Just like that.
The moment the name Ryuu Uchiha was spoken, the air froze.
The Sand kunoichi narrowed her eyes slightly. The kunai in her hand had already become a streak of cold light.
The Sand shinobi behind her had secretly begun forming hand seals long before then. The chakra of Wind Release: Great Breakthrough tore through the air in an instant, while the flames of Scorch Style: Flame Bullet lit up half the sky. Countless kunai flew through the air amid the explosions of Explosive Tags!
The Sand shinobi launched their attack without warning.
Qing Long's Spring Embroidered Sword was out of its sheath almost at the same instant. The wound on his shoulder burst open, and an HP [30%] warning flashed across Qing Xuan's retina, but the arc of his blade still precisely knocked the incoming kunai aside.
Qing Xuan, his face heavy with worry, was flung onto Qing Long's back. The lingering scent of blood on his Flying Fish Robe rushed into his nose.
"Form up!" Shikaku Nara's voice rang out clearly above the chaos.
The Konoha shinobi had been ready to act. The Shadow Imitation Technique spread like a web, precisely pinning down the five nearest Sand shinobi.
But seven figures still broke through the line. Their target was clear—Qing Xuan on Qing Long's back.
It was obvious they had never intended to let Qing Xuan leave the Land of Wind alive.
Qing Long's blade traced the Big Dipper's pattern in the sunlight. As his internal energy surged, fourteen paired blades formed a Blade Wheel Barrier, managing to hold off the pursuing shinobi for a short while.
But his HP was dropping rapidly: [28%] [27%]. With his Ice True Qi fully unleashed, every bead of blood that seeped from him froze into ice crystals in midair, only for the blazing heat to shatter them into sprays of bloody mist.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
The Sand shinobi's combined techniques raised towering waves of sand, but Qing Long did something astonishing—he threw Qing Xuan toward Shikaku, then charged straight into the techniques himself.
His Flying Fish Robe snapped in the gale. The instant his HP fell below [25%], his pupils shrank to pinpoints, and dazzling blue light suddenly burst from his Spring Embroidered Sword.
"Heaven and Earth Reversal!"
All of his Ice True Qi poured through the edge of his Spring Embroidered Sword and burst forth, forming an enormous icy-blue blade of chakra that collided head-on with the Sand shinobi's combined techniques.
The blast flung the three nearest Sand Genin off their feet. Qing Long's figure flickered in and out of view through the dust.
His HP had fallen to [12%], but he still stood firmly between Qing Xuan and the Sand shinobi, like an impassable wall.
Shikaku's shadow-binding technique finally brought the situation under control. The Konoha shinobi coldly pointed their blades at the Sand shinobi. They could not tolerate anyone attacking a comrade from their village—especially when that comrade's father was a hero who had sacrificed his life for the village!
So when they learned Qing Xuan's identity, they had stepped forward without hesitation.
"Bastard!"
The Sand kunoichi's icy gaze swept across Qing Xuan's face. The bone-deep hatred in her eyes could chill anyone to the core, even amid the scorching sands.
"Ryuu Uchiha is the one who assassinated the Third Kazekage!"
The Sand shinobi had apparently already guessed the child's identity. No wonder they had sent so many shinobi to hunt him down.
Looking at Qing Xuan's face, so like his father's, Shikaku Nara stood his ground and said, "Konoha already explained before the Third Shinobi World War that Ryuu Uchiha had nothing to do with the death of the Sand Village's Kazekage!"
He stared hard at the Sand shinobi, his words growing more forceful. "Don't try to start a pointless war!"
"Besides, Ryuu Uchiha died six years ago..."
The implication was clear.
The Sand kunoichi's gaze lingered on Qing Xuan's face. Faced with Konoha's refusal to back down, she finally gave a cold snort. "We're leaving."
When the last Sand shinobi disappeared behind the dunes, Qing Long finally collapsed to one knee. His HP settled at [10%]. Sweat and blood mingled beneath his chin, forming cinnabar-red beads of ice. Shikaku Nara hurried over, but suddenly stopped just as he reached out to help.
Shikaku's pupils contracted slightly. His gaze fell on the bloodied wounds on Qing Long's chest and neck. As an experienced Jōnin, he knew all too well what these two fatal injuries meant.
And yet this man was still alive...
"Sir..." Shikaku's voice remained steady, but his shadow had silently crept to Qing Long's feet, as if ready to restrain him at any moment. "Could you tell me where you're from?"
Qing Long calmly put all his weapons away. His movements were smooth and natural, completely unlike those of a gravely wounded man.
Shikaku noticed that the beads of blood seeping from his wounds turned into tiny specks of light before hitting the ground. That was certainly not normal for a human.
"I am merely my young master's guard." Qing Long's voice was hoarse from blood loss, but Shikaku keenly sensed something unusual in his words.
The Konoha Medical Ninja tried to step forward and treat him, but Shikaku raised a hand to stop them. His shadow had already surrounded Qing Long; he could restrain him with a single thought. Qing Long seemed to sense something. He slowly raised his head, the old scar over his left eye standing out in the sunset.
Yet he made no move to resist or defend himself.
Shikaku narrowed his eyes slightly. "I need you to come back to Konoha with me for an examination."
His voice remained gentle, but his shadow had already coiled around Qing Long's ankle.
At that moment, Qing Xuan's childish voice interrupted their conversation as he stepped over to Qing Long.
He simply said, "You've worked hard all this time. Stand down, Qing Long."
Only then did the battle-scarred Imperial Guard bow slightly to Qing Xuan.
"Please take care of yourself, young master. Qing Long takes his leave."
As the words fell, the loyal Imperial Guard Commander's entire body dissolved into specks of light, drifting away in the blowing sand.
And on Qing Xuan's panel:
ID: Qing Long HP: 11% MP: 1% Status: Gravely Wounded, Fatigued, Poisoned [Recalled, Recovering] Affiliation: Film and Television World Imperial Guard Position: Imperial Guard Commander Weapon: Fourteen Styles of Great Ming [Not Upgraded] Ability: Internal Energy [Upgraded to Ice True Qi]
The sight stunned everyone. Only Shikaku Nara gazed thoughtfully at the Fourteen Styles of Great Ming, which had also dissolved into specks of light.
"Is that some kind of special clone created with a secret technique?"
Qing Xuan understood what he meant and nodded innocently. "He was a friend of my father's. He's always been by my side, protecting me."
It was only after nightfall that Qing Xuan finally reached Konoha's outpost on the border with the shinobi.
The sandstorm still raged. Qing Xuan sat in a tent, waiting to be questioned a second time.
From the way the other shinobi had glanced at him from time to time along the way, Qing Xuan could tell that his never-before-seen father was no ordinary man.
To be honest, if not for the letter in his ninja pouch addressed "To My Most Beloved Son," Qing Xuan wouldn't have known that Fugaku Uchiha had a younger brother.
The letter had laid out his arrangements in great detail. He only needed to reach the border and hand another letter to the Ino-Shika-Cho. He didn't need to worry about anything else. And now, sitting across from Qing Xuan, was Shikaku Nara, one of the Ino-Shika-Cho.
Could someone who had been dead for six years really have planned all this?
What kind of person had he been?
Shikaku Nara set the letter down. He was now certain of the boy's identity.
Looking at the face almost identical to Itachi Uchiha's, he couldn't help thinking of a long-circulating rumor about the Uchiha Clan—that Itachi was supposedly his second uncle's biological son.
Looking at Qing Xuan now, even Shikaku, who wasn't one for gossip, couldn't help thinking the rumor might be true.
"Your identity checks out. I'll write up a report and give it to Lord Hokage."
Shikaku couldn't help taking another look at him.
"By the way, the village may inform your mother about you..."
"Mother?"
"Lord Tsunade..."
Before you continue