Kakashi's forward momentum halted instantly, and he instinctively leaped into the air to dodge. Six shuriken, having somehow altered their trajectories mid-flight, shot straight toward his back the moment he evaded.
'To actually alter the flight paths of the shuriken through mid-air collisions, completely sealing off my escape routes!' Kakashi thought. 'Such exquisite shuriken jutsu... truly worthy of the young patriarch of the Uchiha clan!'
With a single glance, Kakashi deciphered Jie Uchiha's tactical setup, but that was exactly what left him so amazed. Due to a brief moment of carelessness, he was forced to dodge in mid-air, falling right into Jie's next calculation.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
As expected, the moment Kakashi jumped, Jie had already finished weaving hand seals. A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, instantly engulfing the airborne Jonin.
However, Jie didn't let his guard down in the slightest. His eyes constantly scanned his surroundings. He refused to believe Kakashi wouldn't dodge such a basic trap.
Clack! With a soft thud, a scorched black stone fell from mid-air. Kakashi had completely vanished. In that brief instant, he had seamlessly utilized the Substitution Jutsu to swap places with the rock.
'Not in front, behind, left, or right. He must be underground!' Jie didn't hesitate, quickly leaping backward. A split second later, Kakashi's hands burst from the soil, grabbing nothing but empty air.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
The initial probe ended in a draw.
'This reaction time, this combat intuition... it's astonishing. He hasn't even activated his Sharingan yet!' Grabbing empty air, Kakashi wasn't surprised in the least; instead, his mind was filled with awe.
With reflexes and instincts like that, Kakashi readily admitted that when he was five years old, he absolutely couldn't have performed better than Jie Uchiha.
"Careful now, I'm going to get serious!" Kakashi warned.
"Just what I wanted. Show me what you've got," Jie replied, his face brimming with confidence.
Kakashi didn't speak further. With a flick of his wrist, he drew a kunai and pushed off the ground, dashing swiftly toward Jie. His speed was so intense that an average Chunin wouldn't even be able to track his movements.
Although Jie hadn't activated his Sharingan, his latent ocular prowess elevated his base physical perception far beyond an ordinary person's. This allowed him to effortlessly track every detail of Kakashi's assault.
Crossing dozens of meters in an instant, Kakashi closed the distance.
Clang! As their kunai collided, Jie furrowed his brows and quickly flickered backward to evade. From that single clash, Jie realized Kakashi had already pinpointed his weakness.
No matter how outstanding his talent was or how many jutsu he had mastered, his physical development was ultimately a hard limit. Compared to Kakashi's mature physique, a six-year-old child's body suffered a massive disadvantage in both sheer physical strength and attack reach.
Realizing this, Jie immediately changed tactics.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
A barrage of small fireballs rapidly spat from his lips, linking together mid-air as they rained down upon Kakashi.
Seeing Jie's response, Kakashi didn't panic in the slightest. His hands blurred through a series of hand seals.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
A massive torrent of water blasted from Kakashi's mouth, extinguishing the volley of fireballs before surging forward to engulf Jie.
'It seems this is the extent of his limits,' Hiruzen Sarutobi thought as he watched the battle unfold, taking a slow drag from his pipe.
Although it was merely a brief exchange, Jie's talent had already far exceeded the Hokage's expectations. Whether it was his exquisite shuriken jutsu or the effortless mastery he displayed weaving Fire and Wind Release jutsu, it all went well beyond what Hiruzen had anticipated.
'But ultimately, he is just a six-year-old child. After casting so many jutsu consecutively, his chakra reserves should be completely depleted by now.' Just as that thought flashed through Hiruzen's mind, the situation on the training field drastically shifted.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Jie calmly wove a complex string of hand seals, and a lifelike, roaring fire dragon soared into the sky.
"What?"
"Isn't he only six years old? After unleashing three or four C-rank jutsu, he actually still has enough chakra to cast a B-rank Great Dragon Fire Technique?!"
"With this kind of innate talent, I'm afraid even Lord Third in his youth falls far behind!"
The gathered clan heads spectating from the sidelines erupted into gasps of disbelief. However, Jie's movements still hadn't stopped. After the fire dragon fully materialized, the hand seals in Jie's grasp abruptly changed.
"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
"Combination Jutsu: Wind and Fire Tornado!"
Before his voice even faded, the concentrated sphere of wind rapidly merged with the raging fire dragon. Instantly, a terrifying, flaming tornado nearly a hundred meters tall took form!
The roof of the training ground was shredded apart in the blink of an eye, and Kakashi's Water Release was completely evaporated. Carried by the howling tempest of flames, scalding steam violently surged toward Kakashi!