Chapter 79: The Provocation's Price
The clearing echoed with the sharp, percussive clang of steel. Kagenori's ninjato was a blur of silver, his attacks a relentless storm of precise, lethal strikes. Yet, against Uchiha Kazuo's three-tomoe Sharingan, his speed was neutralized. The senior Uchiha's predictive vision allowed him to parry and counter with infuriating efficiency, the kunai in his hand becoming an impenetrable shield. In pure kenjutsu, Kagenori could find no opening.
With a final, ringing clash, Kagenori disengaged, leaping backward to create distance. His hands were already moving, weaving through a sequence of seals with practiced speed.
Uchiha Kazuo's eyes widened in recognition and disbelief. That hand sign sequence… it was impossible!
"Katon: Sekkō no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Dust Hidden Technique)
Kagenori exhaled, and a concentrated ball of superheated dust and ash shot from his mouth, impacting the ground between them. It erupted outwards, a wave of choking, incandescent particles that scorched everything they touched. Trees ignited on contact, their bark blackening instantly. A moment later, the dispersed dust detonated in a series of violent, concussive explosions that shook the earth.
Using the cover of the blast and the blinding dust cloud, Kagenori vanished from sight.
Uchiha Kazuo shielded his face, retreating to a safe vantage point. His mind raced. How does he know our clan's jutsu? The Dust Hidden was a technique guarded by the Uchiha. There was no logical path for the outcast to have learned it.
A rustle in a patch of tall grass to his left. There! Kazuo's hands flew through another set of seals.
"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)
A torrent of flame shaped like a roaring dragon's head surged from his lips, engulfing the grass in a fiery inferno. Just before the flames consumed it, a figure burst forth, leaping into the air to escape.
A grim smile touched Uchiha Kazuo's lips. "I have you now!"
"Katon: Ryūen no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Dragon Flame Singing Technique)
He unleashed not one, but four smaller, faster fire dragons. They streaked through the air, converging on Kagenori's airborne form from above, below, and both sides—a perfect, inescapable cage of flame.
The fire dragons struck their target simultaneously in a blinding flash of heat and light. But instead of a cry of pain, there was a loud crackle of electricity. Kagenori's form dissolved into a network of dazzling blue lightning that arced and fizzled out.
A Lightning Clone!
Uchiha Kazuo's blood ran cold. He had been duped. His three-tomoe Sharingan whirled, scanning his surroundings just as a fissure split the earth directly behind him.
Kagenori erupted from the ground, his ninjato already in a sweeping, horizontal arc aimed at Kazuo's legs. It was the same Earth Release assassination technique he had used to devastating effect before.
Pure instinct, amplified by the Sharingan, saved Uchiha Kazuo. He launched himself upward, the blade whistling through the air just beneath his feet. But Kagenori was relentless. Even as Kazuo was mid-air, Kagenori's hands formed another seal, and he flung a volley of shuriken.
"Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson)
Flames wreathed each shuriken, transforming them into a deadly shower of fiery petals. Thirteen projectiles shot towards the airborne Jonin.
Trapped by gravity, Uchiha Kazuo had no choice but to meet them head-on. His kunai became a whirlwind of motion, deflecting each and every flaming shuriken with a series of sharp pings and showers of sparks. He landed heavily, his stance firm but his breathing slightly ragged.
Kagenori let out a soft, disappointed click of his tongue. Clan Jonin were on another level. This man was proving far more troublesome to break than the elite Jonin, Kuroiwa Tatsuji.
"Where," Uchiha Kazuo demanded, his voice a low growl, "did you learn the Uchiha's Fire Release ninjutsu?"
A cold, mocking smile returned to Kagenori's face. "Where? You should ask your esteemed Clan Head and his son. I never asked for it. I didn't expect your Clan Head to be so shameless as to send Fugaku to apologize to me, groveling with gifts of your clan's Fire Release scrolls and Sharingan treatises. Pathetic, really."
"Lies!" Kazuo spat, his composure cracking. "The Clan Head would never apologize to the likes of you! Not a word you speak is true, you little bastard!"
"Believe what you want," Kagenori shrugged, the picture of nonchalance. "Ask Masaki and Fugaku yourself. But I will admit, for all your clan's failings, your Fire Release techniques are… quite useful."
Rage, hot and blinding, surged through Uchiha Kazuo once more. He was about to charge when a powerful voice boomed across the clearing.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"
Jiraiya stood at the edge of the scorched and smoking battlefield, his arms crossed and his expression thunderous. Behind him, Uchiha Kyosuke and the other three team members had arrived, their faces a mixture of confusion and alarm. The sound of the battle had drawn a small crowd of other ninjas.
Jiraiya's stern gaze landed on Kagenori. "Report. What is going on here?"
Kagenori smoothly sheathed his ninjato, his demeanor shifting to one of wounded innocence. "What's going on? You should ask him." He gestured dismissively at Uchiha Kazuo. "I was here, waiting for my team to assemble for a mission, when he approached me. He began making threats, and then, without any provocation, he attacked me. I was forced to defend myself." He looked around at the gathered shinobi, his voice taking on a concerned tone. "Lord Jiraiya, can we truly trust a man who would attempt to murder a fellow Konoha captain? I wonder if everyone here feels safe with a 'comrade' like that at their back?"
Uchiha Kazuo's face paled, then flushed with fury. "That's not what happened! Lord Jiraiya, he was insulting me! He provoked me relentlessly, slandering the entire Uchiha clan! He deliberately enraged me to make me attack!"
As the words left his mouth, Uchiha Kazuo realized the depth of the trap. His hands trembled. The boy's venomous tongue, the public location… it was all a setup. Kagenori had never intended to win the fight; he had intended to win the aftermath. He had baited a superior officer into an assault, and in front of witnesses. The punishment for such an act was severe. He had played right into the boy's hands.