Climbing Over the Wall

The next few days were unusually peaceful.

During the day, Team 7 went out on missions—helping people move things, catching cats, pulling weeds, repairing roofs.

But Chiya actually found these kinds of missions pretty nice now.

They barely consumed any chakra during the day, and at night, he could go home and keep practicing ninjutsu. Life was a little tough, but it was peaceful enough.

That evening, a lamp was lit in the courtyard.

Chiya stood in the middle of the yard, slowly forming hand seals with both hands.

After several days of constant attempts, he could clearly feel that the chakra inside him flowed much more smoothly than before. His chakra fusion had become far more stable, and he could even perform simple fusion ninjutsu.

He took a deep breath. Heat gathered in his palm, while earth-nature chakra beneath his feet was gradually drawn up.

Chiya stared at his hands as they formed seals. His fingers suddenly paused, then he sharply lifted his head.

"Meteor Release, Lava Bullet!"

The next instant, a small, glowing red stone shot from his mouth.

It was not large, only as thick as a thumb, but it was absurdly fast. With a whoosh, it streaked across the courtyard and struck a wooden post by the wall with a bang.

The post shuddered violently.

A scorched smell rose from the impact point. Reddish debris clung to its edges, like thoroughly burned stone chips.

Chiya walked over to take a look, reached out to touch it, then immediately pulled his hand back.

"Not bad."

He shook his hand, but the corners of his mouth kept curling upward.

The edge of the wooden post was still scorching hot, and a hole had been blasted through its center.

Though this Lava Bullet was small and its power was nowhere near impressive, it was fast enough and had decent penetration. In a real fight, suddenly spitting one out would probably be enough to give someone a nasty surprise.

It was a promising start.

Chiya looked at the blackened pit in the post, and his mind began working again.

If Lava Bullet worked, could he try Earth Flow Spears too? If he added a little fire-nature chakra to an earth spike, then when it erupted, it would not be an ordinary earth spike, but a molten spike carrying intense heat...

His eyes lit up at the thought.

If he mastered that, it would be perfect for catching people off guard.

Just as Chiya was about to try again, a faint sound suddenly came from beyond the courtyard wall.

He snapped his head around.

A dark figure flipped over the wall and landed inside, moving with surprising agility.

The person moved lightly and made almost no sound while climbing over, but unfortunately, his eyes met Chiya's the moment he landed.

The two stood in the courtyard several steps apart, staring wide-eyed at each other.

Chiya focused his gaze.

Well, well. The intruder was actually Sasuke.

Sasuke clearly had not expected to get caught red-handed either. His expression stiffened. Moonlight fell across his face, revealing that the tips of his ears were slightly red.

Chiya blinked and held back a laugh.

"Why didn't you use the front door?"

Sasuke straightened up, his tone stiff.

"I... I was practicing taijutsu."

Chiya dragged out his words.

"Oh—practicing taijutsu, all the way into my courtyard?"

Sasuke's face reddened further, and he turned his head aside.

"Why do you talk so much?"

Chiya finally could not hold it in and laughed.

"What are you laughing at?!"

"Nothing, nothing." Chiya hurriedly waved his hand. "Come inside. We'll talk inside."

Chiya turned and headed into the house, though he still could not suppress the smile on his lips.

Sasuke stood in the courtyard and looked at him for a moment before finally following him inside.

The house was warmer than the courtyard.

Chiya poured two cups of juice, pushed one toward Sasuke, and sat across from him.

"Go on. What did you come to see me about in the middle of the night?"

Sasuke did not answer immediately.

He lowered his head to look at the cup, his fingers resting against its side for a long while.

Chiya did not rush him.

After a while, Sasuke finally looked up.

"Chiya."

"Yeah?"

"You said that no matter what I did, you would help me, right?"

Sasuke's eyes were very serious. Seeing his solemn expression, Chiya's playful smile faded as well.

Chiya looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"I did."

Sasuke's fingers tightened slightly.

"That night, I couldn't sleep."

Chiya froze.

Sasuke continued, "I know you killed five ninja by yourself."

The room fell quiet.

Outside the window, the wind rustled through the leaves.

Chiya looked at Sasuke without speaking.

Sasuke did not avoid his gaze either.

"I don't care who they were, and I don't care whether they deserved to die." Sasuke raised his head and said solemnly, "I only want to know how you did it."

Chiya let out a breath.

He had thought Sasuke was about to defect from the village already. That had scared him for a second.

Sasuke had merely seen the strength he had displayed.

He had seen what he wanted most right now.

Chiya leaned back in his chair and slowly exhaled.

"You know Naruto has a fox demon inside him, right?"

Sasuke frowned slightly.

"I know."

"Actually, I have something similar inside me too."

Sasuke's expression changed.

Chiya did not explain any further.

He did not know how to explain it either.

Tell him Kaguya Otsutsuki lived inside him? Sasuke probably would not even know who she was if he said it.

So he merely looked at Sasuke.

"That isn't my own power."

Sasuke fell silent.

Chiya lowered his head to look at the juice in his cup, his voice quieter.

"Sasuke, I know you want to become stronger. But the current you, and the current me, are both too weak."

Sasuke's expression darkened.

As though he did not notice, Chiya continued, "Right now, we're only tiny grains of sand in this world. Many things aren't what they seem, and this world is far more complicated than either of us realizes."

Sasuke's hand slowly clenched.

The juice in his cup rippled.

"No matter what..."

His voice was a little hoarse.

"No matter what, I will personally kill that man."

Chiya looked at him.

He knew Sasuke would not listen.

Right now, Sasuke's heart held nothing but revenge.

He could only walk his own path himself.

Chiya was silent for a while, then stood and walked to the desk. He took out the scroll Haku had left behind from a drawer.

He handed Haku's training notes to Sasuke.

"You can take a look at this."

Sasuke looked up.

"What is it?"

"Training notes Haku gave me." Chiya sat back down. "They include techniques for One-Handed Hand Seals, as well as some insights into Chakra Nature Transformation. The parts about nature transformation should be useful to you too."

Sasuke accepted the scroll, his fingers lingering on it briefly.

"You're letting me read it?"

"It's not like I'm giving it to you." Chiya shot him a glance. "Give it back when you're done."

Sasuke lowered his head and unrolled the scroll.

He read quickly.

When he reached the section on One-Handed Hand Seals, his eyes visibly shifted. As he continued to the part on Chakra Nature Transformation, the expression on his face gradually became serious as well.

Chiya lifted his juice and took a sip.

Sasuke had only skimmed through a little, but he was clearly drawn in by its contents.

"I'll return it tomorrow."

"Fine."

Sasuke stood up.

Chiya could not help asking, "Climbing over the wall again this time?"

Sasuke paused.

He gave Chiya a cold look.

"The door's too far."

Chiya nearly burst out laughing again.