Chapter 17: Huh?

  "Got guts." Izayoi wasn't surprised by Sasuke Uchiha's choice. Outwardly, however, he still gave Sasuke a thumbs-up.

  This choice was also beneficial for Izayoi. A simple Taijutsu duel wouldn't allow either to use their full strength, and even if he won, the probability of obtaining a trait ('drop rate') was lower than in a no-rules duel. Izayoi had confirmed this through experience. When sparring with Hinata without her using her pressure point strikes to inject chakra, Izayoi had never obtained a single trait upon defeating her. The difference in their strength was simply too vast. Although crushing victories could potentially yield traits, the probability was extremely low; Izayoi hadn't encountered it even once in the past year.

  Only when Hinata used her pressure point strikes, going all out, had Izayoi managed to acquire two traits from her over the year – one Purple and one Blue. These were the Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Purple) and Chakra Control (Blue).

  It wasn't that Izayoi looked down on Sasuke Uchiha. But as someone familiar with the original story and possessing astounding talent himself, Izayoi had started taking shortcuts since the age of three. One 'cheat user' had a three-to-four-year head start on another. If Sasuke Uchiha hadn't already mastered the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, he would pose practically no threat to Izayoi at all. And the Great Fireball Technique served to increase Sasuke's potential trait drop rate.

  A no-rules duel was the best option.

  "Let's begin then!" Izayoi stepped back several paces, creating distance from Sasuke Uchiha, then raised his index and middle fingers in the Seal of Confrontation. Seeing this, Sasuke Uchiha also formed the opposing seal.

  Immediately, both charged towards each other.

  Upon closing the distance, Sasuke Uchiha threw a punch. As Izayoi sidestepped to evade, he simultaneously lifted his leg in a 180-degree turn, kicking towards Sasuke's face with astonishing flexibility. Unable to dodge in time, Sasuke could only raise his other arm, blocking with his forearm, but the force kicked him back several steps. By the time he regained his footing, he was already in an extremely disadvantageous position.

  Izayoi rushed forward, arms attacking relentlessly from both left and right, bombarding Sasuke's face and chest. The individual blows weren't overwhelmingly powerful, but the attack speed was too fast for Sasuke to react effectively. Just as he blocked the first punch, the second exploited the opening and nded on his face.

  Once the first hit connected, Sasuke completely lost his rhythm, becoming nothing more than a mobile punching bag. When he raised his arms to defend, Izayoi would use grappling techniques to seize and pull, disrupting his bance. In contrast, Izayoi's combination attacks, initially seemingly patternless, gradually developed a distinct rhythm. It was reminiscent of the Hyūga cn's Eight Trigrams Palms – without injecting chakra, the damage wasn't severe, but during the continuous assault, the opponent was rendered utterly powerless to resist.

  After an unknown number of hits, Izayoi finally ceased his attack. He performed a 360-degree spin, putting power into a final kick that struck Sasuke, sending him flying through the air. The force of this kick was more severe than the previous flurry, making it difficult for Sasuke to breathe.

  However, gazing at Izayoi retracting his leg, Sasuke – who had been trapped in the genjutsu space these past days, endlessly rewatching the scene of his cn's massacre – suddenly saw Itachi Uchiha's image superimposed onto Izayoi. His brother's disdainful words echoed in his mind: 'You are too weak right now... Live on in your ugliness, cling desperately to your pathetic life...'

  Sasuke Uchiha's expression suddenly twisted with hatred. "Itachi Uchiha, I will kill you! Fire Release... Great Fireball Technique!" He mistook Izayoi for Itachi and formed hand seals, spitting a small fme from his mouth that rapidly expanded into a rge, high-temperature fireball, hurtling towards Izayoi.

  "Just what I was waiting for! Wind Release... Wind Cutter Technique!" Izayoi wasn't armed but was pleased instead. He went through the motions of forming hand seals, then exhaled. The breath suddenly transformed from invisible to visible, becoming a sickle-shaped, transparent white wind bde that collided with the incoming fireball.

  The next moment, the massive fireball was sliced diagonally. The wind bde, its power significantly reduced, continued forward and struck Sasuke Uchiha.

  Riiip—

  With the sound of tearing cloth, blood spurted from Sasuke Uchiha's body. Sasuke hit the ground and y motionless.

  Izayoi remained completely calm, walking over at an unhurried pace. Anyone else might die under such circumstances, but right now, only Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki were essentially unkilble. The Sage of Six Paths must surely be aware that the Gedo Statue had been summoned down from the Moon, implying knowledge that a second pair of Rinnegan (Sasuke's potential) had been born. To prevent Kaguya's premature revival before Indra and Ashura (Sasuke and Naruto) had matured, the Sage would absolutely not allow this generation's reincarnations to die easily. Besides, if Sasuke could be killed by a single, weakened C-rank Wind Cutter technique, he wouldn't be worthy of being the secondary protagonist.

  Arriving next to Sasuke Uchiha, Izayoi confirmed he was still breathing. The wind bde had merely torn his clothes and left a scratch mark on his body; it hadn't cut deep enough to reveal bone. Izayoi knelt down and began administering basic medical ninjutsu.

  Pop—

  Just then, Izayoi heard a sound, as if from an auditory hallucination, yet clearer and crisper than a balloon bursting. Following the sound with his gaze, he focused intently. Bubbles, visible only to him, appeared around Sasuke Uchiha's body. Izayoi happened to see one bubble that had just burst open, and flying towards him was... a red beam of light.

  "Huh?" Watching the red beam rapidly enrge before his eyes, Izayoi wore a rare expression of utter astonishment.

  Red... Red? How many Red traits did Sasuke even have? Was Red the highest known rank, or was it Purple?

  But the system prompt sounding in his mind immediately told Izayoi he wasn't seeing things.

  He had hit the jackpot!

  "Ding! You obtained Talent Trait [Sage Eyes (Red)]. Fuse or Decompose?"

  "...Fuse!" Izayoi mentally shouted, simultaneously feeling an irrepressible urge to grin widely. But, uncertain if anyone might be secretly watching, he forcefully suppressed the impulse, causing the corner of his mouth to twitch slightly, looking rather comical.

  At this moment, Izayoi's feelings were simply indescribable. Given his experience with Hinata, Izayoi had assumed obtaining Sasuke's Red trait would take a long time. He had already prepared himself for the possibility, pnning to seek out Sasuke for spars whenever possible over the next five years. If he still hadn't acquired the Red trait by the time they finished academy, he was even considering intentionally slowing his own growth rate to match Sasuke and Hinata's level.

  He never expected that in their very first no-rules duel, he would obtain Sasuke's Sage Eyes (Red) trait. That extremely low probability... he had actually hit it.

  In that instant, Izayoi finally understood the feeling those incredibly lucky 'European Emperor' pyers experienced.