Under the Night

"...Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple."

With another trembling whoosh, Jiraiya did not even have a chance to counterattack before the Uchiha's figure instantly returned to its original position.

With a slight flick of his wrist, as Jiraiya's blood receded, tiny flames ignited within the withered branch that looked like rotten wood, like countless eyes staring at Jiraiya as he clutched his shoulder and panted.

"There are countless ways to learn about your abilities, but can you figure out ours?"

"..."

It was strange.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the Konoha forehead protector and those Three Tomoe Sharingan, feeling something deeply unsettling.

Chakra circulated through his body, yet he had not sensed any trace of the other party using Chakra. It was more like he was manipulating nature itself, displaying unimaginable power with every gesture.

And Jiraiya had not felt any killing intent or hostility at all. He had not experienced that hair-raising, spine-chilling sensation. That was also why he had not rushed in to exchange taijutsu blows.

An Uchiha ninja from Konoha was fighting them in such an unusual way, yet he had never heard of people like this.

Could it really be as Tsunade had said—some Konoha Senior controlled by a secret technique and forced to fight?

If that was the case...

Jiraiya looked at the masked Uchiha across from him, and a carefree smile gradually appeared on his face.

"Of course I don't know what the Seniors' abilities are. If this Senior would be so kind as to explain them, I'd certainly be grateful."

"...My companion's ability is to drag both himself and his enemy into a space of the soul to fight."

Watching Jiraiya's expression gradually turn astonished, the Uchiha member in the 'Six' haori held a dead branch in his hand and spoke softly.

"He can drag an enemy of his choosing into the world of the soul for a fair battle. During that time, no one can interfere with the space he has chosen. Unless he chooses to release the ability himself, your comrade will only return when he dies or loses consciousness."

"I-Is that so..."

He actually explained it? Could he really be some Konoha Senior who had been controlled?

But as he watched the figure vanish into the night with another whoosh, alarm bells immediately rang in Jiraiya's mind.

Before he could even process what was happening, instinct made him roll forward again, narrowly and awkwardly evading the ninja's strike.

Damn it, he's too fast. There's no time to form hand seals... Why is he so fast?!

He narrowly dodged the swing of the wooden stick, but before he could even steady himself, he heard another sharp, brief whistle.

"A ninja's battle often requires longer preparation. If you cannot gain an advantage in close-range taijutsu, this is the outcome."

The stick lashed across Jiraiya's back. The Uchiha instantly evaded his counterattack again and appeared in front of him, speaking calmly.

"If you encounter an enemy like this in the future, then if you cannot immediately launch a wide-area attack to block his path, you must deliberately expose an opening and counterattack precisely."

"You say that, but Senior, you really aren't holding back..."

"I have been holding back enough, junior."

The Sharingan user spoke in an even voice, but his figure vanished once more, leaving only a rushing sound from behind Jiraiya.

With the Sharingan's dynamic vision and that nearly unsolvable super-speed movement, Jiraiya only felt more and more stifled as the fight continued. Nearly every time he formed fewer than two hand seals, he would be forcibly struck by another blow.

A battle between ninja was a contest of hand speed and taijutsu. The reason seal-less ninjutsu was so rare and precious was that it could be activated extremely quickly. On a battlefield where circumstances changed in an instant, time was another word for life.

Yet this Uchiha ninja relentlessly exploited the weaknesses of ninja combat, using his movement speed and wooden stick to disrupt Jiraiya's battle plans. Almost every moment Jiraiya tried to form hand seals, the mysterious Uchiha ninja would rush to his side with terrifyingly fast footwork and strike him with the stick.

After dozens of blows, the flames on the dead wood burned ever stronger, while Jiraiya's heart grew increasingly irritated and frustrated.

This barely resembled a battle. It was more like some kind of humiliation.

Panting heavily, he twisted aside to evade the first strike, only for the second blow to land on his lower back. Jiraiya sucked in a cold breath, but still forced out a smile as he continued asking.

"Huff... Senior, why are your movements so fast? Is there some special trick to it?"

"This footwork is called Instant Step. By harmonizing energy with nature and eliminating the friction of the air, one moves through real space at high speed as though through a vacuum. Essentially, it is a very practical Body Flicker Technique."

"Nature Energy? This presence—is it Nature Energy?"

Why?

As he watched the Uchiha smack him across the backside again, Jiraiya's confusion only grew.

Why would someone fight purely with Nature Energy, without using Chakra to form hand seals or calmly guiding energy?

And weren't those who mastered such power supposed to use Sage Art directly? What was the point of using only Nature Energy? More importantly, why did they wear Konoha forehead protectors and matching haori?

"Surprised?"

With a whoosh, the Uchiha instantly moved onto a tree. Looking down from above at Jiraiya, whose breathing heaved like a bellows, he spoke in a hoarse yet calm voice.

"A thousand years ago, the Sage of Six Paths established the Ninjutsu Sect and distributed chakra to everyone. Chakra is an aggregate of life energy; extracting it leads to death. That raised a simple question: How did people live a thousand years ago without chakra?"

"The answer is that we do not need Chakra. Through only our own will and the power of nature, we can live as human beings. Chakra is not necessary. It is foreign. And foreign things being rejected by what belongs to this land—that is only natural, isn't it?"

"Compared to the surging, violent Nature Energy, however, refined Chakra is calm and gentle, suitable for people to use. Over time, this world was left with only methods of using Chakra."

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"I am talking about ninja, Jiraiya. Only by recognizing the problem can one solve it."

With a slight tilt of his head, he evaded Jiraiya's taijutsu kick, then kicked Jiraiya in return.

The violence erupting from that seemingly slender body sent him flying with a kick into a towering tree, producing a terrifying boom.

"The joke ends here, Jiraiya."

Watching the white-haired Legendary Hero cough up blood, gasp for breath, and stagger as he dropped to one knee, the Three Tomoe Uchiha ninja shook his head regretfully.

"If you can't hold on from here, then you can only die here—as a warning to Konoha. At the very least, I hope you can last until the other battlefield is completely settled."

"Whew... What a... simple mission..."

After taking a heavy breath, Jiraiya tugged at the corner of his mouth and looked up at the withered branch in the ninja's hand, where a faint wisp of smoke had begun to rise.

A strange, grotesque feeling began creeping over his body.

It was the first time Jiraiya had encountered such complicated killing intent.

But he knew what he had to do.

"—Mimicry Hadō, Four: White Lightning."

Left!

Jiraiya instinctively turned his head aside, and a streak of white light passed through the spot where his head had just been.

The light came first, followed by a thunderous explosion. Amid the layered tremors, the Uchiha ninja silently appeared before him, raising the withered branch high.

The withered branch, seemingly like rotten wood, had ignited once more. Crackling sparks and the smell of scorching flooded Jiraiya's lungs. Yet he could sense that the seemingly unremarkable branch contained an extraordinarily terrifying power.

Crimson firelight gathered at the tip of the dead wood, erupting with scarlet killing intent.

He had no choice but to use that move.

Jiraiya instinctively obeyed the instincts of his cells.

An immense amount of Chakra instantly spread through his limbs, condensing into a brilliant blue.

"—Blut Vene!"

"Jiejin, charge."

In an instant, a fireball dozens of meters high rose slowly into the night sky alongside a terrifying roar.

Under the impact of the raging flames, countless tangible tongues of fire howled outward, setting the night ablaze in the blink of an eye.

The surrounding forest began to burn. Amid the crashing of falling trees, only a teeth-grinding scraping sound slowly intertwined through the air.

"That thing Sosuke developed is really reliable. The version for jonin costs a fortune, but it's damn useful."

"...Aizen Sosuke."

"Oh? Senior, you know his name too? He's a pretty good guy, isn't he?"

Watching the figure bathed in sparks, with pale blue markings flowing around him and almost entirely unharmed, the Uchiha ninja's gaze deepened further.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, who had been suppressed all this time, was now covered in straight blue markings. Using intangible Chakra, he forcefully held back the burning, explosive branch, calmly pushed it aside, and grinned at the masked figure.

Under the flickering sparks, that smile carried a hint of smug satisfaction.

"Looks like I did pretty well, right, Senior? If there's any other intelligence, feel free to tell me. I'll take it and listen properly."

"...Ah. There's still a lot."

The Uchiha ninja slowly closed his eyes, tapped off with the tip of his foot, and appeared behind Jiraiya in an instant.

Just like several times before, the burning dead wood touched Jiraiya's back. His voice also became increasingly hoarse and twisted.

"But this feeling of everything being in someone else's palm is truly awful."

Boom!

A pillar of fire shot skyward from the forest once more.

Only this time, a pale blue figure stood with his arms crossed, staring fearlessly at the Uchiha within the flames.

After exchanging a glance, the two began fighting amid the burning forest in the very next instant.