Chapter 67: Guren: I'm Glad You Didn't Die at His Hands
Two iron chains shot out from the Root ninja's sleeves, aiming for Neji's arms. He was about to use a jutsu.
Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!
Thick pillars of rock erupted from the ground, trapping Neji in a cage of earth. But with a soft poof, his body dissolved into a shower of lightning. It was a clone.
The three Root ninja immediately stood back-to-back, their eyes scanning the valley.
From the shadows, a pair of sapphire-blue eyes watched them.
Fzzt!
Black lightning seeped from his palm.
Lightning Release: Black Panther!
A giant beast of black lightning materialized, roaring as it lunged at them.
Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!
A ferocious earth dragon erupted from the ground and spat a barrage of mud projectiles at the panther. The beast was slowed, but not stopped. It leaped and tore the dragon apart.
BOOM!
The valley shook with the force of the explosion. The three Root ninja were sent flying.
They looked up to see Neji emerge from the woods. The power of his last attack was far beyond that of an ordinary Jōnin. No wonder Danzō sent three of us, one of them thought.
"End this quickly," the team leader said, and then, with a series of hand signs:
Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Twenty or thirty Root ninja appeared in the valley.
Neji just smiled and clapped his hands together, two brilliant arcs of electricity appearing between them. It was a seal-less lightning jutsu he had developed while studying Storm Release.
The arcs of electricity intertwined, forming a wide net of lightning that shot toward the clones.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Half of them were instantly destroyed.
He then extended the arcs into two five-meter-long whips and cleared out the rest.
Just then, the ground beneath him split open. Another Root ninja, who had been hiding underground, leaped out and attacked.
Earth Release: Rock Fist Jutsu!
At the same time, a black shadow slithered across the grass toward him.
Neji dodged the rock fist, and just as the shadow was about to latch onto his own, a brilliant white light erupted from his body. His shadow vanished, and the Shadow Imitation Jutsu was broken.
"Tch!"
The Root ninja was blinded by the flash.
Neji was on him in an instant, his hand, wreathed in black lightning, piercing through his chest.
The team leader didn't even have time to react before Neji was in front of him, his hand clamped around his neck.
Crack.
He tossed the body aside.
"This guy..." The remaining sensory-type was stunned. The Hyūga are supposed to be scouts. Why is he so ferocious?
"For Konoha," he said, a look of grim determination on his face as he charged.
Gentle Fist!
Neji easily dodged his attack and, with a series of precise strikes, he sealed all of his major tenketsu points.
The man collapsed to the ground.
"Are you the only team sent to attack me?" Neji asked, deactivating his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
The man just sneered.
"Sometimes, living is more painful than dying," Neji said, his Tenseigan glowing. "I guess I'll have to see for myself..."
A pale green sphere of spiritual energy emerged from between his eyebrows and floated into the man's chest.
"Serve me," he commanded.
"You... devil..."
In the monitoring room, the screens were still black.
Fugaku looked at Hiruzen, who was scowling at the blank screens, and walked over. "Lord Hokage..."
"Ah, Fugaku," Hiruzen said, his expression softening.
"Lord Hokage, there have been rumors in the village that the Uchiha have been too strict in their enforcement..."
"Is that so? Rest assured, if it's true, the village will punish the rumor-mongers."
Fugaku was relieved. Hiruzen was the only one in the village leadership who was relatively lenient toward the Uchiha.
"Fugaku," Hiruzen said, changing the subject, "after the Chunin Exams, I'd like to have Itachi join the ANBU."
Fugaku's eyes widened. The ANBU was the department closest to the Hokage. It would be a bridge between the Uchiha and the village leadership.
"I will do as you say, Lord Hokage," he said, trying to contain his excitement.
Crack!
Just then, the screens flickered back to life.
The boy should have been taken care of by now, Hiruzen thought, a faint smile on his lips.
The pale green spiritual sphere had dyed the Root ninja's consciousness green.
"Return to Danzō's side," Neji commanded after he had gotten the information he needed. "You will be useful there."
"Understood."
Neji was on his way to the central tower when his Byakugan picked up two powerful chakra signatures, one in the sky, one on the ground, converging.
"Deidara and Itachi," he said with a grin. "As expected."
He was about to go and watch when he detected a third chakra signature, also heading for Itachi.
"You're quite the popular one, aren't you, Itachi?"
Itachi was making his way through the forest, easily eliminating the weaker teams he encountered.
Suddenly, he stopped. "Am I being ambushed?"
Swoosh!
A figure descended from the sky and landed in front of him.
"You?!"
It was Deidara.
"So I found you after all," he said with a sneer. "Looks like my luck is good." He hadn't forgotten Itachi's words after the first exam.
"I assume you've already collected your scrolls," Itachi said, his voice calm. "There's no need for us to fight here."
"So this is the great Uchiha," Deidara scoffed.
Itachi's brow furrowed. He had wanted to wait until the third exam, to defeat him in front of the Hokage and all the nobles. But a retreat now would not look good for the Uchiha.
"I've changed my mind," he said.
"Uchiha Itachi," Deidara declared, "behold my magnificent art! It will blow you away!"
He reached into the pouches at his waist to get his clay.
But the battle had already begun.
"I would have liked to have a proper duel with you," Itachi said, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning, "but I need to conserve my strength for the third exam. So I'll have to end this quickly."
Deidara, who had no experience fighting the Sharingan, looked straight into his eyes, and the genjutsu took hold.
"Aaaah!" he screamed.
In his mind, he saw Itachi emerge from his own chest and slit his throat. He saw his own death, over and over. He tried to close his eyes, but every time he opened them, he was met with the spinning, crimson tomoe, and a new, gruesome death. He was stabbed, dismembered, drowned, burned alive...
He was a genius, a man who hadn't flinched when he had cut open his own hands to create the mouths he used for his art. But the endless cycle of death broke his spirit.
In the real world, he collapsed to the ground, unable to move a single finger.
In the monitoring room.
"As expected of my son," Fugaku murmured, a proud look on his face.
"So this is the power of the Uchiha," Yugito thought, her own hands clenched into fists.
"How wonderful," Hiruzen said with a sincere smile. "Fugaku, I envy you. In Itachi, I see a hint of Kagami."
"Look there!" Homura suddenly said, pointing to one of the screens.
A team from the Sound Village had appeared near Itachi.
"And not just them," Koharu said, looking at another screen. "The Cloud's Byakugan is also there."
Hiruzen's face stiffened.
"I hope to meet you again in the third exam," Itachi said, stepping over Deidara's fallen body.
Just then, he heard hurried footsteps. A woman appeared in front of him, her chest heaving, her eyes cold and sharp.
"You?!"
It was Guren.
The white snake on her shoulder hissed.
She glanced at the unconscious Deidara, then at Itachi. "Uchiha Itachi," she said, her voice flat, "I'm glad you didn't die at his hands..."
"What do you want?"
A pale red crystal blade formed in her hand. "I want to kill you myself," she said, pointing it at him.
"Lord Orochimaru's gaze can only be for me," she thought.