Whoosh!
Without any delay, six shuriken swiftly detached from Ruri's hand and attacked Shiroishi from various angles.
The Uchiha clan has always excelled in the art of throwing shuriken and kunai.
Despite Shiraishi's hard work in this field, he couldn't guarantee surpassing Ruri in this aspect. However, after numerous battles with Ruri over the years, he had become familiar with many of her attack methods.
Quickly pulling out a kunai, he deflected the incoming projectiles, causing sparks to fly in the dimly lit woods.
But then, another set of six shuriken came flying towards him.
Swiftly dodging the shuriken from the second round, Shiraishi skillfully deflected them all. Closing the distance, he engaged Ruri in a close-range hand-to-hand combat.
The speed at which the two of them wielded kunai was lightning-fast, tearing through the air and creating a chilling and tense atmosphere.
In that moment, Ruri suddenly began performing hand seals.
Taken aback, Shiraishi instinctively reacted.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
With a one-handed seal, Shiraishi couldn't help but be surprised that Ruri possessed this unique skill.
While Shiraishi had only seen one-handed seals in textbooks, few people actually practiced it.
However, considering the Uchiha clan's heritage, there must be training techniques related to this skill. After all, Ruri's talent as a shinobi was the most impressive Shiraishi had ever witnessed. This talent was not limited to combat but extended to learning as well.
Prior to this battle, Shiraishi had no knowledge of Ruri's ability to form hand seals with one hand. When she suddenly unleashed fire escape ninjutsu at close range, he was caught off guard by the massive fireball. Shiraishi barely managed to escape in time.
The tree hit by the fireball burned intensely, crackling and eventually collapsing with a loud thud.
"That was really close... Fortunately..."
Shiraishi breathed a sigh of relief and unintentionally gazed directly into Ruri's eyes. Just as he was about to speak, his body involuntarily trembled, and the world seemed to turn upside down before his eyes.
He witnessed Ruri's pupils spinning rapidly, changing from black to scarlet. Within each scarlet pupil, there were two tadpole-like black hooks.
These mysterious and dangerous eyes spun in Ruri's gaze, releasing a mental illusion that Shiraishi was defenseless against. It penetrated all of his defenses, instantly trapping him in a powerful illusion.
A dry gulp passed down Shiraishi's throat as he displayed a wry smile.
Not only had Ruri learned to perform ninjutsu with one-handed seals, but what surprised him even more was that Ruri, like Ayane, had awakened the Uchiha clan's bloodline doujutsu—Sharingan.
Observing Ruri skillfully employing the genjutsu of her Sharingan, he realized that she had mastered her eye technique to an advanced level.
In Konoha, there was a common belief that unlocking the powers of the Sharingan was far more difficult than awakening the Byakugan.
The Byakugan focused on support and strategy during battles, while the Sharingan represented strength and power.
There was a saying in the Shinobi world that when facing a Sharingan user from the Uchiha clan, one should run away rather than engage in a one-on-one battle.
It meant that there was no chance of winning against an Uchiha ninja alone.
In such a situation, it was crucial to use one's wits to escape rather than pondering how to achieve victory.
The activation of the Sharingan not only granted Uchiha Shinobi greater ease in using powerful genjutsu, but it also significantly enhanced their dynamic vision.
Under Shiraishi's scientific training methods, Ruri had already made remarkable progress in her dynamic vision.
Now, with the Sharingan awakened, it was estimated that even Uchiha ninja in possession of the Three Tomoe Sharingan would struggle to surpass Ruri in terms of dynamic vision.
The improved dynamic vision allowed Ruri to see through all enemy attack patterns.
As long as she honed her reaction speed, not even Jōnin-level opponents would easily defeat her.
Originally, Shiraishi, who had been evenly matched with Ruri, with a win-loss ratio of five to five or four to six, may now be at a disadvantage of 19 to 1.
Shiraishi truly realized one thing: when facing the Sharingan's genjutsu, it is difficult to fight back without prior preparation.
"I think..."
Ruri approached, raised her foot, and ruthlessly stepped on his face.
"..."
Shiraishi felt the pain in his face. He had been struck. Even as a hidden genius, he now felt so vulnerable. Reality was cruel.
"Ruri, next time you step on my face, could you take off your shoes and do it again? Your soles hurt my face just now."
Hearing Shiraishi's complaints from the ground, Ruri looked at him with utter contempt. He had actually made her take off her shoes and step on his face, Pervert.
"Really, you still manage to annoy me."
The reason why Shiraishi made Ruri unhappy went beyond him diverting his excess energy to research. It was also because he always concealed his strength, allowing himself to be underestimated and ridiculed by the mediocrity in their class.
Despite advancing to the third grade, Shiraishi had not changed his habit of hiding his abilities.
In the face of those weaker than him, he willingly accepted defeat, enduring the mockery and belittlement from those people. Finally, he pretended to be indifferent and walked away with a smile.
This was the source of Ruri's unhappiness. If Shiraishi were to reveal his true strength, even in the presence of their class teacher, Fujimura Taiga, he might not stand a chance.
She didn't know why Shiraishi insisted on hiding his abilities, but his attitude towards life unconsciously annoyed her and made her unhappy.
"Well, it's just a joke among kids. There's no need to take it seriously. You must understand that adults don't care about children."
Shiraishi sat up from the ground. The genjutsu cast on him by Ruri had also been dispelled. He explained with a casual smile.
Ruri was speechless. That statement made it seem as if he were not a child.
"By the way, when did you awaken the Sharingan?"
Shiraishi asked with interest.
"The day our clan members returned from the battlefield, I felt a little uneasy, and it suddenly awakened," Ruri said with a blank expression. Opening the Sharingan seemed like an insignificant event to her, with nothing more complicated to it.
"Really? I've heard that the awakening of the Sharingan requires a strong emotional stimulus. It seems that this claim is not unfounded."
Shiraishi must have assumed that many close clan members did not return alive from the battlefield. Even if they did survive, they would be disabled Shinobi, causing their emotions to fluctuate wildly, accidentally triggering the awakening of the Sharingan.
Ruri didn't deny it. She turned off her Sharingan, returning her eyes to their normal black state. Continuing to engage in the Sharingan battle would put a certain strain on her at the moment.
"Um, Ruri..."
Shiraishi stood up and walked towards Ruri, wearing a pleading smile.
"What's the matter?" Ruri instinctively took a step back.
In her opinion, Shiraishi's appearance definitely didn't bode well.
"Well... I've run out of money for my research, and now I'm having trouble affording meals. Can you support me for a while? It won't be for long. I'll pay you back after I graduate..."
Shiraishi shamelessly asked Ruri to take care of him.
Ruri silently took out a kunai from her bag.
"If you want to die....., I can do it for you right now."
In the end, after signing a series of humiliating agreements, Ruri reluctantly agreed to take care of Shiraishi.