"Ah!"
The Mist ninja let out a strangled scream, but didn't die immediately. The Kusanagi Sword had pierced his right chest rather than his heart.
Gen retracted the blade, dropping down swiftly. One foot landed on the man's sword arm, the other crushed his throat with a sharp crack. The larynx shattered, and the Mist ninja's eyes went glassy in an instant.
Water Release: Wild Water Wave!
A surging torrent roared through the forest, followed by a scatter of shuriken and two kunai trailing explosive tags.
Gen twisted aside, retreating as the Kusanagi shrank to its normal length in his left hand.
A flash of steel lit the air.
Two of the shuriken intercepted the incoming kunai, knocking them off course, while the rest clanged harmlessly off the sword—predictable to someone with a Sharingan.
Boom... Boom!
Twin fireballs erupted mid-air as four Hidden Mist ninja leapt from treetop to another, circling in to strike.
Gen's expression didn't change. He sheathed the Kusanagi, formed a rapid sequence of seals, and vanished.
Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole!
"Careful!" the leading Mist chunin barked, hurling a shuriken at the spot where Gen had disappeared.
It struck only mud.
The remaining three Mist genin halted, moving in to form a tight, back-to-back square around their leader—exactly the formation Gen wanted.
Genjutsu: Temple of Nirvana!
Hidden behind a broad tree trunk, Gen wove seals again. A drift of white feathers began to fall from nowhere, carrying with them a subtle, suffocating drowsiness.
Even on high alert, the three genin slumped into unconsciousness almost instantly.
The chunin fought it longer, biting his tongue and forcing chakra through his system to break the illusion. But the moment his vision cleared, a kunai tipped with an explosive tag filled his sight.
It struck his throat.
Blood sprayed, and a heartbeat later...
BOOM!
Soon fire consumed all four, scattering red and white fragments into the wet earth.
One of the genin had been only half-conscious from the pain. Now, horribly burned, he rolled on the ground with animal wails.
Gen ended it quickly—three kunai, three final thuds.
Kurenai, Tokuma, and Asa landed beside him moments later, weapons still wet with blood.
"You took out two chunin and three genin that fast," Asa said, reversing his sword with a grin. "Worthy of a captain."
Gen ignored the praise. He pulled a thick stack of explosive tags from his pouch and handed them over.
"The battles ahead will get worse. I won't always be able to cover you in time. Split these among yourselves."
He added, "Don't separate. Together, you can hold off even a jonin."
Kurenai eyed the stack—over twenty tags—and pressed her lips together. "Captain, if you give us all of these, what about you?"
"Yeah, Captain," Tokuma added. "You should keep some for yourself."
"I have more chakra than you three combined," Gen said. "These tags aren't that effective for me. You'll get more use out of them."
He reached back into his pouch and pulled out a second bundle—another ten or so tags.
Kurenai, Tokuma, Asa: "…"
Thirty or forty explosive tags.
Was every Uchiha this loaded? For a normal chunin, five was already generous.
Then again, Gen wasn't 'normal', he was both a prized heir of the clan and Orochimaru's personal disciple.
Seeing their captain's absurd wealth, none of them hesitated. They split the tags evenly.
For a ninja, the explosive tag was worth nearly a C-rank jutsu in raw power, but cost almost no chakra—a perfect tool for killing or saving one's life.
"The enemy's coming," Tokuma said suddenly, his Byakugan veins standing out.
"Strong ones—one jonin, three chunin."
Four silhouettes emerged through the mist: three men and one woman. Two stood out immediately—their clan emblems marked them as Yuki and Kaguya.
The Yuki clan wielded the Ice Release kekkei genkai.
The Kaguya were infamous bloodline warriors, controlling their own bones in battle; bloodthirsty and proud.
"Well, well," the Yuki jonin said with a faint smile. "Uchiha and Hyūga… fate really does have a sense of humor."
"Heh…" The Kaguya grinned, red dots gleaming on his forehead. "I love killing Hyūga most of all."
The rivalry was ancient, the Hyūga and Kaguya were both famed taijutsu clans, each claiming supremacy.
"Hmph. I like killing Kaguya just as much," Tokuma replied coldly.
"Oh?" The Kaguya's grin widened. "Then let's settle it—now."
Without another word, the Hyūga chunin charged.
Gen's hands blurred. Dozens of afterimages flashed around him.
Fire Release: Great Fireball!
A massive golden-orange fireball hurtled forward, warping the air with its heat.
The Kaguya twisted aside at the last second; his clan's speed and reflexes, amplified by the Shikotsumyaku, put him far above an ordinary chunin.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Asa slashed his sword, sending a compressed wind arc slicing toward the Kaguya's neck.
The man blocked with crossed forearms. Skin split, but his bones erupted outward, gleaming white and chakra-hardened to steel.
The blade left only a thin mark.
"Damn it, are you two just going to watch?" the Kaguya snarled, glaring at the Yuki and the remaining Mist ninja.
Up to now, the other three had simply observed. The Hidden Mist's elite policy bred detachment among its shinobi—and the Kaguya, as a feared but ostracized bloodline, rarely found allies even within their own ranks.
Still, the Yuki ninja finally sighed. "Let's go. We can't let Konoha think we're useless."
The three chunin moved to engage. Kurenai, Tokuma, and Asa split to meet them head-on.
Hyūga and Kaguya clashed in pure taijutsu, while the others tested each other cautiously at first. Before long, the six had drifted away from the two jonin.
"This is my first time meeting a Yuki clan member in battle," Gen said, stepping forward. "Tell me your name, and I'll make sure you die quickly."
The man chuckled. "Yuki Kiyoshi. Tell me yours, and I'll grant you the same mercy."
His tone was calm, his eyes carefully lowered to avoid the Sharingan's pull as his hands began forming seals.
"Uchiha Gen."
As the name left his lips, Gen's own fingers moved into a rapid counter-pattern.