"No way. Who the hell is targeting me? Can a five-year-old really use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms? Even Neji wasn't that talented, right?"
Shen inwardly groaned but didn't dare accept the challenge. Just as he tried to dodge, Nayou struck him with one palm, instantly stiffening his body.
"Oh no!" Losing his balance, Shen could only watch helplessly as the thirty-fourth palm strike headed straight for his frail chest.
[Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!]
Little Iceberg Nayou was no longer icy cold at this moment. Normally, her radiant smile would have surely distracted Shen, but he certainly didn't have the mood to appreciate it now.
"My chakra is nearly depleted. Is this the end?"
Struck again in the chest, Shen couldn't keep up with her speed anymore. He concentrated earth nature chakra on his chest as a last defense.
With Byakugan vision, he saw Nayou's chakra gathering in her chest and anticipated her next move as she aimed for his left shoulder.
"Ugh… So this is what it feels like to get hit on an acupoint?" Staggering from the blow to his shoulder, his left hand went numb and limp.
"Peng peng peng!" The sound of palms striking flesh echoed through the air.
"Left shoulder, right calf, left thigh, abdomen, right arm," Nayou kept precise count of her targets and hit each one without fail.
Feeling pain and weakness throughout his body, Shen gave up resisting. He simply no longer wanted to continue this battle. With very little chakra remaining and multiple acupoints hit, he had lost all means of victory.
The forty-sixth palm struck his left chest!
The forty-seventh palm struck his right shoulder!
The forty-eighth palm struck his side neck!
"So painful. My whole body hurts."
"I can't exert any strength at all."
Shen began listing his grievances in his thoughts.
"Why did I get reincarnated into this world?"
"Why don't I have some miraculous cheat ability to change fate?"
"Why must I lose?"
"Why…"
A string of questions popped into his mind. He could no longer feel the pain from Nayou's attacks.
"Did I pass out? No, I'm still thinking clearly!"
"I came here with cheat abilities no ordinary person has! I can't afford to lose!"
At this moment, wave after wave of memories crashed over him. As a kid, he remembered watching a lonely Naruto pulling pranks across Konoha, feeling heartache over Sasuke's entire clan being slaughtered, recalling Minato's self-sacrifice betting everything on the future, seeing Madara as a pitiful man who was manipulated. Many such recollections from his past life as a Naruto fan flashed through his mind like scenes from a slideshow.
Then he thought about his gruff but loving father, his doting mother, his always-considerate older brother, and the many Uchiha clan members who had cherished and protected him all along.
"No, I will change all of this! It's now Konoha Year 25 (K.Y.)! I won't let those Otsutsuki aliens take over this world!"
"I win, Shen Uchiha!" Nayou shouted and delivered her final palm strike.
Shen felt a warm current surge through his eyes. Nayou's right palm suddenly seemed to slow down frame by frame as it approached him. At that moment, a surge of chakra inexplicably rushed into his eyes.
"Pa!"
Nayou's wrist was gently caught by Shen.
"Are you done? Then it's my turn now!"
Nayou stared in shock at Shen's eyes, which had changed from pitch-black to deep crimson, each containing two distinct black tomoe.
"Sharingan? Uchiha Shen actually awakened the Sharingan?"
Shen's left hand, gripping her wrist, swiftly pressed against Nayou's soft palm. Moments later, chakra within his body rhythmically surged toward his throat. Using her right hand to complete the hand seals in one swift motion, he quickly pinned her wrist.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
As soon as Shen announced his technique, a massive fireball erupted from his mouth. Trapped with no way to move her right wrist, Nayou had no escape.
*BOOM!*
Her face paled as she blocked the intense flames with her left arm. Even with her chakra, she couldn't fully neutralize the searing heat, causing her delicate brows to slightly furrow.
The audience immediately fled the classroom and rushed into the hallway the moment Shen gave his warning.
"That was terrifying! Just a second ago he was getting beaten up, and now he's using the Sharingan and a fire technique!" Heiji exclaimed in relief after surviving the spectacle.
"Not only that—If I'm not mistaken, he just performed the hand seals using Nayou's right hand!"
Mikoto became excited. For the second young master of the clan to awaken the Sharingan at age five was extremely rare in the clan's history.
"He really is a genius. And if you're wondering why—it's because by doing so, he completes the hand seals while firmly controlling his opponent during the fire release, combining both practicality and purpose perfectly." The usually overlooked Aburame student quietly added.
Heiji looked at this unfamiliar classmate in confusion. "And who are you again?"
"I'm Aburame Fuchuan."
"Oh, he's from the Aburame clan. Makes sense then," Heiji replied, echoed by the entire class.
Back in the New Student Classroom.
"Oh? You actually managed to withstand my full Great Fireball attack?"
Shen still felt some concern over whether Nayou could endure the assault—it wasn't like he didn't want her harmed since opening his Sharingan made him feel grateful toward her.
"Pant... pant... of course!" Nayou responded between breaths. Her white kimono (traditional Japanese garment) now bore faint burn marks from an incomplete defense.
"Hyuga Nayou... I, Shen Uchiha, acknowledge you!"
At that moment, a strange thought crossed Nayou's mind—she had been dominating the fight all along, yet somehow it took blocking just one fire technique for him to finally recognize her strength.
"You probably don't understand the power of my fire techniques… Never mind, you wouldn't get it even if I explained. Still want to continue?" Shen said, expression growing increasingly serious.
"O-of course I do!" Nayou knew something about him had changed, though she couldn't quite put it into words.
"Fine, fair play—I'll heal your injuries first," Shen cheerfully replied.
Seeing the sincere smile on Shen's face, Nayou felt an inexplicable warmth in her heart. She couldn't bring herself to reject such a smile—perhaps this was how respect was born between rivals?
"Just relax your hand, don't resist my chakra," Shen said as he began channeling his energy into her bound wrist.
Nayou obediently complied, thinking to herself, *How warm his chakra feels. How did he know my chakra nature? Could it be...?*
"You, Shen, are born with more than one chakra nature?" Nayou asked, her eyes widening in realization.
Shen simply nodded as he continued to channel both lightning and wind-natured chakra.
"You're actually not that annoying," Nayou smiled sincerely.
Shen was momentarily stunned when he saw Little Iceberg smile.
"What's the matter? Why are you staring at me like that?"
Shen snapped back to reality when Nayou pouted cutely.
"Nothing. I just think such a beautiful face should smile more often." As if possessed by some unseen force, he blurted out those words—only to regret them instantly. With both his intelligence and emotional quotient fully functional, he knew exactly how easily those words could be misunderstood.
"Is that so? You're actually the first person to say something like that to me." Instead of getting angry as expected, Nayou stared at Shen, her eyes locked onto his. "Shen Uchiha, would you consider us friends now?"
"Friends?"
Thinking carefully, Shen realized he truly didn't have a single genuine friend besides his family members. Looking directly into Nayou's eyes, he earnestly said, "Hyuga Nayou, you're my very first friend."
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