The Consequences of Arrogance

"Watch out! He's behind you!!" the girl screamed hysterically.

Perched on the dense foliage, the boy felt a subtle sound from behind, a chill creeping up his neck, stiffening it so much he couldn't even turn his head.

From the shadows, the man's figure flickered in and out of sight, surrounded by swarming insects that emitted a scalp-tingling rustle.

"Yo, kid, got a lot of Chakra, huh?" a playful voice rang out. Aburame Keiichi placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and leaned in to whisper.

"Well, no need to be so tense. I won't do anything to you. If you surrender, you'll suffer less."

As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Kai's body twitched, as if unable to suppress a laugh, trembling uncontrollably.

"?" Aburame Keiichi looked confused, wondering what the boy was up to.

"Teacher, did you forget what you just said?" Uchiha Kai asked with a light laugh, his tone full of mockery.

The next moment, the boy spun around, locking onto Aburame Keiichi's arm with a fierce grip, a hint of madness in his eyes.

"As a Ninja, you can never let your guard down, no matter when or where, and you must never underestimate your opponent."

The arrogant Uchiha let out a wild laugh, a brilliant light suddenly appearing in his chest. Light and heat compressed within, followed by a spectacular explosion.

"What!?"

In a panic, Aburame Keiichi tightened his grip, and Uchiha Kai below him dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.

"That little lunatic!"

Smoke billowed everywhere, the sound of the explosion drowning out Aburame Keiichi's curses.

"Attack!"

Having dispelled his Shadow Clone, Uchiha Kai shook his head, feeling the Chakra refill within him, and shouted to Hyuga Rei.

"Okay!" the girl responded, her body moving as her palms, charged with Chakra, shot towards the insect clone.

In the center of the battlefield was the insect clone, its body twitching uncontrollably, struggling to maintain its form.

"Eight Trigrams Empty Strike!"

The girl thrust out her palms. Driven by her abundant Chakra, the air transformed into a terrifying shockwave, performing an open-chest surgery on the stunned insect clone.

"Sizzle sizzle..." The insect clone, no longer controlled by its host, emitted a strange buzzing sound.

"Rustle rustle~" Immediately after being attacked, the insect clone counterattacked with terrifying speed, its right arm bending 180 degrees as it lunged at the girl.

"Fall back!" Uchiha Kai yelled.

"Wind Release: Gale Slash!" "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Crimson!"

Uchiha Kai and his Shadow Clone performed hand seals simultaneously, releasing their Ninjutsu one after another.

"Swish!"

An invisible wind blade swept through, tearing the insect clone violently in half.

The next second, Shuriken transformed into fiery meteors rained down, accurately hitting the bisected insect clone.

"Sizzle... crackle-" Under the intense heat, the insect clone finally turned into charred remains, which continued to crackle loudly as they fell to the ground.

"Ding ding--"

Bright silver bells chimed in the air before landing in Uchiha Kai's palm.

After playing with one for a moment, he split another and tossed it to Hyuga Rei, who caught it steadily.

"Hey~ Kai-kun, wasn't that a bit much? You even used Explosive Tags..." Looking at the lingering smoke and the expressionless Uchiha Kai beside her, the girl tilted her head and asked in a low voice.

"On the first day of the joint mission, if we blew up our Guidance Jonin... we'd probably be stuck in jail for life..." Her voice trembled slightly, as if she could already foresee a dark future.

"Ah, no, Teacher Keiichi is outrageously strong," Uchiha Kai said nonchalantly.

Recalling the sensation transmitted by his Shadow Clone, the terrifying aura and immense power from that not-so-large hand on his shoulder had genuinely startled him.

"Besides, they're just ordinary Explosive Tags. With Secret Insects protecting him, he might not even bleed," the boy waved his hand, looking relaxed.

"Sigh... Whether he bleeds or not, it's still terrifying..." The girl helplessly covered her face, sighing as she looked at the boy whose personality completely changed and became reckless when he fought.

"What do you mean 'just ordinary Explosive Tags'... Do you have special ones?!" Hyuga Rei suddenly exclaimed, her voice roughening in shock.

"This... that... probably not?" The boy scratched his head, avoiding her gaze.

"You do have them! What's the difference between that and admitting it directly! That's so obvious!" the girl was shocked.

"Well~ Don't worry about such trivial matters. Let's see how Teacher Keiichi is doing first."

Before he finished speaking, the thick smoke covering the trees in the distance had already dissipated.

"Cough cough cough~"

Beneath the ravaged tree debris, a large pile of scorched material lay. In the center, Aburame Keiichi fanned away the smoke in front of him, coughing.

"Quite the crazy kid... I can only say, as expected of an Uchiha," the man praised sincerely, though his eyes trembled. He looked at the boy's harmless face as if he were staring at some unknown demon.

Large patches of scorched insect corpses fell from his cheeks and limbs, revealing reddened skin beneath. Aburame Keiichi looked like a shattered porcelain doll, with "body tissues" constantly falling off, a horrifying sight.

"Teacher Keiichi, are you alright?" Hyuga Rei took two steps forward and asked softly.

"Hmph hmph... No serious injuries," the man rubbed his chest, stubbornly claiming.

"No way... Luckily, I reacted fast enough. I almost gave Shibi that scoundrel a chance to collect my condolence money..." the man roared inwardly, though his expression remained unchanged.

"Hahaha... A good tactic. You decisively exploited the enemy's underestimation of children to implement a countermeasure," Aburame Keiichi chuckled dryly, then said solemnly.

"You executed this point very well. It's I who ended up looking rather unsightly, preaching grand principles to my students while failing to uphold them myself..." Aburame Keiichi said with a heavy tone, reflecting sincerely.

"Arrogance is truly the ugliest trait."

"You're too kind, Teacher Keiichi. You were merely guiding us from a teacher's perspective, not engaging in a real Ninja battle. Lapses are inevitable," Uchiha Kai shook his head.

Only he knew that what Aburame Keiichi had shown was merely the tip of the iceberg of his strength. From their brief encounter just now, he could tell.

If this were a real life-or-death struggle, their combined chances of surviving Aburame Keiichi's attack would be infinitesimally close to zero.

It was even uncertain if they could last ten seconds.

"I only won through external factors, by sheer luck," the young man said sincerely.

"Heh, you don't need to make excuses for me. Losing is losing," Aburame Keiichi shook his head and gently denied.

"In the world of Ninjas, a moment of carelessness means death. Anyone will pay the price for their arrogance. If this were real combat and not some bell-grabbing exercise, I'd likely be in mortal danger."

"Besides, what 'external factors' or not, anything that can provide assistance is an extension of a Ninja's limbs. As long as it can defeat the enemy and be put to use, it's the best method."

Feeling his chest, which no longer stung as much, Aburame Keiichi exhaled a breath of turbid air, his expression one of relief.

"To be lectured by newly graduated students... If this gets out, I'll probably be laughed at by my former subordinates for ten thousand years." The man scratched his head, feeling an inexplicable heat flush his face.

"However, for now, I declare."

Aburame Keiichi gave his thumb, praising them without reservation.

"You two, full marks!"