An Arm Against a Chakra Blade!

Gunshots 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. Blood quickly stained the fallen leaves around him.

Qian Ye strolled out from behind a thick tree trunk.

He raised the revolver in his hand to his lips and, with an exceedingly smug flourish, blew away the wisp of smoke curling from its barrel.

Then he flicked his wrist. The heavy gun spun in a graceful arc around his fingers before slipping steadily back into the holster at his waist.

"The winds of Texas have finally blown all the way to the Hidden Leaf."

Qian Ye looked at the thug on the ground and curled his lips.

"Remember, a cowboy always draws faster than you lot can form hand seals."

Pakura froze in the grass.

She still sat there in a disheveled heap, her hands cuffed behind her back.

Her gaze was fixed on this Hidden Leaf brat who had been hiding at the back of the group like a coward just moments ago.

Countless question marks sprang up in Pakura's mind.

"What Texas? What cowboy?"

Qian Ye walked over and kicked the still-wailing thug two meters away.

"I'm saying you're lucky to be alive, sis."

Qian Ye pulled a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and tossed it twice in his hand.

"If my aim hadn't been so good, you'd already be lining up in the Pure Land to get a number. Not even a thank-you, and you're nitpicking my wording?"

Ignoring Pakura's murderous glare, Qian Ye turned toward the melee several dozen meters away.

The situation was a complete mess.

Hyuga Tianfeng panted heavily. Though the wound on his thigh had been sealed with acupuncture, blood was still seeping out.

A's short blade came down again, its edge coated in white chakra light.

Tianfeng could only block it head-on with Gentle Fist.

"Hatake Style: White Light Blade!"

A shouted low, twisting his blade and slashing directly at Tianfeng's neck.

Tianfeng rolled across the ground in a panic, narrowly dodging the fatal blow before his back slammed heavily into a tree trunk.

"Have you all gone insane?!"

Tianfeng cursed furiously.

"You dare ambush the village's escort unit for the sake of a criminal?!"

A's short blade came down again.

The chakra glow on its edge was blindingly conspicuous in the dim forest.

Hyuga Tianfeng could only roll aside in panic.

"A criminal?"

A sneered, his short blade never stopping.

"How could Lord White Fang possibly be a criminal?!"

A suddenly stepped forward, his blade driving straight toward Tianfeng's chest.

"Lord White Fang is the best candidate for Hokage!"

"That weak old man Hiruzen doesn't understand what true peace is at all!"

"Only Lord White Fang's iron hand can lead the Hidden Leaf to its peak!"

Tianfeng gathered chakra in both hands and barely knocked the strike aside.

But A grew more frenzied with every exchange, words bursting from his mouth like a barrage of gunfire.

"What could spoiled young masters from great clans possibly understand?!"

"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 struck again and again, forcing Tianfeng back step by step.

He shouted himself hoarse.

His tone was filled with resentment and fanaticism.

In the distance.

Qian Ye leaned against a tree trunk, reloading his revolver while listening to A's impassioned speech.

He rolled his eyes so hard they nearly flipped over.

The corner of his mouth kept twitching.

These lines are way too terrible.

Qian Ye complained wildly in his heart.

What kind of person was Sakumo Hatake?

He was a good old man who could even abandon a mission to save his comrades.

He was a gentle uncle who could not bear to be harsh even with his own son.

Iron hand?

Shouldering darkness?

The Hidden Leaf's Root?

Are you talking about White Fang, or reciting Danzo's personal autobiography?!

That old schemer Danzo did not even forget to flatter himself while writing a script.

He had directly slapped his own inner monologue onto White Fang. He was shameless beyond belief.

Root's brainwashing education was truly something else.

They could turn acting out a scene into an oath of employment.

"Enough. Stop reciting your lines over there."

Qian Ye slid the revolver back into its holster.

He loosened his wrist.

Chakra flowed through his meridians and precisely entered acupoints in his legs, including Zusanli.

That sensation of his muscles swelling to the limit returned.

Qian Ye let out a soft breath.

He looked toward Tianfeng, whom A had forced into a corner.

Hyuga Tianfeng was in an exceedingly miserable state.

The wound on his thigh had split open again from the intense movement.

Blood had dyed half his pant leg red.

A raised his short blade high, the chakra light on its edge flaring brilliantly.

"Die with your stupidity!"

A roared and viciously brought the short blade down at Tianfeng's neck.

Tianfeng gritted his teeth, preparing to fight for his life.

Qian Ye walked over to Pakura.

Pakura looked up at this Hidden Leaf Genin.

Qian Ye drew the revolver from its holster.

With a flick of his thumb, the cylinder swung out.

There were still four gleaming brass bullets inside.

Qian Ye pointed the muzzle downward and handed the gun directly to Pakura.

Pakura did not take it.

Heavy chakra-suppressing handcuffs still bound her hands.

"Take it."

Qian Ye shoved the grip into Pakura's hands.

"This thing doesn't need chakra."

"Point it at someone and pull this trigger."

Pakura held the heavy lump of metal, her face full of suspicion.

She had just watched it punch through that masked man's thigh.

Its power was indeed astonishing.

But why was this Hidden Leaf brat giving such a deadly weapon to her?

They were enemies.

"What do you mean by this?"

Pakura asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm afraid you'll die."

Qian Ye dusted off his hands.

"You're my good-luck charm 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 to the village?"

Pakura's chest rose and fell with anger.

So, in this brat's eyes, she was just a bargaining chip for Ninjutsu.

Qian Ye ignored Pakura's fury.

He turned around to face the distant battlefield.

Hyuga Tianfeng had already been forced into a dead end.

A held his short blade high.

The chakra light on the blade was painful to look at.

Qian Ye rolled his neck.

His bones cracked sharply.

"Hold the gun and back up a little."

Qian Ye gave the instruction without looking back.

"And don't point the muzzle at me."

"Disobedient children get spanked."

Pakura's gaze turned cold.

She looked at Qian Ye's not particularly broad back.

"What are you going to do?"

"Save him."

Qian Ye answered as if it were only natural.

"He's the captain, after all. I can't just watch him get chopped to death."

Qian Ye took a deep breath.

"Step back."

"I'm about to show off."

Pakura had not even figured out what that meant.

Qian Ye had already moved.

He precisely injected chakra into the acupoints in his legs.

Zusanli.

Chengshan.

Yanglingquan.

Several key points lit up with an extremely faint blue glow at once.

His muscle fibers rapidly expanded under the stimulation of chakra.

Qian Ye felt explosive power flooding his legs.

He violently kicked backward with his right foot.

Boom!

A deafening sonic boom exploded through the forest.

The ground beneath Qian Ye's feet collapsed into a massive crater.

Dirt and shattered stones sprayed in every direction like bullets.

The shockwave forced Pakura back several steps.

Her eyes widened as she stared ahead.

Qian Ye was gone.

Only a deep trench, forcibly plowed into the ground, remained where he had stood.

That speed!

A storm of shock swept through Pakura's heart.

This was not the Body Flicker Technique!

There was no obvious outward burst of chakra.

It was pure explosive force generated by kicking off the ground with physical strength alone!

How could a twelve-year-old brat possess such a terrifying body?

On the distant battlefield.

Hyuga Tianfeng had already closed his eyes.

His thigh was injured, and his chakra was in disarray.

He couldn't dodge Jia's long-planned strike.

The edge of the White Light Blade had already severed several strands of hair at his neck.

The shadow of death enveloped this genius of the Hyuga Main House.

Just then.

An incomparably violent gust struck from the side.

The sound of air being torn apart stabbed at Tianfeng's eardrums.

Clang!

An exceptionally crisp metallic collision rang through the forest.

Sparks flew in every direction.

Tianfeng's eyes snapped open.

He wasn't dead.

Jia's short blade had stopped in midair.

The blade was less than five centimeters from Tianfeng's neck.

An arm that wasn't particularly thick was braced beneath the blade.

Qian Ye stood in front of Tianfeng.

The sleeve on his right arm had already been shredded by the blade aura.

The exposed skin had taken on an extremely strange dark bluish-green hue.

Six Powers, Iron Body!

Combined with chakra pressure in his acupoints.

Qian Ye compressed the density of his arm muscles to an absurd degree.

At the same time, he shifted his arm slightly, forcibly deflecting the White Light Blade's edge by half an inch.

Jia's eyes beneath his mask suddenly contracted.

He felt as though his strike hadn't landed on human flesh.

But on the edge of a steel ingot forged a thousand times over!

The tremendous recoil traveled through the hilt.

Jia's tiger's mouth split open, and blood flowed out.

"How is this possible?!"

Jia cried out involuntarily.

Hatake Style Swordsmanship was renowned for its sharpness and speed.

Combined with chakra nature transformation, it could cut through even rock as easily as tofu.

How could a Genin block it with his arm?!

Qian Ye maintained his blocking stance and turned his head toward Jia.

"This strike really hurt!"