Sasuke slid down the wall and dropped to one knee, his left hand gripping his right arm.
The sleeve on his forearm had been torn apart by that kick. The exposed skin was bruised purple and swollen like overproofed dough.
His Sharingan was still spinning furiously, the Two Tomoe whirling in his pupils as he tried to track that green blur.
But he couldn't see it.
He couldn't see it at all.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. Veins bulged at his temples, and sweat ran down his cheeks to drip onto the corridor's cold stone tiles.
Resentment and anger churned in his dark eyes, but more than anything, he felt a humiliation he had never known before.
He had just said that Uchiha meant unbeatable.
Now he couldn't even make out his opponent's movements.
"Sasuke!"
"Take this!"
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
The kick swept toward Sasuke's head with crushing force. Wind shrieked around Rock Lee's leg, shaking even the lights hanging from the corridor ceiling.
Sasuke's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
I can't dodge it.
Sakura covered her eyes and screamed.
Naruto charged forward, but he couldn't get there in time.
Tenten shouted from behind, "Rock Lee! Stop! This is just a sparring match!"
Neji remained against the wall with his arms folded, watching it all with an indifferent Byakugan gaze.
Sahiro Uchiha's twin brother wasn't even half as strong as him.
Then, with Rock Lee's foot less than ten centimeters from Sasuke's temple—
A hand reached in from the side.
It caught Rock Lee's ankle and stopped the unstoppable Konoha Whirlwind dead in midair.
Bang!
A blast of air burst outward, shattering the windows on both sides of the corridor.
Rock Lee's pupils contracted sharply.
He caught my leg?
He stopped my Konoha Whirlwind with one hand?
"Who are you?!"
Rock Lee tried to pull his right leg back, but the hand clamped around his ankle like an iron vise. It didn't budge.
He looked down and met a pair of scarlet Sharingan eyes.
Three Tomoe.
Black Tomoe turned slowly within the scarlet pupils, like drops of blood spreading through ink. The pressure in that gaze sent a chill down his spine.
Sahiro Uchiha.
He stood in front of Sasuke, his left hand in his pocket and his right hand holding Rock Lee's ankle. He looked as casual as if he had caught an apple falling from a tree.
Sahiro tilted his head, his trademark lazy smile on his lips.
"Hey, bushy brows. If you want a fight, how about I play with you?"
Still on his knees, Sasuke looked up at the figure standing between him and Rock Lee.
His brother looked as careless as ever, with messy hair and a loose, open collar. He hardly looked like someone here for the Chunin Ninja Exams.
But at that moment, his back was like a wall, keeping every danger away.
"Brother..." Sasuke's voice was painfully hoarse.
Sahiro didn't look back. He simply swung Rock Lee's ankle to the side.
The force sent Rock Lee flying sideways. He flipped twice in the air before barely regaining his balance, then skidded another three or four meters after landing.
The corridor fell silent.
Naruto froze mid-charge, his mouth wide enough to fit a fist.
Sakura peeked through her fingers, disbelief filling her pink eyes.
Tenten drew a sharp breath.
Her gaze locked on Sahiro's scarlet Sharingan. Three Tomoe.
A twelve-year-old with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Rock Lee rose and flexed his numb ankle. He stared at Sahiro from beneath his thick brows, not with fear, but with even fiercer excitement.
"You're strong!"
His voice rang through the corridor, and his teeth flashed in the broken glass.
"Much stronger than him!"
Rock Lee pointed at the kneeling Sasuke and delivered his judgment without a shred of tact.
Sasuke clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm.
Sahiro chuckled and finally glanced back at him.
"Little brother, get up."
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke braced himself against the wall and struggled to his feet. His right arm was still trembling.
"Watch me." Sahiro patted Sasuke's shoulder. The taps were light, but each one struck at Sasuke's pride. "Let that beating teach you not to underestimate anyone—or think too highly of yourself. Uchiha aren't invincible."
Sasuke kept his head down and said nothing.
Seeing no argument from him, Sahiro knew the beating had knocked some sense into the kid. He let the matter drop and turned to Rock Lee.
"Bushy brows, you said you wanted to challenge an Uchiha?"
Rock Lee clenched his fists, every muscle tensing as he prepared to unleash his full strength.
"Yes! I'll prove—"
Before he could finish, Sahiro moved.
"Heh. Then I'll show you what a true Uchiha is!"
It wasn't the Body Flicker Technique. There was no surge of chakra, not even the sound of wind.
He merely took one step toward Rock Lee, so slowly it looked like a stroll.
Yet that single step made every hair on Rock Lee's body stand on end.
Because he saw Sahiro's eyes.
The Tomoe in those Three-Tomoe Sharingan eyes began to spin, faster and faster, until the three marks blurred together into a scarlet pinwheel.
Then Rock Lee's world collapsed.
The corridor vanished. His companions vanished. The ceiling and floor shattered together, and the ground beneath him became an endless blood-red abyss.
He looked down. Countless black chains bound his body, their ends disappearing into the depths as though an unseen giant hand held them.
He tried to break free, but every struggle tightened the chains.
He tried to scream, but no sound came from his throat.
The black chains climbed from his ankles to his knees, from his knees to his waist, from his waist to his neck. At last, they wound around his head, loop after loop, covering his eyes.
He could see nothing.
Only darkness.
Endless darkness.
And that voice.
Sahiro's voice sounded lazy, as though it came from somewhere impossibly far away—or spoke directly inside his mind.
"The Genjutsu I cast with my Three-Tomoe Sharingan isn't something even a Kage Level fighter could easily break. Do you think a Genin who only knows Taijutsu can withstand it?"
In the real corridor, everyone saw something very different.
Sahiro took one step toward Rock Lee and looked at him. Rock Lee froze on the spot. His eyes lost focus, his pupils dilated, and his lips turned blue.
Then he fell straight backward.
Like a felled post.
"Rock Lee!"
Tenten reached him first. She knelt beside him and checked his breathing.
He was still breathing.
But his eyes remained open and unfocused, as though something had pulled his soul from his body.
"Genjutsu..." Tenten's voice shook. "It's an incredibly powerful Genjutsu..."
"Rock Lee! Rock Lee, wake up! Open your eyes and look at me!"
Rock Lee didn't respond.
His eyes remained open, his pupils unfocused. The round eyes that had once burned with fighting spirit now held only hollow darkness.
His lips faded from blue to ashen gray, and his breathing grew weaker and weaker, as though something deep in his mind was slowly snuffing out the flame of his life.
Tenten finally panicked.
She looked up and shouted at Neji, "Neji! Come take a look! Something's wrong with Rock Lee! His breathing is getting weaker!"
Neji was already on his way. His Byakugan activated, veins rising around his temples.
His gaze pierced Rock Lee's body and saw the flow of chakra within.
His expression changed.
"Those black chains... They aren't an illusion. Sahiro used his Sharingan to drive chakra into Rock Lee's chakra network. That black chakra is spreading toward his heart meridians, and it's moving fast."
Tenten's pupils contracted. "How can... How can Genjutsu..."
Sahiro didn't answer. He merely slipped his hand back into his pocket, his scarlet Sharingan gleaming coldly in the broken glass.
"No." Neji's gaze sharpened further. "Your chakra is still inside Rock Lee. This isn't ordinary Genjutsu. It's a sustained seal. The chakra will keep eating through his heart meridians until his heart stops."
Tenten sprang to her feet and glared at Sahiro. "Bring Rock Lee back! Release the Genjutsu, now!"
Sahiro tilted his head, that same lazy smile still on his lips. "What's the rush? He won't die. He has about five minutes before his heart meridians are gone. Then he'll die."
Before you continue