Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

*Bang!!*

Another clash.

Uchiha Taiga's fist, wrapped in a fierce gale, smashed straight toward Uchiha Madara's face.

The punch was blindingly fast, compressing the air at its peak and emitting a sharp shriek.

But Uchiha Madara merely tilted his body—a movement so slight it was almost imperceptible. The gale of the punch brushed past his cheek, blasting a crater the size of a washbasin into the ground behind him.

Rubble scattered, and dust billowed into the air.

Uchiha Taiga's eyes lit up.

He didn't pause; his left fist followed immediately, aiming straight for Madara's chest.

Madara leaned back slightly, allowing the fist to graze his clothes. Missing by a mere inch, it was another hair's-breadth evasion.

Taiga grinned, driving his knee up toward Madara's abdomen.

Madara pressed his right hand down, his palm meeting the knee to deflect most of the force, using the momentum to glide half a step back.

Taiga's eyes gleamed even brighter.

His speed abruptly surged.

It wasn't a gradual acceleration, but an instantaneous burst—like a sports car launching from a standstill straight to top speed.

His fists blurred into afterimages, striking at Madara from every conceivable angle. Left hooks, right crosses, elbow strikes, knee drives, and kicks—each blow carried enough force to shatter solid rock, with the intervals between them so brief they were practically nonexistent.

Madara's brow twitched slightly. He didn't retreat. Foregoing evasion, he raised his arms to block.

Fists collided with forearms, producing heavy, muffled thuds. Every strike sounded like a sledgehammer slamming against thick hide.

Madara's body swayed slightly under the relentless barrage, but his feet remained firmly rooted to the ground. He didn't yield a single inch.

His arms blocked, his posture made micro-adjustments, and his eyes remained locked on Taiga's movements—as if he were savoring the moment, evaluating a fine piece of art.

"Kid."

His voice cut through the dense flurry of attacks, carrying a hint of surprise.

"Your taijutsu... you've actually carved out your own path."

The Uchiha Style Taijutsu was centered around the dynamic vision of the Sharingan, renowned for its precise predictions and fierce, explosive strikes.

This boy's taijutsu certainly bore the hallmarks of the Uchiha Style, but that was merely its foundation.

He had built upon it with his own innovations: faster speed, heavier power, and far more streamlined movements. Stripped of all unnecessary flashiness, every strike was aimed directly at vital points, maximizing lethal efficiency.

Taiga grinned, his hands never ceasing their assault.

"Of course. I'm a genius."

His speed increased even further, his attacks raining down in a dense, ferocious downpour.

Madara's blocking speed matched his pace. Their arms clashed in midair, producing a rapid staccato of heavy thuds, like someone beating a massive war drum.

With every collision, fresh fissures spiderwebbed across the ground beneath them. Loose gravel bounced into the air, only to be pulverized by the shockwave of the next impact.

Dust billowed around them, swept up by the gales of their fists to form a miniature vortex.

The two transitioned from a stationary brawl to a high-speed skirmish, fighting their way ten meters out and then battling right back to where they started.

Their movements were astonishingly fast, leaving nothing but a series of blurred afterimages in the night.

Standing on the hilltop, Tsunade's eyes could barely keep up with their movements. She could only make out two silhouettes constantly clashing, separating, and clashing again.

Every collision was accompanied by a heavy thud and a shockwave that blasted away the surrounding rubble and dust, leaving concentric, ring-shaped scars on the earth.

Yugito Nii stared intently at the battlefield, her pupils reflecting the two intertwining figures. Her fingers trembled slightly, an inexplicable sense of excitement washing over her.

As for Shizune, the poor girl was already scared stiff.

On the battlefield, rocks shattered beneath their feet, and fissures spread outward like spiderwebs. Several trees, as thick as a bowl, were caught in the shockwaves; deep cracks splintered their trunks, leaving them teetering on the verge of collapse.

The scent of pulverized earth filled the air as smoke and ash drifted around them like a thin mist.

*Bang!!*

Another fierce clash.

Their fists crashed together with a deafening thud. A massive shockwave erupted, blowing the surrounding dust completely away.

Both men were forced back simultaneously, skidding several steps and leaving a trail of deep footprints in the earth.

Taiga came to a halt, lightly clenching and unclenching his fist.

His knuckles were slightly red, but his bones and muscles were perfectly fine. Everything was under control. His breathing was a bit heavier than usual, but it quickly leveled out.

Madara glanced down at his forearms; faint, shallow fist impressions marked the spots where he had blocked.

The corners of his mouth curled upward. The gaze he directed at Taiga gradually took on a layer of solemnity—the kind of scrutiny reserved for an equal.

"I'm starting to lose the desire to kill you, kid."

His voice was deep, laced with the thrill of a hunter who had just found worthy prey.

Taiga scoffed, tilting his chin up.

"You say that as if you actually could, dead man."

Without turning his head, he reached a hand out behind him.

"Yugito!"

Yugito Nii understood immediately. Drawing one of the three ninja blades she carried, she flicked her wrist. The blade shot forward like a javelin, drawing a perfectly straight silver line through the air before embedding itself right in the center of the battlefield.

Half a foot of the blade sank into the earth, leaving the hilt exposed while the steel gleamed with a cold, deadly light.

The placement was flawless—dead center between Uchiha Taiga and Uchiha Madara.

Madara glanced at the blade embedded in the ground, his smirk widening.

He flicked his right hand to his side and slammed it against the ground.

A puff of smoke erupted. As it cleared, a ninja blade rested in his grasp.

The blade was slender with a slight curve, its edge marred by a dark red pattern that resembled dried blood.

The hilt was wrapped in black cord. Though severely frayed from use, the wrapping remained firmly secured. It was clearly the weapon he had wielded in life; despite the passage of so many years, it remained just as sharp and heavy as ever.

Taiga stepped forward, gripped the hilt, and wrenched the silver-white blade from the earth, leveling its tip straight at Madara.

"Come on. Let's test our Kenjutsu."

The two figures lunged at each other simultaneously.

Their blades flashed with a frigid light in the dark night, colliding in midair like two streaks of lightning.

*Clang!!*

The first clash was crisp and piercing.

Their blades locked together, sending a shower of sparks into the air.

Taiga wielded the silver-white ninja blade gifted to him by Uchiha Fugaku, while Madara wielded the dark-red patterned blade from his past life.

The quality of the two weapons was evenly matched, and their designs were practically identical—both were unmistakably forged in the traditional style of the Uchiha clan.

Both men surged with strength. The steel ground together with an ear-splitting screech before they simultaneously broke the lock and sprang apart.

Without a second's hesitation, their blades swung out once more.

Taiga brought his blade crashing down from above, heavy and full of momentum.

Madara swept his blade upward, parrying the heavy strike with pinpoint precision.

Steel met steel, scattering sparks.

The instant they connected, Taiga shifted his angle, sliding his edge down Madara's blade to slice at his fingers.

Madara twisted his wrist, flipping his blade outward to deflect Taiga's weapon. In the same fluid motion, he delivered a backhanded slash aimed straight at Taiga's neck.

Taiga tilted his head. The blade grazed his neck, severing a few strands of hair.

Using the momentum of his dodge, Taiga spun his body, his blade carving a deadly arc through the air toward Madara's midsection.

Madara retreated with blinding speed. The blade scraped against his armor, leaving a shallow gouge in the plating.

Both men paused, locking eyes for a fraction of a second, before charging at each other once again.

The flashes of their blades were so fast they blurred into a chaotic web of silver lines intertwining in the air.

At their core, their sword techniques were identical. Both utilized Uchiha Style Kenjutsu, relying on the dynamic vision of the Sharingan for precise insight and devastating counterattacks.

Their attack patterns were similar, their blade trajectories were similar, and even their habits when shifting stances bore a striking resemblance.

Yet, the nuances of their styles differed.

Taiga's strikes were far more ruthless. Every swing carried a do-or-die momentum, leaving no room for hesitation and holding nothing back for defense.

Madara's strikes were far more stable. While they appeared incredibly dangerous, every movement was calculated to leave him an out, allowing him to shift his stance at a moment's notice.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang!*

The sound of clashing steel was as relentless as a torrential downpour, with every strike showering the area in sparks.

They moved at breakneck speeds, fighting their way from the flat ground up onto the jagged rocks, launching into midair, and crashing back down to the earth.

They used everything around them for leverage—boulders, tree trunks, and even the kinetic force rebounding off each other's blades.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, barely able to track their movements.

A chill ran down her spine. A Kenjutsu duel of this caliber defied all conventional logic.

Every single strike was lethal; a single misstep would mean instant death.

Yugito Nii kept her fingers wrapped around the hilt of a second ninja blade, ready to throw it at a moment's notice.

She stared unblinkingly at the battlefield, the intertwining flashes of steel reflecting in her eyes.

Taiga thrust his blade toward Madara's chest with lightning speed. Madara pivoted slightly, allowing the blade to pierce the edge of his armor and scrape harmlessly past his ribs.

In retaliation, Madara delivered a backhanded slash at Taiga's wrist, his blade glinting coldly in the moonlight. Taiga flipped his wrist, bringing his blade horizontal to block the strike in a shower of sparks.

The battle raged on.

Flashes of steel, showers of sparks, concussive shockwaves, and splintering earth—everything unfolded in a chaotic yet terrifyingly precise rhythm.

The two men broke apart once more, landing several meters away from each other. They simultaneously lowered their weapons, angling the tips of their blades toward the ground.

Madara raised his head. The gaze he leveled at Taiga burned even hotter than before.

His eyes were filled with appreciation, acknowledgment, and the sheer, unadulterated thrill of finally meeting a worthy opponent.

"Kid, I acknowledge you."

He paused.

"Even if you were placed in my era, you would be considered truly powerful. Impressive."

Taiga let out a cold laugh. He tilted his chin up, his smirk laced with a mixture of disdain and absolute arrogance.

"Like I need you to tell me that."

The moment the words left his mouth, he lunged forward again.

This time, he swung his blade down with one hand, the steel tearing through the air with a piercing shriek. His free hand blurred into a series of hand signs at his side, moving so fast it left only afterimages.

Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger...

Madara's smirk widened, the tomoe in his eyes spinning wildly. He met the strike with a one-handed slash of his own, their blades clashing once more.

His free hand was also weaving signs—at the exact same speed, in the exact same sequence: Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger...

*Clang...*

The moment their blades locked, their hand signs were completed in perfect unison.

In the next instant, as if by unspoken agreement, both men leaped back over ten meters. Their chests expanded as chakra condensed in their throats, and they exhaled violently.

Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction!

Two massive torrents of flame erupted from their mouths. The fire was condensed into concentrated streams, burning with the blistering heat of molten magma.

The two infernos collided in midair, detonating into a colossal fireball. The flames surged toward the heavens, painting half the night sky a brilliant orange-red.

A suffocating wave of heat washed over the area, distorting the air and superheating the scattered rubble on the ground.

Uchiha Taiga and Uchiha Madara stared at each other through the roaring blaze. The firelight cast an orange-red glow across their faces, but the fierce light burning in their eyes was far brighter than the flames between them.

"I won't hold back anymore, kid," Uchiha Madara said.

"Hah. Let's hope you can actually give me a challenge," Uchiha Taiga replied.