Great Fireball

The rogue ninja took a step forward.

Tsunade didn't retreat. Her knees trembled, but her feet stayed planted on the ground.

A jumble of thoughts flashed through her mind—she wasn't good at the Substitution Technique, the Clone Technique wouldn't help, and she didn't even have a Kunai.

Everything they'd taught her in class failed her in that moment.

Her palms were slick with sweat, and her thoughts were a mess.

Her grandfather's face flashed through her mind, then her second grandfather's voice. After that, everything shattered.

The last image that remained was the face looking at her from across the desk.

Kaede—

The thought had barely surfaced when she bit down on her lip.

Don't think about him. It wouldn't help even if she did.

He was on the mountaintop. It would take at least fifteen minutes to run there.

Besides, what good would he do if he came?

He'd only be one more person sent to his death.

But her mind wouldn't listen.

It didn't care that "coming wouldn't help." It just kept thinking of him, over and over, like someone drowning clutching at driftwood. It made no sense.

Tsunade forcefully shoved the thought away.

She was Tsunade.

Her grandfather had founded Konoha, and her second grandfather was the Hokage.

She refused to show fear and raised her hands in front of her chest.

The rogue ninja made no unnecessary movements.

His short sword slid from its sheath, its blade just over a foot long, and swept across toward her.

Tsunade raised her arm in front of her face.

She didn't know what it could block, but it was the only move she could make.

The blade never came down.

A fireball slammed in from the side, wrapped in a wave of scorching heat, and hurtled straight for the rogue ninja's face.

The rogue ninja reacted faster than he could think. At the last instant, he redirected his short sword and sprang three steps to the right.

The fireball grazed his clothes and struck the ground, scorching a black patch into it.

Tsunade's arm was still raised in front of her face.

A branch snapped overhead.

Someone dropped through the canopy and landed two meters in front of her, his back to her.

Kitahara Kaede didn't look back.

From beginning to end, his gaze stayed fixed on the man opposite him.

Tsunade stared at the familiar back.

It felt as if a stone were lodged in her throat. Every word was stuck behind it, unable to get out.

Just moments ago, she'd been desperately telling herself not to think of him.

Now he was standing right in front of her.

Kitahara Kaede made a quick assessment.

His Great Fireball hadn't hit, but his opponent's dodge hadn't been clean—the man's reaction speed was below Chunin level.

But he'd created distance with practiced ease. His footing was steady, and he hadn't panicked.

A Genin who'd been on the battlefield, with plenty of combat experience.

Kaede had no time to analyze further.

A seven-year-old body could only hold so much chakra. That Great Fireball had used up half of it, leaving him with enough for one more.

Taijutsu first, then Fire Release to finish the fight. There was no backup plan.

The rogue ninja was sizing him up too.

The air still held the heat of the fireball.

A seven-year-old boy had used a C-rank jutsu—and released it with precision.

That wasn't a skill a Ninja Academy student should have.

The rogue ninja's brow lowered slightly as he pointed his short sword down.

He'd originally planned to casually deal with the two troublesome brats and get on his way.

Running into a Ninja Academy exercise had been an accident. He needed to cross the mountain's back slope and enter the forest to the east, then leave the Land of Fire from there.

Two children had been in his way. He'd planned to clear them out.

But now there was an unexpected complication.

No more hesitation.

Body Flicker Technique.

To a seven-year-old's eyes, the Body Flicker of an adult ninja looked like he'd vanished into thin air. One moment, he was three meters away; the next, he was right in front of Kaede.

Kitahara Kaede's body reacted before his mind did.

He twisted his right shoulder back and lowered his center of gravity.

The rogue ninja's front kick skimmed past his left ribs. The instant the man's instep brushed his bones, pain exploded in Kaede's side.

Kaede let out a muffled grunt and slid back two steps with the force of the kick.

He stayed on his feet?

The rogue ninja drew back his leg, momentarily stunned.

Jiraiya was still leaning against a tree, half his body numb, his stomach churning.

He watched the rogue ninja close in on Kitahara Kaede, and his heart jolted—then he saw Kaede steady himself.

It looked like the kick had been just as powerful as the one that had hit him.

Jiraiya had been sent flying straight into a tree.

Kitahara Kaede had taken the same force, slid back two steps, and stayed on his feet.

Seven years old. The same age.

Jiraiya clenched his teeth, unable to put a name to what he felt.

The fight didn't stop.

The rogue ninja quit testing him and slashed with his short sword.

Kitahara Kaede didn't back away. He stepped forward to meet him.

Tsunade's heart skipped a beat.

Before the blade could reach him, Kaede slipped inside the rogue ninja's arm.

The short sword was most effective with the arm fully extended. At such close range, there wasn't enough room to swing it.

Once he was in close, Kaede's right hand clamped around the rogue ninja's sword wrist.

The man instinctively jerked his arm.

It didn't budge.

A seven-year-old boy's fingers locked around his wrist joint. Chakra flooded into Kaede's knuckles, wedging them in place like a vise.

The rogue ninja's expression changed.

He twisted his wrist and turned his elbow to counter, while his left hand came swinging across toward the side of Kaede's head.

Kaede tilted his head to dodge, but the force of the wrist twist made him stumble.

The rogue ninja drove a knee into him.

Kaede took the blow to his side. Pain blurred his vision, but his grip didn't loosen.

They were less than half a meter apart, locked in a struggle.

The rogue ninja was finally starting to panic.

He'd underestimated the boy.

Not his strength—no matter how strong a seven-year-old was, he couldn't be that strong.

He'd underestimated the boy's resolve.

The kid had taken two blows from him and still wouldn't let go. He clung to the man's wrist as if his life depended on it.

In that instant—

Kitahara Kaede gave a sudden, hard tug.

The rogue ninja was pulled half a step forward, his weight shifting—

Then the boy let go.

The rogue ninja instinctively started to retreat. In the brief opening, he saw the boy's hands forming seals.

Too close.

There was no time to dodge.

Kitahara Kaede opened his mouth.

The rogue ninja saw light inside the boy's mouth.

After the chakra changed nature in his throat, just before it surged out, there was a visible glow of scorching heat.

Point-blank.

Great Fireball.

A stream of scorching fire slammed straight into the rogue ninja's chest and face.

The rogue ninja screamed—but the sound cut off in less than a second.

Superheated gas poured into his respiratory tract, spasming his vocal cords.

He desperately tore himself free and tumbled backward four or five meters, rolling twice across the ground before stopping.

A huge hole had burned through the front of his short tunic, and extensive burns covered his chest and half his face.

Blackened and raw red patches mingled across his skin. Flesh showed through underneath, and wisps of smoke still curled from the edges.

The rogue ninja lay facedown in the dirt, clawing at the ground with his fingers. He tried twice to push himself up.

He couldn't.

When someone's respiratory tract was burned, each breath made a distinctive sound—a hiss, like wind squeezed through a crack.

The rogue ninja opened his mouth and made that sound. His eyes rolled back twice, then he toppled face-first into the dirt.

Now, all that remained in the forest was the wind through the leaves and the three children's ragged breathing.

Kitahara Kaede bent over with both hands braced on his knees.

His chakra was completely spent. He couldn't squeeze any more energy out of his cells.

His head was spinning, his ears were ringing, and the area around his left ribs hurt so badly it had gone numb. Even breathing made the pain flare.

First, he turned around.

Tsunade stood five meters away, motionless.

"Are you hurt?"

His voice was a little hoarse.

Tsunade's lips moved twice, but no sound came out.

She shook her head.

Kitahara Kaede nodded, then turned the other way.

Jiraiya was still leaning against the tree trunk. His face was pale, but his eyes were wide open.

"What about you?"

Jiraiya stared at him for two seconds. His mouth opened and closed, as if a whole lot of words were jammed in his throat. In the end, only one sentence slipped out.

"...That was pretty cool."

His voice was muffled, squeezed out through clenched teeth.

After a pause, he added, "You bastard."

Kitahara Kaede walked over and held out a hand.

Jiraiya looked down at it and hesitated.

When Kaede pulled him to his feet, Jiraiya's legs were still shaking. He had to brace himself against the tree to stand steadily.

He didn't say anything else.

His gaze passed over Kaede's shoulder to the rogue ninja lying facedown, then shifted back.

It settled on the hand Kaede was pressing to his ribs. He stared for a while, then looked away.

Tsunade came over, her pace steady.

When she reached Kitahara Kaede, she first looked down at the spot he was holding.

There was nothing visible from outside his clothes, but that area of his ribs was slightly swollen. He still hadn't moved his hand.

"Let me see."

She reached out to lift his shirt hem.

Kitahara Kaede stepped back half a pace. "It's just a bruise."

"I said, let me see."

Kitahara Kaede didn't dodge again.

Tsunade lifted his shirt hem.

A large patch of darkening purple bruises covered his left ribs, spreading outward.

She pressed her fingers against it, very gently.

Kitahara Kaede drew in a breath.

"Nothing's broken," Tsunade said. "It's a contusion. Get it treated at the hospital when we get back."

She lowered his shirt.

The two of them stood very close.

Tsunade looked up at him, her lips parting slightly.

The words were on the tip of her tongue—but she swallowed them back.

Somewhere nearby, a noise came from a tree.