As a rumble of thunder echoed through the forests of the Land of Rain, several explosive tags went off.
Then more explosions spread through the forest.
A little farther away, all kinds of ninjutsu roared.
Bieshu Feifan, who had used his Byakugan to hide somewhere safe, couldn't help swallowing.
When he had watched ninjutsu like this on television, he had thought it was garbage and that the Kamehameha worked better.
But now that he was actually here, even the ninjutsu those Chunin unleashed could cause tremendous destruction.
And a Great Fireball could burn people to death.
Although Bieshu Feifan had the Byakugan to observe the battlefield, he was only seven, a seven-year-old with utterly ordinary Genin-level potential, and barely had any chakra at all.
After watching the battlefield for a while, Bieshu Feifan grew a little tired and simply hid, staying put.
As long as he remained firmly committed to lying low, he still had a wonderful life ahead of him.
Bieshu Feifan's original plan had been to build a solid foundation in Shinobi basics at the Ninja Academy.
Then he would slowly develop, try to join Root after the Nine-Tails' Rampage, and scheme for the Uchiha's hundreds of Sharingan. Then he would really take off.
But,
Hiruzen Sarutobi was a bad man.
He had dragged even seven-year-old elementary school children onto the battlefield as cannon fodder.
Holding his homemade spear, Bieshu Feifan rested for a while, then used his Byakugan to check that his surroundings were safe.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side, and things went against his wishes.
Some Sand Ninja were sneaking toward him from ahead.
It was a four-man squad.
Bieshu Feifan's face darkened. The Sand Ninja leading them was actually wearing a flak jacket, making him at least a Chunin.
Bieshu Feifan wanted to run, but his Byakugan could only see a few hundred meters, and wasn't necessarily any better than those sensory ninja.
Besides, if he headed back and ran into Konoha ninja, it would be hard to explain himself.
He might even be driven forward as cannon fodder.
Bieshu Feifan didn't dare sit still either. He couldn't gamble on whether the Sand Ninja would discover him.
His thoughts racing, Bieshu Feifan immediately got up and headed toward Uchiha Kun.
And the instant Bieshu Feifan set off, he saw through his Byakugan that the squad of Sand Ninja had actually followed him.
Had they sensed him?
"Fuck," Bieshu Feifan swore, picking up speed as he ran toward Uchiha Kun.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Kun could barely maintain his Sharingan.
While patrolling earlier, he had suddenly run into a four-man Sunagakure squad.
Seeing only a single Konoha brat, the Sunagakure ninja drew their kunai and immediately attacked.
Although Uchiha Kun was alone, his confidence in his own strength left him completely unafraid, and he actually charged straight at them.
And so the two sides began fighting.
But as they exchanged blows, Uchiha Kun discovered that his opponents weren't as weak as he had imagined.
With their puppets, they actually seemed to be gaining the upper hand over him.
After more than twenty minutes of fighting, Uchiha Kun still hadn't defeated the Sunagakure squad before him, though he had killed two of them.
Only the two strongest remained, both veteran Genin who used puppets.
By now, Uchiha Kun had very little chakra left, though the two Sand Ninja before him weren't much better off.
But they could take turns resting, and with their puppets, Uchiha Kun was already running out of options.
At that moment, his three teammates, including Bieshu Feifan, came to Uchiha Kun's mind, and he couldn't help thinking,
If they were here, they could at least hold one of them off. Then I could kill the other one quickly.
But Uchiha Kun was immediately startled by his own thought. The single tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, and his lips twisted into a savage grin.
"What am I thinking? I'm a proud Uchiha, yet I actually had such a cowardly thought. I won't allow it!"
As Uchiha Kun hysterically shouted those final words, a surge of violent chakra suddenly erupted from him, and he charged madly at the two Sand Ninja.
A few minutes later, Uchiha Kun sat on the ground, gasping for breath, a kunai clutched in his hand, unable even to straighten his back.
Several corpses and two burned-out puppets lay around him.
Yet just as Uchiha Kun was about to rest, a sudden rush of footsteps came from his left.
Turning his head, Uchiha Kun saw that piece of trash who was so good at Expounding the Will of Fire running toward him.
"Captain Kun, I'm here to back you up."
Seeing from a distance that Uchiha Kun was still alive, Bieshu Feifan felt indescribably excited.
Yet Uchiha Kun's face gradually darkened. He didn't look happy at all.
Because several very lively Sand Ninja were clearly following behind Bieshu Feifan.
Uchiha Kun immediately flew into a rage and cursed:
"Bieshu Feifan, you motherfucker."
An Uchiha swearing like that really was a rare sight.
Bieshu Feifan ignored his abuse.
"Captain Kun, I'm here to help. Where's the enemy?"
Uchiha Kun's face turned completely black.
By then, Bieshu Feifan had joined him, and the Sand Ninja pursuing Bieshu Feifan sprang out as well.
"Oh, two little Konoha brats. How lucky. Heh heh heh heh heh."
As Uchiha Kun struggled to his feet and took a fighting stance, Bieshu Feifan pretended he had only just discovered the enemy and pointed his homemade spear at the four Sand Ninja.
"Captain Kun, the enemies you're facing look tough. Why didn't you ask us for help?"
Bieshu Feifan's expression was genuinely serious, because Uchiha Kun didn't look to be in very good shape.
His face was dark, and he was still panting.
Then, just at that moment, another rush of footsteps came from the right.
Shimura Daio and Omori fled toward them in a sorry state.
Shimura Daio was covered in bruises;
Omori had taken a hit to his left forearm, with torn flesh hanging open and blood still flowing.
The instant they saw Uchiha Kun, Shimura Daio's and Omori's eyes lit up together.
"Captain, we're here to back you up."
Just as the bedraggled Shimura Daio said this, three Sand Ninja jumped out right behind him.
At the sight, Uchiha Kun gritted his teeth in fury.
"You... I..."
He was so angry that he couldn't even speak properly.
Uchiha Kun wasn't the only one whose face darkened. Bieshu Feifan's did too.
He had never expected Shimura Daio's situation to be much the same as his own.
The difference was that Shimura Daio looked as though he had actually fought, rather than running away immediately.
And now Uchiha Kun was panting for breath again.
Bieshu Feifan was immediately alarmed. We're done for.
Uchiha Kun has become dead weight!
Just as Bieshu Feifan was wondering whether to abandon them and run, the seven Sand Ninja surrounded them.
"An Uchiha brat who's awakened his eyes. What a lucky day."
The speaker was the Chunin who had followed Bieshu Feifan. He was the only Shinobi wearing a flak jacket.
Bieshu Feifan could only hope he was a Chunin.
Seeing that this Chunin had mentioned only Uchiha Kun and completely ignored him, Shimura Daio immediately protested indignantly:
"There's me too! Shimura Daio of the Shimura Clan!"
The Chunin glanced at Shimura Daio.
"Some nobody clan from Konoha?"
Then he looked back at Uchiha Kun.
"Heh heh heh, I'll be taking that Sharingan."
As he spoke, the seemingly adult Chunin called on the other six Genin to begin their assault, personally charging at Uchiha Kun.
This Sand Ninja didn't use puppets. Instead, he formed hand seals as he charged, then spat a wild blast of air at Uchiha Kun.
He actually hadn't shouted "Wind Release: Such-and-Such Ninjutsu" first.
Bieshu Feifan, standing nearby, found this very hard to get used to.
Uchiha Kun now barely mustered his strength, formed a few hand seals as well, then spat out a mouthful of fire.
He hadn't shouted "Fire Release: Such-and-Such Ninjutsu" first either.
This felt very awkward to Bieshu Feifan, who was currently concerned about Uchiha Kun's Sharingan. It wasn't very Naruto-like.
But Bieshu Feifan had no time to complain about that discomfort. The six Genin, all around the same age, were already charging at them.
And there were only three of them on their side.
Just as Bieshu Feifan was racking his brains at full throttle, a Sand Ninja brat actually raised a kunai and charged straight at him.
Bieshu Feifan frowned and thrust his spear, driving it clean through his opponent's chest.
That was it?
Bieshu Feifan was quite surprised. So Sunagakure's Genin were even more useless than he was, actually hoping to stab him to death with a dagger.
"Nicely done, little brother Feifan!"
Seeing Bieshu Feifan spear someone to death with one thrust, while Uchiha Kun kept the enemy Chunin occupied, Shimura Daio's confidence immediately soared.
Even Omori cast Bieshu Feifan an approving look.
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