Gunfire echoed through the dense forest.
The thug who had been about to deliver the killing blow clutched his thigh, rolling through the grass and screaming. His blood soon stained the fallen leaves around him red.
Qian Ye strolled out from behind a thick tree trunk.
He raised the revolver to his lips and blew away the wisp of smoke rising from its muzzle with an outrageously showy flourish.
Then he flicked his wrist, spinning the heavy gun in a graceful arc around his finger before sliding it neatly into his holster.
"The winds of Texas have finally reached the Hidden Leaf."
Qian Ye looked at the thug on the ground, his lips quirking.
"Remember, a cowboy will always draw faster than you can form hand seals."
Pakura froze in the grass.
She was still sprawled awkwardly on the ground with her hands shackled.
Her gaze fixed on the Hidden Leaf brat who had been cowering at the very back of the group just moments ago.
Countless questions flooded Pakura's mind.
"What Texas? What boy?"
Qian Ye walked over and kicked the still-wailing thug two meters away.
"I'm saying you're lucky to be alive, lady."
Qian Ye pulled a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and tossed it in his hand twice.
"If my aim weren't so damn good, you'd already be taking a number in the Pure Land. Not even a thank-you, and you're nitpicking my wording?"
Ignoring Pakura's murderous glare, Qian Ye turned toward the melee dozens of meters away.
The situation was an absolute disaster.
Hyuga Tianfeng was gasping for breath. Though he had pressed his acupoints to stem the bleeding, blood still seeped from the wound in his thigh.
A's short blade slashed down again, white chakra light coating its edge.
Tianfeng could only block it head-on with his Gentle Fist.
"Hatake Style: White Light Blade!"
With a low shout, A twisted his blade and swept it straight toward Tianfeng's neck.
Tianfeng rolled desperately across the ground, avoiding the fatal strike, only to slam his back into a tree trunk.
"Have you lost your minds?!"
Tianfeng cursed furiously.
"You'd actually ambush the village's escort team for a criminal?!"
A's short blade came down again.
The chakra glow along its edge was dazzling in the dim forest.
Hyuga Tianfeng could only scramble aside in another desperate roll.
"A criminal?"
A scoffed, never pausing his blade.
"How could Lord White Fang possibly be a criminal?!"
A lunged forward, driving his blade straight toward Tianfeng's chest.
"Lord White Fang is the best candidate for Hokage!"
"That weak old fool Hiruzen has no idea what true peace means!"
"Only Lord White Fang's iron fist can lead the Hidden Leaf to greatness!"
Tianfeng gathered chakra in both hands and barely deflected the strike.
But A only grew more frenzied as he fought, spitting out lines like machine-gun fire.
"What would pampered young masters from great clans like you know?!"
"Lord White Fang bears all the village's sins!"
"He shoulders the Hidden Leaf's darkness alone, silently protecting this great tree from the shadows!"
"He is the Hidden Leaf's true root!"
A hacked at him again and again, forcing Tianfeng back with every stroke.
He shouted himself hoarse.
His voice brimmed with resentment and fanaticism.
In the distance.
Qian Ye leaned against a tree trunk, reloading his revolver as he listened to A's impassioned speech.
He kept rolling his eyes.
The corners of his mouth twitched nonstop.
This dialogue is atrocious.
Qian Ye launched into a silent tirade.
What kind of man was Hatake Sakumo?
He was a softhearted man who would abandon a mission to save his comrades.
A gentle middle-aged man who couldn't even bear to be harsh with his own son.
An iron fist?
Shouldering the darkness?
The Hidden Leaf's root?
Are you talking about White Fang, or reciting Danzo's fucking autobiography?!
That sneaky old bastard Danzo couldn't even write a script without stroking his own ego.
He'd slapped his own inner monologue onto White Fang. Absolutely shameless.
Root's brainwashing really was something else.
They could turn even a performance into an induction oath.
"All right, enough reciting your lines over there."
Qian Ye slipped the revolver back into his holster.
He flexed his wrists.
Chakra flowed along his meridians, entering Zusanli and the other acupoints in his legs with pinpoint precision.
That sensation of his muscles swelling to their limit returned.
Qian Ye exhaled softly.
He looked toward Tianfeng, whom A had backed into a corner.
Hyuga Tianfeng was in a pitiful state.
The strenuous movement had torn open the wound in his thigh again.
Blood had soaked half his trouser leg red.
A raised his short blade high, the chakra along its edge flaring brilliantly.
"Take your stupidity to the grave!"
Roaring, A brought his short blade down hard toward Tianfeng's neck.
Tianfeng gritted his teeth, preparing for one last desperate struggle.
Qian Ye walked over to Pakura.
Pakura looked up at the Hidden Leaf genin.
Qian Ye drew the revolver from his holster.
With a flick of his thumb, he swung out the cylinder.
Four gleaming brass cartridges remained inside.
Qian Ye pointed the muzzle down and held the gun out to Pakura.
Pakura did not take it.
The heavy Chakra Suppression Shackles were still locked around her wrists.
"Take it."
Qian Ye pressed the grip into Pakura's hand.
"This thing doesn't need chakra."
"Just aim it at someone and pull this trigger."
Pakura held the heavy chunk of metal, her face full of suspicion.
She had just seen this thing punch through the masked man's thigh.
Its power was certainly impressive.
But why would this Hidden Leaf brat give her such a deadly weapon?
They were enemies.
"What are you trying to do?"
Pakura asked through gritted teeth.
"Keep you from dying."
Qian Ye dusted off his hands.
"You're my insurance right now."
"If someone slits your throat out here in the middle of nowhere, what am I supposed to trade for S-rank ninjutsu when I get back?"
Pakura's chest heaved with anger.
So in this brat's eyes, she was nothing more than a bargaining chip to trade for ninjutsu.
Qian Ye ignored Pakura's fury.
He turned to face the distant battlefield.
Hyuga Tianfeng had already been backed into a corner.
A's short blade was raised high.
The chakra glow along its edge was bright enough to sting the eyes.
Qian Ye rolled his neck.
His bones cracked sharply.
"Take the gun and move back a bit."
Qian Ye gave the instruction without looking back.
"And don't point the muzzle at me."
"Naughty children get spanked."
Pakura's eyes turned cold.
She stared at Qian Ye's narrow back.
"What are you going to do?"
"Save someone, obviously."
Qian Ye spoke as though it went without saying.
"He's our captain, after all. I can't just watch him get hacked to death."
Qian Ye took a deep breath.
"Stand back."
"I'm about to show off."
Before Pakura could work out what he meant—
Qian Ye moved.
He channeled chakra into the acupoints in his legs with pinpoint precision.
Zusanli.
Chengshan.
Yanglingquan.
Several crucial points lit up simultaneously with an extremely faint blue glow.
Stimulated by chakra, his muscle fibers swelled rapidly.
Qian Ye felt explosive power filling his legs.
He drove his right foot backward against the ground.
Bang!
A deafening sonic boom erupted through the forest.
The ground beneath Qian Ye's feet collapsed into a large crater.
Dirt and gravel shot in every direction like bullets.
The blast of air shoved Pakura back several steps.
She stared ahead, eyes wide.
Qian Ye was gone.
All that remained was a deep furrow gouged through the ground.
That speed!
Shock surged through Pakura.
That wasn't the Body Flicker Technique!
There were no obvious fluctuations from released chakra.
That explosive burst had come purely from physical strength pushing off the ground!
How could a twelve-year-old brat have such a terrifying physique?
On the distant battlefield.
Hyuga Tianfeng had already closed his eyes.
His thigh was injured, his chakra in disarray.
He couldn't dodge the strike A had prepared for so long.
The edge of the White Light Blade had already severed several hairs at his neck.
The shadow of death fell over this genius of the Hyuga Main House.
Just then.
A ferocious gust struck from the side.
The sound of air tearing pierced Tianfeng's eardrums.
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring echoed through the forest.
Sparks flew.
Tianfeng's eyes snapped open.
He wasn't dead.
A's Short Blade had stopped in midair.
Its edge was less than five centimeters from Tianfeng's neck.
An arm, not particularly thick, lay across the blade's path.
Qian Ye stood in front of Tianfeng.
The sleeve of his right arm had been shredded by the blade's force.
His exposed skin had turned an eerie dark blue-green.
Six Powers, Iron Body!
With Chakra pressurizing his acupoints,
Qian Ye had compressed the muscles in his arm to an absurd density.
At the same time, he angled his arm slightly and forced the White Light Blade's edge half an inch off course.
A's eyes contracted behind his mask.
It didn't feel as though his blade had struck flesh.
It felt as though it had struck the edge of a steel ingot forged by countless blows!
A tremendous recoil surged up through the hilt.
The web between A's thumb and forefinger split open, and blood flowed out.
"How is this possible!"
A cried out in shock.
Hatake Style Swordsmanship was renowned for its sharpness and speed.
Combined with a change in Chakra nature, it could slice through rock like tofu.
How could a Genin have blocked it with his arm!
Qian Ye kept his arm raised and turned his head to look at A.
"That really hurt!"
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