c4: Playing Tricks
"Run away, why don't you run away?"
Four Sunagakure shinobi surrounded Uchiha Gen. The tallest among them, a chūnin with a prominent scar on his forehead, sneered menacingly.
Gen Uchiha responded with a peculiar smile, flipping his palm to reveal two ignited explosive tags.
Sensing danger, the Sunagakure chūnin shouted, "Retreat, now!"
Boom!
The simultaneous detonation unleashed a powerful shockwave, engulfing the area in flames. The three Sunagakure genin were caught off guard, suffering severe internal injuries as they were thrown back, coughing blood.
Whoosh!
From the treetops behind the Sunagakure shinobi, three shuriken flew with deadly precision, targeting the chūnin's head, back, and lower body.
Reacting swiftly, the chūnin deflected the projectiles with his kunai, sparks flying upon impact.
Seizing the moment, Uchiha Gen descended from the canopy, sword poised for a downward strike. The chūnin raised his kunai to block, resulting in a clash of metal. Gen swiftly reached for the chūnin's throat, but the latter parried with his left hand, preparing a counterattack.
Suddenly, the chūnin's body froze.
"Impossible..."
The chūnin's eyes widened in disbelief as he realized three shuriken had embedded themselves along his spine, rendering him immobile.
Not all shinobi wear armor; many prioritize speed over protection.
Without hesitation, Uchiha Gen delivered a forceful kick to the chūnin's abdomen, sending him sprawling. Activating his Sharingan, Gen deflected incoming projectiles with a swift motion.
The chūnin lay paralyzed, the shuriken causing irreparable damage to his spinal cord.
Witnessing their leader's defeat and the ominous glow of Gen's Sharingan, the remaining Sunagakure genin were gripped by fear.
An Uchiha with a two-tomoe Sharingan posed a significant threat, even to seasoned chūnin.
Before they could react, Gen utilized the powers of the Soul-Soul Fruit, extracting their souls and life spans. The genin collapsed, lifeless.
"You... what did you do?" the chūnin gasped, his perspective obscured.
"You don't need to know," Gen replied coldly.
Approaching the chūnin, Gen extracted his soul and life span, then ensured his demise with a precise stab to the back of the head. Retrieving his bloodied shuriken, he departed.
Later, Gen found a secluded spot to process the aftermath. The thrill of utilizing his new abilities had momentarily overshadowed the gravity of taking lives.
Understanding the harsh realities of war and drawing upon the original owner's battlefield memories, Gen composed himself.
He then tended to his weapons, consumed a military ration pill to replenish his chakra, and prepared for the next encounter.
Chakra recovery is time-consuming, and on a battlefield, efficiency is paramount. The Uchiha clan's ration pills, renowned for their quality, played a crucial role in sustaining him.
With a strong soul enhancing his mental prowess, Gen adeptly managed his chakra distribution, a skill invaluable for mastering ninjutsu.
After half an hour of recovery, Gen resumed his hunt. Soon, he spotted a lone Sunagakure shinobi, distinguished by his armor, scroll, and composed demeanor likely a seasoned operative.
Unfazed, Gen assessed the situation. A jōnin-level opponent had likely advanced further into Mount Kikyo.
Opting for caution, Gen refrained from a direct approach, wary of potential sensory abilities.
Testing the waters, he launched a shuriken.
Anticipating the attack, the Sunagakure shinobi retaliated, hurling three shuriken toward Gen's concealed position.
Impressed by the shinobi's perceptiveness, Gen evaded and countered with his own shuriken, which embedded into a nearby tree.
The Sunagakure shinobi dodged and began forming hand seals, but the shuriken, now under Gen's control, circled back toward him.
The Sand Ninja was so frightened that he quickly aborted his hand seals. While dodging, he drew a kunai, clearly panicked.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Uchiha Gen exhaled a barrage of small, orange-red fireballs. The flames, shaped like flower seeds from an impatiens plant, shot forward rapidly, scattering across a wide area. Gen, with precise Sharingan-aided chakra control, deliberately manipulated the trajectory to block all avenues of escape.
The Sand shinobi reacted quickly, forming a rapid hand seal "Ninpō: Hidden Mist Senbon Technique!"
With a burst of white smoke, countless senbon needles erupted, whistling through the air. The sharp hail of steel dispersed the fireballs formed by Gen's Fire Release—an advanced interaction of chakra nature transformation and shape manipulation.
Gen evaded the secondary wave of senbon with nimble footwork. He mentally signaled the fallen shuriken, equipped with embedded soul fragments, to hold their positions.
As the smoke thinned, a puppet emerged mechanized limbs clicking ominously. It resembled a wolf, its frame a hybrid of polished wood and reinforced steel.
"That's a wolf-type kugutsu puppet..."
Gen noted the joint design likely Sunagakure's medium-class puppetry model, capable of multi-angle ranged attacks.
"A Sharingan… an Uchiha," the Suna ninja muttered, face darkening.
Puppet masters dreaded facing Uchiha shinobi. The Sharingan's precise visual acuity could trace chakra threads and see through subtle movements, disrupting complex puppetry tactics.
Gen tilted his head slightly and flicked his right hand. A small white orb of condensed soul energy flew forward, slow and seemingly harmless.
The Suna ninja twitched his pinky his chakra strings reacted instantly. From the wolf puppet's mouth, a kunai shot forward, piercing through the orb without effect.
Unnerved, the puppeteer moved his puppet into a defensive position, shielding himself behind it. The orb fell to the ground and… vanished.
"That's it? I thought "
Clack!
Suddenly, the wolf puppet spun around violently. Its jaws unhinged, and a barrage of kunai fired not at Uchiha Gen but at its own master.
The Suna ninja's eyes widened. At such close range, he had no time to evade. The kunai punched through his chest armor, the steel tips embedded in his chest.
"How… how is that possible?" he gasped, blood dribbling from his mouth.
He looked down in horror. The breastplate had absorbed part of the blow, but not enough. Multiple kunai stuck out of his ribs and collarbone.
Gen landed in front of him in a flash. While the puppet master was still reeling from pain and disbelief, Gen calmly activated the power of the Soru Soru no Mi.
Soul and lifespan drained rapidly from the puppeteer's body, his chakra dispersing like smoke. His expression froze as his will to live was forcefully extracted.
Meanwhile, the wolf puppet now Homitz-animated shook its tail, brushing against Gen's calf. The tail had been modified with barbed segments, once used to incapacitate enemies.
"Trying puppetry against me?" Gen said, smirking. "You must have a death wish. Even Sasori of the Red Sand would be nothing but a side character here."
He looked at the wolf puppet, whose chakra thread ports now glowed faintly. Its original master was gone; Gen's soul fragment had assumed control.
"Destroy his brain. He won't be able to speak or act unless I give the order."
"Yes, Master."
The Homitz-controlled puppet nodded. Though limited in intelligence due to the poor soul quality, it understood and followed basic commands.
"You three, return as well."
The trio of shuriken scattered nearby rose into the air and zipped back into Gen's ninja pouch in perfect sync, a testament to his control over soul-marked tools.
With the field cleared, Gen activated a basic sealing technique and stored the puppet inside a scroll for future use. The scroll was a standard Konoha shinobi model, tuned to bind mid-sized battle puppets or heavy weapons.
Just then, on a branch bordering the battlefield, a new figure arrived silently.
"Looks like I'm not too late…"
He had spiky yellow hair, deep blue eyes, and wore Konoha's standard flak vest over a dark blue jumpsuit. His face was youthful, but his gaze was alert and experienced. His chakra was like the spring sun warm, yet terrifying in depth.
Minato Namikaze.
He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the battlefield.
"Better not leave written reports around this guy," he muttered internally. "He's dangerous… Deadly, even."
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