Sasuke who was curled up like a shrimp, and was in great pain tried to get up, but his immature body was hit too heavily this time, so he couldn’t make any movement as he wanted.
“There is no difference, is there even a benefit that Sharingan provides?”
Kimimaro’s self-mutter reached Sasuke’s ears, making him feel aggrieved, ‘It’s not like this, it shouldn’t be like this, the Sharingan is the ultimate Kekkei Genkai!’
With this unwillingness and anger, Sasuke’s chakra became more chaotic and powerful, pressing his discomfort aside, Sasuke got up from the ground again.
Kimimaro said with a cold tone. “Do you think I will not kill you with the way you are acting?”
Sasuke retorted, “I would rather die than the name of Uchiha Clan be trampled by the likes of you!”
Speaking so, Sasuke controlled all his Chakra; and printed hand seals.
Perhaps because of having awakened the Sharingan, this time his speed in making hand signs was significantly faster than before, and in just a few breaths he completed the hand seals.
‘Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!’
In an instant, a huge fireball that was much larger, hotter, and faster than the previous fireball was exhaled by Sasuke.
The heat generated by the huge fireball forced the villagers on the outer circle to hide their faces in fear of being burned.
The provisional referee, Anko had tick marks on her forehead, as she was fuming, “I should have known that this wasn’t a very good idea. These two kids are just abnormal!”
On the side of the Hyuga Clan, Hizashi looked at the fireball, and muttered, “His potential is terrible, not any less than yours, Neji.”
Neji nodded with a more serious expression, if it was before Uchiha Sasuke awakened the Sharingan, Neji didn’t really care much, but now, he had to take Uchiha Sasuke a bit more seriously.
Although Neji is still confident in being able to defeat Uchiha Sasuke very easily; Neji had to acknowledge that Uchiha Sasuke might just become a rival in the future.
On the side of the Team-Ro, Kuroto rolled his eyes at the larger Fireball, he knows that it still won’t change the battle situation, but he had to praise Sasuke for being able to amplify a Rank-C Jutsu to such an extent.
Whether hand seal speed or the amount of Chakra used, all of them are remarkable; almost reaching the limit of what a seven-year-old child is capable of.
Kuroto himself could never achieve something like this at such a young age; therefore, he genuinely praised Sasuke.
Even Kurenai looked at Sasuke with an awed expression, “This kid is really talented, reminds me of Kakashi during our academy years.”
In the eyes of the people of Kuroto’s generation, Kakashi was the most impressive child in the academy during their time, and Uchiha Sasuke seems quite similar.
At the entrance of the Hokage Building, Tsunade held up her majestic bust with both of her hands all while paying attention to the battle at the square.
Different from the others who were awed at Sasuke’s Ninjutsu, Tsunade was not so impressed, and said to her three disciples, “No matter how high end of a Ninjutsu you use, it would make no difference if your attack doesn’t connect with your target. The strength and speed of the kid from Otogakure far surpass the brat from the Uchiha Clan, so the situation would still remain the same. This is the reason why I have always said that the three of you must never stop your Taijutsu training.”
“Yes.” The three disciples namely, Shizune, Hyuga Yui, and Uchiha Izumi nodded again and again.
Among the three, Izumi looked worried for Sasuke.
And soon Tsunade’s words were proven correct as Kimimaro, with his superior strength and speed easily avoided the Fireball Jutsu by sliding under it, and arriving closer to Sasuke, he raised his leg and kicked Sasuke.
Kimimaro’s kick connected with Sasuke’s chin, causing Sasuke to fly high into the air and then fell heavily to the ground.
After suffering another blow, Sasuke’s whole world was turned upside down, he was unable to accept what was happening in front of him.
Kimimaro glanced at Sasuke, who was dizzy and could not get up, then turned around and started to walk toward the Otogakure team. There was no change in his expression from the beginning to end, he had no excitement about defeating an Uchiha with the Sharingan, to him it was nothing more than a trivial thing.
To be more honest, Kimimaro was in fact, a little disappointed.
The disguised Orochimaru smiled at Kimimaro’s indifference and asked, “How do you feel?”
Kimimaro looked up and said in a respectful tone, “He was unexpectedly weak, it would have been much better had he been three to five times stronger, that way maybe he could have made me try a little bit.”
“Is that so?” Orochimaru’s smile deepened, and he asked casually as Orochimaru shifted his gaze towards Sasuke, “Kimimaro dear, do you really think that Uchiha Sasuke is very weak?”
Kimimaro firmly believes that every word of Orochimaru-sama holds profound meaning, so he immediately recalled the one-sided fight a few moments ago and tried to think up Uchiha Sasuke’s good points in the battle. But even if he thought for a long time, Kimimaro could find nothing worth praise so he said with a bit of a cautious tone, “His Taijutsu and Ninjutsu were all messed up, even Shurikenjutsu was not as proficient as I expected, so he was indeed very weak.”
The disguised Orochimaru smiled and said nothing more.
Kimimaro is his second most satisfactory work, and one of his prominent choice as a spare Vessel, therefore, Orochimaru knows better than anyone that Kimimaro is the kind of pure genius in the truest sense. Coupled with the fact that Kimimaro possesses ‘Shikotsumyaku’ so his Kekkei Genkai is not so much inferior to the Sharingan.
However, the potential of the Uchiha Clan should not be underestimated. After all, Kimimaro is three years older than Sasuke.
If this duel takes place ten years later, then the outcome of the battle may change.
Kimimaro did not know Orochimaru’s doubts and started to walk in the direction of the Hokage Building.
At this time, Sasuke in the field got up again and roared, he wanted to pounce on Kimimaro again.
“Enough Sasuke!” But Fugaku who was standing on the side stopped Sasuke.
Sasuke turned his head blankly, and shouted, “Otou-sama, I can win!”
Fugaku sighed, and explained gently, “Come back you have done enough, a momentary victory or defeat can not determine anything.”
From the beginning, Fugaku has known that the strength of the child of Otogakure far surpasses the level of a high-level Chunin so no matter how much Sasuke tries, with his current strength he would not be able to defeat Kimimaro, even with careful planning and tactics. The only reason he allowed Sasuke to battle Kimimaro was so that Sasuke can overcome the fear within his heart.
Although the fear in Sasuke’s heart has not been eliminated completely, it has improved quite a lot, not to mention Sasuke even awakened the Sharingan; therefore, Fugaku did not want Sasuke to continue to suffer mental trauma as that would be detrimental to Sasuke’s growth in the future.
Listening to his father’s words, Sasuke burst into tears.
Fugaku sighed, ‘This kid,’
Sasuke rubbed his tears and turned in the direction of the Otogakure team, “I lost today, but I will remember this defeat and get back to you in the future!”
Kimimaro didn’t even bother to look in the direction of Sasuke, and it didn’t seem that he paid any attention to Sasuke.
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Noting Kimimaro’s indifference, Sasuke became anxious and shouted, “Three years! I will get back to you in three years and win back the honor of the Uchiha Name!”
There was still no response from Sasuke; his expression was indifferent and he continued to walk away.
Haku on the other hand glanced at Sasuke from time to time and also passed a gentle smile signaling that Sasuke’s words are acknowledged.
Nobody noticed a young girl with pink hair in the crowd looking at Kimimaro with an expression of worship and admiration.
Back on the side of the crowd.
Sasuke looked aggrieved, and the physical pain he had been suppressing due to his emotions finally broke out, making him feel agonized.
Mikoto crouched down, checked up on Sasuke’s injuries, and after making sure that Sasuke did not have serious injuries she sighed in relief. Afterward, she dusted off and tidied Sasuke’s clothes, and also wiped away the tear marks from Sasuke’s face.
After Mikoto was done, Fugaku said, “Sasuke, stand straight!”
Listening to his father’s words Sasuke immediately straightened his waist.
Fugaku nodded and continued, “You may have lost today, but your performance was very good, despite being young and inexperienced you did well, most of all, you did not give up. The spirit to not give up and endure is what makes a Shinobi truly exceptional, understand?”
Sasuke immediately nodded, although he still had a frustrated look on his face.
Fugaku smiled, and said, “Now then, that’s my boy, don’t let this defeat get to you, if you feel frustrated then work hard and you are bound to soar high.”
Hearing his father’s praise, Sasuke felt that all the pain in his body had suddenly disappeared and there was boundless joy in his heart.
Mikoto just smiled at Sasuke and ruffled his hair lovingly.