When Torifu woke, it was still early, around three in the morning. The sleep had left him full of energy.
There was still plenty of time before his spar with Chirori, so he wasn't in a hurry to go. Instead, he tried developing a new jutsu.
He had only just mastered Cloud Release and was still far from proficient. Besides, he hadn't even learned all the Cloud Release techniques recorded by his clan, so there was no need to develop any yet.
Crystal Release, on the other hand, had been granted to him by the system and had already become one with him. Using it came as naturally as breathing, so he naturally wanted to develop more jutsu.
The process was undoubtedly tedious. He could repeat the same thing over and over, only for the result to still fall short of his expectations. But Torifu had the Genius buff, which made developing jutsu much easier.
More than an hour passed, and the sun was already beginning to sink. Torifu wrapped up his work, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and prepared to head out.
Although he had no servants at home, he hired people to clean every so often. After all, how could the head of a clan possibly work as his own housekeeper?
Torifu and Chirori had agreed to spar that evening above the Hokage Rock. Fighting in the village would draw too much attention, and there was no need to make such a spectacle of an ordinary spar.
It was time for the academy to let out, and Torifu ran into a few of his old classmates along the way. They all asked, puzzled, why Mr. Calm hadn't been coming to school lately.
Torifu dodged the question rather than answering directly.
Should he tell these kids, who had been at the academy for less than a month, that he was already Lord Hokage's disciple? It would probably crush them.
He had hoped to run into Maruboshi Kosuke and the other two, but he didn't see them even after passing the academy. So Torifu simply headed up the mountain.
"Man, it really is a little slow getting around without Flying Thunder God."
Come to think of it, the mountain was pretty tall. Chirori had found that out firsthand that morning, while Torifu had gotten a ride up with Tobirama and hadn't noticed.
It took him nearly twenty minutes to reach the summit. The sky gradually turned golden, and looking down over all of Konoha from up here gave him a unique feeling.
Before long, Torifu heard a noise on the path leading up the mountain. He figured it was probably Chirori, but still went on guard.
Only when Chirori appeared did he relax.
"Sorry for the wait, Torifu," Chirori said apologetically.
She was the one who had invited Torifu to spar, yet she had arrived late.
"No worries. I only just got here."
"Shall we start?" Torifu asked.
"Um, there's no need to rush. By the way, Torifu, have you figured out your own Will of Fire?"
Chirori had always felt that Kumonaka Torikaze's way of thinking was worth learning from. Lord Hokage had set them an assignment, and although she had already formed some ideas of her own, she still wanted to hear Torifu's thoughts.
"I've got a rough outline. It'll take a long time to refine, though. It won't happen overnight, and it's not something I can explain in just a sentence or two."
Hearing that, Chirori could only nod.
"Let's get started. I have a bad feeling about this place."
More specifically, the feeling had begun after Chirori arrived—a prickling sensation, as if someone were watching him from behind.
"Here I come," she said, her pupils spinning until they became Three Tomoe.
Facing Torifu, Chirori didn't hesitate to activate her Sharingan and enter her strongest state!
After seeing Torifu fight Kyo, Chirori understood how strong he was, so she didn't dare let her guard down.
She sprang toward Torifu in a single bound and slashed at his arm with the Kunai in her hand.
Torifu didn't panic at Chirori's strike. He dodged to the side, then reached back and grabbed her arm.
Just as he was about to throw her, Chirori suddenly put all her strength into breaking free of his grip. She leapt into the air and threw three shuriken.
"Crystal Release: Crystal Mirror Jutsu."
A translucent, pale-pink crystal mirror appeared between Chirori and Torifu, completely blocking the shuriken she had thrown.
"Crystal Release: Mirror Reflection Jutsu."
Torifu's figure vanished in an instant. Even after landing, Chirori couldn't locate him with her Sharingan.
"Damn it! Where is he?"
A bead of sweat slid down from her temple. Chirori had thought that activating her Sharingan would let her keep Torifu in check for a while, but she had still underestimated him.
"Found you!"
Just as Chirori noticed something strange in the crystal mirror, Torifu emerged from it. His upper body was outside the mirror, while his lower body remained inside, making him look as though he had been cut in half.
"Crystal Release: Hexagonal Shuriken Dance." After forming the Hand Seals, Torifu flung a countless number of crystal shuriken, scattering them like petals from the hands of a celestial maiden and leaving no room to dodge.
Seeing this, Chirori knew that if she didn't give it everything she had, she would lose.
"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball burst from her mouth—the Uchiha Clan's signature Fireball Jutsu! Chirori truly lived up to her reputation as an Uchiha Clan prodigy. Her fireball was more than twice the size of the one Kyo had unleashed.
The crystal shuriken filled the sky, but when they met the blazing fireball, both attacks canceled each other out and vanished.
Torifu still had half his body tucked inside the mirror, looking ready to duck in and make a getaway at any moment. Chirori was at a loss for what to do.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Chirori spat five fireballs at Torifu in midair. They were beautiful as phoenix flowers, but concealed beneath their beauty was the Uchiha Clan's specialty: shuriken!
The fireballs concealed the shuriken, making them hard to spot.
But this technique wasn't very effective against Torifu. Just as it was about to hit him, his body slowly slipped back into the mirror.
The Crystal Mirror struck by the Phoenix Sage Fire only developed a few hairline cracks. It didn't shatter.
Once he sensed that the attack from outside had ended, Torifu had barely poked his head out when a Kunai struck him squarely in the head. It pierced his skull and buried itself deep inside!
Torifu's body immediately went limp, dangling in midair. A single strike had killed him!
"Torifu!" Chirori was completely stunned by what she saw. Her mind went blank.
She hadn't seen where the Kunai had come from before it had already pierced Torifu's head.
Fear flooded Chirori's heart. She turned to look at the woods, but her Sharingan detected nothing unusual.
Yet she couldn't go after the culprit with Torifu still hanging in midair! She didn't know if he could still be saved.
But when Chirori looked back at Torifu, she saw that the figure who had just been covered in blood had turned into a crystal sculpture, with the Kunai embedded in its head.
Chirori collapsed to the ground and gulped in air as if she had narrowly escaped death.
'Torifu's okay!' That was her first thought. After all, she had seen this technique before—just yesterday.
Sure enough, the half-body crystal sculpture on the mirror slowly shattered, its pieces falling away.
Another Torifu emerged from the mirror. He smiled and greeted Chirori.
"Sorry for scaring you, Chirori."
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