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6.txt
At the edge of the forest surrounding Konoha.
The roar of thunder was unending.
Across a wide swath of the woods, trees lay flattened. Fires crackled, devouring the underbrush.
In the center of the devastation, Qianyu stood motionless. The final sword form of Thunder Breathing was complete.
After what felt like an eternity of torment, a heavenly sound finally reached his ears.
[Thunder Breathing simulation successful. Rewards distributed. System relinquishing control.]
As control flooded back into his limbs, his body betrayed him. He collapsed. Hit the ground hard. Curled into a shuddering ball.
Pain.
Everywhere. Every muscle screamed. Every bone ached.
It hurt so much he couldn't even find the breath to cry out.
Regret, sharp and immediate, cut through the haze. Letting the system take over here, in the middle of the woods… that was a mistake.
He couldn't move a finger. And all around him, fire climbed the trees, the heat pressing in.
If he didn't do something, he'd burn to ash right here.
He lay there. Seconds ticked by. The air grew hotter. The heat seared his back.
Survival instinct, primal and fierce, kicked in. He had to move.
Thank the gods he'd picked a spot near the stream. Get to the water. Just get to the water.
He dragged himself forward. An inch. Another. Agonizingly slow. The flames licked closer. He could smell his own clothes singeing.
Almost there…
Just as his trembling fingers brushed the damp soil of the bank, several figures dropped from the trees, landing silently before him.
Qianyu forced his head up. His eyes focused on the man in front. His pupils contracted.
The Third Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He'd expected Konoha to notice the commotion. But for the Hokage himself to come? That was… unexpected.
Still. He was saved. The rest could wait.
The last thread of tension holding him together snapped. Darkness swallowed him whole.
Hiruzen frowned down at the unconscious boy, his eyes sharp with calculation. The scene spoke of a powerful Lightning Release user. But there was only the boy here. Qianyu's hands bore the telltale burns of channeling lightning chakra.
Yet the scale of destruction… this wasn't the work of a Genin. Maybe not even a Chunin.
Could a mere student from the Academy do this?
It defied belief.
His feelings toward Qianyu were… complicated. Not outright hostile.
The boy's parents hadn't betrayed Konoha, not truly. They'd fled. It was a personal matter, a feud with the Uchiha clan, not an act against the village.
But the Uchiha disowned the boy. And the villagers, their simmering resentment toward the proud clan, needed an outlet. Qianyu became that target.
The rift between the villagers and the Uchiha was widening. A dangerous crack in Konoha's foundation.
And with war always a breath away on the shinobi world's horizon, Konoha still needed the Uchiha's strength. He couldn't move against them. Not yet.
Caught between public sentiment and military necessity, Hiruzen had chosen the simplest path: ignore Qianyu. Let him fade into the background.
But if this was the boy's work… then his value needed a drastic re-evaluation.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. Furthermore, powerful Lightning Release users were rare in Konoha. If Qianyu possessed a jutsu of this caliber…
The boy hadn't left the village since his mother brought him back. So he must have learned this technique outside. Before returning.
A technique like that, disseminated to Konoha's few Lightning specialists… it could shift the village's power balance.
"Extinguish the fires," Hiruzen ordered the Anbu flanking him, his voice calm. "Then take him to the hospital. Ensure he receives treatment."
The masked shinobi moved. Hands flashed through seals. Water gushed forth, dousing the flames with a hiss of steam.
One Anbu hoisted the limp boy over his shoulder. In a blur, they were gone.
Mito Uzumaki's residence.
Kushina Uzumaki trudged back to the grand house, her spirit crushed. Rejected.
As a newcomer to Konoha, she lived with Lady Mito, the former Hokage's wife.
"Kushina," Mito greeted warmly, seeing the girl return. "How was your first day at the Academy? Did everything go well?"
Kushina's lower lip trembled. "Grandma Mito…"
Mito heard the wobble in her voice. She moved forward, scooping the red-haired girl into her arms and settling onto the tatami. "What happened, dear?"
Kushina poured it all out. The taunts. The nickname 'Tomato.' How she'd fought back. And then… the boy with the dark eyes. How she'd tried to befriend him. How he'd shut her down.
"Qianyu, is it?" Mito murmured, her gaze growing distant.
"You know him, Grandma?" Kushina asked, curiosity cutting through her sadness.
"I… have heard of him." Mito's voice was low, heavy with a memory.
Know him? How could I not?
His father was from the Senju. The same clan as her late husband, Hashirama. But after the village's founding, Hashirama, as clan head, had dissolved the Senju. Scattered them among the villagers. Their lineage blurred into the tapestry of Konoha.
When Qianyu's parents were branded missing-nin, Mito had pleaded with Hiruzen for clemency. To no avail. The mother was Uchiha. The First Clan. Even the Hokage had to tread carefully.
Later, when the boy returned alone, Mito had offered to take him in. Hiruzen refused again. The reasons were coldly political: her status as the First Hokage's widow was incompatible with fostering the orphaned, disowned child of traitors.
That refusal had been a cold splash of water. A reminder of how Hiruzen, the boy she once knew, had changed beneath the weight of the hat.
Mito stroked Kushina's vibrant hair. "Do you know why he refused you?"
"He said… 'I'm isolated by the whole village. If you befriend me, you might be isolated by everyone too.' Then he told me to change seats when I got back to class and just… left." Kushina's voice was small, confused.
"Isolated by the whole village…" Mito repeated softly, a sigh escaping her lips. "Oh, Hiruzen… the boy has done nothing wrong."
Her heart ached for Qianyu. For the lonely road he was forced to walk. But in her current position, there was little she could do to change his circumstances. The gears of the village had turned, crushing something fragile in their path.
Her eyes settled on Kushina's downcast face. A thoughtful glimmer entered Mito's aged, knowing eyes.
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