Logan squinted as he looked at the strange kunai. He knew that Uchiha Clan had always had a remarkable technique in Shurikenjutsu, and Itachi's throw just now felt different.
However, that was all. Logan didn't even move his body. He predicted the trajectory. He held a kunai firmly in his right hand and flicked it. He hit the fast sharp weapon accurately and moved along the path, causing sparks to appear.
With a casual move, his left hand directly caught the kunai that had bounced into the air and had lost its lethality.
Logan shook the kunai hanging from his left hand and raised his chin towards Itachi. Confidence stemmed from strength, and he subtly provoked the other party.
'As expected of the one of the top Ninjas in Konoha.' Itachi thought to himself. He had heard his father mention the name Hattori at home. Although not as prominent as other geniuses, he was still a top-tier combatant, possessing the strength of an Elite Jonin.
But these words only stirred Itachi's fighting spirit. He jumped back a considerable distance and landed on a sturdy branch. With a wave of his hand, three more kunai flew towards Logan.
"Not satisfied, huh? Just kunai alone..." Before Logan could finish his words, Itachi interrupted him with his actions.
Swish, swish, swish, another three kunai were thrown from Itachi's left hand, even faster this time.
They caught up with the previous three. Ding, ding, ding, they unexpectedly collided, and the six kunai unexpectedly changed its trajectory, drew an arc, and attacked Logan from a flanking position.
'This level of skill had even surpassed that of most Jonin.' Caught off guard, Logan found himself forced into a corner. He did not deliberately use his Lightning Release to get rid of him with his speed advantage, but stood stubbornly on the spot.
He took the time to look at Itachi's position, only to find that he didn't stay where he was, but kept jumping back and forth in the shadows.
'Troublesome.' Part of Logan's decision to stay put was to confuse Itachi. Now that his plan of playing defensively and counterattacking had failed, Logan could only temporarily deal with the crisis at hand.
With a swift motion, he threw three shurikens to intercept the incoming kunai. At the same time, he sidestepped and, with a horizontal sweep of his hand, deflected one kunai while dodging the other two.
"Just average... darn it." After handling the six directions of attack in a confined space, Logan had a cold sweat on his back, but before he could finish his words of playing it cool, he saw another wave of kunai coming at him, this time, it's twelve in total...
'How can you throw kunai while running, jumping, and dodging with such precision?!'
This time, Logan couldn't afford to stand still and act cool. Doing so would be foolish. After crouching slightly, he left his original position with a jump.
When he was almost at the highest point in the air and stopped, a kunai arrived in front of Logan at just the right time.
Itachi, who had just thrown the kunai from the tree trunk a dozen meters away, was somewhat puzzled, 'Why would he jump into the air, showing so many openings?'
Bang!
A shadow clone exactly like Logan appeared in the smoke. Ignoring the threat of kunai, the shadow clone directly grabbed Logan's hand and pulled with all his strength!
Logan was directly pulled towards where Itachi was!
Itachi's eyes flickered. He didn't expect that the shadow clone could be used in this way. The distance between them wasn't far to begin with, so now Logan was suddenly much closer to him.
Ding!
The two had their first head-to-head confrontation.
"You finally activate your Sharingan?" Yu Logan looked at Itachi's face, which was close to him, and remarked on his crimson eyes.
Feeling the force of the kunai, Itachi's hands trembled slightly. With two kunai pressed against each other, they made a grinding noise.
At this time, Itachi's current strength still lacked a bit.
"With your strength, why do you keep such a low profile in the village, senpai?"
After a few more exchanges, Logan clearly gained the upper hand. Taking advantage of his age against a young genius, Logan wasn't embarrassed at all. Hearing Itachi's somewhat random question, Logan caught his fist and kicked him.
Relying on the dynamic vision enhanced by the Sharingan, Itachi naturally caught the movement, but the difference in strength still caused him to involuntarily fall back.
"Keeping a low profile is the way to go."
Logan casually said a popular phrase from modern society, but it made Itachi pause, his expression showing contemplation.
'Keeping a low profile is the way to go...' A complex emotion surfaced in the heart of the eleven-year-old who shouldn't have had it.
The Uchiha and Konoha, two forces that had long been wary of each other in secret, were now experiencing surging undercurrents.
Since joining the ANBU, Itachi came into contact with more heavier matters.
"Are you daydreaming?" Logan appeared behind Itachi in an instant with a Body Flicker Technique, and a kunai was already placed against Itachi's neck.
Bang!
In a brief puff of smoke, Itachi turned into a wooden stump.
'The speed of his Substitution Technique is almost catching up to mine.' Logan didn't look surprised as he put down the kunai. He secretly estimated the speed of the hand seals.
Logan valued the basics greatly, so he had practiced the Substitution Technique, a useful Ninjutsu for escaping battles, to the point where it was like second nature from a young age. After the war, it has even been honed into an instinctive reaction to danger.
Having read the original work, he also knew how Naruto later applied the Shadow Clone Technique. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that mastering the Shadow Clone Technique could directly elevate one's combat adaptability and offensive capabilities.
But for Itachi to master the Substitution Technique to such a degree at such a young age, it had to be said that his talent is very good.
Zrrtt. The sound of the kunai piercing the clothes rang, and Itachi appeared behind Logan. However, he was immediately stunned, as Logan in front of him also turned into a wooden stump.
'But the kunai had clearly pierced his clothes just now...'
A strong gust of wind came, and Itachi instinctively raised his hand to block. He couldn't stand still due to the force of the sneak attack, and he had no choice but to fall from the tree trunk.
As he fell, Itachi managed to throw a shuriken, forcing Logan to retreat from his pursuit.
Appearing to have been played by the Substitution Technique, Logan immediately retaliated with a more sophisticated Substitution Technique. When Itachi clumsily rolled to his feet, Logan's hand seals were already halfway completed.
"Fire Release..."
A hint of surprise flashed across Itachi's face as his crimson eyes spun rapidly, and the original two-tomoe instantly turned into a three-tomoe.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Itachi started later, but he and Logan completed the hand seals at the same time. Chakra surged chaotically, the air heated up, and two blazing fireballs, one above and one below, collided.
Boom!
Wood chips and leaves flew, some of them were directly burnt to ashes by the intense flames. The dazzling fire light illuminated the dark forest, and the shockwaves from the ninjutsu clash made the surrounding trees sway.
Logan frowned upon seeing this. He had the advantage of the terrain, but he couldn't suppress the other party's Great Fireball... The two were evenly matched.
'Is it because I didn't put much effort in training my Fire Release?' Logan thought somewhat regretfully. At this time, he could increase his Chakra output, but that would be a bit too much, especially considering Itachi was only eleven years old.
Thinking it over, he felt it was about enough. Logan withdrew the Great Fireball first and jumped onto another intact tree.
"Let's end it here."