Clang! Clang!
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the battle began.
Unlike the original story Satoru read, both combatants adopted typical Genin tactics.
Shuriken for probing.
Akado Yoroi was a man with a mask covering his face and dark eyes.
Facing Sasuke, a genius of the Uchiha, he showed no fear.
He even seemed full of confidence.
Fire Release: Flowing Flame.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Akado Yoroi was the first to break the probing, forming hand signs to unleash a Fire Release Ninjutsu.
From him, three flames emerged from the ground, swirling and intertwining as they advanced towards Sasuke.
"Oh, this guy can use Fire Release?"
Satoru raised an eyebrow.
At least in the original story he read, he didn't recall this part.
Then he looked at Sasuke; at this point, Sasuke had already been afflicted with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal but had not yet had it sealed by Kakashi, so he shouldn't be able to use his Sharingan or conventional Ninjutsu.
This meant Sasuke could only use Taijutsu.
And Sasuke hadn't made a promise to Lee for a rematch, so it was impossible for him to create the Lion Combo. Would he just lose directly?
Whoosh! Whoosh!~
Sasuke's expression was solemn. He used Taijutsu to quickly shift his position, avoiding the opponent's Ninjutsu.
However, his opponent wouldn't let him off so easily; the flowing flames on the ground continued to curve and attack Sasuke.
The scorching flames spread across the arena.
Soon, they had almost covered the entire arena.
The arena was cut into square grids by the flames.
Whoosh!
Sasuke endured the pain from the Cursed Seal, sending a Kunai flying straight towards his enemy.
"A naive counterattack."
Akado Yoroi sneered, shifting two steps to easily dodge the attack.
Bang!
The Kunai embedded itself in the wall opposite.
Seeing his attack was ineffective, Sasuke fired several more Shuriken.
"Don't you understand? You're too weak."
Akado Yoroi, facing the barrage of Shuriken, also drew his own Shuriken to block.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whoosh!
Just as he was blocking the Shuriken, Sasuke suddenly appeared before him.
"How is this possible?" Akado Yoroi's pupils constricted.
Bang!
His face was struck by Sasuke's punch, his entire face contorting.
At the crucial moment, Sasuke's attack faltered for an instant. He grabbed Sasuke's next Kunai attack and they tumbled to the ground.
It was only when he was in this stalemate that he noticed the steel wires on the ground, connected to the Kunai in the wall.
"So that's it. You used steel wires to pull yourself, bypassing my Fire Release?
However, this is as far as you go."
Blue Chakra began to emanate from where his hands were in contact with Sasuke's.
Thump! Thump!
Sasuke's Cursed Seal was throbbing, and intense pain spread through his body.
It was a sudden surge of pain that had caused his attack to falter earlier.
"Damn it, at a time like this..." Sasuke's face turned grim.
Suddenly.
He felt his stamina draining away.
The strength in his hands, which were locked in a struggle with his opponent, began to weaken.
Slowly, he was completely subdued by his opponent.
Thump!
Sasuke kicked out, wrapping his legs around the enemy's arms, intending to break his opponent's arms with his legs.
He had realized that where his opponent's hands were touching him, his stamina was being absorbed.
With the strength in his hands weakening, he could only rely on his legs.
Swish!
Akado Yoroi was no fool; he released Sasuke.
If his arms were broken, he would surely lose.
Sasuke also took the opportunity to quickly put distance between them. At this point, the flames his opponent had cast had stopped burning, as there was no burning medium and no continuous Chakra output.
The blackened ground showed the intensity of their battle.
"I can't let those hands touch me..." This was the first time Sasuke had encountered such a troublesome Ninjutsu.
Hmph!
Another sharp pain struck, causing him to let out a cold snort.
Damn it... The intermittent pain not only made him lose focus, but the potential stimulation of releasing Chakra also prevented him from fighting at full strength.
Akado Yoroi was also surprised: "As expected of the last survivor of the Uchiha, he truly is a genius."
..."What's wrong with Sasuke? Why isn't he using Ninjutsu?"
Naruto was anxious watching.
Sasuke wouldn't really lose, would he?
Although he wanted Sasuke to be embarrassed, seeing him actually about to lose, he became displeased.
"Sasuke." Sakura looked at Sasuke with worry.
She knew it must be due to that mark that Sasuke was so passive.
Kakashi also observed everything.
"What's going on?"
Sasuke's performance shouldn't be this poor... "Is that the Uchiha genius, Uchiha Sasuke?
Why does he seem so weak?"
Lee watched the battle below, feeling that Uchiha Sasuke was too weak, completely unlike the legends.
"Lee, don't underestimate others. He likely has a physical problem."
Might Guy saw Sasuke's intermittent expressions of pain, and with his extensive battle experience, he knew there must be some issue with him.
After all, since the beginning, the enemy hadn't used any Ninjutsu on Sasuke.
At most, it was when his hands touched Sasuke.
But the painful expression had appeared even before that, and Sasuke should be capable of Ninjutsu.
He hadn't even used the Clone Technique.
"Yes, Sensei, so what's going on?" Lee was still puzzled.
Why was Uchiha Sasuke only performing like this? Was he trying to deceive those who would come after them by appearing weak?
Neji: "His Chakra has a problem. Whenever he tries to use Chakra for Ninjutsu, an evil Chakra surges within him. That must be the problem."
"Evil Chakra? How evil?" Tenten asked.
"I know, it's as evil as Neji using his Byakugan to look at girls," Lee said innocently.
He recalled the scene of Neji using his Byakugan and Tenten getting angry.
"You idiot, Lee, what are you talking about?!"
...
Bang! Bang!
Sasuke was kicked away, rolling a few times on the ground.
His stamina was getting lower and lower.
"Damn it, this guy's ability is too troublesome."
Only able to use Taijutsu, facing an enemy who could absorb stamina was truly too troublesome.
Now his Chakra was also gradually decreasing.
If he couldn't even defeat an enemy like this, how could he defeat that man... Evil thoughts surged within him.
The Cursed Seal on his neck flickered.
"It's over, Demonic Illusion: Hellfire."
Akado Yoroi formed hand signs, his eyes fixed on Sasuke, who was staring intently at him.
Crash! Crash!
Sasuke was still thinking about what tactics he could use to defeat his enemy when he suddenly found himself engulfed in raging flames.
Ah~
The intense fire scorched his body, and burn marks appeared on his skin.
Ah! Ah! Ah!~
He let out screams.
Akado Yoroi said, "Uchiha Sasuke, you're nothing special."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then, something astonishing happened: patterns slowly began to appear on Sasuke's body.
They spread across his arms and face.
One of his eyes' pupils shrank, turning orange, and the whites of his eyes turned black.
Then he rushed out quickly.
As if his stamina had already begun to recover.
"Sasuke, what are you doing? Hurry up and finish him!"
Naruto, watching from behind, couldn't take it anymore. Seeing that he still hadn't dealt with the enemy after so long, he shouted loudly.