The training ground.
Kin and White Fang stood facing each other, both unarmed—after all, this was a spar, not a life-or-death battle.
Probably.
There weren't many spectators for their match.
Everyone was busy, and passersby only spared a fleeting glance.
They had to keep an eye on the Cloud ninja's movements and monitor village intelligence.
Few had as much free time as Kin and White Fang.
One was the camp's nuclear weapon, White Fang, deployed only when the enemy fielded troublesome individuals or large forces.
Deterrence was important.
The other was Uchiha Kin, who preferred to laze around unless the enemy had elite fighters.
Earlier that day, Kin had detected the three intruders approaching the camp but waited until they were close before acting.
A breeze stirred.
A single leaf drifted down between them.
The moment it touched the ground—
White Fang moved.
Before Kin could react, he was already in front of him, a sweeping kick slicing through the air with a sharp whistle.
Swish!
Kin's figure distorted at his feet, dissolving into black tendrils that lashed toward White Fang.
Shadow Clone Technique (Dark Variant).
But White Fang's foot tapped the ground, and he vanished, reappearing in the distance. The inky substance grasped at empty air.
Behind White Fang, Kin emerged from the earth, hands already weaving signs.
"Dark Release: Eternal Darkness Binding!"
Darkness surged from the ground, coiling like serpents to ensnare White Fang.
Yet White Fang's hand transformed into a blade, glowing with a pale light.
He slashed downward.
"Hatake Sword Technique: Storm Slash!"
A crescent of white energy tore through the darkness, scattering it into nothingness.
Kin closed the distance, opting for close combat.
"Eight Gates Formation: Gate of Opening! Gate of Rest! Open!!"
Black, tangible chakra erupted from his body, and his speed skyrocketed.
His Shunpo now matched White Fang's Soru.
Their figures flickered across the training ground, limbs colliding in rapid succession. The sound of their clashes—pop pop pop—resembled bursting bubbles.
Flecks of darkness bloomed in the air with each impact.
Thanks to the Eight Gates, Kin held his own in taijutsu—until White Fang found an opening and kicked him away.
Kin flipped midair and landed, digging his fingers into the ground, but the force still sent him skidding back.
Yet his jutsu was complete.
"Dark Release: Domain of Dark Chains!"
Modeled after Wood Release's seed properties and masked by the Dark Walker Technique, seeds in the air rapidly grew into vines, forming interlocking chains that sealed the space.
To the eye, it appeared as if dark matter had solidified into chains, weaving a cage.
White Fang's pupils darted.
Every direction—up, down, left, right, forward, backward—was barred by darkness, the gaps too narrow to slip through.
"Quite the troublesome jutsu," White Fang remarked.
The darkness swallowed him whole.
His body stiffened, immobilized.
"Dark Release: Paralysis Technique!"
Kin's voice echoed from the shadows, laced with satisfaction.
Finally, a chance to teach White Fang a lesson.
The man had been insufferable for far too long.
But White Fang wasn't one to surrender.
"Your technique is strong, but it has one fatal flaw."
White chakra erupted from his body, breaking the paralysis.
This was the power of—
Half-Step Third Layer.
A realm nearing the pinnacle of the shinobi world, second only to legends like Uchiha Madara.
"Don't think it's over yet," Kin gritted out.
White Fang's chakra reserves were just unfair.
Reluctantly, Kin admitted that White Fang might now be the strongest shinobi alive—barring Madara himself.
"Dark Release: Endless Prison!"
The darkness trembled.
Hidden within, sharp wooden spikes shot toward White Fang.
Camouflaged by the gloom, the branches struck from all angles.
White Fang's eyes gleamed crimson as he danced through the onslaught, evading with preternatural grace.
For the attacks he couldn't dodge—
His hand, suffused with white light, became a blade.
A single swing reduced them to splinters.
He even had breath to spare.
"I've always wondered what those Cloud ninja experienced in your darkness. Their screams were... prolonged."
"You want to see? Then take a good look."
Giant eyes materialized throughout the darkness, their lids slowly lifting to reveal black sclera and crimson pupils.
Three tomoe spun lazily.
"Soul Illumination Technique: Endless Sharingan!"
Under the gaze of so many Sharingan, no one could escape their genjutsu.
The darkness melted away, replaced by a scarlet world.
White Fang found himself bound to a cross.
Kin stood before him.
"False Tsukuyomi!"
Countless copies of Kin appeared around them.
"The time dilation here is 864,000:1," one Kin explained.
"One day and night here equals one second outside," another continued.
"The pain you endure here accumulates and erupts in that single second."
"The maximum duration is one second outside—24 hours here. Plenty of time for your suffering."
Their voices overlapped, eerily synchronized.
A cruelty designed to break the mind.
"So that's how it works," White Fang mused.
Uchiha Kin didn't just defeat his enemies—he tortured them for a full day before condensing the agony into one unbearable second.
"Let's settle our accounts," the Kins chorused.
Each hefted a weapon: swords, spears, staves, axes, hooks, forks—
"Okay, that's going too far!" White Fang's eyebrow twitched. His Observation Haki detected one Kin brandishing a spiked club.
Aimed very specifically.
Since when had Kin become so... creative?
This had to be Jiraiya's influence.
White Fang exhaled.
A torrent of white chakra erupted from his body, forming a colossal, hazy figure behind him—100 meters tall, dwarfing the 10-meter version from the real world.
The white giant raised a massive blade.
"White Fang, I'll *** your ***!!" Kin's voice cracked.
The sword fell.
The world split apart.
Real world.
Kin knelt on one knee, the darkness gone. Blood streaked from his eyes.
"You lost," White Fang said cheerfully, clapping Kin's shoulder.
The present mirrored the past.
"You *******," Kin forced a grin, his expression ghastly.
He swore then—whether by conspiracy or fate, he would personally ensure White Fang's demise.
No suicide. No shortcuts.
His hands.
At that moment, a figure appeared beside White Fang.
"Lord White Fang, a message from Lord Orochimaru."
"Oh?"
...
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(Chapter end.)