsu were no pushovers, yet in front of Shinji, they had faltered. This could only mean one thing: Shinji's battle instincts were incredibly strong.
The last time she had felt something similar was when facing the Fourth Hokage!
Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Kakashi were also discussing the impressive performances of Shinji and Yakumo.
Jiraiya seemed to remember something, suddenly asking Kakashi, "Has anyone from the village's jonin shown interest in taking in Uchiha Shinji as a disciple?"
Kakashi paused for a moment, not having considered that.
Jiraiya glanced at Kakashi. "No one?"
"It doesn't seem like it!" Kakashi nodded.
Because of the Uchiha clan's legacy, the higher-ups in the village were generally reluctant to get involved with someone from their clan. There weren't many jonin who showed much favor for the Uchiha, like Kakashi did.
And since Shinji hadn't awakened his Sharingan, even though he was already famous as a genius, there was no indication that any jonin had shown an interest in taking him on as a disciple. At least, not that Kakashi had heard.
However, Kakashi soon realized something was wrong.
Looking at the geniuses in the academy, Yakumo had been taken in by Tsunade, Naruto by Jiraiya, and Sasuke was under his own tutelage.
Then there was Neji, who was personally trained by the head of the Hyuga clan.
The only geniuses who hadn't attracted the attention of any jonin were Uchiha Shinji and Kimimaro.
Kimimaro was a special case, a remnant of the Kirigakure Kaguya clan with a unique identity, so it made sense he didn't have any jonin interest. But Shinji? His performance was extraordinary, and yet he had not caught the eye of any jonin. That was difficult to explain.
"Could this cause Uchiha Shinji to harbor resentment?" Jiraiya wondered aloud.
Shaking his head, Kakashi felt it was something he needed to report to the Hokage.
They couldn't afford to alienate such a talented individual, especially since he was from the Uchiha clan!
Back on the battlefield.
Whoosh.Whoosh.Whoosh.
Countless branches, imbued with the chakra of Wood Release, flew toward Shinji with a whistling sound.
Clang! Clang!
Shinji wielded his kunai, blocking the branches as he searched for an opportunity to escape.
These branches, infused with Yakumo's chakra, were as hard as steel. When Shinji used his kunai, forged from high-quality steel, to block them, they rang with sharp, metallic clashes.
Trapped in a corner, Shinji called out to Fūki, who was perched on his shoulder. "Split up and run!"
"Meow!"
With that, Fūki transformed into a white blur and dashed off in another direction.
Seeing Fūki separate, Yakumo hesitated for a moment.
Shinji immediately seized the opportunity. He dashed forward and aimed straight at Yakumo!
After the continuous fights, both Shinji and Yakumo were exhausted.
However, compared to Shinji, who had been continuously retreating, Yakumo had expended more chakra by relentlessly using Wood Release to launch attacks.
Even though she had undergone the First Hokage's cell transplantation surgery, she was still only eight or nine years old. The continuous use of Wood Release was beginning to deplete her chakra reserves.
When she saw Shinji charging at her, Yakumo wasn't scared. Besides Wood Release, she had her Koryugan, Monster Strength Fist, genjutsu, and several other techniques at her disposal. She wasn't afraid of close combat.
After a brief consideration, she decided to use genjutsu to disrupt Shinji, then follow up with her Koryugan and Monster Strength Fist to defeat him once and for all.
Because Shinji's powerful taijutsu had made her uneasy.
In the blink of an eye, Shinji reached Yakumo's side.
Yakumo immediately formed seals and activated the Kurama clan's genjutsu, then followed up with a Monster Strength Fist aimed at Shinji.
But as she saw Shinji seemingly caught in her genjutsu, standing motionless, she hesitated with the punch.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Shinji, who had appeared stunned, smirked. The next second, he returned to the offensive with incredible speed.
Boom!
With a muffled sound, Yakumo was sent flying by Shinji's counterattack.