The heavy, blue chakra rolling off Shinra’s body felt like a thick blanket pressing down on the training grounds.
Tajima Uchiha stood perfectly still in the dirt.
He did not flinch, but his fully matured, red Sharingan eyes narrowed sharply.
He had felt this exact type of endless, suffocating life energy before when fighting his greatest enemies.
To feel that same wild, heavy strength pouring out of his own flesh-and-blood son was a massive shock.
But Tajima was a warrior first.
He loved a good fight, and a massive, proud smile spread across his scarred face.
“Come and show me,” Tajima challenged, his deep voice carrying over the quiet field.
Shinra did not use the Body Flicker jutsu to teleport.
He wanted to feel the raw speed of his new, healthy body.
He simply bent his knees and pushed off his back foot.
The dry dirt beneath his boot exploded.
Shinra crossed the twenty feet of open ground in the blink of an eye.
To Madara and Izuna, who were watching safely from behind the thick stone wall, Shinra looked like a dark blue blur flying over the earth.
Tajima’s red eyes tracked the movement perfectly.
The older man shifted his weight backward and quickly raised his thick, armored forearm to block the incoming punch.
SMACK.
The sound of Shinra’s bare fist hitting Tajima’s arm guard echoed like a loud clap of thunder.
Tajima’s eyes went wide with pure surprise.
The hit was incredibly heavy.
It did not feel like the quick, sharp strike of a normal Uchiha boy.
It felt like being hit by a swinging tree trunk.
Tajima’s boots instantly dug deep lines into the packed dirt as the sheer power of the punch forced the heavy, grown man to slide backward almost ten feet.
His arm throbbed with a dull ache.
His physical strength is crazy, Tajima thought, quickly fixing his stance.
It matches my own.
No…
his body is so healthy, he might actually hit harder than I do.
Shinra did not give his father a single second to rest.
He moved in close, pressing the attack.
This was the famous Uchiha fighting style—a fast, brutal, close-range dance meant to overwhelm the enemy so they couldn’t even use their hands to cast spells.
Shinra threw a lightning-fast combination.
He swept his leg low, trying to trip his father.
When Tajima jumped over it, Shinra instantly spun around and threw a heavy elbow toward Tajima’s chest.
Tajima was forced to fight completely on the defensive.
The veteran Clan Head used his hands and elbows to expertly deflect the heavy hits.
Both of their red Sharingan eyes spun wildly in the morning light.
They were both reading each other’s moves perfectly, dodging and blocking in a high-speed blur of fists and feet.
To the boys watching by the wall, the fight was amazing.
“His balance is so good!” Madara said loudly, his own two-tomoe eyes straining to follow the fast punches.
The nine-year-old boy was grinning fiercely, totally captivated by the fight.
“Shinra-nii isn’t wasting any steps.
Every punch flows right into the next kick.
He fights like a wild beast, but he is totally in control!” Out in the dirt, Tajima finally found his opening.
Thirty years of surviving deadly wars had burned deep instincts into the older man’s bones.
Tajima didn’t try to block Shinra’s next heavy punch.
Instead, he twisted his shoulder sharply, letting Shinra’s fist slide harmlessly past his face.
In that tiny second, Tajima grabbed Shinra’s arm, wrapped his own leg behind Shinra’s knee, and pulled hard.
He was trying to throw his son face-first into the dirt.
But Shinra’s special combat awareness warned him instantly.
Before Tajima could finish the throw, Shinra completely relaxed his body.
He let himself fall, but he spun in the air.
While upside down, Shinra brought his free leg crashing down like a heavy axe, aiming right for Tajima’s shoulder.
Tajima had to let go of Shinra’s arm and jump backward to avoid getting hit.
Both Uchiha landed smoothly on their feet.
They slid through the dirt, putting fifteen feet of space between them.
“Your body is a monster, Shinra,” Tajima breathed heavily.
He wiped a small bead of sweat from his forehead.
His bloodthirsty grin grew wider.
“You hit like a falling rock.
But punching hard means nothing if you can’t touch me from far away.
Let’s see your fire!” Tajima’s hands blurred faster than a normal person could see.
He took a massive breath, his chest expanding deeply.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
A huge, roaring ball of bright orange fire exploded from Tajima’s mouth.
The heat was instantly intense, baking the cool morning air.
Because it was cast by a veteran Clan Head, the fireball was easily the size of a small house.
It rolled over the dirt, leaving a black trail of ash behind it.
Shinra didn’t run away.
He didn’t try to dodge.
He wants to test my fire?
Shinra thought, a warm, confident feeling filling his chest.
I will show him absolute mastery.
Shinra’s hands flashed through the exact same hand signs.
But because the system had granted him the highest possible mastery over fire, he didn’t even need to take a deep breath.
He just shaped the energy perfectly in his throat.
Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!
Shinra opened his mouth and blew out a terrifying sea of deep red flames.
The sheer size of Shinra’s fire was unbelievable.
It didn’t look like a fireball; it looked like a literal wall of destruction sweeping across the training ground.
The two fire spells crashed into each other right in the middle of the dirt field.
There was no loud explosion.
Instead, there was a scary, loud hissing sound of extreme heat eating everything it touched.
Tajima’s eyes widened in total disbelief.
His huge orange fireball was being swallowed whole.
Shinra’s red flames burned so perfectly, and were so incredibly hot, that they simply devoured Tajima’s normal fire.
Shinra’s flames pushed right through the middle, coming straight for the older man.
“What in the world…” Tajima gasped out loud.
Tajima had to cut his fire off and violently throw his body to the side.
He dove into the dirt, rolling hard just as Shinra’s massive wave of fire scorched the earth exactly where he had been standing.
The fire melted the top layer of dirt, turning it into hot, shiny glass.
“His fire is huge!” Izuna cheered from the wall, jumping up and down.
“He ate Father’s fire!” Madara was gripping the stone wall tightly, his eyes shining with respect.
“He didn’t even take a huge breath, but he made a fire three times bigger than Father’s.
His control is absolute perfection.” Tajima rolled to his feet.
The edges of his black kimono were slightly burned and smoking.
He looked at the melted, glowing dirt on the ground, his mind completely spinning.
His fifteen-year-old son possessed a body that didn’t get tired, punches that hit like boulders, and a level of fire manipulation that Tajima had never seen in his entire life.
“Alright,” Tajima said, his voice dropping the playful, testing tone.
The warlord was fully awake now.
He reached behind his back and unhooked the heavy weapon strapped there.
He gripped the handle of his signature weapon—the massive, round wooden Gunbai fan.
The heavy iron chain attached to the bottom rattled loudly in the quiet air.
The Gunbai was an ancient, special clan weapon.
It was made from special spirit wood, designed specifically to block and bounce back massive amounts of enemy energy.
“No more testing, Shinra,” Tajima declared loudly.
He pointed the massive wooden fan directly at his son.
“You want to prove you are a true fighter?
Then break my guard.
I will not hold back anymore.” Shinra looked at the heavy Gunbai fan.
He knew exactly what that weapon could do.
If he threw another fireball at it, Tajima would just catch the fire with the fan and blast it right back at him with twice the power.
He wants me to break his defense?
Shinra thought, cracking his knuckles.
Let’s make this fun.
Shinra raised his hands and brought his first two fingers together in a cross shape.
It was a hand sign that nobody in this era had ever seen before.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Shinra called out.
Poof.
Poof.
Poof.
Three thick clouds of white smoke popped into the air right next to Shinra.
When the smoke cleared, there were four identical Shinras standing in a row.
They weren’t just blurry illusions.
They had solid bodies, real shadows, and they were all grinning.
Tajima gripped his fan tighter, his red eyes darting between the four boys.
“Here I come, Father,” all four Shinras said at the exact same time.
They pushed off the dirt and charged forward, ready to take the fight to the next level.