Chapter 5

Calling what was about to happen an accident would be wrong, after all, how could it be an accident if the person destined to suffer it already knows what's going to happen? Could this still be considered an accident?

It was already night, and due to the time of year they were in, a cold wind penetrated the skin of everyone who was outside their homes. Furthermore, those who lived near forests, like the Uchiha clan, could occasionally hear the sound of leaves rustling due to the wind colliding with the tree leaves.

This was the perfect time to set up an ambush.

"It seems they can't hide their intent to kill so well..."

Kazuya stopped, focusing his gaze towards the dark forest in front of him.

"Brother Kazuya?"

Due to the situation he was in, Kazuya didn't realize that the way Naruto addressed him had changed. Before, Naruto used to call him 'Ayame's brother,' but now he was called 'Brother Kazuya.' The transition was so smooth that even if he wanted to, Naruto couldn't call him by another name.

Naruto, seeing Kazuya suddenly stop, blinked his blue eyes in confusion.

Glancing at Naruto briefly, Kazuya spoke calmly, "Naruto, you're now a student at the ninja school, which means you're a reserve ninja. From now on... stay quiet! No matter what you see, don't be afraid. If you do get scared, then close your eyes and only open them when I say so."

"Eh?"

Kazuya picked up Naruto, full of questions, and jumped, running towards the Uchiha village.

In the next instant, shurikens, like a torrential rain, flew from the adjacent forest.

"They're even attacking Naruto? Could it be Root or..."

Kazuya muttered, drawing the sword he carried at his waist. The silvery light of the blade created an impenetrable barrier. Sparks created in the air scattered, and all the shurikens were deflected, but this also slowed down his movement. Hearing the now chaotic footsteps in the surrounding forest, it seemed like the encirclement was forming...

"It looks like there's no other way... I'll have to fight."

"Cool..."

Naruto was about to exclaim his admiration for witnessing a real battle, but he remembered Kazuya's previous warning and quickly covered his mouth with his hand!

Any child in this situation would be scared and might even cry, but Naruto showed no signs of fear. In fact, a courageous look could be seen in his beautiful blue eyes.

Perhaps due to the things that had happened in his life, he wasn't afraid of other ninjas attacking him. Kazuya could even sense that if the situation were different, Naruto would probably want to touch his sword.

"Naruto, don't say anything else, and don't move."

Kazuya said calmly as he leaped onto a sturdy branch of a nearby tree. With his left hand holding Naruto and his right hand holding the sword, his blood-red eyes scanned the surroundings. Three black sharingan tomoe slowly rotated in his eyes, monitoring any movement in the vicinity.

He wasn't in a hurry to act.

If he were alone, he could fight freely. However, now he had a 'burden' that couldn't be harmed, so he needed to be more cautious.

Naruto obediently remained still and silent, like a wooden puppet, with only his spinning eyes showing how excited he was. So far, this bloodless battle not only didn't scare him, but it left him extremely thrilled.

However, if he were to see blood, he probably wouldn't be as happy as he was now.

Kazuya quickly inserted his sword into the tree trunk next to him and, with his right hand, took two shurikens from his ninja weapon pouch. Chakra silently infused into them.

"Hmph!"

With a snort, he launched the shurikens with a flick of his wrist.

Subtle sounds came from the dark forest, indicating that the attackers were shifting positions.

"Fools, underestimating someone from the Uchiha clan is the same as signing your death warrant."

A cold smile appeared on Kazuya's face. Quickly, he performed several hand seals that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

"Shadow Shuriken Clone Technique!"

Instantly, the two shurikens that Kazuya seemed to have thrown randomly turned into twenty shurikens, which collided in the air as they entered the forest, creating a clear and loud metallic sound that echoed in the night breeze. The sparks disappeared in an instant, and the shurikens flew in completely different trajectories. In the next second, distinct sounds came from the darkness:

The buzz of wood being cut.

The dull thud of flesh being pierced.

The muffled sound of something falling into the water.

"It seems I need to improve my shuriken skills, only three were taken down."

Kazuya narrowed his eyes.

The skill level of these attackers was higher than what Kazuya initially anticipated. Were they really elite ANBU or Root members? The Uchiha throwing technique was not something common; it was a special technique that could only be used in combination with the Sharingan, unique to the Uchiha clan.

Those who could evade this kind of attack were certainly not weak.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere."

In the darkness, someone unleashed a jutsu.

Wind projectiles that resembled bullets were fired incessantly, with a firing rate that could be compared to a human machine gun.

Fortunately, ninjas were not entirely undetectable. Kazuya, seeing the sudden increase in chakra concentration in the darkness, grabbed Naruto, pulled out the sword stuck in the tree trunk, and, agile and smooth as a cat, leaped from branch to branch. The fierce attacks, aside from destroying some old trees, caused no further harm.

"Mind Destruction Technique!"

There were members of the Yamanaka clan among the attackers.

"Fools..."

Kazuya skillfully turned to the side, using Naruto, who was under his left arm, as a human shield against the impact of the mental energy.

Ordinary people couldn't see the mental energy released by the Yamanaka clan when using secret techniques, but the Uchiha, with the Sharingan, were equally skilled in handling mental energy. Kazuya's three-tomoe Sharingan could vaguely sense the fluctuations of the mental energy explosion.

For someone at Kazuya's level, a small clue was enough to reveal the image of the one who targeted him.

Before 'Naruto' showed any signs of reaction, Kazuya lowered his head and locked eyes with 'Naruto.'

"Demonic Illusion: Staked Repression Technique!"

This was a genjutsu that only those with a Sharingan could use.

In the illusory world, the target's body is paralyzed, and their mind is thrust into an illusory world where they feel like their limbs are being pierced by stakes. Thanks to the use of the genjutsu, Kazuya managed to break the Mind Destruction Technique.

The masked attacker crouched on a nearby tree, emitting sharp screams almost simultaneously as the jutsu was broken. The reason? All the pain he felt in the illusory world was transferred to his soul, and let's face it, an attack on the soul was much harder to endure than a physical one.

"Argh!"

"Clang!"

Amidst the screams, a screeching metallic sound rang out.

Behind Kazuya was another enemy, whose weapon was a katana enveloped in a sharp wind blade.

Realizing that his sneak attack had failed, the attacker inwardly cursed his bad luck. His katana, reinforced with wind blades that could cut through even steel, was halted by Kazuya's 'ordinary' sword.

"Very well, the game is over..."

Kazuya swiftly spun around, raising his sword above his head and then slashing in the direction of his enemy.

"Do you want to kill me with just this?!" The attacker exclaimed as he swung the wind-bladed katana toward Kazuya's neck.

"Thud!"

Time seemed to freeze... At least that's what the attacker thought before his vision started to spin backward.

"I, I... am I dead?"

These were the last thoughts of the attacker before his body fell to the ground, and his head rolled to a nearby tree.

"Sigh! I need to improve my sword skills..."

Looking at the headless body on the ground, Kazuya sighed. Senbonzakura, this sword... is incredibly powerful! Even without using any special abilities, its blade can cut through any material in this world, and even jutsu-coated swords are no match for it...

In a short period of time, even while carrying Naruto, Kazuya managed to kill four opponents and severely wound another. This outcome was impressive, especially considering that his enemies were the elite among elites, ninjas from clans that mastered secret techniques and experts in kenjutsu with rare wind abilities...

Those attacking him from the darkness were the cream of the crop, and there was no doubt about it. Moreover, they were using highly characteristic secret techniques without hesitation, likely with the determination to 'win or die' in their offensive.

Turning his head to the side, Kazuya realized something...

The battle was far from over!

And as expected...

"Shadow Capture Technique!"

Another clan ninja using secret techniques. In the moonlight, the shadow, like a snake, extended and clung to Kazuya's shadow projected on the ground from the top of the tree. Suddenly, an invisible and intangible restraining force fell upon Kazuya, leaving him immobile like a puppet in a puppet show, bound by invisible strings.

Kazuya remained motionless, holding Naruto with one hand and raising his sword with the other, unable to move.

The moment he was immobilized, two figures with electric sparks around them emerged from the forest behind him. Like the skilled swordsman before them, these two were clearly masters of taijutsu, with extremely fast movements. They had learned from the fate of their fallen comrades and abandoned the idea of a more stable strike, opting instead to aim directly for Kazuya's head.

"So... this is the feeling of being underestimated?"

Although his body was immobilized, speaking was still possible.

The attackers saw the mocking smile on Kazuya's face. But they thought it was just Kazuya trying to appear strong. Unfortunately...

"Scatter, Senbonzakura..."

The blade of the sword shimmered with an intense pink glow, and moments later, it began to disintegrate into hundreds of cherry blossom petals. The petals started to spin around Kazuya's body, forming a small vortex. As the blade disintegrated, the vortex grew in size.

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know, but we have to stop him from continuing!"

The two attackers launched themselves toward Kazuya, attempting to kill him before his ability could be completed.

"You underestimate me too much..."

Only the hilt of the sword remained in Kazuya's hand, and with a peaceful smile on his face, he admired the sight of the cherry blossom petals forming a vortex. Soon, his peaceful smile and expression were replaced by indifference.

The seemingly harmless cherry blossom petals advanced toward the two enemies, and before they could react, the cherry blossom petals already surrounded them.

At this moment, the two attackers realized that something was wrong with these petals; they noticed that the petals had turned into red eyes...

"Sharingan..."

In an instant, their consciousness was dragged by Kazuya into the illusory world, where they were pierced through their hands and feet and hung on stakes, completely depriving them of their ability to move.

Even though they knew they were in a genjutsu, these skilled attackers couldn't free themselves from the illusion.

They even tried to disrupt the flow of chakra, but it was futile.

The Sharingan was just too powerful.

"Next..." Kazuya controlled the cherry blossom petals to move toward the one who was immobilizing him in the shadows. The speed at which the petals moved was simply unbelievable to the hidden ninja. He never imagined that someone could control petals in such a deadly manner.

Due to Kazuya's attack, the Shadow Capture Technique, already at its limit, was broken.

"Hmph!"

With a snort, Kazuya spun and brandished the hilt of the sword, causing all the petals to gather into a vortex and pass through the necks of the two immobilized attackers, making both headless bodies fall to the ground with a thud.

"Don't worry, you'll soon join those two."

Kazuya's figure disappeared, and in the next moment, he appeared in the air with cherry blossom petals flying around him and falling to the ground. The moon above Kazuya illuminated his body, making his red eyes appear even more lethal.

"In your next life, choose your enemy more wisely."

Saying these words, he swung the hilt of the sword toward the Nara clan attacker, a man with a pineapple-like ponytail.

In a matter of seconds, the cherry blossom petals flew toward the attacker, cutting through every part of his body.

Blood flowed from the Nara clan attacker's body, and Kazuya, who had already landed on the ground, turned his back, ignoring the man who still appeared to be alive.

"Is there still more?"

Looking at the remaining attackers who didn't seem to have any intention of retreating, Kazuya decided to deliver a fatal blow to them.

He knew that these people did not fear death, and the sacrifice of their comrades did not affect them in any way. In fact, they seemed to learn from their comrades' sacrifices, as they had realized that confronting Kazuya head-on made no sense. After all, even after battling so many enemies, Kazuya did not seem tired, and they had not managed to inflict any damage on him so far.

Looking at the hilt of his sword, Kazuya once again cut toward the hidden attackers, but this time, he decided to employ a different tactic.

The cherry blossom petals didn't come together and, in fact, only surrounded the visible enemies and the areas where Kazuya had sensed hidden enemies.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

With a single hand seal, Kazuya unleashed a massive wall of flames that quickly consumed all the cherry blossom petals, causing the flames to grow even more, which consequently resulted in even more casualties among his attackers.

"Quick, deal with the flames!"

"Wind Style: Great Destruction!"

Before their attackers could react, Kazuya once again performed hand seals and quickly used a Wind Style ninjutsu, which could be combined with his Great Fire Annihilation.

The combination of these three abilities was simply fatal.

The attackers never thought Kazuya could use Wind Style, and the information they had only said that Kazuya used cherry blossom petals for illusions and Fire Style was his true power. It was never mentioned that he could use Wind Style or attack with cherry blossom petals.

Stepping over the corpses of their comrades, they finally understood that the title "Prince of the Uchiha," famous alongside "Shisui of the Shimmering Body," was not just an empty name. Even though they had overestimated Kazuya before the action, reality showed that they were still underestimating him.

Because of this, they no longer worried about harming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. In fact, they no longer had the luxury to consider such a thing.

Their initial plan was to wear Kazuya down in close combat, but due to the circumstances, they decided to go with the alternative plan.

The alternative plan consisted mainly of using long-range, massive, and continuous ninja techniques to crush Kazuya all at once. Leveraging their numerical advantage, they could exhaust Kazuya's chakra because, no matter how strong Kazuya was, he didn't have an infinite chakra reserve.

The first two to act chose a combined attack of wind and fire techniques.

This couldn't be considered a combined ninja technique but rather a use of wind techniques to enhance the fire technique's attack, just as Kazuya had done previously. However, it was a pity that the techniques they used were far inferior to Kazuya's.

"Using a Class C fire technique and a Class C wind technique? Do you take me for a joke?"

The flames, rising in a straight line, advanced toward the position detected by the sensor ninja.

Looking at the flames coming his way, Kazuya seriously wondered if these people had something wrong with their brains. How could they have the audacity to use fire techniques against an Uchiha? That was the same as asking to be ridiculed.

"I wonder, who trained these idiots?"

Senbonzakura had already returned to its normal state.

Kazuya had no intention of using it any longer in this battle; he felt it would be disrespectful to his sword.

"To counter such a combination... I know!"

"Kah~!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Plunging his sword into the ground, Kazuya quickly formed hand seals and counterattacked the fire technique of his attackers.

The flames coming toward him were engulfed by his fireball, which seemed to have grown even larger after coming into contact with the enemy's fire technique. The trees in its path, the grass, and everything around were devoured by his fireball.

This time, Kazuya used much more chakra than when he unleashed the Great Fire Annihilation. The reason? He felt that these people were not worthy of witnessing the full power of his Great Fire Annihilation, so he concentrated almost all of his chakra into the Great Fireball Technique.

Kazuya's fireball was so powerful that all the nearby attackers were swallowed by it, and all that remained were ashes on the ground. Even the two who used wind and fire techniques tried to escape using teleportation and substitution techniques.

However, both techniques have limitations in terms of movement range, and unfortunately, the maximum distance they could reach was not enough to escape the range of the sea of fire.

Some figures that were farther away managed to escape. Kazuya had sensed these people before, but due to the distance, he knew it would be difficult to catch up to them. Furthermore, he feared that if he pursued these individuals, Naruto could be kidnapped and used as a hostage or even killed, which would be a tragedy.

Those who managed to avoid Kazuya's attack looked back in horror. They had been trained not to fear death, but upon seeing these flames, it was impossible not to feel fear.

In addition to fear, incredulity filled the eyes of those who escaped.

Who could believe that a Class C technique could cause so much destruction? If ten people were skillfully executing this technique, then maybe it would be possible to cause such destruction, but who could believe that a single person had accomplished what even ten people might not achieve?

"Is this the 'Prince of the Uchiha'?"

Someone murmured.

The others remained silent, but in their hearts, they had already acknowledged Kazuya's title. 'Prince of the Uchiha' might have seemed like an affront to the leader of the Uchiha clan and his sons, but in the eyes of these people, they understood that Kazuya truly deserved that title.