Betaed by Doodledon122
Chapter: 4
It was late into the night when I returned home from my trip to the Land of Waves, and I was startled to find Senshi waiting in my house, sitting in one of my living room chairs in the dark.
"Glad to see you made it back safe and sound. So, what did you learn?" he asked. It was a bit of an odd question, one I wasn't sure how to answer.
"That I have a long way to go as a blacksmith," I replied.
Senshi didn't seem to like this answer, as the curious look on his face quickly turned into one of irritation.
"Wrong, but you'll figure out the right answer soon enough. Katate, if things changed around here, could I still trust you?"
His response was mysterious and direct, and it sent a chill through me. Could the Uchiha be planning a coup before the massacre, and was Senshi fanning the flames? My worst fears began to take root.
"Senshi, what are you up to?" I asked, turning to face him.
I received no answer. He simply tried to walk by me. In response, I grabbed his shoulder.
"Senshi, what are you planning?" I asked again, my tone dead serious.
"Katate, take your hand off of my shoulder," Senshi said in a serious, threatening tone. His Sharingan shifted into its Mangekyō form—three spikes reaching toward the top middle, bottom far-right, and left points of his eyes, with a tomoe between each spike. The sight of his eyes, along with the look he gave me, shook me to my core, causing me to release him. As his eyes returned to normal, I watched my friend exit my house into the dead of night.
I tried to sleep, but my mind was racing with thoughts. Senshi was the brother of Fugaku Uchiha, and by all rights, head of the Uchiha clan until Sasuke came of age. Could Senshi have orchestrated the Uchiha massacre in a twisted plan to take control of both the Uchiha and the Leaf? Or was it something much worse? I needed answers, but I was still being watched by Tsunade's orders. My only chance was to appear as natural as possible, so I exited my home through the front door without any gear or weapons.
I took my time strolling through the peaceful village, slowly making my way toward the Uchiha compound, where Senshi had decided to remain after that horrible night. As I walked through the village, appearing as if I were simply going to visit a friend, I heard a voice call out to me from a connecting street.
"Evening, Katate. What are you doing out so late?"
The voice belonged to Kaen, who approached me from the right intersection.
"Oh, it's just you. You scared me for a second, Kaen," I said with a short laugh, taking a breath as he had startled me.
"I was just on my way to see Senshi. There's something I wanted to talk to him about," I replied honestly, not seeing a point in lying.
"It's a bit late, don't you think? He'd be asleep by now," Kaen said with a half-smile.
"It's Senshi. The guy hardly ever sleeps. We both know that. What are you doing out here so late, anyway?"
Kaen tilted his head and shrugged before answering, "Just doing my job and keeping an eye on you. I'm a member of the Intel Corps, and it's not like I can lie to the Hokage. But I've kept you long enough. Say hi to Senshi for me and remember—I've got my eyes on you."
Kaen finished his words with a laugh before continuing on his way, leaving me to continue my journey to the Uchiha compound.
For several moments, I stood before the large wooden gates bearing the Uchiha crest, wondering what I would see when I walked through. Part of me thought I would find the compound still completely devastated. However, when the massive wooden gate was shoved open, everything appeared as it was before the massacre had ever happened. There was no sign of weapons, blood, or any damage to the buildings. Despite its appearance, the abandoned compound was even more unsettling in this pristine state. I tried to shake off the feeling as I made my way to the head household.
As I walked through the abandoned streets, the one feeling I couldn't shake was the sensation of being watched. I could feel a set of eyes on my back, shifting around in the shadows to remain hidden from my sight. More than that, I could sense the presence of significantly powerful chakra around me. There was no doubt in my mind that Senshi was watching me. What he was planning, I couldn't even begin to guess. The most I could do in the moment was keep walking and remain alert.
This strategy worked for at least a block before it happened. As I passed by an alleyway, a single kunai came flying from the darkness. With a quick side-step and spin, the kunai passed in front of my face as I snatched it out of the air. Following through with the spin, I planted myself, now facing the alley, as two more kunai came flying toward me. With two quick slashes, I knocked the kunai into the ground at my sides, allowing me to leap into the air over the third. Performing a side spin while airborne, I flung the kunai I had caught back into the darkness of the alley with considerable force, landing back on my feet as I heard the sound of metal striking stone.
After a moment, Senshi himself came flying out of the darkness, leaping into the air. He aimed to bring an axe kick down on my left shoulder. Turning and pivoting to the right, Senshi's foot struck the ground before me, allowing me to spin around and throw a roundhouse kick toward his face. Senshi dropped to the ground to avoid the strike, then performed a spinning kick to sweep my remaining leg out from under me. Instantly, I rolled backward and back onto my feet as Senshi's fist struck the ground where I had just fallen.
The second I was on my feet once more, I lunged forward with my left fist cocked back, planning to strike Senshi across the face. However, at the last moment, Senshi turned to the right, narrowly avoiding my punch. Faster than I could react, he spun around and slammed a powerful kick into my back, sending me tumbling forward and crashing straight through the thin wooden door of a nearby building. I landed hard against the back wall, a rack full of weapons clattering down atop me. Senshi stepped into the armory through the now shattered door, and I saw a naginata lying on the ground before me. Normally, such a weapon required two hands, but I could make do.
Rolling from the pile of weapons, I snatched up the naginata, pinning the shaft against my side and performing a fast yet powerful spin. I followed this up by swinging the naginata above my head, continuing to spin while twirling the polearm like a bo staff between my fingers. The whirlwind of axe slashes created a zone of dangerous movement, one Senshi couldn't simply jump back from.
At first, Senshi leaned back, narrowly avoiding the first swing that almost slashed his chest. Then, he ducked under the next strike and leapt over the third. As I planted myself to stop the spin, I aimed the tip of the naginata directly at Senshi. I lunged forward, thrusting the polearm at him with the intention to incapacitate. However, Senshi stepped back and raised his foot, slamming it down on the back of the axe blade, driving it into the wooden floor. Stepping forward along the shaft, Senshi threw a lightning-fast punch at the bridge of my nose.
I raised my left hand, knocking Senshi's fist into the air. This allowed me to grab Senshi by the collar of his cloak and spin both of us around, throwing him into the far-right wall of the armory. Leaning down, I grabbed a tanto and rushed forward, taking a diagonal upwards slash at Senshi's chest. Senshi ducked down and shifted to the right, causing my slash to dig into the wooden wall beside him. Immediately, I brought the blade down to slash downward, but Senshi caught my forearm before striking me in the chest with a precise blow that knocked the wind out of me.
In a split second, I felt Senshi strike my elbow, buckling it inwards, before sliding his hand up to mine and wrenching the tanto from my grasp. He sent me sliding back with a strong, well-placed kick to the chest. With the tanto in hand, Senshi was quick to throw it back at me with deadly precision. I stepped to the side, turning to face him and snatch the tanto out of the air just as it passed by my face.
I flung the tanto into the wooden floor as I planted my feet and faced Senshi again, only for him to leap forward and strike me across the face with a swift punch. Thankfully, I was able to slip my head to the left, avoiding the punch before ducking under Senshi's arm and pivoting around him to his back. Seizing a handbō as I did, I struck Senshi in the back of his shoulders with two skillful and painful blows.
Ducking down to avoid Senshi's retaliatory spin kick, I shot back up, striking him in the center of his chest with the handbō, knocking the breath out of him. Gripping my wrist with an ironclad hold, Senshi struck me in the throat with a swift chop, making it incredibly difficult to breathe and stunning me for a moment. Taking advantage of this, Senshi kicked my right leg, buckling me to one knee, where he was able to rip the handbō from my grip and strike me across the face with it.
Before I could recover, Senshi seized the sides of my jacket and spun us around, hurling me into the wall by the entrance. Falling to the floor, I gasped for breath as I scrambled back to my feet, grabbing a katana off the floor as I stood up. Senshi grabbed a katana as well, and we clashed once more.
Senshi rushed forward with a lightning-fast downward slash. In turn, I moved forward to counter with my own upward swing. The ringing of metal on metal echoed through the armory as our blades clashed. The moment our blades made contact, I flipped and turned my arm to the left, redirecting Senshi's blade away and placing mine atop his. With an opening like the wind, I made my move, slashing at Senshi's neck. By this point, things had escalated far beyond what I could have ever anticipated—this was no longer a test; it was a fight for my life. Senshi reacted with lightning precision, ducking under my blade and slashing at my stomach in the same motion. But I had anticipated his counter. Leaping off the ground, I flipped over him, landing behind him with our backs to each other.
We spun simultaneously, our blades colliding with a deafening clang. Sparks flew as we pushed against one another. Senshi pressed forward, launching a flurry of three consecutive strikes: a downward diagonal slash across my chest, a swift backhand slice aimed at my stomach, and a final upward strike intended to cleave me from hip to shoulder. But I was ready. Watching his movements with unrelenting focus, I intercepted each attack, deflecting them in a symphony of ringing steel.
With his third strike deflected, I dropped low and spun forward along the ground, aiming a slash at Senshi's stomach. He barely managed to lunge backward, his back slamming against the wall to avoid the blade.
Trapped, Senshi began to twirl his katana in a mesmerizing display, the blade becoming a blur as it whipped through the air around him like a deadly fan. Then, with a burst of speed, he rushed forward, his spinning blade creating a storm of slashes designed to disorient and confuse me. But his strategy was clear to me. Focusing on the rhythm of his movements, I traced the arc of his blade like one follows the spinning of a fan, finding the pattern within the chaos.
As Senshi closed in, I stepped forward, thrusting my blade to intercept his. Our swords locked in a swirling motion as I redirected his momentum, disarming him with a flick of my wrist. His katana embedded itself in the wall behind him. I immediately swept at his feet, a move I knew he'd evade. As expected, he leaped into the air, but I was already spinning back around, placing the edge of my blade against the side of his neck.
"That's enough, Senshi... It's over," I said, my voice resolute. "When it comes to close-quarters combat, you can't win. There's no space for your jutsu here. You've lost."
For a moment, it seemed like he would surrender. Then, he smirked. "Maybe if I were an ordinary shinobi, you would've had me."
Before I could react, he dropped to the ground, sweeping my arm upward and kicking me square in the chest. The impact knocked me backward, and before I could recover, Senshi sprang to his feet and dashed outside.
I couldn't let him escape. Giving chase, I darted through the doorway, narrowly dodging a sudden kick as Senshi, hidden against the wall, tried to catch me off guard. Sliding beneath his leg, I spun around, slashing at his ankle, only for him to spring off the wall and land several yards away.
As I rose to my feet, Senshi lifted his head, revealing his Sharingan. His eyes glowed with an intense red light as his hands blurred, unleashing a storm of kunai. They flew at me faster than I could comprehend, and I struggled to deflect them. Each deflection brought the blades closer to their mark until one struck the hilt of my sword, disarming me.
The next kunai was aimed directly at my skull. Then it happened.
A surge of chakra exploded within me, flooding my senses. My vision tinted purple, and the world around me slowed to a crawl. The kunai hung in the air, moving as if through water, while I retained a fraction of my speed. Instinct took over. Ducking beneath the first blade, I twisted and turned, slipping past each projectile with deliberate, calculated movements.
As I landed and the kunai embedded themselves in the wall behind me, the world snapped back to normal speed. My gaze locked onto Senshi as another surge of chakra erupted within me, and a strange sensation burned behind my eyes. A large purple orb materialized around him, but he darted away just before it could take hold.
I continued to follow his movements, my gaze trailing him. Each time I focused, the orb formed again, but Senshi evaded it with uncanny precision. Finally, as he leaped into the air from a roll, I caught him mid-flight. The orb enveloped him, freezing him in its grasp. Inside, Senshi moved at a snail's pace, his motions distorted by the strange energy.
A smile crept across my face, though I didn't fully understand what I had done. But as I approached, Senshi dissolved into smoke.
Before I could react, I felt him behind me. He swept my legs out from under me, pinning me to the ground with a kunai pressed against my throat.
"There they are," Senshi said, his Sharingan glowing as he stared into my eyes. "Just as I expected."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" I demanded, still breathing heavily.
Senshi stood, pulling me to my feet before producing a small mirror. "This," he said, holding it up.
Staring at my reflection, I saw that my eyes had changed. The whites of my irises were gone, replaced by a swirling purple hue. My pupils, too, had shifted—now resembling the hands of a clock, perfectly aligned with the time of night.
"What... what is this?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"You've developed a dōjutsu," Senshi explained, his tone laced with intrigue. "One that manipulates space and time. I suspected it back on the mountaintop but needed confirmation. This fight forced it to awaken."
"So all of this... the setups, the attack—it was just to trigger my eyes?"
"More or less," Senshi replied with a shrug. "If you want to become a shinobi, this is the way. Train with me, and we'll push your dōjutsu to its limit. Once we understand its full potential, no one—especially Lady Tsunade—will be able to deny you a place among the ranks."
Though his words stirred a mix of emotions within me, I couldn't deny the truth.
"Go home," Senshi said, his tone softening. "Rest. We'll begin tomorrow night. Keep those eyes of yours a secret until the time is right."
Without another word, I left the Uchiha compound, my mind racing as I made my way home. This was the start of something new—something dangerous, but also something I couldn't ignore. Whatever awaited me, I would face it head-on.