"Parasitic Insects: Tempest!"
The Root operative from the Aburame clan flung his hands forward. His swarm roared out like a living black tide, whirling into a tornado that tore through the trees.
The gale of chittering wings and chitin smashed everything in its path.
"Idiot."
Sogetsu slid back two steps, opening the distance as his hands blurred through seals.
Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger.
He dragged in a deep breath; chakra surged up into his lungs.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A blazing sphere of flame three meters across burst from his mouth, rolling forward with a wave of scorching heat.
The insect storm met the fireball head-on.
Boom.
The world went white-orange. A cloud of roasted-meat stench filled the air as the front ranks of the swarm turned to ash, dropping from the sky in a rain of charred husks.
"Dumping a huge wave of bugs to block my line of sight was a decent idea," Sogetsu said calmly, watching the burning swarm churn up thick smoke. His Sharingan spun as he searched for his opponent. "But don't forget what the Uchiha are best at—our Fire Style."
The Aburame's parasitic insects could interfere with the Sharingan's biggest advantage, yes.
But in exchange, their entire fighting style revolved around those same bugs. Against high-output Fire Style, the swarm wasn't just a weapon—it was kindling.
Burn away the insects, and what was left of the shinobi?
"Don't get cocky, Uchiha brat."
The ANBU's voice came from somewhere inside the smoke. "You really think a fireball like that is enough to burn all my insects?"
Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of chakra-infused insect cocoons he'd planted earlier split open across the forest.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Sogetsu's face tightened.
From every direction, black clouds surged up through the canopy. Swarm after swarm rose from the underbrush and hollow trunks, fusing into an oppressive "sky" of buzzing black.
The sunlight vanished as if a storm front had rolled in.
The air itself darkened.
"This density…"
His pupils shrank. A name flashed through his mind.
"To command that many bugs… you're Aburame Ryoma."
"Oh? The Uchiha brat's heard of me?"
The ANBU sounded mildly surprised—but not offended.
Sogetsu could feel sweat bead at his hairline. For once, the situation was slipping away from the script in his head.
"Fugaku mentioned you," he said quietly.
"A prodigy of the Aburame clan. Your insect-control is second only to your clan head. Infiltration and covert ops—one of the best ANBU in decades. One of Danzo's most trusted hounds."
"Uchiha brat."
Ryoma's hands remained locked in a seal as he issued his final warning.
"Surrender now and I'll spare your life. Otherwise, under Danzo-sama's authority… I'm fully permitted to execute you on the spot."
"Bastards. Damn you Root people…"
Sogetsu ground his teeth, fury burning bright in his eyes.
"Don't forget—I was transferred into ANBU by direct order of the Hokage. If I die out here, how exactly is Danzo going to explain it to him?"
"Simple."
Ryoma's tone was ice; his eyes held the faintest trace of amusement.
'Uchiha Sogetsu. Attempted to use genjutsu to manipulate Konoha jonin. Colluded with the Uchiha clan to plan a coup.'
"How's that sound?"
"That's slander!"
Sogetsu stared at him, face stiff with disbelief.
"Lord Hokage would never believe—"
"You're the one who's wrong, boy."
The sneer in Ryoma's voice was audible even through the mask.
"He will believe it. No matter how absurd the excuse is… he'll convince himself it's true."
"If you want someone to blame, blame the blood in your veins. Being born Uchiha is the crime."
"Parasitic Insects: Swarm!"
The sky fell.
The black mass of insects howled as it descended, a living ocean pouring down from overhead.
This time, Sogetsu didn't hold back at all.
He felt chakra flood his throat, burning hot and heavy.
"Fire Style—Majestic Flame Annihilation!"
Boom.
A wall of blistering flame erupted from his mouth like a tidal wave, sweeping outward in a blazing arc.
Even if it wasn't an S-rank, the sheer volume of chakra he crammed into it warped reality. The temperature spiked brutally; the very air seemed to boil. Heat shimmered, and the world became a roaring furnace.
The forest vanished in an instant.
Trees, undergrowth, insects—everything ahead of him vanished into a sea of fire.
Sogetsu didn't bother to watch it burn.
He spun on his heel and sprinted for the edge of the forest.
"I need to report this to Lord Hokage—now."
Chakra exploded under his feet. Hard earth cracked as he kicked off; his speed shot up another notch.
"Trying to run?"
Aburame Ryoma appeared ahead of him as if he'd stepped out of thin air, both arms wrapped in seething masses of bugs.
"Secret Technique—Insect Arm!"
His fists crashed forward like piledrivers.
Caught off guard, Sogetsu barely had time to cross his forearms in front of his chest.
Bang.
Heavy.
The thought flickered through his mind a split-second before white-hot pain ripped up his bones.
The blow sent him flying. He hit the ground hard, plowing a long trench through soil and roots.
Blood sprayed from his mouth in red streaks.
"Dammit. I let the swarm distract me and lost track of his main body…"
Ryoma twisted midair, planting his feet against a tree trunk and launching himself again in a blur.
Sogetsu rolled, forcing his battered body upright as he flung a handful of kunai-sized shuriken.
They whistled through the air, curving and crossing in unpredictable arcs from every direction.
"Secret Technique: Insect Wall."
Ryoma didn't even try to dodge.
A dense curtain of insects surged up around him, forming a rotating shield.
The shuriken hit the swarm and vanished, swallowed like stones into a river.
"Die, Uchiha brat!"
He surged forward again, insect-wrapped fists cocked back.
Sogetsu's breathing was ragged. As Ryoma closed in, his lips curved.
"That so?"
His right hand snapped back sharply, teeth clamping down.
Sssshk.
Ryoma's charge stuttered to a halt.
"What—strings?"
His pupils contracted.
Only now did he notice the fine, hair-thin lines stretched from his limbs back through the air. The shuriken he'd "blocked" had dragged them into place, looping around his arms and torso.
The wire looked almost delicate—but even his insects' jaws couldn't bite through them.
His thoughts flicked back to the earlier volley of shuriken.
"…Uchiha shuriken manipulation?"
"Correct."
Sogetsu bit down on the wire, fingers flashing through another set of seals.
"The Uchiha clan's talents aren't limited to Fire Style and Sharingan."
"You're the one who's going to die here, Aburame Ryoma."
Snake → Dragon → Hare → Tiger.
"Fire Style—Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Hiss—BOOM.
Superheated chakra compressed into a lance of fire, racing along the wire in a blazing streak—like a dragon chasing its own tail.
It smashed into Ryoma's insect wall and tore straight through.
Flame swallowed him whole.
"AAAGH—!"
A burning figure fell from the sky, screaming.
"I win…"
Sogetsu sagged, drawing in ragged breaths as he stared at the mass of flames below.
"Do you?"
The voice behind him froze his blood.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
"You celebrated too early, Uchiha brat."
"Secret Technique—Insect Bog."
The ground under his feet turned to slurry.
With a violent sucking sound, the soil gave way. His legs plunged down and kept sinking until only his head remained above the surface.
A tide of insects swarmed over him, cocooning his body, greedily drinking his chakra.
Strength bled out of his limbs. In seconds he could barely twitch a finger.
"Insect Clone…"
Sogetsu gritted out the words from his half-submerged mouth.
"Lesson one of being a jonin: never let your guard down. Ever."
Ryoma stepped calmly out of a patch of grass, completely unharmed.
"Until you confirm the enemy's corpse with your own hands, anything can happen."
He looked down at Sogetsu, pinned helpless in the dirt, and raised one hand.
"Now it doesn't matter if you 'learn the lesson' or not."
Bugs crawled up his forearm and pooled in his palm at his call.
"Uchiha Sogetsu—your eyes belong to me."
As the swarm writhed, ready to strike for his Sharingan, Sogetsu… smiled.
Not the smile of a man on death's door.
A light, almost relaxed smile.
"Ah. Nothing much."
He tilted his head, expression almost apologetic.
"Just wanted to thank you for putting on such a good show for me, Aburame Ryoma."
A spike of pressure stabbed through Ryoma's skull.
His vision smeared like someone had dragged a dirty cloth across the world—then peeled that layer away.
The forest changed.
The sea of flames vanished as if it had never been. The charred trunks, the scorched earth, the signs of their clash—all gone.
The trees stood green and whole.
Uchiha Sogetsu wasn't buried in an insect-choked bog. He stood exactly where he had from the beginning.
He hadn't taken a single step.
The last few minutes of "battle" dissolved like smoke.
"This is… an illusion?"
Cold flooded Ryoma's spine, freezing his guts.
"How long… have I been under genjutsu?"
"Intriguing question."
In the dappled shade, Sogetsu's shadow stretched long behind him, inhuman and wrong—like some beast crouched to leap.
He pushed his black-framed glasses up his nose, a warm, gentle smile curving his lips.
"So let me ask you this instead, Aburame Ryoma…"
His Sharingan spun slowly.
"At what point did you start thinking… I wasn't using genjutsu at all?"
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