The gates of the Uchiha stronghold groaned as if stirred by ancient breath. Keiji stood with his mother at the threshold, six warriors barring their path. Their scarlet eyes glowed in the dim light, watching him like predators circling prey.
Unohana's words—"Because the boy beside me is not an outsider"—still hung in the air like a dagger suspended mid-throw.
The leader of the warriors stepped forward, his presence heavy as steel. "Such bold claims cannot be trusted. The clan does not take strangers at their word."
Unohana's eyes narrowed, serenity concealing the sharpness beneath. But before she could speak, the warrior lifted his hand.
"If the boy truly bears Uchiha blood…" His gaze pierced Keiji. "Let him prove it."
Keiji's pulse quickened. He had expected suspicion, but not a trial at the very gates.
Unohana's lips pressed thin, yet she did not intervene. This was his wall to climb. His test to face.
---
The Challenge
The warriors cleared a wide space before the gates, forming a circle with their bodies. Dust swirled in the stillness.
"Here," the leader said. "Show us your worth."
Keiji stepped into the circle. His breath steadied, his hands loose at his side. His heart hammered, yet beneath it lay something steadier—resolve. He had lived once before, and in this life he had trained not merely to survive, but to become.
One of the younger Uchiha warriors, perhaps twenty at most, entered as his opponent. His Sharingan spun lazily, three tomoe gleaming like cold stars.
"You carry yourself too boldly for a boy," the man said. "We will see if your claim has substance."
Keiji's jaw tightened. So this is how they judged blood? Through fire and violence?
He dropped into stance.
---
First Clash
The warrior moved first—faster than any bandit, sharper than any training partner. His blade gleamed as it swept for Keiji's throat.
Keiji's body reacted. He sidestepped, sparks flying as steel scraped stone. His instincts sharpened, the world slowing around him.
And then his eyes burned.
The Sharingan erupted—fully formed, three tomoe spinning with flawless clarity.
Gasps rippled through the gathered Uchiha.
"Three tomoe… already?!"
Unohana's hand twitched on her blade, but she forced herself still.
Keiji didn't speak. His chakra surged, heat crawling across his skin. He formed seals, breath flowing into the rhythm of battle.
"Katon: Agni no Tenchi! (Fire Release: Heaven and Earth of Agni)"
Flames burst forth, not as crude fireballs but as arcs shaped like burning wheels, searing and divine. They roared across the circle, forcing the warrior back, his armor blackened and smoking.
Murmurs of shock rose. None had seen such fire before.
---
The Lightning Unleashed
The warrior snarled and countered with a blast of flame. Keiji's body moved before thought—seals flashing through his fingers.
"Raiton: Vajra's Wrath!"
Lightning screamed from his palm, condensed into a spear of jagged brilliance. It did not scatter like ordinary Raiton. It pierced. The warrior barely blocked with chakra reinforcement, sparks exploding across the ground.
Even Keiji blinked at the attack. His chakra had shaped itself into the form of myth, drawn from memories that did not belong to this world.
Around him, Uchiha voices whispered fiercely:
"What is that jutsu?!"
"Not Fire Release—something else entirely!"
Unohana's lips parted, her eyes betraying the faintest flicker of shock.
---
Yin Shadows
The warrior pressed forward, blade slicing through smoke. His Sharingan locked onto Keiji's, hunting weakness.
Keiji felt his chakra shift again—deeper than fire, sharper than lightning. Yin.
He let it bloom.
"In'yōton: Yami no Kagami! (Yin Release: Mirror of Night)"
A thousand dark mirrors unfolded around his opponent, each reflecting a different movement, a different strike. Reality fractured. The warrior's eyes darted, his Sharingan straining to see truth.
He slashed wildly, cutting phantoms and shadows. Keiji stepped calmly through the illusion, pressing his blade to the man's throat.
With a breath, he dispelled the technique.
The crowd erupted.
"He's creating jutsu we've never seen!"
"Three elements… at his age?!"
Unohana watched with an unreadable expression. Pride? Fear? Perhaps both.
---
The Dense Chakra
But the test was not over.
The leader stepped into the circle, his Sharingan flaring like molten steel. "Enough illusions. Show me the depth of your chakra. If you are Uchiha… overwhelm me."
Keiji hesitated only a moment. Then he closed his eyes.
And unleashed it.
The air thickened, heavy with his chakra. Dust lifted, stones cracked, the ground itself groaned beneath the pressure. The warriors staggered, some gasping as though suffocating.
Unohana's voice cut through the roar, sharp with alarm. "Keiji…"
Even Keiji felt it—his chakra vast, monstrous, unnatural for his age.
The leader's jaw clenched. He forced himself upright, though his body shook. "Enough—stop this—"
But Keiji's instincts had already taken hold.
---
The Crescendo
Seals formed faster than the eye could follow.
"Katon: Ryūka no Kōjin! (Fire Release: Dragon God's Blaze)"
A serpent of flame erupted, coiling and roaring like a living inferno.
"Raiton: Indra no Yari! (Lightning Release: Spear of Indra)"
A colossal spear of lightning split the ground, racing alongside the fire.
"Yin Release: Maya no Engetsu! (Illusory Release: Moon of Illusion)"
A pale crescent shimmered overhead, bending perception, warping the very air.
The three collided, fusing into a storm of fire, lightning, and shadow. The circle shook, the stronghold walls echoing with the force.
Warriors cried out, shielding their faces.
When the smoke cleared, the leader was on his knees. His blade shattered. His Sharingan wide with disbelief.
Keiji stood panting, his three-tomoe eyes blazing in the gloom.
---
Shock and Silence
The courtyard fell silent.
This was no boy. This was no claimant begging entry. This was a force—chakra vast, techniques alien, eyes perfected.
Unohana stepped forward at last, her hand steady on Keiji's shoulder. She pulled him gently back, grounding him, cooling the storm in his veins.
The warriors exchanged looks of fear and awe.
One whispered, trembling: "What… what is he?"
The gates of the Uchiha stronghold loomed overhead, massive and unmoving. Witnesses to all.
Keiji had proven himself in flame and shadow. But in doing so, he had revealed far too much.
And now, the clan would demand answers.
---
End of the Chapter
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