Chapter 14 : News

Lost in his thoughts, Izaya was quickly brought back to reality upon hearing the voice of the man responsible for the mission's failure.

"I have the feeling they abandoned you a little, hehe," the man said.

Surrounded by the remaining bandits, who now numbered only about ten, Izaya didn't give up. He didn't want to die with his arms crossed; he had to fight to the end.

Assuming the Juken stance, palms raised and back bent, his expression shifted from despair to an almost terrifying calm. He was sure he was going to die, but he was no longer afraid. He only thought of one thing: KILL.

"Byakugan!"

Activating the power of his dojutsu, veins appeared around his eyes, branching beneath the skin.

"So disgusting... just a shame I can't get them in good condition; I'm sure I could've fetched a good price. Alright, guys, he's out of strength, take care of him!" the man ordered.

Under the assault of about ten people, Izaya didn't flinch in the slightest. Focusing on his stance, Izaya could see all the attacks coming thanks to his eyes. Through his eyes, he had a 360-degree view of his surroundings within about twenty meters, and the tenketsu of his enemies entered his vision. The flow and quantity of chakra in his opponents were no longer a secret to him.

Among the survivors, as the information had been relayed to him, two low-level ninja were hidden in the crowd. Concealed by the others, they threw several shurikens at Izaya.

Bounding forward, Izaya delivered a devastating palm strike to the bandit in front of him, perfectly evading the various shurikens. Gracefully, he moved through the different bandits, leaving behind either corpses or immobilized men.

It was clear from this performance that Izaya could be considered a genius of his generation. Dodge, attack, movement—everything flowed with fluidity and grace. Not a single bandit could inflict any damage. Izaya was the god of death to these mere mortals who couldn't use chakra. But even under this incredible performance, one man continued to smile.

"Incredible!" applauding with both hands, the man walked toward Izaya without apparent fear. "I must say, I've never seen someone your age so talented. It's a real shame, but think of it as your destiny!"

Launching a fire release technique, the man spewed continuous fire from his mouth towards Izaya.

"Katon - Fireball!"

Staring directly at the fire, Izaya froze in his deadly charge, assuming a stance with raised palms. For the first time in public, he used a technique that only members of the Sôke were supposed to know.

"The Divine Whirlwind of Hakke!"

Spinning at a superhuman speed, Izaya created a protective dome around himself that managed to shield him from the flames. As the flames continued to approach, Izaya gave it his all to resist and maintain his technique. Unfortunately, the Divine Whirlwind of Hakke required a significant amount of chakra from the user to maintain the consumption of chakra released by all the tenketsu in the body. Although the rapid chakra rotation around him protected him from the flames, oxygen was beginning to run out. It was an endurance battle that Izaya unfortunately couldn't win.

Starting to lose his strength, his rotation speed began to decrease, which did not escape his opponent's notice.

With a smile on his face, the man stopped transmitting his chakra to the fire technique. As Izaya fell to the ground exhausted from chakra loss, the man approached him step by step.

"Come on, kid, don't take it personally. You killed all my guys, and brilliantly, I must say. Now, it's your turn to lose your life. If you have to hate someone, hate your clan for sending a child like you to the slaughter."

Struggling to get up with difficulty, Izaya fell back to the ground in pain. His clothes were stained with blood and sweat. His once long and well-kept hair was now dirty and covered in mud.

But as the man stood just one step away from him, without any defensive posture, Izaya pulled a kunai from his belt and aimed it at the man's throat.

Putting all his remaining strength into his attack, Izaya could almost see his kunai tainted with the blood of his enemy.

GLITCH!

As the sound of the kunai piercing the throat echoed, Izaya's gaze focused not on his kunai, but on his opponent's, the one that had reached his throat faster than his own.

"How?"

He wanted to cry out in pain, but his vocal cords had been severed. He wanted to breathe, but only blood entered his lungs.

With a look filled with rage and fear, as Izaya drowned in his own blood, only the man's maniacal smile could be seen.

"What a pity..."

The lifeless body of young Hyuga, the talent of his generation, perished at the hands of a wandering ninja, abandoned by his clan, and whose name was lost in the annals of the clan...

...

However, as young Izaya breathed his last, his throat pierced, a few kilometers away, in a clearing where vegetation was just beginning to reclaim its place, a young boy with white eyes appeared before a man dressed entirely in white...

"Hard day, I imagine..."

...

Meanwhile, at the western border of the Uchiha clan, the Uchiha team led by Masaaki had gathered to hear the latest information that had reached them. Masaaki had received the news first and had organized this meeting where everyone had assembled. Most still had mud on their outfits, and their weapons were still stained with blood. The constant battles at the border against the Senju had robbed them of any positive emotions, and only a cold gaze could be seen.

In the midst of this group of Uchiha, a child stood in silence, her arm bandaged, without any expression that a child should normally have. It was Ino Uchiha. In her few months at the border, she had come close to death many times, and she had not stopped killing since. From children her age to adults, she had had to get used to the taste of blood in her mouth. Unlike the cheerful and smiling child that Chikara had known during childhood, only a killing machine stood there in silence. The smile had been replaced by tears for her fallen brothers, and her laughter by the cry of her hatred.

Standing in front of all the Uchiha, Masaaki looked at them with his Sharingan always active, a habit he had acquired at the border with the Senju.

"I'll be direct! We've received news from the East, and it's not good."

As their captain began the report, Ino's eyes, like a signal, reacted to the word "East." A face immediately appeared in her mind, that of Chikara; he had been sent to the East. Her body began to tremble with fear that the worst had happened to him.

"The outpost was attacked by the Senju clan in coordination with the Hije clan and mercenaries. Several of our brothers have died..." Pausing in his speech, Masaaki looked at the members of his team one by one. Most had unconsciously activated their Sharingan out of rage.

Seeing the group's attention, Masaaki continued the report: "Thanks to Captain Genzo and his team, the border held and our enemies were driven away. Unfortunately, as I told you, it's bad news, the losses are significant... More than forty members of our clan have died, and Genzo is injured and now needs to rest."

Under the heavy silence of the group, a small hand went up, catching Masaaki's eye.

"Ino, do you have a question?"

Stepping out of the group, Ino looked Masaaki directly in the eyes, trying not to imagine the worst for her friend. Unbeknownst to her, a tear rolled from her right eye, and a powerful energy began to take shape in her eyes.

"Chikara? Do you know if anything happened to him?" Ino asked, her voice trembling.

"He's dead, at the hands of the Senju."

Suddenly, as if time had stopped, no sound could be heard by Ino. Like an echo to her despair, only the word "dead" could be heard.

"How... Why..." she mumbled incomprehensibly, no cry, no words could describe her pain. Memories of her childhood, Chikara's somewhat shy smile, meals shared with her grandmother, races in the forest, all flooded her mind. Chikara had considered Ino his only friend, but it was also the case for Ino...

As the last smile of Chikara appeared in her memory, only his words echoed in her ears, "Everything will be fine." Under her immense grief, a noticeable transformation occurred in her eyes. The once-black eyes took on a bloody red color, and in her pupils, three tomoe could be observed. She had awakened the Sharingan for the first time, directly with three tomoe.

Masaaki, who had been watching her from the start, couldn't help but smile at the sight of this evolution. Under the pain of losing a loved one, the true power of the Uchiha would reveal itself. Moreover, Ino, by awakening the Sharingan directly with three tomoe, was one of the best candidates for acquiring the Mangekyō Sharingan. The awakening of such talent for the clan deserved to be welcomed with a smile.

Amid the joy of some clan leaders, Ino, feeling alone, had not even noticed this brand-new power within reach...

Only the face of the innocent boy with whom she had spent the best moments of her life crossed her mind...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"