CLANG! SLASH! CLANG!
Steel screamed against steel as Qianyu's sword met Uchiha Kazuo's kunai in a furious, rapid-fire exchange. Qianyu was faster—his blade a silver blur—but Kazuo's three-tomoe Sharingan saw everything. Each precise deflection was followed by a sharp, immediate counter-thrust.
In close quarters, Qianyu couldn't gain an edge.
Their weapons clashed once more with a sharp ring of metal. Qianyu broke away, leaping backward. Even as he moved, his hands were already weaving through a rapid sequence of seals.
Kazuo's eyes widened. That pattern… Impossible.
The last seal snapped into place.
"Fire Style: Ash Concealing Jutsu!"
A cloud of superheated dust erupted from Qianyu's mouth, blanketing the ground before billowing outward.
Kazuo blurred into motion, putting distance between himself and the encroaching cloud. Where the ash touched, trees ignited instantly, erupting into flame. Then came the explosions—a chain of violent BOOMS that shook the air, one after another.
Silence returned. Kazuo, crouched behind cover, scanned the smoke-choked clearing. The boy was gone, his vision completely obscured.
How does he know a Uchiha fire technique? There's no way he could have learned it.
A rustle in the undergrowth. His Sharingan locked onto it. Hands flew.
"Fire Style! Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
A roaring dragon of flame erupted from his lips, engulfing the bushes in a fireball.
A shadowy figure shot from the inferno a split-second before impact, hurled into the air by the blast.
"Got you!" Kazuo snarled.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Singing Jutsu!"
Four smaller, faster fire dragons shot from his mouth, streaking toward the airborne figure from above, below, left, and right—a closing cage of flame. No room to dodge mid-air.
The fire dragons converged.
And struck… a flash of lightning.
What?!
A Lightning Clone!
His own position—exposed!
A fissure split the earth directly behind him. Qianyu erupted from the ground, sword already arcing toward the back of Kazuo's knees. The entire sequence had been a setup. The Ash Concealing Jutsu provided cover, the Lightning Clone served as a decoy to draw fire, and the Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu allowed Qianyu to close the distance unseen.
Every hair on Kazuo's body stood on end. He launched himself upward just as the blade whistled through the space his legs had occupied.
But it wasn't over.
Qianyu's free hand completed another seal. His other hand flung a fan of shuriken into the air.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!"
Flames wreathed the spinning blades, turning them into a deadly, blooming storm of fiery petals—thirteen in total—all streaking toward the still-descending Uchiha.
Kazuo's Sharingan whirled. His kunai became a precise, flickering shield. Clink-clink-clink-clink! One by one, every flaming shuriken was deflected, sparking against his weapon. He landed lightly, stance firm.
Qianyu clicked his tongue in annoyance. Clan-born Jōnin. Different breed. This guy, technically just a Jōnin, felt more dangerous than the Elite Jōnin Kuroiwa Tatsuji he'd fought before.
"Where," Kazuo demanded, voice low and dangerous, "did you learn Uchiha fire techniques?"
A mocking smile played on Qianyu's lips. "Where? Ask your Clan Head and his son. Who'd have thought? Sending Uchiha Fugaku to apologize to me. Offering your clan's fire jutsu and Sharingan insights as a peace offering. Your esteemed patriarch really knows how to swallow his pride, huh?"
"Lies!" Kazuo spat, disbelief warring with fury. "The Clan Head would never! Fugaku would never! You have no truth in that mouth of yours!"
"Go ask Uchiha Masaki and Fugaku yourself if you don't believe me," Qianyu scoffed, sheathing his sword with a soft click. "But between you and me? Your clan's fire techniques? Damn useful."
Kazuo couldn't, wouldn't accept it. The very idea was an insult. His chakra flared, ready to move—
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"
Jiraiya's voice boomed across the clearing, halting everything.
Uchiha Kyōsuke and his three teammates arrived moments later, eyes wide at the scorched, cratered battlefield. Other ninja drawn by the commotion began to filter in from the trees.
Jiraiya's gaze pinned Qianyu. "Explain. Now."
Kazuo's heart sank. Damn it. In his rage, he hadn't considered the consequences of being found out.
Qianyu's expression shifted to one of theatrical bewilderment. "Explain? You should ask him. I was here, waiting for my squad for a mission. Then he shows up, starts making threats out of nowhere, and decides to try and kill me. I was defending myself."
He swept his gaze across the gathered ninja, his tone turning cold and sharp. "He was going for the kill, Jiraiya-sama. Can we really trust someone who'd turn lethal force on a comrade? How many of us want to wonder if the guy watching our back might decide to put a knife in it instead?"
"He's twisting everything!" Kazuo roared, his hands trembling with rage. "Jiraiya-sama, don't listen! He was insulting me! Insulting the entire Uchiha clan! He wanted me to attack! He provoked me on purpose!"
The realization hit him like a physical blow. The boy's earlier verbal jabs, the constant goading… This close to camp, a fight was bound to be discovered. Qianyu had led him right into a trap, baiting him into an action that would bring down punishment.
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