Chapter 6
Rock Lee took a combative stance, both combatants pointing their index and middle fingers out to one another creating the sparring sign.
Ide gave Lee a quick once over, not seeing a weapon on his opponent he decided to remove his
Sword and sheath and threw them to the side before going into a stance of his own.
"Do not underestimate me!" Lee called back feeling offended by his foe's disarming.
"I don't intend to…." Ide replied calmly as his eyes flashed red. 'This'll be a good opportunity to train my chakra control.' Ide thought as his 3 tomoe sharingan locked onto Rock Lee. 'Maede used to be able to go entire missions with his Sharingan activated, he used to sleep with them on. There's no reason I can't do the same.'
Lee nodded in acknowledgment and response loosened his two ankle weights, gently setting them on the ground next to him.
"We're going to have a quick match, first to lose their footing, loses! Begin!" Might Guy announced with a chop of the air and the battle began and Rock Lee immediately disappeared.
'He's fast!' Ide thought but despite Lee's super speed the Sharingan managed to track the green-clad ninja's movements and this allowed Ide to throw up his left arm to block a sweeping kick. While the Sharingan allowed Ide to track Lee's speed, it couldn't prepare him for the power that would come with a kick.
The force of Lee's kick caused Ide to slide to his right, tearing a path of dirt through the grass. "Gaah!" Ide winced as his arm burned with pain like the kick had fractured his bones. Instinctively, Ide reached for the sword he'd discarded and this wasted movement presented Rock Lee with an opportunity for a follow-up attack.
Lee rushed towards Ide, throwing a right hook. With the help of his Sharingan, Ide managed to catch his fist in his palm with his hand before grabbing a kunai from his pouch and swinging at Lee's face. Lee ducked out of the way of the blade, catching himself in a handstand and using both of his free feet to deliver a strong kick to the stomach.
"Guhh!" Ide grunted as the kick knocked the air from his lungs. Lee, still in a handstand position, threw himself up into the air and aimed a flying kick at Ide.
Ide's sharingan saw this attack coming a million miles away, providing him the chance to throw up a quick hand sign and summon a wall of stone that took the kick for him. Crashing full force into the slab of solid earth stammered Rock Lee for a moment and created an opportunity for Ide to go on the offensive.
Ide dashed forward and slammed his palm into Lee's stomach forcing him to crouch over where Ide shoved his knee into Lee's chin causing him to stumble backward. Ide performed a quick series of hand signs before putting his palms together down by his hip. "Wind-Release, jet palm!"
Ide threw both palms forward into Lee's stomach and launched him backward through the air with a powerful blast of wind. Then after another flurry of hand signs, Ide slams his hands down in the dirt and creates another stone wall Lee causing him to crash into it.
"Haha…." Ide exhaled as using so many jutsu in quick succession, all while maintaining his Sharingan, had exhausted him. His eyes returned to their base form for a split second before Ide willed them to remain on but this short lapse in visual prowess allowed a green blur to rush past him.
Once the Sharingan had reactivated Ide managed to track Lee to his blindspot but it was too late as Lee had already cocked back a massive that was coming too quickly to dodge. "Primary Lotus!" Lee called out his technique as he punted Ide into the air by his chin.
The initial kick knocked Ide into a stunned state as he flew up into the air this allowed Lee to perform a series of kicks that further propelled Ide and himself upward part way Throughout this sequence ide managed to collect himself enough to form a hand sign but before he could use a jutsu Lee quickly wrapped him up in his arm bindings, pinning his hands to his chest and creating a sort of cocoon of bandages. Unfortunately for Lee it was too late, with the limited time allocated to him Ide managed to form a simple hand sign but that's all he'd need.
"Fireball Jutsu!" Through his lips, Ide blew out a stream of orange flames that blossomed into a boulder-sized fireball that consumed both him, Lee, and the bandages that connected the two of them. The two crashed back into the earth in a ball of dark smoke.
Lee was the first to recover, leaping backward out of the smoke, his clothes and the skin around his face sporting a few new burn marks. He landed and carefully studied the smoke pile as Ide rushed forward brandishing a kunai.
Ide ran up to Lee and slashed his kunai at the bowl-haired ninja's face who managed to skillfully duck out of the way of the blade. Ide continued to press Lee with his blade but Lee remained one step ahead of Ide's assault until eventually Lee managed to duck under one of the kunai slashes and counter with a powerful punch to Ide's stomach.
"Gaah!" Lee shuttered from pain to his fist as Ide's visage faded leaving a hard stone copy of himself that crumbled into a pile of rocks. "A rock clone!" Lee exclaimed as he quickly surveyed the area for his real opponent before he suddenly sunk into the ground and passed his ankles. "Quicksand jutsu…" Lee said, recognizing the trap he'd just found himself in.
CRAKOO! From just outside the quicksand trap a hole opened up in the ground and Ide lept high into the air and flung a kunai at the trapped Lee who managed to deflect it before it hit his face but in doing so he caught a bloody scratch on the back of his hand.
"GAH!" Lee yelled as he ripped his legs from the quicksand, yet another demonstration of his superhuman strength. Lee was once again on the offensive but as the fight had gone on Ide's Sharingan managed to analyze the attack pattern and made him easier to predict.
Ide ducked beneath kicks and weaved out of the way of punches, occasionally retaliating with a punch of his own when the opportunity presented itself. Despite the futility of his attacks, Lee didn't grow frustrated. He kept his composure and kept up his onslaught but the same couldn't be said for Ide.
'As long as we're sparing, might as well try that technique.' Ide thought with a small smirk, his ability to read Lee's movement had given him the confidence to get experimental.
While still dodging the attacks, Ide's arm suddenly began to glow a hot orange color. 'Now I have to cool the-AAAAH!' Ide was interrupted mid-thought as his arm began to experience an intense burning pain forcing him to cancel the technique but taking his focus off of Lee made it so not even the Sharingan could protect him.
"GUUUHHH!" In his moment of weakness Lee delivered a brutal punch to Ide's stomach knocking the wind from his breath and the spit from his mouth. When Ide looked up he was met with a foot to the face.
Ide was sent flying backwards across the battlefield landing hard on the ground nearly 20 meters away. When Ide recovered himself he looked up to see Lee once again flying through the air with his boot aimed directly at Ide's face.
Ide's head was ringing and his body ached making dodging this attack nearly impossible but instinctively Ide's eyes transformed and his Mangekyou Sharingan activated. The most powerful dojutsu in the village was aimed at Rock Lee but there was no jutsu to reflect, instead light gray wispy flame-like aura formed around Ide's body and immediately stopped Lee's kick before vanishing just as soon as it had formed leaving a stream of blood dripping from Ide's eye.
Both Lee and Ide stood in confusion for a moment at the sudden appearance of the strange gray flames that had formed with no hand sign. In that break from combat, Might Guy entered the battlefield as the referee.
"The sparring match has ended! Lee is the winner." Guy declared gesturing towards Ide who had one knee touching the ground meaning he'd been the first to lose their footing. "Well fought you two, now make a unison sign."
Ide climbed back to his feet and he and Lee locked fingers indicating the sparring match had ended. "Thank you for the match!" Lee said loudly with a bow remaining respectful in victory.
"No problem," Ide responded, his eyes fading back to black. 'What an amazing combatant, the whole fight he used nothing but taijutsu…' "GAH!" Ide winced burying his face in his right hand, the adrenalin from the fight delayed his reaction but the pain from both of his eyes was unlike anything he'd experienced from using his Mangekyou abilities in the past.
Lee, Guy, and the girl with them noticed Ide's suffering with the bun-headed girl being the first to approach him. "Are you alright, you might be injured."
"I'm fine…." Ide muttered as the pain had subsided to the point where he could remove his hand.
"Your sharingan is developing quickly, perhaps a little too quickly for your own good," Guy spoke out seemingly possessing some understanding of the sharingan. "I understand you're still adjusting to the change in time but we're at peace now. I don't think I need to explain what will happen if you keep using those eyes at this pace." Guy said with a serious glare.
Ide averted his eyes, not appreciating the lecture but not having an argument to counter Guy. He knew the consequences of his actions all too well.
(Flashback, 23 years ago )
An eight-year-old Ide paced back and forth near the entrance of the Uchiha compound, clearly waiting for someone as the sun set behind the village. Ide pouted as he grew impatient, growing up spoiled as an only child Ide'd never been good at waiting but his mood quickly picked up as Uchiha shinobi returned home beaten and tired from their missions.
Ide rushed past many happy reunions as his sights were already set on someone else. "Maede!" He called out to meet his cousin.
Maede, who'd previously been sporting a serious expression, lit up when he saw his little cousin. "Hey!" He called out as Ide ran right up to him. "Woah, look at you, Ide. You sure have grown. I guess I have been gone awhile…"
"Yeah…" Ide, who had been brimming with excitement after being reunited with his cousin grew dejected as he thought about the lost time between the two. "It's been over a year…" He muttered sadly.
Maede seeing their happy reunion quickly turn sad decided it was time to change the subject. "Hey, you know when I was out fighting I heard a strange rumor from one of the academy instructors. They said you managed to graduate from the academy on your first try." Ide began smiling as his cousin teased him playfully. "So I've been wondering the past few days, how a runt like you could've pulled something like that off."
"Huh? How rude!" Ide cried back childishly before he proudly stuck out his chest. "Well if you're gonna be a jerk then I'm just gonna have to show you. Haaaah!... Haaaahhh!" Ide struggled and strained for a moment, he began rapidly blinking his eyes.
"Uh…Are you okay…" Maede asked as he stood in bewilderment at this strange display.
"Shut up! I got it!... I got it! I got it! I got it!" Ide repeated to himself repeatedly before eventually his eyes turned red with a single black dot next to the pupils in each eye.
"No way, you've unlocked your Sharingan." A proud smile formed on Maede's face before he continued to tease his cousin. "So you're a Uchiha after all. After all that time it took me to teach you the Fireball Jutsu I could've sworn Auntie and Uncle found you in the woods or something."
"Laugh it up but I'm the first Uchiha of my year to get a sharingan, I'm well on my way," Ide said proudly. "Before too long I'm gonna have eyes like yours."
This took the smile from Maede's face and darkened his expression. "Eyes like mine huh? Hey, Ide let's go for a walk there's something I wanna talk to you about."
"Sure, can we get Yakitori?" Ide asked but something was clearly on Maede's mind and it wasn't dinner.
Maede and Ide's walk eventually led them to a part of the Uchiha Compound that overlooked a small pond and this is where the older ninja felt comfortable stopping. Ide looked out into the water as he finished off the last of his meat skewers. "So what did you wanna talk to me about."
"Ide," Maede spoke in a soft but stern voice befitting of someone who wished to become a teacher. "When you said you wanted eyes like mine you meant these eyes, correct?" Maede's black eyes transformed directly into a pair of his own Mangekyou Sharingan to which Ide starred in amazement.
"Listen very closely to me Ide, you never want eyes like these do you hear me," Maede warned.
"Huh? What do you mean? That's the strongest sharing ever. Dad said!" Ide responded naively. "He said your eyes are gonna win us the war, a lot of the older clan members said that too. If I can get a Sharingan as strong as yours I can help you win the war."
"I'm terrified for your generation Ide, this war is poisoning your minds." Maede put a gentle hand on the child's shoulder. "You're rushing to fight and kill and die in a war you didn't cause. A war I didn't cause. This war has done nothing but take from us, from our village, our clan, and our family. These eyes are like this war, all they do is take!..." Maede could feel himself growing angrier but he knew he shouldn't yell at his cousin so he paused for a moment to collect himself before he continued. "Ide, you have no idea what these eyes cost me." Maede tried his best to explain calmly as pupils returned to their usual black color. "Even now that they're mine they keep on taking from me, every time I use them they take more and more eventually they'll take my very sight from me."
This is when it dawned on Ide as he took another look at his cousin's eyes and he could see it, they weren't as bright as they used to be and this formed a pit in the young man's stomach but Maede smiled through his pain. "But even though I didn't start this war I need to keep fighting it anyway, do you know why?" Ide, who was feeling embarrassed by some of the things he'd said earlier didn't have the confidence to answer so he looked down but his cousin picked his chin up and answered for him. "Because protecting this village is the duty of the Uchiha clan so it's my duty and it's your duty too. If we do our duty well enough hopefully we'll create a world where nobody will ever need eyes like mine again."
(End of Flashback)
'Well, looks like neither of us was able to live up to that expectation, huh Maede?' Ide thought as he gathered himself, wiping the remainder of the blood from his eyes. "I'm fine," Ide muttered back to Guy.
That response did little in the way of satisfying Guy but he decided to drop it and move on. "Alright, then our Mission awaits!" He called out enthusiastically before putting both hands on Ide's shoulders. "Well young man, you and I have been chosen to accompany Lee, Tenten, and the rest of the qualified Genin for this year's Chunin exam in the Hidden Sand Village."
Ide stood still for a minute and stared at Jonin dead in the eyes. "Chaperone duty? Are you serious?"
(Meanwhile just outside the Land of Wind)
Two figures stood side by side on a tree branch overlooking the vast expanse of desert that made up the land of wind in front of them. Both of them were dressed in black cloaks decorated with red clouds and both wearing large rice hats that cast a shadow over their faces.
One of the two, the taller one who had a large weapon wrapped in bandages attached to his back, looked out with hunger-like excitement at the endless expanse. "So is it time, Itachi?" The tall man spoke with a gravelly voice almost like an animal growling. "Are we finally going after the one tail?"
"Not quite, Kisame." The shorter one answered in a softer, calmer voice. "The Sand Village is hosting the Chunin exams this year with so many ninjas gathering here it'd be a poor time to launch an attack but with the village opening up to outsiders there's no better time for us to sneak gather intel about its defenses."
"Ugh… Recon… How boring." The tall man groaned. "When do you think we're going to get some real action?"
"With your blood lust Kisame, I have no doubt we'll have to wait very long." The shorter man answered as a pair of Sharingan shined from the shadows covering his face.
(End)