Chapter 30

In the Uchiha clan's training ground, surrounded by forests and rivers,

the elderly Uchiha Shihō, with his head of white hair, stood outside the arena, his eyes fixed on the two combatants inside.

Uchiha Ryūri, only ten years old, her black hair dancing, launched a shuriken at the Uchiha jōnin across from her with lightning speed.

This Uchiha jōnin, named Uchiha Rika, was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a scar on his face that added a fierce aura.

He opened his Sharingan with three tomoe, and the shuriken, which moved as fast as lightning, was immediately seen through. He deflected it with his kunai.

However, the shuriken carried an immense force. After deflecting the shuriken, this force acted directly on Rika's kunai, causing his body to stiffen for a moment.

What a powerful force! Rika's eyes narrowed.

Rika sensed that the shuriken Ryūri threw contained a hidden technique. If blocked with a weapon, this hidden force would transfer through the weapon to the enemy's body, causing a brief moment of stiffness.

The duration of the stiffness depended on the physical condition of the person.

If a genin encountered this situation, they would likely be unable to move freely for several seconds, and would be turned into a pincushion by the next round of shuriken.

Even he, a powerful jōnin, experienced a moment of stiffness.

Although this stiffness was negligible for him, Ryūri took advantage of this gap, quickly forming hand seals:

"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

It was a dragon-shaped object, about four to five meters long, made of high-temperature flames. It possessed terrifying impact force and could burn the enemy to ashes.

Boom!

It exploded on the ground, creating a large crater.

Rika narrowly avoided it, his hair singed, and his figure somewhat disheveled. His Sharingan with three tomoe spun, and he immediately turned to swing his kunai.

Clang!

Ryūri, who was shorter than Rika, attacked with her kunai, but it was blocked by him.

At this moment, their Sharingan eyes met, and their ocular powers were released simultaneously.

After releasing the ocular power, Rika felt a sharp pain in his eyes and a moment of fatigue, and quickly retreated.

Panting, he looked at Ryūri, whose Sharingan was still at the two-tomoe stage. Although she was also panting, her breathing was much less labored than his.

Most importantly, she was only ten years old and still in the two-tomoe stage, yet she fearlessly faced his three-tomoe Sharingan and competed in ocular power.

In the end, he failed to control her with genjutsu, which was truly unbelievable.

Speed, nerve reaction, dynamic vision, strength, ninjutsu usage, ocular power, and more—combined, even he, a jōnin, found it extremely challenging.

His only chance of victory was his greater chakra reserves. Once Ryūri's chakra was depleted, he would win.

Rika sighed slightly. Defeating a young girl with such means felt unsportsmanlike.

But being defeated by her would be even more embarrassing.

So, the next step was to engage in a prolonged battle, gradually draining Ryūri's chakra.

Ryūri seemed to have noticed Rika's plan and immediately took out a special soldier pill from her ninja tool pouch, prepared to take it. At this moment, the elder Uchiha Shihō, who had been watching, called out:

"Alright, stop, Ryūri."

Ryūri put the soldier pill back into her pouch and made a peace sign to Rika.

Rika also made a peace sign to Ryūri.

"You're truly amazing, Ryūri. Your current strength is probably enough to handle even a regular jōnin."

After making the peace sign, Rika came over and lavished praise on Ryūri without reservation.

The emergence of such a powerful and excellent genius in the clan was a cause for great joy.

She truly lived up to the Uchiha clan's reputation for geniuses!

Ryūri nodded. Her current strength was a result of her own efforts and talent, but she couldn't ignore the contributions of Shiro.

If not for his development of a new drug using natural energy to enhance physical abilities, she wouldn't have grown so rapidly.

Thinking of this, her usually cold eyes softened, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

In Rika's eyes, her smile was a response to his sincere praise as a fellow Uchiha.

Elder Shihō then walked into the arena.

At over sixty years old, he was a high-ranking ninja. Even in retirement, he would dedicate his last ounce of energy to the clan, training Uchiha ninjas capable of competing for the position of Hokage against the Senju clan.

"Elder Shihō."

Ryūri bowed slightly, remembering the lessons he had taught her in the past.

Although Ryūri, who had already found her path, no longer needed his guidance, she still held deep respect and gratitude for this hardworking elder.

"Ryūri, while you're working hard, don't forget to relax. Training should be balanced."

In Elder Shihō's eyes, Ryūri's ability to almost match Rika in such a short time meant she must have dedicated all her time to training.

He hoped Ryūri would take some time to relax during her training, as he didn't want to see her potential exhausted too early.

His concern for Ryūri was even greater than for another Uchiha successor, Uchiha Fugaku.

If anyone in the Uchiha clan could revive the glory of the Mangekyō Sharingan, he believed it would be Ryūri.

"I understand. Elder Shihō, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."

"Wait, this is a scroll containing B-rank fire techniques. Take it and study it. Your current strength is sufficient to learn advanced fire techniques. This was left by that person."

Elder Shihō said meaningfully.

Ryūri was taken aback.

'That person' referred to the former clan leader, Uchiha Madara.

The ninja who had betrayed the clan and the village.

In the current Uchiha clan, few people would directly mention Uchiha Madara's name, referring to him as 'that person.'

Ryūri took the fire technique scroll from Elder Shihō, thanked him again, and hurried back home.

"Ryūri is getting stronger and stronger. Just two years ago, I could easily play with her. The ocular power of her two-tomoe Sharingan actually made my three-tomoe Sharingan feel pressured. It's unbelievable. What method did you use to make her so strong?"

After Ryūri left, Rika couldn't help but praise Elder Shihō's teaching skills.

Elder Shihō shook his head and smiled. "Rika, don't you understand yet? The ocular power of the Sharingan varies from person to person. The number of tomoe can only serve as a lower limit reference, not the sole standard for measuring ocular power. Besides, this is the result of Ryūri's own efforts. My role was just to add the finishing touches."

Rika sighed. He understood this point.

But the thought of a ten-year-old girl surpassing him in a few years left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He had once been a young and talented Uchiha ninja, after all.

"Rika, you are a top jōnin trained by the clan. Have a little more confidence in yourself."

"Elder, it's not that I lack confidence, but the young generation is too formidable. I'm curious, who will be Ryūri's team leader when she graduates? How will the Third Hokage arrange it?"

Rika didn't believe that the Third Hokage would lack information on the Uchiha genius Ryūri. He was very interested in who the Third Hokage would assign as her team leader.

If the team leader's strength was too low, they might be overshadowed by Ryūri, becoming a laughingstock among jōnin.

And if the team leader was too strong, even the Sannin, according to Rika, would fall short.

"Kakashi Hatake."

Elder Shihō said this name.

Rika's body trembled, and cold sweat appeared on his face. He looked at Elder Shihō in disbelief.

It seemed this name had a terrifying power, even for an experienced jōnin like Rika, who was filled with awe.

"Hey, Elder, are you joking? That man is..."

"Only this way can I and the Third Hokage trust each other."

The Third Hokage needed the Uchiha clan to contribute their fighting power in this war.

And the Uchiha clan needed a powerful team leader who could earn Ryūri's respect and protect her as a genius.

This was the meaning Elder Shihō was conveying.