Exterior — Outskirts of Yaki City
"Shhh!"
In a burst of smoke, Chen Xing reappeared at the spot where he had been transferred.
"Peacock Wings!"
With a sharp inhale, purple chakra surged from his back, forming a pair of radiant wings. With one flap, his body blurred into a violet stream and vanished across the horizon.
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Land of Lightning — Mountainous Region
The Land of Lightning was famed for its jagged mountains and deafening storms.
Across the rolling ridges, a purple light streaked down, landing upon a bare cliffside. Dust rose in swirls before revealing Chen Xing's figure, his black hair whipping in the wind.
"According to the underground intel, it should be around here," he murmured, scanning the ridges.
After leaving Lon Lon Mountain, Chen Xing had chosen his next target.
His quarry: Shallow Well, a missing-nin from Iwagakure, formerly an elite jōnin. The bounty on his head was 23 million ryō. Reportedly sighted in the Land of Lightning on October 2nd, it was now the 6th. Chen Xing's sources suggested he had taken refuge in the nearby mountains.
Shallow Well, forty-five years old, once boasted mid–elite jōnin strength. Five years ago, during an S-rank mission, he unleashed a wide-range Earth Release jutsu to ensure victory. In doing so, he knowingly sacrificed his own comrades, allowing them to be crushed in the technique's aftermath. Though the mission succeeded, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, condemned him for his ruthlessness. He was imprisoned in Iwagakure for ten years, but during transfer he killed his escorts and defected.
Now a rogue, he pursued forbidden research.
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Inside the Cave
Dim candlelight flickered against the damp walls. Shallow Well, tall and gaunt, leaned over a blood-soaked table. A Yunyin shinobi corpse lay before him, dissected. His hands trembled—not with fear, but with feverish excitement.
"Haha… once I master this jutsu, once I can absorb the chakra of others… I will be invincible!" he hissed, his face twisted with bloodlust.
He was experimenting with a forbidden Earth Release technique that allowed absorption and refinement of foreign chakra. If perfected, it would let him grow stronger by draining his opponents in battle.
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What he did not know was that outside the cave, a lone figure already stood before the concealed entrance.
Chen Xing's eyes narrowed at the large boulder sealing the mouth of the cavern. To an ordinary observer, it looked like part of the mountain itself, but Chen Xing could feel the faint chakra woven into its surface. A sealing stone—likely requiring a specific hand sign to open.
But for Chen Xing? That wasn't necessary.
He raised his hand. Lightning chakra erupted, crackling in the air.
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
BOOM!
A piercing arc of lightning slammed into the boulder, shattering it in a thunderous explosion. Rocks splintered apart, revealing the dark hollow within.
Inside, Shallow Well's head snapped around, his face draining of color. Blood still stained his hands as he met Chen Xing's cold gaze.
"You… the 'Peacock King,' that rogue who's been making waves in the underworld…" His pupils shrank. Though his voice was steady, his heart sank.
Chen Xing stepped forward. His eyes flicked briefly toward the dissected Yunyin corpse on the table. "So that's what you've been up to. Even dissecting Cloud shinobi now? How bold."
He had read of countless forbidden practices—Konoha's Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who pioneered terrifying kinjutsu; Orochimaru, whose experiments rivaled any war criminal of the Warring States. Shallow Well's work might never reach their level, but it was steeped in the same blood.
Chen Xing himself had dabbled in such studies for his own seals. That was why he wasn't shocked—only disgusted.
The air inside the cave grew thick, the two locking eyes.
"Earth Release: Earth Spears!"
Shallow Well slammed his palms against the ground. Spikes of hardened earth erupted upward, skewering through Chen Xing—
Only for the figure to dissolve into scattered logs.
"Substitution Jutsu…!" Shallow Well hissed, springing toward the exit.
But Chen Xing's voice echoed coldly:
"Wind Release: Gale Cutter!"
A blade of wind ripped into the rock wall above, collapsing stone into the passageway. The cave groaned as tons of rubble fell, sealing Shallow Well inside.
BOOM!
A burst of chakra tore open the rockfall. Shallow Well staggered out, coughing blood, his body battered.
Chen Xing was already waiting, his hands flashing through seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The two streams fused—the fireball roaring larger, fanned by the surging wind.
Shallow Well's eyes widened. "A… combination technique?!"
The roaring inferno consumed the mountainside.
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