"Ugh... Ah, y-you bastard."
Takisui couldn't help spitting out a mouthful of blood after being successfully ambushed.
He retreated a long way, then endured the pain and pulled the kunai from his chest.
As he tossed the blood-soaked kunai onto the ground with a clatter, he vomited another mouthful of blood.
If he hadn't hurriedly turned the area around his heart into water for a moment, that strike would have sent him straight to the afterlife.
Hiashi and Hanabi were both bewildered by the sudden betrayal, standing there dumbfounded as they watched.
Was this... infighting among the bandits?
Takisui glared furiously at his attacker, already guessing that someone had used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves.
Lord Takisui had never suffered such a loss before—not even when he served in Kirigakure's Anbu!
At that moment, his eyes looked as if he wanted to devour his attacker's flesh and drink his blood.
"You're not Yojima. Who are you, really?"
Seeing that Takisui was badly wounded but still alive, Qiuyang nodded in disappointment.
"Correct. That person you mentioned? I killed him a few days ago. He died pretty horribly."
Qiuyang spoke as if reminiscing, without the slightest hint of guilt over having killed someone.
Then again, when you saw these bandits' vile faces as they committed every kind of evil and raped people at will, you could bet anyone would strike harder than usual.
Perhaps it was also because Qiuyang still thought of this as an anime world. The people he'd killed... were just NPCs.
In any case, people said that killing someone for the first time brought on a powerful emotional reaction. Qiuyang hadn't really felt much of one.
But since his ambush had failed, Qiuyang simply dispelled the Transformation Technique and returned to his original appearance.
After releasing Hanabi, he worked with Hiashi from the outside to break the Water Prison Technique holding him captive.
Without its caster continually supplying chakra, the Water Prison Technique soon broke apart with a splash. Hanabi hurried over and supported her father with her small frame.
At last able to breathe fresh air, Hiashi took a few moments to recover. He looked up, ready to thank Qiuyang for saving him, but then noticed that Qiuyang was wearing a Konoha forehead protector.
Huh? He hadn't sent the village a distress signal. How had someone come to help...? And this person looked completely unfamiliar!
Hiashi hesitated, then asked Qiuyang, "May I ask who you are...?"
"Oh, Lord Hiashi, I'm a Genin from the village named Qiuyang. It's only natural you haven't seen me before."
Hyuga Hiashi felt rather embarrassed hearing that. Strictly speaking, this young man had saved his and his daughter's lives, yet he didn't even know who Qiuyang was.
Still, he couldn't let the dignity of Konoha's strongest clan slip. Enduring his injuries, Hiashi promised, "Thank you for coming to our rescue. Once we return to the village, the Hyuga Clan will not forget this kindness."
Having read the original story, Qiuyang knew what the Hyuga Clan leader was thinking and shook his head, setting things straight.
"I didn't come here specifically to rescue you. My master, Jiraiya, assigned me a mission here."
"What? You're a disciple of Lord Jiraiya, one of the Sannin?"
Hiashi was shocked. He studied the young man before him again, who looked only a few years older than his eldest daughter.
As far as he knew, Lord Jiraiya rarely took on disciples. The only one Hiashi knew of was the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, whom everyone called the Yellow Flash.
Lord Jiraiya's judgment when choosing students was beyond question.
So the young man in front of him... might very well grow into a powerful ninja like the Fourth Hokage.
Hiashi drew in a sharp breath, deciding that he would have to build a good relationship with Qiuyang from now on.
It had to be said: as leader of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi had a keen eye for these things.
Qiuyang noticed out of the corner of his eye that Hiashi had apparently made a note of his identity and name. It made him feel quite pleased.
Yeah... he'd deliberately revealed who he was.
Once Hiashi and the others returned and spread the word, Qiuyang would make a dazzling entrance in Konoha and finally say goodbye to his old, timid self.
Even if Obito came looking for him, he now had the ability to hold his own for a while.
And even if he couldn't win, he still had the life-saving Teleportation Banner he'd obtained from the mysterious Mangekyo space of the God-Meeting Machine!
What's more, once he got the boost from Hashirama Cells, he'd have enough chakra to use the God-Meeting Machine for another draw.
Hopefully, he'd get a more powerful weapon this time.
"Listen, Lord Hiashi. You're injured, so you and your people can take care of the bandits over there. I'll deal with this Kirigakure missing-nin."
As he spoke, Qiuyang noticed little Hanabi, the future brother-in-law of the Hokage, looking at him curiously.
He couldn't help reaching out to pat her on the head, then his eyes flashed crimson as his Sharingan appeared.
The sudden change startled the little girl. Her pale eyes widened comically.
He couldn't resist teasing her afterward. "Got that, little miss?"
"Ah, yes."
Takisui, left standing off to one side, was still trying to decide whether to abandon his men and run for it. But he couldn't bear to leave behind all the wealth he'd worked so hard to steal and stash in the warehouse.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, he saw Qiuyang's red eyes turn toward him, and nearly lost his nerve entirely.
He threw a spiked caltrop and a smoke bomb onto the ground, then turned and fled.
Good grief! Sharingan and Byakugan—if he didn't run now, he'd be as good as dead.
Qiuyang drew the short sword he'd found in the bandits' treasure vault yesterday.
"Do what we just discussed. Take care of the remaining bandits over there, and I'll handle this Kirigakure missing-nin."
With that, he formed a sword sign with his left hand and vanished before Hiashi and Hanabi's eyes.
"I never thought anyone this powerful from the Uchiha Clan had survived. Weren't they supposed to have only that child left...?"
Hiashi sighed. Qiuyang's display of the Sharingan had startled him as well. He couldn't understand how the young man had escaped the clan's massacre.
But Hiashi knew this wasn't the time to ponder that question. The veins around his eyes bulged again as he activated his Byakugan.
Knowing that his daughter had already used up her chakra in the earlier fight, he told Hanabi to stay where she was while he went to deal with the bandits, who had begun to scatter after seeing their leader flee.
After Hanabi nodded, Hiashi pursued the fleeing bandits. He was injured, but not so badly that he couldn't beat ordinary people like them.
After her father left, Hanabi unconsciously activated her Byakugan and peered through the smoke at the figure fighting the enemy.
That older brother was using some kind of Body Flicker Technique. He kept appearing and disappearing around Takisui.
And Takisui, who'd already been stabbed straight through the chest, stood no chance against Qiuyang, who'd solved his chakra shortage.
Like Hiashi a moment earlier, he wasn't interested in fighting at all. He only wanted to figure out how to escape.
In the Sharingan's dynamically observant gaze, he was full of openings.
And so Hanabi watched Qiuyang run his sword through Takisui once more.
So cool!
The young girl didn't understand all the principles her father had taught her. She only knew that the big brother who'd saved her was truly, incredibly cool!
Before you continue