"Got guts."
Izayoi wasn't at all surprised by Sasuke's choice, but still gave him a thumbs-up. To Izayoi, this was actually advantageous—taijutsu-only battles never let either side go all out, so even if Izayoi won, the drop rate for talent entries would be low. He'd proven that through experience.
For example, when Hinata didn't use her Gentle Fist—injecting chakra directly into Izayoi's body—he never got any drops from beating her.
Their power gap was too big. Sure, if you completely crush your opponent, there's still a tiny chance for a drop, but Izayoi never saw that happen the entire year.
However, once Hinata started using her Gentle Fist at full strength, Izayoi managed to obtain two entries from her—one Purple and one Blue: Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Purple) and Chakra Control (Blue).
It wasn't that he was looking down on Sasuke, but Izayoi knew how the storyline went and also had a massive head start. He'd basically been taking shortcuts since he was three, so he was three or four years ahead of Sasuke, who was only a "prodigy in training." If Sasuke hadn't already learned the Great Fireball Technique, he would pose zero threat to Izayoi. That Fire-Style jutsu at least made him worth fighting in a no-holds-barred match, which boosts the drop rate.
"Let's get started, then!"
Izayoi stepped back a few paces, putting some distance between him and Sasuke, and raised his index and middle fingers. Sasuke responded by forming the "Seal of Confrontation." Then they both dashed forward.
As soon as Sasuke got in range, he threw a punch. Izayoi sidestepped, spun 180 degrees, and lashed out a kick to Sasuke's face with impressive flexibility.
Sasuke couldn't dodge in time; he raised an arm to block, but still got knocked back several steps. By the time he regained his footing, he was in trouble—Izayoi had already closed the gap, launching a flurry of punches from left and right at Sasuke's head and chest.
Although these strikes weren't super powerful, they were so fast Sasuke couldn't keep up. He blocked the first punch but left himself open to the second, which slammed into his face.
Taking that first hit broke his rhythm; he was reduced to a punching bag, arms constantly pulled or locked to disrupt his balance.
Meanwhile, Izayoi's combos, though initially a bit uncoordinated, quickly gained a smooth, precise flow—much like the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Palm. Without channeling chakra inside, the raw damage wasn't huge, but the continuous blows left Sasuke unable to put up a fight.
After pounding Sasuke with who-knows-how-many hits, Izayoi finally ended the barrage with a 360-degree spin, then fired off a powerful kick that sent Sasuke flying.
This last strike was far heavier than the earlier rapid hits, making Sasuke gasp for air. But when Izayoi lowered his leg, Sasuke's mind flashed to images of Itachi.
The memory of his brother's dismissive words echoed inside him: "You're too weak right now. Survive in your pitiful way…eke out a life of shame…"
Sasuke's expression contorted with rage.
"Itachi Uchiha—I'll definitely kill you! Fire Style…Great Fireball Technique!"
He pictured Izayoi as Itachi, quickly forming hand seals, spitting out a small flame that immediately grew into a large, scorching fireball aimed straight at Izayoi.
"Perfect timing. Wind Style…Wind Cutter!"
Rather than being alarmed, Izayoi was actually pleased. Feigning hand seals, he exhaled a breath that turned from invisible air to a tangible scythe-like "wind blade." It collided with Sasuke's fireball, slicing it diagonally. The fireball split, then fizzled, and the weakened wind blade continued on, slamming into Sasuke.
Rip!
Fabric tore, and blood spurted from Sasuke's body. He hit the ground with a thud, lying motionless.
Izayoi didn't panic; he strolled over slowly. At this point, anyone might die—but Sasuke and Naruto simply can't.
The moment the Gedo Statue was summoned from the moon, the Sage of Six Paths must have been alerted.
He'd never let the reincarnations of Indra and Asura die prematurely, not before they reached their full potential and prevented Kaguya's early revival. If Sasuke could be killed by a weakened C-rank Wind Cutter, he wouldn't be much of a "main character."
Sure enough, once Izayoi got a closer look, Sasuke was still breathing. The wind blade had only sliced open his clothes and left a shallow wound—no bone visible. Izayoi crouched down and used a basic medical ninjutsu to start healing him.
Suddenly—
Pop!
Izayoi heard a crisp noise, sharper than a bursting balloon. Only he could see the bubbles around Sasuke, and right then, one of those bubbles had just broken. A red beam of light shot out, zooming straight into Izayoi.
"Wha…?"
Izayoi went momentarily slack-jawed. Red? Did Sasuke even have any red-tier talents? Red was supposed to be the highest known tier—or was Purple the highest? But the voice ringing in Izayoi's mind confirmed it wasn't a hallucination. He'd just hit the jackpot:
Ding! You have obtained the talent entry [Sage Eyes (Red)]. Merge or dismantle?
"…Merge!"
Izayoi shouted inwardly, trying not to betray any emotion on his face. He couldn't help wanting to grin ear-to-ear, but who knew if someone might be watching from the shadows? Restraining himself, only the corners of his mouth twitched in a slightly comical way.
Words couldn't describe how he felt at that moment. Judging from his experiences with Hinata, he figured it would take ages to extract Sasuke's red-tier entry.
He'd planned on spending the next five years challenging Sasuke whenever possible. If he still couldn't get it by the end of their time at the Academy, he was ready to slow his own growth to stay on par with them both. But fate proved kinder: on their very first no-holds-barred fight, Sasuke's "Sage Eyes (Red)" dropped.
He'd beaten the astronomical odds. Now Izayoi finally understood what it felt like to be blessed by "ultimate luck."