_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Seito struggled to his feet, teeth clenched as he glared at him.
"Hmph! Mr. Akira, today you're going to pay for this!"
His right hand tightened into a fist and slammed down on the floor.
Crack!
The solid concrete tiles shattered instantly. The impact hurt his as well, and a thin line of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth.
But Seito didn't care. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared straight at Akira.
A cloud of black smoke suddenly rose from beneath his feet, quickly spreading until it swallowed the entire room.
By the time the smoke cleared, the room was empty.
Akira frowned and scanned his surroundings, but no matter where he looked, there was no sign of him.
"Hehe… Mr. Akira, I'm right behind you now!"
The sudden voice made his whole body jolt.
He spun around instantly. Sure enough, Seito was standing behind him, as if he had appeared out of thin air.
Akira drew his blade and struck back without hesitation, but Seito dodged with ease.
If I accidentally step into one of his traps, that could get ugly, he thought.
"Mr. Akira, take this!"
Seito shouted and swung his arm, sending a kunai flying toward him.
Akira sidestepped the attack and immediately lashed out with a kick toward his stomach.
Bang!
"Ugh—!"
Seito groaned as the blow sent him stumbling backward. He clutched his abdomen and dropped to one knee.
That sweeping kick had been brutal. For a moment, it felt like his insides had been torn apart.
His face turned pale from the pain. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks, giving him a strangely pitiful look.
But Akira didn't relax for a second. He stayed on guard, ready to retreat at any moment.
"Don't worry, Mr. Akira. I'm not going to kill you."
Seito slowly raised his head, his eyes narrowing.
"Because I plan to keep you alive… torture you until you beg for death and can't even get that. Only then will I be satisfied."
Akira's expression remained cold.
"Enough talking. Show me what you've got."
"Oh? Then don't blame me for being ruthless."
Seito let out a sinister chuckle. His left hand flashed through a series of seals as he murmured a spell.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Hm?"
Akira frowned.
Before he could react, a violent gust of wind crashed toward him.
He raised his sword to block, but the wind jutsu twisted like a living creature, slipping around the blade and slamming straight into his waist.
Boom—
With a heavy thud, Akira staggered backward several steps.
He glanced down. The front of his clothes had been torn apart, exposing a patch of pale skin.
He quickly moved to cover himself, but his opponent clearly had no intention of stopping. Seito rushed forward again and drove a heavy punch straight into his abdomen.
"Ugh…!"
The sharp pain forced Akira to bend over. He clutched his stomach, sweat pouring down his forehead as he leaned against the wall.
Seito wiped the blood from his lips and glared at him viciously, looking completely confident in his victory.
Akira took a few deep breaths, calming the heat surging through his body. Then he slowly lifted his head.
"Seito… you've already lost."
"Oh?"
He sneered. "Don't tell me you still have some hidden trump card, Mr. Akira?"
A dangerously charming smile spread across his face.
"That's a secret. You don't need to know."
"Well then, I guess I'll just wait and see."
Seito shrugged.
The next second, he felt a sudden gust of wind beside him.
A cold dagger pressed againstis neck.
"Seito-kun, I suggest you stop resisting."
Akira spoke calmly.
His wrist flicked slightly, and the sharp blade sliced into his delicate skin. A single drop of bright red blood slid down and fell onto the spotless floor.
"What's this supposed to mean, Mr. Akira? Trying to threaten me?"
Seito licked the corner of his lips.
"I'm not afraid of you."
"You're a smart person,Seito-kun. And I know you value your life."
Akira pushed the dagger a little closer. The tip cut deeper into his skin, drawing another drop of blood.
"I wouldn't mind adding another body to the count."
Anger flickered in Seito's eyes, but he forced himself to stay calm.
"Mr. Akira… aren't you afraid this will start a war between Konoha and the Daimyo?"
Akira burst out laughing.
"Who said I'd be the one responsible?"
His smile was wicked.
"Akira, you dare play me?!"
Fury flushed across Seito's face.
"Believe it or not, I could have you arrested right now!"
Akira scoffed.
"Go ahead. I'd love to see someone try to tie me up."
He looked at him with mocking amusement.
"But do you really think Konoha's higher-ups would believe your story?"
Seito froze.
Then realization hit him.
"Damn it… you were baiting me!"
"Didn't you figure that out already, Seito-kun?"
Akira smiled faintly. He withdrew the dagger and walked over to the window, pulling back the curtain to glance down at the street below.
"So, Seito-kun… feeling desperate yet?"
"I will never admit defeat!"
Gritting his teeth, Seito pulled a kunai from his clothes and hurled it at his feet.
Akira raised an eyebrow and picked it up.
"Seito-kun… don't you want to see how I turn you into a cripple?"
"Hehehe…"
Seito threw his head back and laughed, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Mr. Akira… you're not qualified to humiliate me."
"Is that so?"
Akira smiled and flicked his finger.
Snap!
The kunai instantly broke into two pieces.
Seito's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Take a good look, Seito-kun."
Akira tossed the other half forward.
"This is what a real monster looks like."
The broken blade shot forward and pierced straight through his throat.
"Cough—!"
Seito's eyes bulged in horror. He reached for the wound on his neck.
But the moment his fingers touched it, his body froze.
"Pfft—!"
Seito spat out a mouthful of blood and slowly looked down at his chest.
A dagger was buried deep in his heart.
The handle was tied with a small pink flower.
"This… this can't be…"
Unwilling to accept it, Seito lifted his head and stared at Akira.
Akira's voice was cold.
"You really thought a sneak attack like that could touch me?"
He pulled the dagger free and tossed it aside.
Seito's body swayed for a moment before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
His eyes remained fixed on him as he muttered weakly,
"How could you… how could you…"
Then the last trace of breath left his body.
Just as Akira finished dealing with Seito, another figure appeared before him.
Kaze, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Whoosh!
Without a single word, Kaze charged straight at him.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
As he formed hand seals, countless wind blades burst from his body, raining down like a storm as they surged toward Akira.
"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"
Akira remained completely calm. With a sweep of his hand, countless ice pillars erupted from the ground, forming a protective barrier around him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kaze's fierce attacks slammed into the freezing pillars, sending sparks flying everywhere.
Boom!
At last, the relentless assault was stopped.
Then Kaze roared:
"Wind Style… Rasengan!"
Akira noticed that Kaze had already been forced to stall, and the corner of his lips curled slightly.
A cold gleam flashed through his eyes.
His hands moved rapidly through a series of seals. In an instant, a white sphere of energy about ten centimeters wide condensed between his palms.
Then it shot forward with a shrill roar, hurtling straight toward Kaze.
The moment Kaze sensed the power contained within that spinning sphere, his face changed drastically. His hands snapped together.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
As his seals formed, a violent gust erupted, stopping Akira's Rasengan in midair.
The two forces collided and twisted together wildly.
But the outcome was clear. Kaze was slightly outmatched.
He staggered backward several steps before finally regaining his balance.
Seeing this, Akira's smile deepened. His hands shifted into another set of seals as he muttered coldly,
"Earth Style: Rock Concealment Wall!"
The moment the technique was completed, the wall behind them surged upward.
In an instant, a massive stone barrier rose between the two, completely blocking their view of each other.
"Damn it!"
Kaze cursed under his breath.
The situation caught him off guard.
The defensive technique Akira used wasn't particularly powerful in terms of rank, but the sudden stone wall made it impossible for Kaze to pinpoint his exact position.
Kaze frowned and quickly formed another seal.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear!"
A thick, metallic layer instantly coated his body, turning his skin as hard as steel.
Then he lifted his leg and kicked the stone wall in front of him with brutal force.
Boom!
The violent impact shattered the wall.
Unfortunately for him…
"Wind Style: Tornado!"
Akira's voice rang out.
A raging tornado materialized out of thin air in front of Kaze, roaring toward him with terrifying force.
Kaze's expression darkened immediately.
Without hesitation, he formed another seal.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A thick barrier of rock rose in front of him.
BOOM!!
The tornado slammed into the stone wall, erupting in a violent explosion that blasted debris in every direction.
Kaze's eyes grew darker.
"Damn it… at this rate, I can't even find Akira!"
If he wanted to defeat him quickly, he had to force him out into the open.
But Akira was clearly hiding somewhere. No matter how he searched, Kaze couldn't locate him.
"If you won't show yourself…"
Kaze snarled.
"Then get out here!"
Just then, his ears twitched.
From somewhere nearby, he heard Akira's voice.
"Rasengan!"
Kaze's expression sank further.
"Hmph. Trying to trick me with that cheap move?"
He snorted and formed seals again.
"Earth Style: Great Earth Flow Wall!"
As the technique activated, the ground beneath him suddenly bulged upward.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
One pillar of earth after another burst from the ground, instantly clogging the swirling vortex Akira had just created.
At the same time, Kaze flicked his wrist.
A long rope shot out from his hand and wrapped tightly around Akira, binding him completely.
With everything finished, Kaze finally let out a breath.
"So I finally caught you… traitor of Konoha."
He stared at the captured Akira with killing intent burning in his eyes.
"Is that so?"
Akira glanced at him calmly.
"Are you sure you've actually caught me?"
Kaze's heart skipped.
An uneasy feeling suddenly crept over him.
"What… what?"
In the next instant, his pupils shrank sharply. Fear flooded his face.
Akira's hands suddenly formed seals.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A massive wall of earth erupted from underground, several times larger than the previous one.
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion followed.
The entire house collapsed in an instant.
"Cough… cough… how is this possible…"
Kaze struggled to his feet within the ruins, his body covered in blood.
In front of him stood a colossal wall of earth nearly thirty meters tall, completely trapping him inside.
"I don't believe it… You actually have power like this."
Kaze's eyes were bloodshot.
There was no way someone could reach this level using Earth Style alone unless they had already mastered the element to its absolute peak… or even surpassed it.
Akira's voice drifted over casually.
"Heh. You're not worthy of knowing."
"Earth Flow Wall!"
Boom!
Dust erupted from the towering wall, completely swallowing Kaze in a cloud of debris.
"You bastard!"
Kaze's furious curse echoed from within the smoke.
But in the next moment, the twisted anger on his face slowly faded, replaced by a bitter smile.
Because he realized something terrifying.
His chakra… was completely gone.
"My chakra… it's all gone…"
Kaze muttered weakly.
"That's right."
Akira's cold voice sounded again.
"You should understand now. You're not my opponent."
Kaze stared at him in disbelief.
"You… who exactly are you?!"
His eyes widened as he demanded the answer.
"I already told you."
Akira looked at him calmly.
"My name is Akira."
Then he turned and began to walk away.
"Akira…"
Kaze whispered the name under his breath.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
"Uchiha…?"
Realization struck him like lightning.
His face filled with overwhelming shock.
"Y-you're Akira?!"
"Monster… You're a monster!"
Kaze muttered in disbelief.
Then he suddenly snapped out of it and threw a desperate punch toward Akira.
Boom!
A dull, heavy impact echoed.
But Kaze's chakra was almost completely depleted.
Not only did he fail to break Akira's defense, he was instantly knocked down as Akira stepped on his chest.
"Have you accepted it yet?"
Akira asked calmly.
"Pah!"
Kaze spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and snarled viciously.
"You think you've won? Don't kid yourself! I'll never lose to you!"
As he spoke, a pitch-black ring appeared in his hand.
"Remember this… I will never give up!"
With that, he crushed the black ring.
Crack.
The ring shattered.
Kaze vanished from the area.
"Ran away?"
Akira frowned slightly as he watched the scene.
He hadn't expected Kaze to possess such a life-saving item, but he didn't immediately pursue him.
The chakra he released earlier had been meant to lure the enemy out.
He hadn't expected Kaze to sense the danger and flee so quickly.
But escape from him?
That was impossible.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
Akira's hands flashed through seals.
A hardened circular water barrier roughly twenty centimeters thick instantly formed.
The next second, his body leapt straight into the barrier.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
As his voice fell, the water wall erupted.
A massive torrent burst outward, flooding the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Capital of Fire was drenched in torrential rain.
The downpour lasted for two or three minutes before finally subsiding.
When the rain stopped, Akira slowly scanned the area.
The surroundings were now a complete mess. Ruins and destruction stretched everywhere.
"Damn it! You used a trick like that to flush me out?!"
Kaze stepped out from hiding, his face dark with anger.
"Oh?"
Akira's voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
"Seems like your luck is pretty terrible."
"What?!"
Kaze jumped in shock and spun around.
Akira was already standing behind him, watching him with an amused look.
"Damn it!"
Kaze cursed and swung his arm at him.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!"
Akira's lips curved into a wicked smile.
His hands came together, and a massive fireball roared toward Kaze.
BOOM!!
The explosion shook the entire street.
When the smoke cleared, both figures stood where the battle had begun.
Kaze's face was deathly pale, his body weak and trembling.
Akira, on the other hand, looked mostly unharmed. His clothes were slightly messy, but there were no serious injuries.
"H-how is this possible…"
Kaze stared at him in despair.
He never imagined that he, a trained ninja and elite graduate of the academy, would lose to a six-year-old child.
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
"I admit it. You're impressive."
Akira lifted his head and looked up at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky.
"But unfortunately for you…"
"You ran into me."
His hands formed another seal.
He murmured something quietly.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In an instant, strange glowing runes appeared in the air around him.
"Sealing Technique."
Akira spoke softly.
The runes surged forward and descended toward Kaze.
"..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________