Chapter 3: Embers of the Beginning
As the bright sun lightened the mood, the winds of midday rolled through the gates of Konoha, heralding the coming of Spring.
The birds chirped with melody, frolicking among their kin, weaving through the dense trees as they brought forth life to the village even in times of war.
The Third Great Shinobi War may have dampened the spirit of trading amongst merchants, but it never stopped them all.
Though they still fell victim to haggling housewives.
Amongst all of this haggling, some civilians even greeted the guards with grateful looks.
The guards here may look funny—chatting and gossiping… uhm… uhm… sharing intel—but they followed rules to the dot with vigilant discipline.
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(Guards POV)
"Rumo-senpai, do we have to do just this the entire day?" said a young chunin named Masaki, impatience clear on his face.
"Kid, you're still too green! This is one of the best jobs a chunin can have—sells out like hot cakes during the war. Just be patient, brat," said Rumo, a veteran chunin with an odd personality. His eyes twinkled with stories untold.
'This old man! Now he'll start bragging with his damn war stories again!' thought Masaki.
'But questioning these merchants with the same boring questions… how can this damn old man enjoy it?!' Masaki grumbled internally.
Suddenly Rumo snapped out of his reverie, eyes sharp, face deadly serious.
Masaki froze. It was his first time seeing such a dramatic transformation.
"Warn the other guards, Masaki," said Rumo, as he shifted into an unassuming stance and continued his duties.
Masaki, surprised but obedient, copied Rumo and walked in a stealthy fashion to alert the other guards.
When he returned, he saw the veteran chunin glancing from the corner of his eye at an Uchiha and a well-built man with a child.
"What's going on, senpai?" asked Masaki.
"The Uchiha is probably confronting a spy, and he signaled me to evacuate the civilians if things escalate," said Rumo, surprising Masaki.
"Is this what you were talking about, senpai?" Masaki asked with a hint of anticipation, hoping for more answers.
"But how could you tell something was wrong, senpai?" the young chunin asked, puzzled.
"Listen, kid… if an Uchiha ever uses the Sharingan, then it's always a confrontation. Those eyes don't bluff."
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His fingers moved, seamlessly performing hand signs while immaculately timing them with the passage of a civilian in front of him.
'Demon Illusion: Tree Binding Jutsu,' the Uchiha mentally declared, as his Sharingan flickered a deeper scarlet hue for a split second.
Gigantic trees sprouted from the ground, clamping the spy down with the weight of buildings. There he lay as his own perception betrayed him.
'How can Konoha have a second Wood Style user?! No—it's genjutsu! But how? I never looked into his Sharingan even for a moment!' the spy exclaimed.
'I need to do something,' the spy thought, as he disrupted his chakra flow to break the illusion.
Once he broke out of it, he noticed that the kid was missing.
'Damn it!' he thought. 'I was supposed to take the kid down with me and eliminate some civilians.'
Unfortunately, fate wasn't kind. The civilians had already fled, and the kid—he was nowhere to be seen.
'I need to calm down now,' the spy told himself. That Uchiha had help evacuating them; otherwise he might have taken me down outright.
'Regardless,' he continued, 'I need to cause maximum damage before he takes me down.'
He began furiously weaving hand signs.
'Lightning Style: Lightning Spider Web!' he roared mentally.
Lightning screeched as it rushed from his body, weaving beautiful spiderwebs that scorched the ground ruthlessly.
It continued spreading toward buildings and the civilians within them—a potentially fatal outcome.
'Water Style: Revolving Water Wall,' the Uchiha countered, calmly muttering the jutsu in his mind.
A spinning wall of water curved into an arc, immediately encasing the lightning, absorbing its shock and impact before dissolving into mist.
Everything had gone according to plan. The hostage had fled the moment the spy collapsed, and the civilians had been subtly moved away moments before the illusion was cast.
With no civilians in harm's way, the Uchiha flickered toward the spy, rushing with a speed normal sight couldn't detect.
But the spy didn't react—the lightning jutsu had drained him of chakra. He knelt down, looking up with misty eyes as memories of his life flashed by.
His wedding, his daughter Chimiko's birth, his wife's smile at her deathbed, Chimiko's smile… it all seemed so distant now.
'I guess it's time to leave now,' sighed the spy.
He crushed the pill in his mouth, slowly losing control of his body as it fell lifeless to the ground.
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(Ren's POV)
Thud…
Why did this big guy fall? Wait, I can go now! Where should I go now?
Wait—that's Uncle Rumo!
Step… step… step…
Uncle Rumo! Wait for me!
"Finally safe, kiddo?" asked Rumo with a mischievous smile.
No—wait, this is not good! Uncle's smiling too much, he's going to make fun of me now.
Why?… Just why did Uncle Rumo have to be here? It's so embarrassing!
Oh no! He'll tell Aunt Mai!
Uncle, don't tell Aunt Mai about it, please!
Rumo looked at Ren—still exhausted from the ordeal—about to reply.
Boom…
The sound of crackling lightning emerged, stunning Ren and prompting him to turn around.
Lightning and water combined, curving beautifully, droplets suspended with sparks of lightning glowing—perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
Woahh, what was that! So beautiful!
Will I ever be able to use ninjutsu so beautiful?
Wait—no, ninjutsu should be powerful, right?… and sparkly too.
But that Uchiha uncle is sooo powerful.
Wait—did that uncle beat that guy? Yes!
Uncle Rumo, let's talk with that Uchiha uncle!
Shock appeared on Rumo's face, then morphed into a smirk.
"Sure!" he smirked, amused at Ren.
Step… step… step…
"Hi Uchiha uncle! Thanks for the help! What was that jutsu?" said Ren all at once—but that didn't stop him, as he continued bombarding the Uchiha with questions.
Rumo stood behind him, grinning with a wide smile.
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(Uchiha POV)
Just who is this kid? When did I become so old? Don't call me an uncle just yet, you brat!
No wonder Rumo's smiling… that asshole, I'll get him!
"Thanks, kid! But I've gotta go now. Sorry for this incident!"
Whish…
The Uchiha vanished!