Pupil Technique: Ten Thousand Rejections
The four Kumogakure Jōnin formed a square formation and unleashed a joint Lightning Release technique.
"Lightning Release: Hell-Bursting Thunder!"
A wall of crackling lightning surged into existence, encasing Chi Yu in a dome of searing currents and violent electrical discharge.
Recognizing the overwhelming threat, Chi Yu had already activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, his vision swirling with power.
The four Jōnin let out guttural battle cries as the lightning dome condensed, bombarding the interior with arcs of concentrated voltage.
The combined technique radiated devastating heat and power—its very nature designed to reduce the target within to ash. The pressure and temperature spiked so high that even the surrounding terrain began to char.
The radiance forced even the Cloud-nin to squint.
For three full minutes, the lightning raged.
When it finally ceased, thick smoke poured outward, cloaking the battlefield. The barrier was dispelled, and the four Jōnin, along with five accompanying Chūnin, tightened their formation. Though convinced that no one could survive such an onslaught, they waited to confirm the kill.
As the smoke thinned, their eyes locked onto a single figure standing amidst the scorched earth.
Chi Yu.
Still upright.
Unburned.
Untouched—except for the line of blood trailing from his left eye.
A stunned silence fell over the Cloud-nin.
Chi Yu murmured, more to himself than anyone else:
> "So this is the true power of the Mangekyō Sharingan… Incredible."
Realizing their target still lived, the Cloud-nin reacted instantly, launching another barrage of jutsu.
Chi Yu's left eye glowed ominously as he whispered:
> "Manji Fuyō (Ten Thousand Rejections)."
Dozens of attacks collided with him—and simply vanished.
No impact. No explosion. Not even the flutter of a scorched sleeve.
This was the ability of Chi Yu's left Mangekyō Sharingan: Ten Thousand Rejections—a defensive dōjutsu that nullified all chakra-based techniques not originating from Chi Yu himself.
As long as the technique was active, all foreign chakra was instinctively repelled, as if the world itself denied its existence around him.
Seeing their jutsu erased into nothing, the Cloud-nin faltered.
Chi Yu scoffed and blurred forward.
> "Lightning Breathing, Second Form: Inazuma (Lightning Flash)!"
He vanished in a flicker of light.
In the blink of an eye, five lightning-shaped slashes swept through the battlefield.
Three Cloud-nin were cleanly decapitated before their bodies could even register the pain. Blood sprayed like a crimson fan as Chi Yu emerged on the other side.
The remaining shinobi scrambled to regroup.
But to Chi Yu, their movements were laughably slow.
The world seemed frozen through the lens of his evolved Sharingan.
As kunai and jutsu flew at him, he sidestepped and weaved effortlessly, as if dancing through a children's spar.
Heads rolled. Screams echoed. And blood splashed across Chi Yu's face like war paint.
> "Hell Stab: Five-Finger Thrust!"
One of the Jōnin, channeling a high-level Lightning Release technique akin to A's legendary Hell Stab, lunged at Chi Yu from behind, his fingers glowing with piercing voltage.
Chi Yu whirled and caught the man's wrist mid-thrust.
The lightning chakra dispersed on contact, nullified by Ten Thousand Rejections.
Without hesitation, Chi Yu's blade came down, severing the arm at the elbow—and then taking the man's head in one clean stroke.
He tossed the severed limb aside like trash.
The rest of the Cloud-nin? Lambs to the slaughter.
With the awakened power of his Mangekyō and an uncounterable defensive technique, Chi Yu had become an Elite Jōnin, if not something greater.
Although "Jōnin" and "Elite Jōnin" are only separated by a title, the difference in ability was like the gap between genin and a Hokage.
Over the next ten minutes, Chi Yu waded through the enemy formation like a reaper.
By the time the blood settled, over half of the 20-man squad lay dead.
Terror crept into the eyes of the survivors.
"Form Lightning Traction! Seal his movements!" barked the commander.
Several shinobi hastily formed hand seals for Lightning Release: Lightning Traction, a restrictive technique designed to immobilize targets.
But Chi Yu had already moved.
> "Lightning Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!"
Lightning burst from his form as he tore across the battlefield, slashing down the jutsu-casting shinobi before their seals could complete.
Panic swept the survivors.
> "Retreat! Scatter! Now!" the commander ordered.
They fled in all directions, but Chi Yu was a speed-type shinobi.
They never stood a chance.
> "Lightning Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash—Eightfold!"
With a sound like thunder splitting the heavens, Chi Yu blurred forward eight times in succession. Bodies fell mid-step, their heads hitting the ground before their feet did.
Only one remained: a lone Cloud Chūnin, collapsed, trembling.
He stared up at Chi Yu in horror, unable to understand how this monster had survived an S-rank Lightning Release used by four elite Jōnin.
Chi Yu crouched.
His face, blood-spattered and unreadable, broke into a calm, chilling smile.
To the Chūnin, that smile was the face of death itself.
"You're lucky," Chi Yu said softly. "I'm not going to kill you."
The Chūnin trembled harder.
"…Why?" he managed to ask.
"Because someone needs to tell the tale."
Chi Yu wiped the blood off his blade using the Chūnin's flak vest, then sheathed it with a quiet click.
"Tell them what happened here. Word for word," Chi Yu said coldly, standing to leave. "Let them know what awaits the next ones they send."
As Chi Yu vanished into the trees, the Chūnin sat frozen, surrounded by the mutilated bodies of his comrades. One decapitated head lay nearby, eyes wide open, staring directly at him.
The Chūnin vomited, his sobs echoing through the stillness.
---
Aftermath
When news of the failed ambush reached the Cloud Village, the high command was stunned.
A 20-man unit, including four Jōnin, had been decimated by a single individual. If not for the spared Chūnin, there would have been no witnesses left to confirm it.
But what disturbed them most was the nature of the battle.
According to the survivor, it hadn't even been a fight.
It was a slaughter.
Worse, Chi Yu had evolved—he now possessed a Mangekyō Sharingan with a terrifying ability that made him nearly untouchable.
There was no doubt: he had surpassed the Jōnin level.
He was now an Elite Jōnin, and perhaps more dangerous than anyone short of a Kage.
To deploy another force large enough to contend with him would risk spreading their resources too thin.
And Orochimaru—lurking like a viper in the grass—was just waiting for such an opening.
No… for now, chasing Chi Yu was a risk they could no longer afford.
He had become a ghost.
A problem with no easy solution.
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