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Chapter 14 - The Joke Was Them All Along

Leon's fighting style was brutally simple.

If one punch didn't solve it—

then he'd throw a second.

And a third.

And keep going until it did.

Hokage Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been watching the Crystal Ball with his usual calm.

Then the "assessment" began, and that calm cracked.

"This… isn't nintaijutsu," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Can pure taijutsu really do this?"

He knew Leon trained his body.

He just hadn't imagined Leon could pressure Shisui back with nothing but fists.

And Shisui wasn't some ordinary jōnin.

He was Shisui of the Body Flicker—the shinobi who'd driven Kirigakure's forces into retreat during the war.

And yet Leon was overpowering him.

Then—

Hiruzen's face stiffened.

"Wait… the First Hokage's stone face—!"

The monument fractured.

Hiruzen's expression turned ugly.

Of all things, the First Hokage's face had been damaged… by two Uchiha.

And the most humiliating part?

He was the one who'd ordered this test.

It was like swallowing bitter herbs—pain you couldn't complain about.

Danzō, on the other hand, didn't look troubled at all.

He let out a cold laugh. "He's just a brute."

In Danzō's eyes, Leon was nothing more than a freakishly strong body.

And besides—

Shisui hadn't used his real trump card.

Once the Mangekyō Sharingan comes out, this ends.

The Village Reacts

The moment the Hokage Monument cracked, it was like someone rang a bell across Konoha.

"What the hell—someone's fighting on Hokage Rock?!"

"The First Hokage's face is damaged!"

"Who's insane enough to do that?!"

—Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Shadows streaked across rooftops.

ANBU moved first.

Then the Konoha Military Police Force.

Then the major clans—each sending people to see what was happening.

The village that had been quiet a moment ago suddenly felt like it had been shaken awake.

A Teahouse

Might Guy set his cup down and grinned wide.

"Kakashi, let's go. Someone's fighting at Hokage Rock—I can feel it. The air's thick with battle."

Hatake Kakashi stood up slowly, eyes dull, expression empty.

"Yeah… sure."

He still looked like he hadn't returned from the war.

Like his body was here, but his spirit was somewhere else—stuck in the moment Rin died.

Guy's smile wavered.

He sighed inwardly.

If it were anything else, he'd drag Kakashi forward with sheer enthusiasm.

But grief? Bonds?

That wasn't something you could punch away.

Kakashi would have to crawl out of that darkness himself.

Hokage Rock

Not long after, a crowd gathered at the base of the monument—Konoha shinobi everywhere.

They stared at the damage.

Then they looked up—

and froze.

"Is that… Uchiha Shisui?!"

"And the other one— Uchiha Leon?"

"Why are they fighting here?"

"Why didn't ANBU stop them?!"

Up above—

Shisui stood on the Second Hokage's stone face.

Leon stood on the Third Hokage's stone face.

The First Hokage's face below them was visibly cracked and ruined.

Among the crowd were people who knew Leon personally.

Might Guy. Hatake Kakashi. Kurenai. Uzuki Yūgao.

They all wore the same look: disbelief.

Farther back, someone's eyes burned with jealousy.

Asuma Sarutobi.

He glanced toward Kurenai—beautiful, calm, and completely uninterested in him—then looked back up at Leon with a cold snort.

"Tch. Idiot… asking for death."

Asuma lit a cigarette, striking what he probably thought was a "cool" pose.

He'd chased Kurenai plenty of times.

Got nowhere.

And in his mind, Leon was part of the reason—always around her, always pulling her away.

Now Leon had damaged the First Hokage's monument.

Asuma's first thought was simple:

The old man's going to explode.

ANBU Explanation

A white-clad ANBU dropped into the area, wearing a cat-like mask.

His voice was flat, official.

"Everyone, remain calm. Uchiha Shisui is acting under the Third Hokage's orders. This is a Jōnin promotion assessment for  Uchiha Leon."

A beat of silence—

then the crowd erupted.

"Jōnin assessment?!"

"Leon's being promoted?"

"If he passes, that's an eleven-year-old Jōnin…"

"No wonder—they said he was on the same level as Kakashi…"

People had heard the name before.

Back when Leon graduated early, when he shone in the Chūnin Exams—he'd been a story.

But after he joined the Military Police and stayed quiet for years, most assumed he'd faded.

That he'd wasted his gift.

That he'd become… ordinary.

Now, staring at the shattered stone and the two figures above—

everyone finally understood it.

They weren't watching Leon fail.

They'd been watching him hide.

And the "clowns" who'd mocked him…

were the ones standing down here.

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