Barlow stepped forward, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
Roy stood shoulder to shoulder with him and pushed his scabbard forward half an inch, producing the faintest scrape of metal.
Mila circled in from the left flank and took up position half a step behind them. The straight blade at her waist was also two inches out of its sheath.
Damian reached out and gently pulled Gwen behind him.
Then Barlow said, "Roy, show them what we Uchiha can do."
Roy released the scabbard and formed hand seals before his chest.
His ten fingers shifted faster than the eye could track. His Adam's apple trembled as chakra flowed through his meridians into the glands of his throat, turning into a scorching current of air there.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The flames Roy expelled swelled into a blazing sphere nearly three meters across, spinning at high speed through the air. Its trajectory ended just two steps in front of the men in black suits.
The gravel road melted red and soft. Heat waves rolled through the air, warping it in the firelight. The front row of black suits staggered back in unison, coughing as the blast of heat hit them head-on, their hands gripping their weapons going rigid.
Before they could regain their footing, Barlow let go of his sword hilt. He formed hand seals at least thirty percent faster than Roy.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique!"
A straight-line fire dragon blasted from his mouth, tearing through the night sky above the lingering flames of the Great Fireball.
The fire dragon struck no one. It swept diagonally over the black suits' heads and crashed precisely into a lone white wax tree at the end of the shopping street. The crown burst into flame in an instant,