Black Flash of Konoha

As soon as he finished speaking, a gigantic toad dropped from the sky and crashed down hard on the attacking snake.

The impact sent a powerful tremor through the gathered ninjas and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. The force was so great that even the trees ahead bent beneath it.

After taking the blow, the snake spat out a great mess of saliva and blood, then vanished with a poof.

The one who had unleashed the attack was Qiuyang, who had leaped above the snake and used Summoning Jutsu.

As it happened, two days ago Qiuyang had been curious and asked his master how to perform this jutsu, which had saved the day so many times in the original series. Jiraiya had answered him like this:

"Oh, you just jump over your opponent's head, then summon a creature. You use your falling speed and the summon's weight to crush everything beneath you—"

Since it was a jutsu Jiraiya himself had created, he even mimed a toad crushing someone when he got excited explaining it.

The merciless truth left Qiuyang speechless:

That meant any sturdy, heavy summon could be used for this jutsu.

He'd thought Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique had some special trick to it! Otherwise, Minato and Jiraiya wouldn't have used it to suppress the rampaging Nine-Tails.

But the principle was that simple.

Still, now that he'd actually used it, Qiuyang realized that Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique was far more visually impressive—and much more stylish—than an ordinary summon.

All he had to do was fold his arms, gaze up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, and stand steady on the toad's head. Then he could feel the admiring gazes of all the ninjas below.

Even if there weren't many people from his village at the scene.

But who wouldn't love a dramatic rescue that looked like a deity descending from the heavens?

The jonin had the same look in his eyes. Even as he gaped in astonishment, he couldn't help asking, "Y-you are..."

"Good question. I am Qiuyang, disciple of the Sannin Jiraiya."

"Are you the genius boy Qiuyang Lord Hiashi mentioned? You really are as impressive as the rumors say."

The jonin's eyes lit up as he cried out excitedly, his voice filled with the kind of admiration reserved for the truly powerful.

Oh, yeah... that felt good...

No wonder everyone loved such a dramatic entrance. Qiuyang realized he was hooked, too.

After clearing his throat, he ordered Gamako, whom he had summoned by spending more than half the chakra sealed within his Eight Trigrams Sealing, to block the remaining snake. Then he leaped down from the toad's head.

His eyes turned provocatively toward the forest where the hidden Sunagakure and Otogakure ninjas were lurking.

From this day on, his reputation would spread once more. The obscure, cowardly blond boy he'd once been would be forgotten for good.

He'd waited a long time for this day, but it had been worth it.

They couldn't wait any longer.

"Attack."

The jonin squad leaders from Otogakure and Sunagakure watched the snakes intently from afar. When one of them was dispersed, they exchanged glances and decided to charge straight in.

They knew that anyone capable of summoning a creature of that caliber had to be powerful, but they didn't think he could defeat more than thirty of them.

Besides... after the snakes' relentless attacks, fewer than five Konoha ninjas at the entrance were still able to fight.

The advantage was ours.

"Hmph, I didn't expect Konoha to have such a genius. What a shame..."

The first to appear at the gate was a square-faced Sunagakure jonin with white bandages wrapped around his face. As he formed Hand Seals, he continued regretfully:

"You'll fall on this battlefield today.

Wind Release: Great Air Cannon."

He took a deep breath, then fired four enormous cannonball-like blasts from his mouth in quick succession.

The Air Cannon traveled extremely fast and was almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Ordinary people could only guess its trajectory from the ripples in the air.

"Heh... you're underestimating me. You only sent two Air Cannons my way?"

Qiuyang said, thoroughly displeased. He raised his hand and formed a volleyball-sized Rasengan, choosing to meet the two Air Cannons head-on.

He could've activated his Sharingan to track their paths and dodge, but hadn't he said he was going to show off in front of everyone in Konoha today?

So he needed to make a big scene.

"Pff—"

The moment the Air Cannons touched the Rasengan, they were shattered. They barely drained any of its energy at all.

Rasengan: my hem's a little dirty. That's all!

Qiuyang now had a better sense of the Rasengan's power. As expected, it was a jutsu Minato had developed based on the Tailed Beast Bomb.

The basic Rasengan might not have looked impressive in the main story, and it was rare for it to kill an enemy, but that was because its opponents were all Kage Level or higher.

Against nameless extras, or the obscure jonin and chunin now standing before Qiuyang, the basic Rasengan was a bona fide killing weapon.

Just look at Prince Naruto. Whenever his talk no jutsu failed over the course of the series, he'd come up with all kinds of Rasengan to "persuade" people through sheer force. That made it obvious enough.

Planetary Rasengan, Big Ball Rasengan, Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan, Rasenshuriken—and, if that weren't enough, even Eight Trigrams Rasengan.

There wasn't a problem in the Ninja World that a Rasengan couldn't solve. If one didn't do the trick, then two, three, or countless more would.

It was the very definition of one trick that worked everywhere—a move officially recognized as effective.

The Rasengan was strong. It was the bomb!

Still holding the Rasengan, Qiuyang saw the hidden ninjas from Sunagakure and Otogakure emerge and decided to put on another good show with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Hey, old jonin, help me throw these five kunai over there in a moment. Then the rest... the rest... uh..."

Qiuyang had originally planned to recreate Minato's feat of having four people throw Flying Thunder God Kunai before instantly killing more than fifty jonin.

Sure, he could only teleport to marks within fifty meters of himself, and he couldn't have more than six marks.

But it'd be enough to perform a simplified version and make a name for himself, right?

What he hadn't expected was that when he turned around to look at the teammates who'd still been standing moments ago, he found they'd all been knocked to the ground by the other two Air Cannons.

The fact that their bodies were still twitching was the only sign they hadn't kicked the bucket yet.

Qiuyang was so shocked by the sight that his jaw practically hit the ground.

Seriously, were Konoha's genin the real powerhouses? And were these jonin even jonin at all? They were leagues behind the other villages' ninjas!

The squad leader had probably seen the shock and helplessness on Qiuyang's face. He said, looking ashamed, "Sorry, I used too much chakra just now. But don't worry, I'll..."

The jonin struggled to his feet, trying to help, but reality slapped him in the face—

He'd barely stood up before collapsing again, his head hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Enough, enough. Just stay there and watch. I'll take care of them."

With that, he flung the kunai marked with Flying Thunder God Formula in his hand toward different spots. Then, in the blink of an eye...

Sharingan.

Ever since the day he'd become Jiraiya's student and first used the Sharingan, he'd decided to stop hiding the fact that he had it.

"What? How does this guy have the Sharingan?"

As soon as one of the Sound Ninjas in the group cried out, Qiuyang appeared right in front of him and slammed the Rasengan into his face...

After dealing with that jonin, who'd left himself particularly vulnerable, with the Rasengan, Qiuyang drew the short sword at his waist.

The scene turned into a one-sided slaughter. The jonin had been prepared and could still hold their ground, but the chunin in the squad were in for a terrible time.

With the Sharingan briefly trapping them in genjutsu, Qiuyang used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear beside them one after another and slash their throats with his short sword.

The remaining chunin were scared out of their wits. "Ah! What is that thing if not a ghost? Run!"

That day, the Konoha jonin lying on the ground and the chunin under his command witnessed the birth of the man they would call "Black Flash of Konoha."