-9- Tenth Form: Constant Flux? (II)

Returning to an hour ago, after Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke and Giyu separated.

As Itachi left Training Ground Four, a slender black cat emerged from transparency.

Dressed in a vest and carrying a small backpack, it was Itachi's ninja cat.

"Did you find out who it is?"

Itachi crouched down and whispered, handing a spicy dried fish from his ninja tool pouch.

The cat's taste was indeed special.

"It's Lord Fugaku."

The black cat happily curled its tail, chewed the dried fish a few times, and swallowed it, looking quite satisfied.

"He's hiding deep in the woods over there, using wind chakra to blur his figure, even I almost didn't notice, meow."

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

[No wonder I felt an inexplicable pressure before, but there was no hostility...]

Earlier, during lunch with the three of them, Itachi had a strange feeling, so he used the restroom as an excuse to come to the corner and summoned the ninja cat with excellent vision to investigate the surroundings.

The result was almost as he had guessed.

After all, he could hardly imagine who else besides his father would be so interested in the three brothers.

At present, Itachi couldn't figure out when his father started spying. How much did he see and hear before?

Is Giyu, who opened his eyes at the age of five, really worth his father's attention?

If he also knew about Giyu's highly compatible water attribute chakra...

Itachi's expression gradually became serious, far from the demeanor he should have at his age.

The more his father cared about Giyu, the greater the danger Giyu faced, and the higher the possibility of becoming a tool for a coup.

Therefore, he had to find out how much his father knew and what he still wanted to do here.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go back and say hello to everyone for me."

Itachi patted the cat's head and released the summoning jutsu.

Then, he split into two shadow clones, telling the first one, "You'll take care of the mission in the Daimyo's place."

"I understand. Be careful."

The first clone disappeared instantly from its original location.

Actually, Itachi was already not interested in the mission at this point, but the Daimyo was an important client, and he couldn't afford to cancel.

Itachi turned to the second shadow clone. "You probably know where Shisui might be. When he comes, have him pay attention to my signal."

"Got it."

The second clone turned around and ran at full speed in the direction of the Uchiha clan's territory.

Itachi sighed helplessly.

Although he didn't want to speculate maliciously about his father, what he had heard and seen in recent years told him that he must always assume the worst when predicting the behavior of an Uchiha.

If his father really knew about Giyu's situation and intended to use him against the village...

[Then I'll ask Shisui to use that jutsu and change his mind.]

For Itachi, no matter what his father asked him to do, Sasuke and Giyu were his bottom line, and he shouldn't involve them in such matters.

Even if he had to confront his father, he would stop such things from happening.

After the two clones completely disappeared from view, Itachi quietly returned to Training Ground Four and lurked under the tree where the cat had left its mark.

He activated his Sharingan and finally saw a deep green figure twenty meters away, his father, using wind chakra to conceal his figure, blending perfectly with the surrounding leaves.

After finding the target, Itachi immediately looked away to avoid being sensed.

[I've already left, but Father is still waiting here...]

[What is he waiting for?]

Itachi frowned, making various guesses in his fast-paced brain.

In the end, he still thought he should stay here and wait for things to happen. After all, patience was the most basic quality of a ninja.

Five minutes later, the shadow clone searching for Shisui automatically dispelled, and the relevant memories came with it.

After a while, Itachi saw a crow on the treetops behind him, indicating that Shisui had arrived nearby and was lurking in the shadows just like him.

No one could have imagined that some of the most talented members of the Uchiha clan would gather like this at Training Ground Four, playing a game of cat and mouse, demonstrating the basic skills of a ninja, trailing.

Soon, an hour passed.

Seeing Uchiha Enka appear in this place, Itachi couldn't help but wonder if this was also within his father's expectations.

If so, what does his father, who should be executing a mission right now, want Uchiha Enka to do?

Was it his father's plan to lure him here?

Although he knew Shisui was nearby, Itachi still worried that Sasuke and Giyu might be harmed.

When Uchiha Enka was still a genin, he was a powder keg who dared to criticize the Hokage in public, often conflicting with clan members, so nothing he did was surprising.

According to the information Itachi gathered, not long ago, because Enka pursued personal glory too much and refused to cooperate with others, he failed the jonin exam and was criticized on the spot by Mitokado Homura, becoming the laughingstock of the newly promoted jonin in Konoha.

Since he couldn't prove himself through the exam, he set his sights on the young clan members with impressive strength, believing that defeating them would prove his jonin-level abilities.

The most dazzling among the Uchiha is Shisui, and naturally, Itachi, acknowledged by Shisui, is also on his list.

Itachi considered himself slightly inferior in direct combat, but there were many ways to defeat him.

But he also knew that such people, even if defeated, would continue to challenge endlessly, so he simply avoided them and never went to the clan training grounds again.

He never expected him to come here.

But when Itachi saw the moment a Uchiha genin was suddenly knocked down by Giyu, he felt surprised and decided one thing—

He can't let his father watch anymore.

Although he didn't know how much his father knew, less was definitely better.

So, he signaled to the crow, or rather Shisui's clone—

[I leave them to you.]

He was confident in dealing with Uchiha Enka's bad temper with tactics, but Shisui, whose strength was beyond doubt, would be faster than him.

[If father leaves a shadow clone, eliminate it.]

After conveying the message, Itachi transformed into the appearance of an Anbu ninja, wearing the disaster warding mask given by Giyu, and directly threw a kunai at his father's hiding place, without using the throwing techniques of the Uchiha clan.

When the kunai flew over, it was unsurprisingly caught between two fingers, successfully attracting the attention of Uchiha Fugaku.

When the Sharingan, far superior to Itachi's, vigilantly looked at him, Itachi felt the veins behind his knees crawl like spiders, almost losing control of his body.

Too strong!

Is this how his father's enemies feel when facing him?

And the difference in this doryoku—

[Could it be that father and Shisui have the same eyes?]

This thought flashed and disappeared.

In the moment of trance, Itachi came to his senses, his figure fleeing at extreme speed. After leaving Training Ground Four, he continued to rush towards the outskirts of Konoha, but was soon caught up by his father, who was faster, and blocked by a row of kunai shot in his way.

At such a close distance, he didn't expect his transformation technique to deceive his father's Sharingan, so he immediately reverted to his original form.

"Father."

Itachi turned back, removed the mask, and bowed slightly.

Although his attitude was respectful, his face was very gloomy.

Fugaku, whose secret was exposed, didn't look much better—just now, the shadow clone he left behind was silently eliminated by someone.

And he could probably guess who did it.

"Someone is already looking after Sasuke and Giyu back in the training ground."

Itachi said calmly, "Next, I hope to have a father-son conversation with you."

A tense atmosphere spread between the two.

Could it be that this father and son, who have been estranged since two years ago, are finally going to come clean with each other?

...

At the same time, on the other side.

[What's going on?]

This was the common thought in the minds of all the Uchiha present except Giyu.

Looking at the clan member lying on the ground with closed eyes, they wondered if their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Among them, Sasuke saw the clearest, so he was the most incredulous.

When the young clan member with the rope walked towards them, perhaps confused by Giyu's age, he showed no signs of alertness, so he was directly knocked out by Giyu with a palm under the sternum.

The location was the same place that Giyu hit when he was having trouble breathing on the way to the training ground, but the result was completely different.

He just directly fainted?

A genin with a forehead protector was knocked out cold by Giyu?

[How much strength does it take?]

Sasuke thought he had already overestimated his brother enough, but he found that he was wrong again, and even felt a little scared.

He used to steal Giyu's blanket when he slept at night.

But there was no time to ask questions or feel jealous at the moment. He reached for the ninja tool pouch behind his buttocks with his left hand, and stood side by side with Giyu holding a kunai.

Although he didn't know when itachi would come back, and why he didn't leave a shadow clone as usual...

But he decided to face the enemy together with Giyu, absolutely not to embarrass himself in front of Itachi, who taught him the techniques.

The three others standing in the field exchanged glances, their eyes no longer as relaxed as before.

"You're indeed the son of the clan head, to be overnourished at such a young age?"

Uchiha Enka raised an eyebrow, saying with some regret, "Clearly possessing such strong physical qualities, yet refusing to serve the clan and spouting such a long string of reasoning... Truly a waste of this innate talent.

"It seems, the clan head has spoiled you too much..."

If Uchiha Fugaku were here, he would really want to cry out injustice.

"Instead of caring about me, you should care more about the condition of these clan members."

Giyu retorted expressionlessly, "Judging by your attitude towards him, it's easy to see that if you were to become a team-leading jonin, your subordinates would quickly perish. The village must have considered this, which is why they didn't let you become a jonin."

As one of the Hashira, he naturally had his own subordinates. But to avoid their sacrifices, he always completed all demon hunting operations in his assigned area alone.

It's not because he wanted to show off how strong he is, but if his team members were killed by demons, Giyu would feel more pain than if he were injured himself.

But did shinobi also have the same feelings?

He didn't know.

But with the Uchiha's style, most people, even if they did, would never admit it.

"You sharp-tongued brat!"

Uchiha Enka was once again struck at his sore spot, gritting his teeth and wishing to blast Giyu with a huge fireball to his face.

"Being knocked down by a kid not even six years old, is it still necessary for me to care about such a person?"

He glanced at the fallen genin and, combined with his own experience of being ridiculed before, made a quite cruel judgment.

"His ninja career ends here, and the humiliation of this incident will accompany him for life!"

[Of course, if he is stimulated to awaken his eyes further, it's another matter.]

Hearing him say this, the remaining two genin couldn't help but shiver.

"We won't talk about today's matter, and his reputation won't be damaged."

Giyu's words moved them slightly, how could someone not take such an achievement seriously?

If it were them, it would probably be talked about for a lifetime.

"Leave us alone, stop disturbing us."

He stared into Uchiha Enka's eyes, earnestly helping him analyze: "And even if Itachi is willing to fight you, with your impulsive and simple mind, you are no match for him. Instead, you will drag down these clan members and end up defeated together with them. Since you consider failure a shame, don't bring it upon yourselves."

[Oh god....]

Shisui, observing from the forest, slapped his forehead with his palm.

[How could I forget, the longer Giyu speaks, the more annoying he gets.]

Originally, he thought he didn't need to appear.

But now, the contradiction suddenly escalated!

Except for the infuriated Uchiha Enka, the other two remaining conscious individuals looked at each other, unable to figure out whether the poker-faced kid wanted to resolve the situation or provoke them.

However, a feeling of confusion, along with anger, ignited in their hearts.

Especially Uchiha Enka, who had been verbally attacked multiple times, had completely lost patience with the two.

"Get them! Capture them! I want to hang that kid up and sew his mouth shut!"

He restrained his impulse to act personally with his last bit of reason, shouting angrily, "You two, show some real skill, or you can go become the servants of those jonin in the village!"

"Yes!"

These two genin, like the one who was knocked out just now, were graduates of this year's academy.

After graduation, they refused the village's allocation and decided to follow Uchiha Enka's orders directly after he became a team-leading jonin, in order to avoid being targeted by biased jonin against the Uchiha clan in the village.

Therefore, even if they were unwilling to bully those smaller than themselves, they still had to seriously carry out their superior's orders.

Especially when one of the kid could be dangerous.

"One each."

The two genin glanced at each other and allocated their tasks, each advancing towards Giyu and Sasuke.

[Doesn't he understand?]

Giyu looked somewhat bewildered.

He thought he had analyzed the situation for the other party, so why were they still tangled up, and even looked angrily?

The one who should be angry was him, who was disturbed during his nap.

Unlike Giyu, who tried to avoid conflicts, Sasuke was eager to try.

"I'll show you how good I really am."

Finally, a chance for real combat made Sasuke excited.

With a flick of his petite left hand, three shuriken flew out in different directions, tracing three arcs, shooting towards the person in front of him.

This is exactly what he learned this morning, though he didn't expect to use it so soon.

[Using Uchiha's shurikenjutsu against Uchiha? That's not very smart.]

Both Uchiha Enka and Uchiha Shisui, who was observing from the shadows, thought.

The latter also had a few shuriken tucked between his fingers just in case. The reason he didn't intervene was that he wanted to see the level of Itachi's two younger brothers, to make Fugaku clan head skip his shift and secretly monitor them here.

Anyway, with his level of Body Flicker Technique, he could stop any accidents from happening at this distance.

Sure enough, Sasuke's newly learned arc-shaped shurikenjutsu might make civilian shinobi a little flustered, but it seemed rather clumsy when facing Uchiha.

"Kid, what you just started learning, I've known for a long time!"

The genin raised his right hand and only threw one shuriken, accurately deflecting the one in the center. The deflected shuriken flew to the side, knocking down the rightmost shuriken.

The last one was knocked away with a kunai by the genin.

He lightly leaped onto a nearby tree, opened his Sharingan, and threw six shuriken rapidly spinning towards Sasuke.

"This is payback!"

Watching the sharp edges getting closer, Sasuke's face turned pale, thinking he would be seriously injured if not killed today.

But if he had the Sharingan, he would see that the targets of those shuriken were not his body, but the space behind him.

And the several transparent threads tied to the shuriken were the real protagonists of this move.

After all, the task assigned to the genin was not to kill the clan head's son but to subdue him.

Therefore, this move by Uchiha was the most appropriate.

[Manipulated Shurikenjutsu?]

Uchiha Shisui, observing from the shadows, nodded approvingly, "He has the level of Itachi when he was seven, he's a very promising junior."

Just as Sasuke, startled about the situation, had started contemplating his last words, another genin seized the opportunity to engage with Giyu.

Brandishing a sheathed ninja blade, he aimed a slash at Giyu's head, but Giyu narrowly avoided it by a hair's breadth.

He didn't use the Sharingan or the Transparent World because this genin's speed was far from that level. He relied solely on his years of demon slaying experience to easily evade.

Seizing the moment when the opponent showed an opening, Giyu intended to knock him down with one blow, but because of the lesson from earlier, he held back some of his strength this time.

"Thud!"

A muffled sound rang out as Giyu's palm struck the genin.

But contrary to his expectations, the genin didn't fall to the ground immediately. His face turned pale, he retreated two steps while clutching his stomach, his eyes full of fear.

Giyu frowned in confusion and used the Transparent World, only to find that the surface of the genin's abdomen was covered with a layer of chakra, acting as a protective membrane, which had already been shattered by his strike and was rapidly dissipating.

As for the principle, it should be similar to when he used the chakra to guide it to the acupuncture points in his hands when using the testing paper earlier, except that it involved radiating the chakra to the muscles and skin tissues around the acupuncture points.

For this genin to complete this entire process in the instant he was hit, he was already extremely outstanding.

However, despite covering his body surface with chakra to block some of the force, his abdomen was still churning at this moment, and sweat kept pouring down his forehead.

[It hurts!]

[If he hits me again, I'll throw up!]

Just as he was enduring the pain and thinking about how to deal with the little devil in front of him, Sasuke's desperate scream caught Giyu's attention.

Giyu quickly turned around, grabbed the six threads converging behind Sasuke, and yanked them hard, pulling down the genin who hadn't reacted at all.

[Can he see it?]

Uchiha Shisui, who was about to take action, widened his eyes.

When Itachi's clone found him, he briefly told him what had happened from last night to today, and naturally, Giyu's awakening was included.

But just now, when Giyu easily grabbed those threads finer than fishing lines, he didn't even use the Sharingan.

What's going on here?

And even if he could see it, how could he keep up with the speed of those threads' movements and accurately catch them in his hands?

But his doubts were quickly replaced by a new shock.

Just as Giyu turned around to help Sasuke, another genin finally found an opportunity and raised the sheathed ninja blade in his hand, stabbing towards Giyu's back.

"Kid, do you dare to be distracted when fighting a shinobi?"

With such a great force, if he were to stab directly with the blade, even a wall would be directly pierced.

In the eyes of this genin, even if this kid is physically strong, he will most likely be injured, so victory seems imminent.

However—

Giyu turned in time, extending his left index finger and swiftly poking the tip of the sheathed ninja blade.

"Water Breathing: Seventh Form - Drop Ripple Thrust."

This was a pure physical move using only body strength! It was also the fastest sword form among all the Water Breathing forms.

The next moment, the sheath struck by Giyu's finger actually shattered directly, exploding into a ripple-shaped circle in mid-air, and then turned into pieces of fragments falling from the sky.

The genin only felt a strong shock transmitting from the blade, involuntarily letting go of the handle, but the pain in his hand continued.

Giyu reached out, grabbed the ninja blade, and decisively cut off the six threads held in his right hand, causing the six shuriken to fall to the ground.

And it wasn't over yet.

Before the genin with the blade could react, Giyu had turned around again and smashed the hilt of the blade into his neck, causing the latter to immediately fall unconscious.

As for the other genin who had been pulled down by Giyu's technique, seeing Giyu approaching him with an expressionless face, his expression became extremely tense, and he just wanted to keep his distance from the opponent.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu ( Katon : Hosenka no Jutsu )!"

He puffed up his cheeks, quickly formed several hand seals, and spat out more than a dozen palm-sized flames from his mouth.

These flames, at a speed not inferior to the shuriken, arced towards Giyu.

However, Giyu faced this red attack without fear. After pushing Sasuke away from where he stood, he stomped on the ground forcefully, leaping high into the air like a flying fish jumping over the arcs of Phoenix Sage Fire, with the ninja blade in his hand appearing to be about to chop directly at the genin's neck.

"No!"

The genin shouted in despair, and Giyu immediately threw away the blade, raised his hand, and in the moment of landing, horizontally sliced at the genin's abdomen.

"Water Breathing: First Form - Water Surface Slash."

With a "bang", the genin was smashed into the nearby earthen wall by the immense force, buried under a cloud of dust.

At this point, in less than fifteen seconds, two genin had fallen unconscious one after another, either with rolled-up eyes or unconscious, so they wouldn't be able to stand up in a short time.

In the forest, Uchiha Shisui, who witnessed all this, had his mouth slightly open, not knowing how to convey it to Itachi later.

Uchiha Sasuke was completely numb, pinching his face hard, and didn't even feel any pain.

[As expected, it's an illusion, right…]

Uchiha Enka, on the other hand, was somewhat at a loss.

The first genin was knocked down because he was not vigilant at all, so it was understandable.

But the remaining two had already done everything they could without resorting to lethal methods—

Theoretically, they had used even C-rank ninjutsu that Chunin would need to learn, but they couldn't even leave a scratch on those two kids.

Honestly, even if Uchiha Itachi appeared now and defeated him, he would feel that he had no face to say anything victorious.

At least in the aspect of nurturing "subordinates," he was far behind.

Moreover, if his younger brothers who hadn't even started school yet were so exaggerated, then Uchiha Itachi, who was five years older than this kid—

"It's over."

Giyu grabbed the three genin and lined them up, "Take them away, this kind of fight is meaningless."

[Winning won't bring any sense of joy, but rather guilt because of worrying about their injuries.]

After all, in Giyu's eyes, these people were still just children.

Uchiha Enka remained silent, looking at the appearance of his three subordinates, filled with a sense of humiliation and frustration, but he also understood that at least two of them had tried their best.

Even if only based on physical fitness, the strength of this expressionless kid far exceeded the level that a genin could deal with.

[Forget it, let's take them back for treatment first.]

[There's no face to stay here anymore.]

[But I'm still a little annoyed.]

"Kid, your name is Uchiha Giyu, right?"

Uchiha Enka hoisted one genin on his shoulder and held another in his left hand, looking at Giyu with a deep gaze, raising an eyebrow.

"You really haven't learned how to extract chakra?"

"Just learned today," Giyu replied truthfully.

"Haven't learned any ninjutsu?"

Uchiha Enka asked again, not sure what he was thinking.

"I don't want to learn."

Giyu shook his head.

Although he didn't want to learn Uchiha's techniques, he accidentally saw the hand seals of the Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu and the flow of chakra, acupuncture points, and meridians when he activated the Transparent World during the battle…

"Oh."

Uchiha Enka suddenly smirked and nodded, "Then you definitely haven't learned how to dispel genjutsu, right?"

"No..."

Before Giyu could finish his sentence, he saw the Sharingan in Uchiha Sasuke's eyes spin, and his whole body suddenly fell into a state of stupor, motionless, his face suddenly becoming extremely pale.

"Giyu!" Sasuke rushed over in a hurry, "What's wrong with you?!"

But no matter how he shouted, Giyu just stared ahead with an ugly expression on his face, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"What did you do?!"

Sasuke turned his head, glaring at Uchiha Enka, "What did you do to Giyu?!"

"Narakumi no Jutsu, a small D-rank genjutsu, can make him see the most terrifying thing in his heart."

Uchiha Enka replied, "Judging from his expression, he probably saw being spanked by the clan head.

"This is just a small greeting, there won't be any aftereffects. When Uchiha Itachi comes back, he'll naturally help him dispel it."

He stretched out his foot to trip Sasuke, who was blocking his way, and provocatively said, "Tell Itachi, I welcome him to come find me to avenge his brother."

With that, he took his three subordinates and walked through the gap between the two rows of earthen walls, leaving.

In his opinion, using such a low-level genjutsu not only did not cause any substantial harm to that kid, but also could provoke Uchiha Itachi to fight him, killing two birds with one stone.

However, after walking about twenty steps, he heard Sasuke's somewhat surprised voice.

"Giyu, are you awake?"

[Are you kidding me?]

Uchiha Enka turned his head abruptly, only to find that the kid named Giyu was indeed no longer in his original position.

Giyu bent down, picked up the ninja blade that had been thrown on the ground earlier, and turned his head abruptly to look in the direction where Uchiha Enka was. A pair of slightly unusual one tomoe Sharingan eyes, filled with anger, stared at him fiercely, as if seeing the culprit that killed his family.

[Sharingan?]

At this moment, Uchiha Enka understood that Giyu's current appearance was not out of the genjutsu.

It's just that the thing that made him feel scared happened to be the thing he wanted to kill.

[Could it be that he wants to fight me——]

"Water Breathing..."

Giyu's hand emitted bursts of blue fluorescence, and suddenly water splashed violently in the nearby artificial lake, as if the water inside had been called upon, forming a long, twisting vortex until all the water inside was drained.

"Tenth Form..."

Giyu's body slightly lowered, seemingly ready to charge forward! And the constantly twisting vortex seemed to be carved and kneaded by invisible hands, roughly taking shape.

A fifty-meter-long ice-blue water dragon, in this way, hovered behind Giyu, and continued to grow!

[Hey hey hey hey, what's going on with this water dragon that appeared out of nowhere!]

Uchiha Enka's cold sweat flowed, hurriedly throwing the three "burdens" on him aside, and swiftly forming hand seals like a butterfly fluttering.

"Earth Style: Multiple Earth-Style Wall ( Doton: Taju Doryuheki )!"

As he finished his hand seals, dozens of small-scale earth flow walls already in the field began to shift and pile up on the ground, forming a wide barrier over three meters thick in front of him!

And one by one, similarly sized earth flow walls rose up like arranged bookshelves, completely covering the space between Uchiha Sasuke and Tomioka Giyu.

Just as the last large earth flow wall rose, the water dragon behind Giyu had completely formed, its eyes suddenly flashing with light, tilting its head up and emitting a sky-shaking roar.

"Constant Flux!"

Immediately, the water dragon and Giyu's body, with an unstoppable terrifying momentum, launched a resolute impact towards the front!

The first giant earth wall, with his turn, was shattered by the dragon head, turning into thousands of soil blocks!

And unlike the B-rank ninjutsu Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet ( Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu )—

With each rotation of the Tenth Form: Constant Flux, the attack power of the next rotation would be strengthened, one stronger than the other!

These earth walls, which should have restrained Water Style, could not suppress this blue dragon that would continue to grow.

In the end, it will bite towards the body of the person Giyu wants to kill!