Seeing Uchiha Yū arrive and hearing his challenge, Sora glanced toward Hashirama.
Then he muttered,
“Young people really are impulsive.”
Hashirama frowned.
He could feel it.
Uchiha Yū was different from half a year ago.
The man was clearly suppressing his aura, but some things simply couldn’t be hidden completely.
His presence had changed.
His strength had changed.
Sora casually patted Hashirama on the shoulder.
“Just enjoy the show.”
The gesture told Hashirama everything he needed to know.
I can handle this.
Sora stepped forward with a smile.
He looked directly at Yū.
“I was just wondering how I should teach these children what a real shinobi battle looks like.”
“Since you’ve come all the way here…”
“we might as well give them a demonstration.”
Yū sneered.
“This isn’t a demonstration.”
He stared at Sora.
“You said earlier that anyone stronger than you could replace you as principal.”
“Does that still count?”
Sora understood immediately.
So that was what Yū wanted.
He hadn’t come here simply to settle an old grudge.
He wanted the position of principal.
Ever since Madara’s disappearance, the Uchiha clan’s status had fallen sharply compared with the Senju.
Recently, even the Hyūga had begun confronting the Uchiha without backing down.
Smaller clans such as the Sarutobi had also become increasingly willing to challenge them.
To Yū— that was intolerable.
If he defeated Sora publicly today, every major clan in Konoha would once again be forced to acknowledge the Uchiha’s strength.
And if he took control of the Ninja Academy…
the political benefits would be even greater.
Sora had already expected the major clans to secretly gather information about his first lesson.
So Yū knowing what he’d said earlier wasn’t surprising.
“Yes.”
Sora nodded.
“Actually, let me make the rule clearer.”
He looked toward the students.
“It isn’t limited to my students.”
“Anyone from Konoha may challenge me.”
Then he returned his gaze to Yū.
“So?”
“You want to challenge me?”
“Yes.”
Yū didn’t hesitate.
“You’re old.”
“Your ideas are outdated.”
“And your energy is limited.”
He spoke with the confidence of someone already certain of victory.
“As one of Konoha’s great clans, the Uchiha have a duty to help shoulder your burden.”
Then Yū turned toward Hashirama.
“Lord Hokage.”
“I am challenging Sensei Hatake according to the rules he established himself.”
“I have no intention of disrupting Konoha’s order.”
Hashirama’s expression remained calm.
He smiled.
“It is within the rules.”
“But we’re all from the same village.”
“Know when to stop.”
Hashirama wasn’t particularly worried.
Compared with Madara— even this newly strengthened Uchiha Yū was still far too weak.
And Sora?
Hashirama had personally seen the old man fight the Nine-Tails head-on.
He had even exchanged blows with Madara.
As far as Hashirama was concerned, Sora could handle this.
Sora turned toward the students.
His voice carried across the training ground.
“Children.”
“Today, I’ll give you your first practical lesson.”
Several students immediately became excited.
Sora smiled.
“I’ll teach you…”
“how to fight someone to a draw.”
The students stared at him in confusion.
Yū, meanwhile, sneered internally.
So that’s it.
The old bastard knows he’s going to lose.
He’s already preparing an excuse by saying it’ll be a draw.
Hiruzen, fearless as always, raised his voice.
“Sensei!”
“Why fight to a draw?”
“Why not just defeat him?”
Sora smiled.
“Because this is the first battle on opening day.”
“If I embarrass the challenger too badly…”
“no one will dare challenge me afterward.”
He shrugged.
“And then life would become boring.”
Yū’s expression darkened.
“Hmph.”
“Sensei Hatake.”
“If you’re afraid of losing, there’s no need to invent excuses.”
“That kind of explanation might fool ignorant children.”
“But the result of the battle will show them who is actually stronger.”
He stepped forward.
“Let’s begin.”
“I still have students of my own to teach afterward.”
“All right.”
Sora nodded.
Then raised his voice.
“All students—”
“move back five hundred meters.”
“Five hundred?!”
Several children were shocked.
For a five- or six-year-old, five hundred meters sounded like an enormous distance.
But no one argued.
They were far more interested in the upcoming battle.
As the students began retreating, Mitarashi Shisō moved closer to Sakumo.
“You seem pretty familiar with Sensei.”
He lowered his voice.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Sensei?”
“Or that Uchiha?”
Sakumo’s young face remained completely serious.
“No one can defeat Sensei.”
An Uchiha child nearby immediately scoffed.
“Ignorant.”
“Uncle Yū will win.”
“Our Uchiha Sharingan is far stronger than you can imagine.”
He glanced toward Sora.
“The fact that Sensei Hatake is already talking about a draw proves he’s afraid of Uncle Yū.”
Among the older students—
Danzō frowned thoughtfully.
“My grandfather told me they fought before.”
“Uchiha Yū lost to Sensei Hatake.”
“But he’s challenging him again anyway.”
Danzō’s expression became serious.
“That means he definitely has some kind of trump card.”
He looked at Hiruzen.
“And Sensei Hatake talking about a draw really does sound like he’s preparing an excuse.”
“What do you think?”
Hiruzen was unusually serious.
“Hard to say.”
“The Sharingan can cause an enormous increase in an Uchiha’s strength.”
He looked toward Sora.
“But Sensei Hatake is too mysterious.”
The students continued discussing the possibilities.
Others were simply excited.
This was a battle between genuinely powerful shinobi.
Most of them had never seen anything remotely like it.
Why had they chosen to become ninja in the first place?
Every student here wanted strength.
And now— they were about to witness what true strength looked like.
Once everyone had retreated more than five hundred meters, Hashirama moved to the front of the students.
The Uchiha clan head and the other two Uchiha shinobi also withdrew to the same area.
Only Sora and Yū remained in the center of the training ground.
Yū stared at Sora.
“I am no longer the person I was half a year ago.”
His voice was filled with confidence.
“You don’t seriously believe that same attack will work on me again, do you?”
“Impossible.”
Sora smiled.
“Then I’ll use something different.”
Yū’s eyes narrowed.
At the same time—
Sora activated the 50/50 System.
Target locked:
Uchiha Yū.
[Random selection…]
[World: Bleach.]
[Character selected: Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.]
[Calculating combat power…]
[Suppressing power…]
[Combat power adjusted to equal Uchiha Yū.]
[Activation complete!]
Sora nearly lost his composure.
Holy shit.
I actually got this old monster?!
His excitement surged instantly.
Yamamoto was one of the absolute peak combatants of the Bleach world.
A monster capable of killing captain-level Shinigami with a single slash.
The moment the ability activated—
Sora felt an almost limitless heat rise from deep within his body.
It felt as though flames were trying to erupt from every part of him.
As though everything around him could be reduced to ash.
And this time—
Hashirama was standing nearby.
Sora could easily have locked onto him instead.
But he deliberately hadn’t.
There was a reason.
Half a year ago, Yū had possessed only the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Sora had crushed him effortlessly.
Now Yū had returned despite not even being fully recovered.
That meant there was an overwhelming chance that he’d awakened the—
Mangekyō Sharingan.
If so, Yū had probably already stepped into Kage level.
And Kage-level Uchiha were not ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
Their kekkei genkai was mysterious.
Dangerous.
And extraordinarily powerful.
If Sora locked onto Hashirama again and used Hashirama-level combat power to crush Yū with overwhelming ease…
the reaction from the other clans might change.
They wouldn’t simply respect him.
They might fear him.
The same way people had feared Madara.
And once people began viewing Sora as that kind of threat— someone might decide he needed to die.
That was dangerous.
Because Sora didn’t actually possess Hashirama’s overwhelming strength permanently.
If someone assassinated him while the system wasn’t active…
he could genuinely die.
So this time—
Sora had chosen Uchiha Yū himself as the lock target.
Equal combat power.
A genuine fifty-fifty starting point.
And yet—
Sora glanced down at Snow Blade.
He could feel something different within it now.
Something alive.
Something burning.
A power belonging to the strongest fire-type Zanpakutō.
Ryūjin Jakka.
Hashirama stepped between the two fighters.
He raised one hand.
“I’ll referee.”
Sora and Yū stared at each other.
Hashirama began the countdown.
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
“Begin!”
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