BOOM!
The final secret technique of the Eight Gates, Night Guy, unleashed by Might Dai, struck Akebino Jinin.
Might Dai kicked the man, driving him backward like a missile until they smashed into a mountainside. The impact was cataclysmic—rock shattered, a massive crater torn into the cliff face.
Dust billowed, then settled.
Might Dai lay on the ground, his body charred black, lifeless. Where Akebino Jinin had been slammed into the stone, only half a mangled corpse remained, a grotesque testament to the technique's power.
Qianyu let out a slow breath.
Night Guy.
The sheer force of it stunned him. If he faced that move head-on… victory wasn't just impossible. It was unthinkable. He couldn't even dodge it. The speed completely surpassed his fastest Thunderclap and Flash: God Speed. Surpassed it by a mile.
He walked to Might Dai's side. The man was already gone, his body beginning to flake away into ash—the final, fleeting dance of a true warrior.
Brilliant. Glorious. And devastatingly brief.
"You were strong, Might Dai," Qianyu said quietly. "Konoha was lucky to have you. Farewell."
As he finished speaking, the last of the ash drifted away on the wind.
Alone now, Qianyu opened his system. Two notifications waited.
[Witnessed the curtain fall for Might Dai. Reward: 5,000 Witness Points.]
[Witnessed the death of Akebino Jinin, first wielder of the Blunt Sword: Kabutowari. Reward: 500 Witness Points.]
Not far off, a massive figure groaned and pushed himself up from the ground. Fuguki Suikazan. He'd only been grazed by the dragon-shaped shockwave of Night Guy, but the force had hurled him like a ragdoll. He coughed, blood spraying from his lips.
"Just a graze, and I'm already injured?" he muttered, wiping his mouth. "Was that really just a Konoha genin? Damn it. Gotta move. If I run into any Konoha ninja now, I'm in trouble."
"No need to run," a cold voice said from behind him. "You won't be troubled. You'll be free."
Fuguki's bulky frame stiffened. He turned.
Qianyu stood there, expressionless. "Your two friends ran pretty fast," he remarked, tone dripping with scorn. "Too fat to keep up?"
Recognition flashed in Fuguki's eyes. Wide, panicked recognition. "You! The Blood-Eyed Asura?!"
Instinct took over. "Hair Needle Senbon!" Fuguki roared.
His hair hardened, sharpened, and shot toward Qianyu like a storm of needles.
Qianyu's Mangekyō Sharingan was already active. He sidestepped the barrage with casual, almost bored grace. His eyes, cold as frozen steel, locked onto Fuguki. "Yeah. It's me. So please, die."
Fuguki bellowed in rage, swinging the barbed, living sword Samehada with all his might.
Thud.
To his shock, the blow connected. It hit Qianyu solidly.
But…
"Wrong!" Fuguki realized too late. "Genjutsu!"
The image of Qianyu he'd struck dissolved into mist.
A sudden, sharp pain pierced the back of his neck. The tip of a ninjato erupted from his throat.
Qianyu's voice was a whisper in his ear. "Not dying to that technique earlier was your loss."
Fuguki's massive body crashed to the ground. He clutched at his throat, eyes bulging, fixed on Qianyu. He tried to speak, but only wet, choked gurgles escaped the ruined flesh.
Qianyu simply watched. Waited. Until the light faded from those shark-like eyes.
[Killed Fuguki Suikazan, first wielder of the Great Sword: Samehada. Reward: 700 Witness Points.]
Beside the corpse, the sword Samehada twitched. It began to inch away, trying to slither off into the undergrowth.
Qianyu pointed his ninjato at it.
"Thunder Breathing. Fifth Form: Heat Lightning."
A blast of searing, lightning-shaped energy erupted from his blade and slammed into Samehada. The living weapon convulsed wildly, thrashing in agony. Then—poof!—a puff of smoke, and it vanished.
Qianyu's brow furrowed slightly. "Contract summoning… huh."
He shrugged. Samehada was powerful, sure. But at the end of the day, it was just a sword. Fuguki had wielded it and was still weak. Even the future Kisame Hoshigaki, the one they called the Monster of the Hidden Mist, wouldn't be worth a second glance to him now.
He turned. There were still enemies to hunt.
More than two months passed.
The Land of Waves was, for the most part, cleansed. Only a handful of Hidden Mist stragglers remained, hunted and hiding. The Uchiha force, which had started with 98 members, now numbered just over 30. The casualties were brutal.
Yet, not a single Uchiha could complain. Under Qianyu's command, they had done the impossible—they had conquered Wave.
The happiest man, of course, was Danzō back in Konoha. Qianyu's deliveries of Sharingan eyes never stopped. Seven pairs initially, now five more. Twelve pairs total, two of which were full three-tomoe Sharingan. Gathering those five extra pairs was a small miracle—the Uchiha guarded their eyes fiercely, often destroying them upon death to prevent outsiders from stealing their legacy.
Just as the situation in Wave stabilized, an urgent order arrived.
It commanded Qianyu to proceed immediately to the Land of Hot Water, taking all remaining Uchiha with him.
Konoha intelligence had intercepted critical news: The Hidden Cloud Village was making a major move. The Third Raikage himself seemed poised to enter the fray in Hot Water, aiming to personally reverse the Cloud's recent losses there.
Upon receiving the orders, Qianyu handed command of Wave over to Nara Kubota. Within the hour, he and the surviving Uchiha were on the road to Hot Water.
A few days later, they arrived.
Qianyu's first stop was to see Orochimaru for a briefing.
The news was confirmed. The Third Raikage was indeed coming. Elite Cloud ninja reinforcements had already poured into Hot Water, launching a desperate, all-out counteroffensive against Konoha forces.
The unprepared Konoha lines were taking heavy losses. It seemed the Hidden Cloud was done with stalemates. They wanted a full-scale war, hoping to crush Konoha and force the Hidden Stone to join the feast.
The Konoha forces in the Land of Grass couldn't be moved—they had to keep pressure on the Stone. In fact, reinforcements had even been pulled from the front against the Sand in the Land of Rivers to bolster the defenses in Grass.
But Wave was secure, thanks to Qianyu's brutal efficiency. So, HQ decided to throw him and his Uchiha battalion into the fire in Hot Water, a bulwark against the coming storm.
Qianyu and Orochimaru discussed strategies. How to respond if the Raikage truly arrived. The Cloud's frenzied assault was already pushing Konoha to the brink. If their Kage took the field, a full retreat into Fire Country territory seemed inevitable.
Their discussion yielded no solid answers. A Kage on the battlefield was more than just a powerful fighter; it was a symbol, a tidal wave of morale for their side.
But privately, Qianyu had a thought.
He might not make it.
If his memory served, the Hidden Stone Village was about to stick a rather large knife in the Hidden Cloud's back.
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