Across the boundless plains stretching like the Wind Country's outskirts,A broad-shouldered man advanced step by step. His presence steady, silent, and heavy, like a stone guardian carved from the mountains of Iwagakure.
Suddenly
He halted, Raising his gaze toward the four figures who had appeared not far ahead.
His eyes remained calm, utterly unshaken.
"Kuishan,"
"Missing-nin of Iwagakure, elite jōnin, proficient in advanced Earth Release techniques."
"Kuishan, I want to discuss a cooperation with you now."
"Of course, you can refuse though you should understand the consequences clearly."
Having gone through the last two encounters, Qianye didn't feel like wasting breath and simply waited for the man's reaction.
If the other side agreed, it would naturally save trouble.
If not, then force would decide.
But the moment Qianye finished speaking
Kuishan suddenly lunged straight toward Zabuza.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!!"
A thick shell of hardened stone wrapped around Kuishan's fist, turning it monstrously dense and heavy!
"Oi! Do you think I'm the weakest one here?!"
Seeing Kuishan charge without saying a word, Zabuza's eyes flashed with irritation. He gathered brutal strength into his swing and brought the massive Executioner's Blade down hard!!!
CLANG!!!
Stone fist and steel edge collided, sparks exploding outward!
The jarring impact sent a numb ache shooting up Zabuza's arm, and several of his earlier wounds tore open again…
And in the instant his grip loosened, Kuishan shook his fist, knocked aside the Executioner's Blade, and drove in close, his stone-coated fists hammering forward like twin cannons!!!
Zabuza's expression darkened
At this distance, there was no time to raise the blade for defense!
At that critical second
A dark shadow abruptly slid between Zabuza and the incoming blow!
A person?
No
A puppet, precisely controlled!
BOOM!!
The puppet shattered instantly,
But it successfully absorbed the full force of Kuishan's punch!
Zabuza staggered back hurriedly.
Seizing the moment, Gabriel flashed behind Kuishan using his puppeteer's footwork, lining up with Zabuza to trap Kuishan in a crossfire position.
Faced with this pincer formation, Kuishan abruptly raised both hands and shouted, "Stop, stop! I surrender!"
Then muttered under his breath, "Two against one this isn't fair at all!"
But he knew well
In the turbulent shinobi world, fairness didn't exist.
Only strength dictated outcome.
Although Qianye was mildly surprised, he smiled faintly and said, "So, shall we talk properly now?"
He then explained his intentions in full.
Kuishan responded bluntly, "Then how much are you paying me?"
Qianye answered, "One hundred million ryō per year."
"Deal!"
Kuishan accepted without hesitation.
After all, even an elite jōnin like him couldn't realistically earn one hundred million ryō annually through missions.
And earning that much simply by teaching
With no real danger
Was basically a windfall dropped straight from the heavens.
After Kuishan readily accepted, Qianye's objective for this trip was now completely accomplished, so he used the Flying Thunder God markers to bring the four of them back to the Uchiha clan grounds in an instant.
After that, Qianye instructed Zabuza, Gabriel, and Kuishan to apply the Transformation Technique and alter their appearances.
After all, each of them was listed as a dangerous missing-nin on the official bingo book.
If they appeared before outsiders with their true faces exposed, it would definitely invite unnecessary suspicions.
So by disguising them, they could avoid drawing unwanted attention.
Now, instructors proficient in wind release, water release, and earth release three major chakra natures had all been gathered.
Only fire release and lightning release remained.
For fire release, there was no need to look outside at all.
After all, who in the entire shinobi world surpassed the Uchiha clan in mastery of Katon?
As for lightning release
A particular individual in the village came to Qianye's mind....
...
Evening.
Under the fading sunset,
Beside the memorial stone,
Kakashi stood alone before the monument, his eye lingering on the two deeply familiar names carved into it, sorrow thick in his gaze.
A beloved comrade crushed beneath stone….
A gentle girl whose death came by his own hand….
Though many years had passed,
The scenes of that era still remained painfully vivid in his mind.
Those cruel memories continued to haunt his dreams….
"Obito…"
"Rin…"
"Will you ever forgive me?"
Kakashi's voice carried a quiet, aching weight.
At that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed softly, pulling Kakashi abruptly from his grief.
He turned his head.
A young man was walking toward the monument from afar.
Ignoring him entirely, the youth passed by and finally stopped before Obito's grave marker.
Because Obito's body was never recovered, his grave existed only as a cenotaph.
In truth, Kakashi had looked for Obito's remains afterward
But had found nothing.
Yet Kakashi had not been surprised.
He assumed shinobi from another village had taken Obito's body.
After all, Obito still carried a Sharingan at the time
And the power of that eye had long been something other villages coveted.
So stealing the corpse wasn't unthinkable.
Afterwards, Kakashi continued searching for Obito's body
But never found it.
Eventually, the search ended.
Now—
Qianye gently placed a small bouquet before Obito's marker,
Then pressed his hands together, bowing his head in solemn respect.
After a long moment, Qianye opened his eyes and whispered, "Brother Tobi, when we were little, you always treated me like a real younger brother. I've never forgotten that kindness. So even now, I still come to your grave every single year…"
Watching Qianye's actions, Kakashi was genuinely startled.
Obito's parents had died early, and he was raised by his elderly grandmother.
After Obito fell in battle, his grandmother passed away not long afterward, unable to endure the grief.
Which meant that aside from Kakashi, no one had visited this grave for years.
Qianye was the second.
And after hearing Qianye's words, Kakashi was even more astonished.
He never expected that the young head of the Uchiha clan would share such a deep bond with Obito.
In that moment, the gaze Kakashi directed toward Qianye unconsciously softened….
.....
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