Ito Hirofumi raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's words. It was obvious—Uchiha Sasuke was about to unleash the Fireball Jutsu!
Sure enough, after saying that, Sasuke took a deep breath, his hands swiftly moving through a sequence of hand signs. Hirofumi recognized them instantly—it was definitely the Fireball Jutsu!
Sasuke's actions left everyone around them absolutely floored.
"No way! Is he seriously weaving signs?!"
"Has that guy already mastered a ninjutsu?!"
"Damn it! We're all just Ninja Academy students—how is Sasuke this good?!"
"What kind of jutsu is that? Anyone know?"
"If it's a real ninjutsu… Hirofumi's done for, right?!"
"He won't just lose—he could get hurt, or worse, die!"
The chatter from their classmates buzzed around them. Yamanaka Ino clenched her fists, her eyes locked on Hirofumi with worry.
Just moments ago, Hirofumi had been incredible, holding his own against Sasuke, who had even activated his Sharingan. That had Ino practically bursting with pride.
That's my guy! So cool and so strong!
But now, seeing Sasuke pull out a ninjutsu, her excitement turned to anxiety.
No matter how strong Hirofumi was, there was no way he could handle a ninjutsu attack, right?!
"Shikamaru… can you tell what jutsu this is?!" Ino asked, her voice tense as she turned to Nara Shikamaru, the smartest guy she knew. He might have a clue about what Sasuke was up to.
Shikamaru studied Sasuke's hand signs carefully, thinking hard.
"That sequence… it looks like a Fire Style jutsu. Man, I can't believe Sasuke's already learned ninjutsu. Looks like we're way behind…"
Over on the sidelines, Iruka-sensei was freaking out.
Sasuke's going to use a ninjutsu?! Has this kid lost it?!
This was just a standard sparring exercise! If Sasuke actually pulled off that jutsu, Hirofumi could get seriously hurt!
"Sasuke, stop it! This is just a practice match! Hirofumi's not your enemy—he's your classmate! If you go through with this, he's going to get hurt!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, glaring at Hirofumi, who stood there looking calm as ever.
"You! This is a C-rank ninjutsu, Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu! It's not super powerful, but it's way more than you can handle right now. I'd surrender if I were you!"
Hirofumi was surprised. Sasuke, the king of tsundere, actually warning me?
It seemed like his earlier actions—and maybe the influence of Indra's chakra—had really changed how Sasuke saw him.
"I know it's the Fireball Jutsu," Hirofumi said coolly. "And guess what? I can do it too!"
"WHAT?!"
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, his pupils shrinking. The classmates and Iruka-sensei were just as stunned.
Did Hirofumi just say he also knew the Fireball Jutsu?!
No way!
One student knowing a ninjutsu was already mind-blowing, but now Hirofumi was claiming he could do it too?!
Ignoring the gasps and murmurs, Hirofumi's hands flew into action, weaving the same hand signs as Sasuke—but faster, more practiced.
Even though Sasuke started first, they finished their signs at almost the exact same moment.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Both shouted the jutsu's name at the same time. Two massive fireballs erupted from their mouths, hurtling toward each other.
BOOM!
The fireballs collided in the center of the training field, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust.
The entire training ground fell deathly silent.
Iruka-sensei's jaw practically hit the floor.
Sasuke, having burned through every last drop of his chakra, swayed for a moment before collapsing with a thud.
Hirofumi felt the massive drain on his own chakra reserves too. It wasn't a great feeling—his body was hit with waves of weakness.
If he hadn't spent the last two days getting relentlessly pummeled by Uchiha Madara in training, he probably wouldn't still be standing either.
But this is just the beginning. I'm going to get stronger—way stronger, and fast!
The only problem? Money. He only had a few thousand ryo on him, plus the ten thousand his grandpa reluctantly gave him after some serious begging.
The system's summoning feature required wealth points:
White summons: 10,000 points for a genin. Green summons: 100,000 points for a chunin. Blue summons: 1,000,000 points for a jonin. Purple summons: 10,000,000 points for an elite jonin. Gold summons: 100,000,000 points for a Kage-level ninja.
With less than 20,000 ryo, he couldn't even summon a chunin. And honestly, a genin wouldn't be much help. He'd have to figure out a way to make some serious cash.
Snapping out of his shock, Iruka-sensei rushed over to help Sasuke up.
"I declare Ito Hirofumi the winner of this sparring match!"
Naruto Uzumaki shot up like a rocket at the announcement.
"Hirofumi! Dude, that was insane! When did you learn ninjutsu?! Teach me, dattebayo!"
Ino let out a huge sigh of relief, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
"That's my Hirofumi! So freaking cool!"
Shikamaru scratched his pineapple-shaped head.
"Didn't expect that guy to be this strong already. Guess I need to step it up a bit… ugh, training's such a drag…"