Grow

Jun reminded him of Ren. He wore similar clothes and was clearly of the same clan, making it hard for Kushimaru to distinguish them. Projecting the latter's figure onto the former's his expression --beneath the mask-- became distorted with viciousness.

Noticing Kushimaru's apparent hatred for him, Jun smiled. If the opponent didn't come with the intent to kill, it would be no fun.

Massaging his wrists, Jun smiled and turned to Shigeo. "Proctor. You said that this doesn't stop until someone forfeits or dies, right? Is there a penalty for killing your opponent?"

Noticing Jun's mysterious smile, Shigeo nodded, slightly confused. "Yes, but deaths will only be accidental since I'll step in if need be. There is no penalty; I'll take all responsibility."

"Oh? That's good then." Still smiling, Jun turned to face Kushimaru once again. Although the latter was giving off unrestrained killing intent, he remained unfazed. "Shall we get to it, then?"

Activating his Sharingan, Jun grabbed his right arm with his left hand, gathering chakra.

"What is he doing?" With her Byakugan active, Nozomi stared at Jun's arm. Powerful, concentrated chakra was gathering in his palm.

"I don't know... But he looks serious." Clenching the handrails, Minato kept his eyes open, not wanting to miss a thing.

"Begin!" As soon as Shigeo's voice sounded, Jun's hand became covered with purple electricity.

The sound of a thousand birds resounded across the arena as he smiled viciously, his crimson, two-tomoe eyes seemingly staring into Kushimaru's soul.

Then, before anyone could even react, Jun flickered, reappearing behind Kushimaru.

"Yari!" To Kushimaru, Jun's voice sounded as if though it had come from the depths of hell itself.

Unable to defend himself, Kushimaru watched as the Uchiha's hand protruded out of his chest, holding his beating heart.

"H- How..." His voice came out hoarsely, as he saw Jun crush the heart in his hand, yanking it out mercilessly. "You're... too strong..."

Like a puppet with its strings cut off, Kushimaru fell on his face, no traces of life left in his body. Deactivating his eyes, Jun lowered his hand and smiled, turning towards Shigeo.

"Oh my god..." In disbelief, Shigeo walked up to Kushimaru's lifeless corpse, confirming the kill. Raising his head and facing Jun, he wondered if he was still a genin. "Uchiha Jun... Is the winner."

Silence. The whole arena was covered with a deathly silence. No one could believe what just happened. It was almost surreal.

"Did you see him move?" Tsunade slightly trembled, holding Dan's hand even tighter. If Jun had tried to kill her, she doubted that she could've reacted fast enough.

"No... I couldn't see him at all..." Dan's eyebrows furrowed. Looking at Jiraiya, he finally understood his words. Jun wasn't meant to be measured through the usual standards.

'He's a threat!' Danzo had never felt this way before. Seeing Jun, Madara's image appeared in his head. He couldn't stop himself from making the comparison. 'If I don't eliminate him...'

Form what he had just shown, Jun was at least as strong as an Anbu. Danzo couldn't afford this sort of rapid growth from an Uchiha.

'That technique... If not A-rank, it could potentially be S-rank!' Pleasantly surprised, Hiruzen smiled. This was completely unexpected, but it filled him with excitement.

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Burning off the blood with the electricity, Jun had a stern expression. Shifting his gaze towards Aito, his Sharingan stared right into the kid's eyes.

Seeing his brother's eyes, Aito blacked out, falling into Akane's hands. Worried, she checked his condition and rejoiced. At least, he was breathing. 'Was it shock?'

Seeing him fall, Jun sighed. Aito needed to grow.

The ninja world was a dark place. Although he wanted to, he couldn't let Aito grow in a sheltered environment his whole life.

By killing someone in front of him, Jun hoped Aito would grow as a ninja. After all, a war was coming, and he couldn't be available for him at all times.

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**Announcement**: If we reach the current goal on P atreon, I'll start working on the monthly serialization of a manga based on the novel. (Without slowing the release rate of course.) It will probably be released on Webtoon, free to read, but Patreons will get anticipated access to chapters, and also access to concept art, process, and other things.

Head over to my P atreon if you want to make this a reality! The link's at the end of this chapter and on the novel's synopsis!

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Special thanks to Frozoka Swaggins, God Erebos, and Daniil!

Don't forget to drop some stones!

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