Fight

Sasuke lunged at me, his movements fast and precise. I had been waiting for this. I sidestepped, narrowly avoiding his punch, and pivoted to face him again. He didn't stop, immediately spinning into a high kick aimed at my head. I ducked, feeling the air shift as his foot passed over me.

His form was good—better than most of the others in our class—but I had spent too much time training on my own to be caught off guard by something like this. I retaliated with a low sweep, aiming to knock him off his feet. He jumped, evading the attack, and we both reset, eyes locked.

He wasn't playing around.

Sasuke came at me again, this time faster, more determined. He threw a barrage of punches, each one faster than the last. I dodged the first few, blocking one with my forearm and countering with a palm strike aimed at his chest. He twisted out of the way, barely avoiding the hit, but I could see the frustration building in his eyes.

I wasn't making it easy for him.

We circled each other, both of us breathing heavier now. He was looking for an opening, but I wasn't going to give him one. He feinted to the right, then shot forward, aiming a punch straight for my face. I caught his wrist, twisting it sharply to throw him off balance. He grunted, but before I could follow up, he spun with the momentum and aimed a kick at my ribs.

The kick connected, and I felt a sharp pain shoot through my side. I stumbled back, the impact catching me off guard for a split second, but I quickly regained my footing. I straightened up, ignoring the dull ache in my side, and charged at him this time.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as I closed the distance faster than he expected. I threw a punch at his chest, which he blocked, but I followed it up with a quick kick to his shin. He faltered, and I capitalized on the moment, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him to the ground.

The impact was hard, and Sasuke let out a gasp of pain, but he didn't stay down. He rolled to the side, springing back to his feet with a determined glare.

We stood there for a moment, both of us catching our breath. The fight wasn't over. Sasuke wouldn't give up that easily, and neither would I. In a swift motion, he reached into his pouch, pulling out a kunai. The dull glint of the metal reflected the afternoon light.

He gripped the kunai tightly, spinning it once between his fingers before lunging at me again. The blade cut through the air, aiming straight for my chest. I stepped back, narrowly dodging the first strike, but he was relentless. He lunged at me again, the kunai in his hand flashing as it cut through the air. This time, I didn't have time to dodge completely. As the blade came toward my chest, I reacted on instinct.

I caught it with my bare hand.

The cold steel bit into my palm, and blood immediately began to trickle between my fingers, but I didn't flinch. Pain was something I had long since learned to suppress. The blade trembled in my grip, Sasuke's eyes widening in shock as he realized what I had done.

For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. His arm was still extended, his hand gripping the kunai tightly, but I held the blade firmly, my blood staining the metal. I met his gaze, my expression unchanging, even as my palm throbbed with the injury.

His surprise quickly turned into frustration, and he tried to yank the kunai free, but I didn't let go. Instead, I twisted my hand, pulling him off balance and forcing him to stumble forward, dropping the kunai. Before he could recover, I dropped the blade then drove my shoulder into his chest, knocking him backward.

Sasuke tumbled to the ground, breathless and stunned, while I stood over him, blood dripping from my hand onto the dirt below. The sting of the cut was sharp, but it didn't matter. I barely felt it.

"You're too slow," I said, my voice steady, ignoring the pain. Sasuke glared at me, his pride clearly wounded, he flipped backward, landing in a crouch with fluid grace. His hands immediately began to move, forming a series of hand seals at a speed I could barely follow.

{Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique}

Panic shot through me, a sharp spike of fear I hadn't felt in years. I was used to pain, used to suppressing my emotions, but now, in this moment, desperation gripped me. I couldn't lose. Not to him. Not like this.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as Sasuke inhaled deeply, his chest expanding as he gathered the chakra for the fireball. The air around him began to distort with heat, the flicker of flames already forming in his mouth. I froze for a split second, the realization crashing down on me—I couldn't dodge this in time.

I refused to let it end here.

Without thinking, I activated my eyes. The world shifted, my vision sharpening into a crimson haze as my Ketsuryūgan surged to life. I focused on the blood dripping from my wounded hand, the blood within it responding to my desperate command. Move.

As Sasuke exhaled, releasing the massive fireball, I thrust my hand forward, the blood from my wound suddenly whipping through the air. Chains of dark red sprang from my hand, writhing like serpents. With a roar of desperation, I directed them straight at the oncoming flames.

The chains collided with the fireball, slicing into it like blades. For a moment, the flames resisted, pushing against my blood constructs, but I refused to back down. I poured every ounce of my will into the chains, and slowly, they began to tear the fireball apart. Sparks flew as the fire was shredded into pieces, dissipating into nothing but smoke and embers.

I stood there, panting heavily, my heart pounding in my chest. The chains of blood that I had formed slithered back toward me, but something inside me hadn't quite calmed down yet. My mind was in a haze, still running on the desperation that had driven me to activate my eyes. I could feel the power coursing through me, but it was as if I had lost control.

The chains, still bloodied and sharp, didn't stop.

They lunged toward Sasuke, faster than either of us realized. Sasuke was out of chakra, exhausted from the Fireball Technique and the difficult exchange before, his breath ragged and his movements slowing. He tried to step back, but he was too tired. His eyes widened in panic as the chains bore down on him, too fast to dodge.

But I couldn't stop it. I couldn't think.

Before the blood chains could strike him, the ground trembled, and a massive earthen wall erupted from the ground in front of Sasuke. The chains slammed into it with a loud crack, breaking apart on impact. Dust and debris flew into the air, obscuring Sasuke from view as the chains, now severed, fell limply to the ground.

My eyes blinked, the red haze starting to lift as reality crashed down on me. What had I done? I hadn't meant for the chains to keep going—I was out of control.

As the dust began to settle, I saw a figure standing on top of the earth wall—calm, composed, and almost casual in his stance. He had a headband tilted at an angle, covering one eye, and his silver hair was windswept in a way that made him seem almost out of place. He wore a standard Leaf village flak jacket, but there was something about him that felt different.

Sasuke and I both stared at him, completely taken aback.

"That's enough," the man said calmly, his tone even, as if this entire situation was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. His visible eye, dark and sharp, glanced between the two of us.

I stumbled back, my heart still racing, the weight of what had just happened sinking in. Who was this man? He had stopped my attack so effortlessly, as if it was nothing.

"Who are you?" I found myself asking, my voice quieter than I intended. There was something unsettling about him—like he was someone we weren't supposed to cross paths with.

The man tilted his head slightly, as if amused by the question. "Does it matter?" His tone was light, almost teasing.

He glanced back at the earth wall he had created, then down at the blood stains on the ground where my chains had shattered. "You both need to control your emotions a bit better," he said, his eye lingering on me for a moment longer. There was no malice in his gaze, just a quiet intensity that made me feel like he had already sized up everything about me in an instant.

Before either of us could respond, the man simply turned and walked away, vanishing as quickly as he had appeared, leaving only the crumbling earth wall behind.

Moments later Sasuke's frustration finally broke through. He staggered to his feet, still catching his breath, but his eyes were locked on me, burning with questions.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, his voice sharp, cutting through the silence. "Your eyes… they turned red." His voice rose in intensity, his usual cold demeanor cracking under the weight of confusion and anger.

I stood still, my hand still bleeding, the iron scent of blood lingering around us. I could feel the Ketsuryūgan fading, my vision returning to normal, but my mind was still clouded with the aftermath of what I had just done. I glanced down at my hands, the remnants of the blood chains already dissolving into the dirt.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed even further as he scrutinized me, his frustration boiling over. "Are you an Uchiha?" His voice was sharp, as if the answer would somehow make everything clear.

I blinked, taken aback by the question. An Uchiha? I was sure that I wasn't from their clan. But the similarities between my eyes and theirs must have sparked something in him. I thought about the Ketsuryūgan, the way it activated, the crimson hue. It wasn't the Sharingan, but I guess I understood why he'd think that.

"I'm not sure," I said, my voice quiet but steady. Sasuke's intense stare never wavered as he waited for me to continue. "But… my eyes aren't the Sharingan."

His fists unclenched slightly, confusion crossing his face. "Then what are they?"

"They're called the Ketsuryūgan," I replied, my tone matter-of-fact. "It's… different. I can manipulate blood—specifically, the iron within it." I hesitated, still unsure how much to reveal, but something in Sasuke's eyes made me continue. "I don't know everything about it, but it's not the Sharingan."

Sasuke's brows furrowed in thought, the frustration still lingering in his expression, but now mixed with curiosity. "The Ketsuryūgan…" he muttered, the name unfamiliar to him. He looked at me again, as if weighing my words. "You can control blood, huh?"

I nodded slowly, keeping my emotions as neutral as possible. The truth was, I was still learning the full extent of my abilities, but explaining it to someone else, especially Sasuke, felt… strange.

Sasuke stayed silent for a moment, then glanced down at his hands. "I don't care what it's called," he said, his voice low. "I'll make sure to defeat you even with your eyes."

Sasuke's eyes lingered on me for a moment longer, his expression unreadable, before he turned without another word. He started walking away, his posture tense, the frustration still simmering just beneath the surface. I watched him leave, the silence stretching between us, his footsteps growing softer with each passing second.

I stood there for a few more moments, my hand still aching from the cut I had made earlier. The blood had dried, the wound already healing, but it was a reminder of how far I was willing to go.

With a quiet exhale, I turned away from the training grounds and began walking toward my apartment. The streets of the village were quieter now, the sky dimming as evening settled in. I kept my head down, lost in my own thoughts as I made my way through the familiar alleys, each step bringing me closer to the place I called home.