"Caw—caw—"
Night hawks cried in the distance, their shadows flitting between the dense trees, stirring up cascades of leaves.
A chill wind howled through the forest. Overhead, the moon had been swallowed by drifting clouds, plunging the woods into near-total darkness.
A moonless, wind-blown night—perfect for killing.
From within the gloom, Uchiha Shiro emerged. His lips curved into a cruel smile, killing intent radiating from his eyes as he strolled forward, step by deliberate step, until he stood above Leo, looking down on him like a cat cornering a mouse.
Leo's expression didn't change—cold, steady, unreadable.
"So you actually came," Shiro sneered. "Heh… for someone who dared offend the Uchiha Clan, you've got guts. But guts alone won't save you. You'll pay for your arrogance with your life. Blame yourself for being an outsider without power or status—for offending someone you shouldn't have."
His voice was venomous. As he spoke, his pupils twisted and flared red—three tomoe spinning to life in his Sharingan, gleaming like three drops of blood in the night.
"You talk too much."
Leo moved.
His right foot slammed into the ground with a sharp crack, stone splintering beneath him. Using the rebound force, his figure blurred—appearing before Shiro in an instant.
"Armament Haki: Hardening!"
He drew back his arm like a bowstring. His fist turned black, like forged iron.
Then—he struck.
The air exploded with the blow, the shockwave tearing through the clearing.
"Not bad speed," Shiro said coolly. "Faster than most Chūnin—but don't you get it? In front of these eyes, no speed is too fast."
The Sharingan—an eye that perceives all movement. His triple tomoe gave him vision sharp enough to slow Leo's attacks to a crawl.
As Leo's punch came in, Shiro raised his own, blue chakra coating his fist like a flame.
He had suffered once under Leo's strange strength. He wouldn't repeat that mistake.
BOOM!
Fist met fist. Armament Haki clashed with chakra, creating a thunderous pressure wave that flattened the trees around them.
Both leapt back.
Leo landed firmly, steady as a boulder. Shiro staggered backward several steps, his arm burning with sharp pain—like he had just punched a solid steel wall.
Leo had the upper hand.
Without hesitation, he lunged again—this time, his leg snapping upward in a whiplike arc.
The blackened kick came crashing down, cutting through the air like a blade of moonlight.
Shiro dodged at the last moment, vanishing with a Body Flicker Technique.
BOOM!
The kick struck the ground, shattering it like glass. The earth split apart, a crater forming at the impact site.
That was the power of Armament Haki—it didn't just fortify the body, it amplified raw strength.
With all three forms of Haki advancing together, Leo's physical body had evolved far beyond an ordinary shinobi's.
Shiro stared at the crater under Leo's feet. A bead of cold sweat slid down his temple.
Such power… taking that blow head-on would be suicide.
What a terrifying talent.
If Leo was already branded as an enemy of the Uchiha, then he had to be eliminated—completely.
But Leo didn't care what Shiro thought. He pressed forward, a relentless storm of attacks.
Though Shiro had the Sharingan, in close combat he couldn't gain the upper hand. Every clash drove him further back, his arms going numb from the impact.
Leo was too hard, his blows too heavy. Worse—he was growing stronger with each exchange.
If this went on, Shiro's arms would be shattered before the fight was done.
Shinobi excelled in ninjutsu. Few relied purely on the body. But Leo's physique—
was his greatest weapon.
Use your strength to crush the enemy's weakness!
"No! If this keeps up, I'll be finished!"
Panicked, Shiro flickered back several meters, hands flying into seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
He inhaled deeply, chakra surging in his lungs, and exhaled—a blazing fireball roared forth, twice as large and twice as fierce as his brother Tsuki's had ever been.
But Leo had changed.
His Armament Haki was now Level 2—far beyond what it had been months ago.
"Let's see which burns hotter!"
"Armament Haki: Hardening!"
This time, his entire arm turned jet black.
"Secret Art—Iron Fist!"
With a roar, Leo charged. His arm, encased in dark energy, smashed into the oncoming fireball.
"You idiot!" Shiro laughed. "You're using your bare hand to block a Great Fireball?!"
BOOM!!!
The blackened fist met the blazing inferno—
and the world went silent.
For an instant, time seemed to freeze. From Leo's fist, black ripples pulsed outward like waves on water.
Even the fireball's light dimmed, its brilliance swallowed by darkness.
This—was Haki.
At Level 1, Armament Haki merely hardened the body.
At Level 2, it exuded a tangible aura—black shockwaves of pressure.
If it grew any stronger, those ripples alone could pulverize anything they touched.
It was like a martial master's aura unleashed—
a force that shattered the world around it.
"Break!"
Three months ago, Leo had already shattered a C-rank jutsu.
Now, with his power fully honed, the Great Fireball was nothing.
The black ripples expanded, devouring the flames—cracking them apart inch by inch.
Then came the explosion.
A shockwave burst from Leo's fist, scattering fire and air alike. The Great Fireball imploded—
and even a massive tree dozens of meters away was crushed to splinters by the aftershock.
"Impossible!" Shiro's eyes bulged, disbelief written across his face.
"Nothing's impossible," Leo said coldly. "My strength tears through tricks like yours. Now—prepare to die."
"Hahaha!"
Shiro burst into wild laughter.
"You think brute force makes you special? I'm a Chūnin of the Uchiha Clan—the pride of our bloodline! I'll show you what true Uchiha power looks like!"
"Sharingan—fully open!"
His red eyes blazed, the three tomoe spinning wildly.
Suddenly, Leo's mind wavered. His body felt heavy—his limbs like lead.
"Damn it… genjutsu!"
"How does it feel?" Shiro taunted. "In all of Konoha, who can match the Uchiha in—"
He stopped mid-sentence. A chill ran down his spine.
Leo was staring straight at him.
Those eyes—cold, disdainful, absolute.
Shiro felt himself shrink beneath that gaze, unable to muster the will to resist.
"Conqueror's Haki—AWAKEN!"
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